Videos are one of the best types of content any industry can have as they’re easily consumable and visually appealing, according to a Los Angeles digital marketing agency. There’s a reason why YouTube is only second to Google as the world’s preferred search engine, after all!
As a travel business owner, one of the best things you can do for your brand is to have a killer travel video. With a well-thought-out video, you can simultaneously inspire a love of traveling, promote a place’s tourism, raise awareness on societal issues, give important life advice, and loads more.
Below, we’ve listed ways on how to make the best travel video you can have for your business.
1. Be Entertaining
Of course, nobody’s going to want to watch your video if it’s boring! Your videos should appeal to your watchers by being heartwarming, funny, surprising, inspiring, exciting, or all of the above. It should also include lots of awe-inspiring things about the place you’re filming, including natural wonders, cultural festivities, and more.
If your videos aren’t entertaining, you might as well be sharing Google Map links with your viewers and having them look at the place themselves.
2. Collaborate with Influencers
Whether you love them or hate them, there’s no doubt that influencers have a lot of clout in almost any industry. They have a lot of know-how in marketing themselves and their content, and we highly recommend capitalizing on that for your travel business. Partner with them (especially local ones) to help bring traffic from their followers.
3. Encourage User-Generated Content
People love documenting things they love, so why not get them involved with user-generated content? It’s surprisingly easy to do as travelers tend to love gushing about their experiences.
Ask for permission to repost their pictures, videos, and reviews on your travel videos and social media profiles. You can also create a hashtag so your followers can just scroll through that hashtag to look at their submissions.
4. Target Audiences
Not everybody has the same goals when it comes to traveling. Some like to go for the cultural experience, while others love to go on shopping sprees. Some travel as a family with kids, while others like to go solo.
Whatever the case, it’s important to have various videos for various audiences so everyone’s satisfied.
5. Use Catchy Words
Nike has “Just do it,” L’Oreal has “Because you’re worth it,” and Skittles has “Taste the rainbow.” Catchphrases, slogans, and hashtags help your brand become memorable, so you should try incorporating some into your videos. Before long, your customers will start associating those words with your brand and using it themselves.
6. Tell Stories
Everybody loves a good story. Storytelling is a powerful marketing tool that helps customers become emotionally invested in your brand. In the case of traveling, storytelling instills a passion for travel into them and inspires them to venture into the world one step at a time.
It also helps humanize your brand. You’re not just a business looking for some sales—you’re also a friend who wants their friends to have a good time.
7. Raise Social Awareness
Awareness of social issues is an important trait to have these days, especially among the younger generations like Gen Z-ers and millennials. It shows that you care about problems plaguing the world today and are looking to raise awareness about them.
When making a video on the place, make sure to highlight any social issues you’d like your customers to avoid. For example, many traveling agencies in Thailand have started encouraging people not to ride elephants as it can be excruciating for these peaceful animals.
8. Educate
While traveling can be really fun, not everybody knows how to travel properly. Some don’t know how to budget their finances, plan out itineraries, follow rules and etiquette, and lots more. Make sure to educate your followers by providing useful information and helpful tips to ensure their travel goes safely and smoothly.
9. Give Perspective
In the travel industry, seeing is believing. The best way to encourage someone to visit a place is by showing them what the place looks like. That way, they can imagine what it would be like to walk around and experience everything the place has to offer.
Highlight a place’s tourist attractions, including buildings, parks, museums, restaurants, and more. You can even have the video formatted for VR, like in this example:
Source: ESCAPE NOW
10. Stick to Schedule
You should always time your posts correctly by having a calendar and following a schedule. Having them will prevent things like promoting Mardi Gras in September or recommending skiing trips to Colorado in June. Plan and film your videos ahead of time so you can release them right before or during seasonal periods when expected sales are high.
11. Make Things Accessible
To some people, traveling is nothing more than a dream. They think it is way too expensive and time-consuming for them to ever do. However, while traveling in the past may certainly have been that way, budget-friendly and accessible travel options have become very popular over the years—it’s not uncommon for airlines to have massive seat sales, for example!
Try to include money-saving tips in your video to show them that travel doesn’t need to cost a lot of money. You could also share stories from people who traveled despite their financial setbacks.
12. Share Testimonials
Like reviews, video testimonials are major influences in decision-making. Hearing what it’s like to travel and experience new cultures from people who have actually done it is more fascinating than any text can be, as you can really feel the wonder and excitement these people have. You get plus points if the person doing the testimonial is someone your customers can easily identify with!
