Alongside with the arrival of the pandemic, notable and unexpected changes have been produced this year, which have implied the offspring of new trends on the use of social networks. All these were reflected during the confinement term, since digital platforms were not only used for keeping in touch with each other but also for leisure and informational purposes.

This crisis situation has generated enormous changes both in consumers behaviors, as well as the way that companies have managed to restructure their strategies to gain more digital presence due to the fact that users devote most of their time to staying connected.

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TikTok vs Instagram

The origin of social networks and quick developments has triggered new effective and engaging mediums such as TikTok. TikTok is a social network with more than 800 millions of active users and works on an infinite timeline of videos from 15 to 60 seconds.

On the other hand, 69% of TikTok users are aged between 16 to 24 years (Generation Z) and consume approximately 46 minutes of videos on a daily basis.

In addition, TikTok was certainly the social network that grew the most in 2020, with a remarkable increase of 14% of the users/followers from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile Instagram reels enabled 30 seconds of video creating as well as the use of video effects, filters and musical background, which are some of the same features on Instagram stories today.

At this moment, you may wonder “How could I capitalize on social networks?”

Well, the main difference between both social networks is that TikTok achieves more engagement but Instagram reels acquire further outreach. Nevertheless, considering the average number of viewings per video, both platforms are virtually tied. Therefore, it will depend on the digital objectives you want to achieve with your strategy.

Notwithstanding, frequent duplicity contents are produced in both social networks, especially from videos on TikTok which are also shared on Instagram in order to boost the views. Nevertheless, each social network has its own needs and audience and the material posted on them must be personalized for each and every one of them.

YouTube, the dominant platform for videos

As a result of the pandemic, audiovisual content has inflated a further 55% according to a research made by 2tube mainly for online platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram stories.

In addition, following IAB Spain’s 2020 annual statement, 9 out of every 10 users claim that the videos they consume on social networks are tutorials, comedy and music notations.

Influencers, inspirational reference for travellers

In these recent years, it has been necessary to refer to relevant personalities on social networks in order to advertise and boost brands. Influencers that work for tourism industry are emblematic personalities that have reached millions of users, since they have now become the best travel guides. Moreover, it is important to emphasize/highlight that this new content trend transcend conventional means because it also contributes to the personal value of their virtual community.

Regarding influencers materials for campaigns in travel industry, they must express their truistical experience to their followers/audience as if they were present/ they were travelling together

According to our business intelligence platform Travellyze, the digital platforms that inspires travellers the most are: YouTube, Instagram and blogs followed by Facebook.

However, in order to accomplish a successful campaign for influencers and truistical content creators, we must first understand how each social network work:

YouTube: This video social network gives us the maximum liberty to create a post because of the fact that it possesses an important tool/mechanism called “channels” where telematic content for tourism can be created. It is worth mentioning that YouTube has a zone for comments which allows quick interaction from influencers to their follower’s community. We consume more video content than ever so more than 80% of brands have included video-marketing into their marketing strategies.

For example, on this digital platform we can find Diego Pons and his YouTube channel “Viajando con Diego”, which has more than 34,500 subscribers. Here he shares videos aimed at active travellers looking for alternatives to conventional travel guides to explore destinations and activities.

Facebook: Did you know that this social network is the second most used in Spain and for this matter has been considered one of the main means for searching for information? For this reason, Facebook is an advantageous tool for those truistical influencers interested in showing their experiences on social networks because posts can be made in different layouts just as well as inserting location, which creates a better experience for users.

On this social network, we can find La Cosmopolilla, a journalist and influencer passionate for travelling. She writes narrative stories of the different places she visits and also offers complete countries and city guides, tips and advices on saving followed by suggested routes and articles about local gastronomy.

Instagram: This is the social network with the most visibility and efficiency for touristic destinations and where users turn to look for new destinations and activities for their journeys.

Instagram allows the reach with more closeness and transparency to the users through images, short videos and stories. On the other hand, it has IGTV that can last up to an hour. The clue is to know how to select the most attractive and appropriate content for this format, for example: extended guides, travel advices, local gastronomy among others.

For all that was stated previously, Instagram grants the possibly to carry out an enhanced influencers campaign. In the same way a great SEO positioning work can be made through different hashtags, since this digital platform allows users to follow them and allows them to be updated from posts of a particular destination.

A good example of an influencer we will find on this social network is Marina Comes, one of the most followed travel Instagrammers in Spain. She travels around the world and seeks to inspire her followers through her wonderful photos.

Twitter: It works as a microblog where short messages are posted and gives users the possibility of sharing links. This is the reason why truistical influencers work on this social network because offers, articles and newsletters can be posted on the platform, as it gives a greater broadcast to personal blogs. On this platform we can find David Gomez a travel blogger, graphic designer and content writer. His account ‘Cuaderno de viaje’ aspire to offer users quality content based in cultural tourism, remarking art, history and assets of destinations he visits.

Blog: Bloggers and influencers use this medium to share quality content with their followers, that is communicating experiences in a close, vibrant and entertaining way like sharing complete itineraries and maps with direct links to the selected visited destination.

For example, Japonismo is a blog about japan with an average visit of 600.000 users a month. Luis Rodriguez and Laura Tomás, the creators, delivers all the necessary information for you to be able to travel without any problem. He helps in planification, recommendations of destinations to visit, route and itineraries and even issues related to travel insurance. The complete guide every traveller needs before travelling to Japan!

In conclusion, influencers play a very important role in tourism due to the fact that they bring great benefits to brands. Finally, we must not forget that they are specialists with credibility that have considerable presence on social networks. So, for this reason, their implications on a brands image awakens followers’ empathy with the product or service they are being presented and that is why it is essential to consider them in every digital marketing campaign.

If you are looking forward to putting into practice your next digital campaigns, in Interface Tourism we would be pleased to help you so do not hesitate to get in touch with us and strengthen your brand the utmost on social networks!

Silvana Carbone

Social Media and Digital Marketing Team