With more than a billion active users, the social network is becoming a gold mine for visuals, especially in tourism.
Unquestionably, Instagram is one of the most used platforms for sharing photos and videos. This content, called UGC (for User Generated Content), has many advantages that deserve consideration by tourism professionals.
UGC is becoming increasingly important in recent years. Whether it's customer reviews or visuals posted on social networks, this content has enough to attract the attention of communicators. And for the right reason: they don't cost much and pay off a lot.
Brands use it to differentiate themselves from competitors by delivering more authentic and engaging content to their audience. They use it to increase the effectiveness of their product pages on their sites or sell more via social networks.
It's no wonder consumers are more likely to trust user-generated content that looks like them than traditional advertisements.
UGC content is more engaging and transformative than traditional brand content, image banks, or photo productions orchestrated by brands. UGC content can engage and transform up to 2 to 3 times more effectively.
It's essential to consider the legal implications of using content from social media to avoid issues with image rights. Retrieving such content without proper authorization could lead to legal problems.
Customers can access a significant amount of content by utilizing already available raw materials. This material consists of over 100 million photos and videos posted on Instagram daily. It is a tremendous help to potential customers, as they can easily find what they're looking for with just a few clicks.
It is good enough to aid tourism industry professionals in providing website content and adding visuals to their newsletters and brochures. It also helps them create engaging content for their social media channels.
Another significant benefit is that over 80% of social media users feel flattered when a brand asks them to create content for them.
User-generated content (UGC) is valuable for communicators like social media. However, it is a complementary addition to branded content rather than a replacement.