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An immersive travel experience can inspire people to share important elements of their adventures, from real-time updates to special memories. An inspired visitor can become a valuable ambassador to share meaningful experiences with others.
You can amplify your brand messaging and build trust, all by using the exponential power of your customers’ networks of family, friends, and followers.
Let’s explore how these ripples of inspiration can create tangible benefits for your business and become part of a solid digital marketing strategy for tourism and travel companies.
In this article, we’ll walk through:
Why sharing experiences is an integral part of travel
How word of mouth marketing can be a powerful driver for your business
The power of social proof in consumer purchasing decisions
How to use an immersive travel experience to inspire sharing
Encouraging your visitors to share their travels on social media
Why sharing experiences is an integral part of travel
Sharing travel experiences can help people build connections with the people they love.
Imagine counting down to a memorable trip by sharing a breathtaking image from your destination each week until departure. What about sharing incredible experiences in real time while on a trip? And just think of being able to go back through an archive of high-resolution photos for images from precious moments during a journey.
An immersive travel experience can act as a trip planner and travel journal, allowing visitors to plan and share their entire trip from the interactive software.
How word-of-mouth marketing can be a powerful driver for your business
Word-of-mouth marketing happens when your brand is mentioned in genuine ways by people interested in what you offer. You can massively alter your brand visibility simply by being on people’s minds and in their conversations.
Why is this type of marketing so powerful? People trust recommendations from their networks and other consumers more than advertising. HubSpot shows that while only 25% of people believe the information they see in ads, 90% have faith in brand recommendations from friends.
The power of social proof in consumer purchasing decisions
Social proof is the powerful influence of other people’s opinions on our behaviours. It’s human nature to notice other people's choices and perspectives on the world around them.
Consumers are affected by what others around them say about your brand and often make decisions based on these observations. Social proof makes social media shares, online reviews, and customer testimonials a powerful influence. Social proof helps build trust and credibility with potential customers, lowering barriers to making purchases online.
Your customers are watching to see how many people follow your accounts, what kind of reviews you get, and the comments on your social channels.
Savvy marketers know they need to encourage these positive interactions. An enthusiastic fan can be a powerful influence on the decisions of other travellers, making this a valuable digital marketing strategy for tourism and travel companies.
How to use an immersive travel experience to inspire sharing
Knowing how to boost word-of-mouth marketing, combined with insights on the power of social proof, are all part of the formula of a successful tourism marketing strategy. With the Panomax interactive software system, sharing is part of the software design, making it easy for travellers to share with their networks.
Social media sharing
Visitors can share images directly to Facebook and Twitter via the Panomax webcam when browsing your website. There are share buttons visible on the webcam at all times, and your website visitors can post content from the interactive webcam system on social media with just one click. Anyone who sees the post can click through to see the webcam themselves from either social platform, driving new visitors to your content.
Best shots
The Panomax interactive software also includes a feature called “best shots,” which showcases the top images you’d like visitors to see. All images are stored on the platform indefinitely for those who might want to browse, but the best shots feature allows a visitor to see a curated selection of your favourite captures. Then, anyone viewing these images can click through to view a snapshot in time (literally) from that particular day in the archives.
With this feature, you can engage both website visitors who have time to explore on their own, and those who just want to see stunning, high-resolution images without having to search.
Sending e-cards directly to friends and family
What if your visitors aren’t active on social media but want to share gorgeous visuals with friends and family? The Panomax system allows people to send an e-card right from the software. For example, a potential visitor could send an image to their travel partner to spark inspiration or share vacation photos with friends and family via email.
Encouraging your visitors to share their travels on social media
To expand the reach of your business by leveraging successful tourism marketing strategies, you simply need to inspire your visitors to share your content. Ask your marketing team to brainstorm ways travellers can use your interactive webcam system as a trip planner and travel journal.
Here are a few ideas to encourage visitors to share immersive travel experiences from your Panomax webcam:
Create a popup reminder to let people know they can share what they’re viewing on the webcam to Facebook or Twitter while browsing.
Add a prompt to the news ticker that runs along the bottom of the webcam view.
Use the sharing functionality for your company's social media accounts. Add a note to the bottom of your shares to let people know you’re sharing directly from the Panomax platform, and they can do the same.
Include the idea of sharing in your marketing. For example, did someone get married while staying with you? Invite them to send a favourite view from their special day to their social media or directly to their family and friends. Or, post a gorgeous view from your webcam and remind people they can share similar images while counting down to departure or throughout their trip.
When you can provide everything a visitor needs to share trip details and stunning visuals, you increase the chance they’ll take the opportunity, raising your brand visibility with every post. In addition, we’ll include social sharing metrics from your webcam in the comprehensive monthly reports to track progress.
Encouraging customers to share their experiences with their networks is a successful tourism marketing strategy you can implement right away. You’ll turn your visitors into your best sales channel with unique ways to share their vacation experiences with their network.
Learn more about how the Panomax interactive webcam system works, or get in touch to chat about how this strategy could help you build your brand with new networks.