13 Ways To Get More Instagram Followers For Your Travel Business

Instagram is a place where people go to explore their interests and make visual connections. With over five hundred million worldwide accounts that are active on it on a daily basis, its popularity is not in question.

With such a large number of accounts (people and businesses) making connections and searching for visual inspiration, the potential for your Travel Business to build a huge Instagram following to market your travel offering to is there.

The foundation for building your following begins with putting together some amazing content that is worth sharing. Once you have some content curated and a business profile set up, our tips below provide some insights on How To Get More Instagram Followers For Your Travel Business.

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How To Get More Instagram Followers For Your Travel Business

1. Content Is Key

Having amazing content to share, specifically photos or video clips is paramount to get more Instagram followers. It is a visual platform and you need to wow everyone with your imagery.

Make use of Instagram’s photo editing tools to optimize your pictures and videos. Hire a photographer to take professional photos to use as promotional imagery of your travel offering. Do not forget to geotag the location on the images or videos as this is a searchable feature along with hashtags.

Additionally, give your tour guides or people on the ground a good quality phone or camera that takes great pics so they can capture and create great stories. After all, they are creating the experience for your clients and are placed to capture the Instagram worthy moments.

2. Create A Brand For Your Business Account

People follow and support businesses that align with their own ideals and values. Decide who your target audience or market is, and then shape your business travel brand accordingly. Think about the images that you post on Instagram and evaluate the message that they portray to your followers.

For example - Conde Nast Traveler identifies itself on Instagram as a magazine. Their brand and imagery are synonymous with high-quality travel images that you would expect to find in a magazine. Their posts generally tell a short story and portray a particular lifestyle associated with the imagery.

3. Use The Stories Feature

Instagram's Stories feature is a great interactive way to give your followers a bit more insight into your business and your product. Use this feature to provide an interactive short video clip of your travel destination, or give a short commentary on what your clients can expect from your up and coming tour.

Use the storytelling tool to have fun and let the essence of what your company is about, shine through. Stories are a way for your clients to get to know you and your travel product better.

4. #Hashtags

As you know, hashtags are a searchable feature on Instagram. But how to get more Instagram followers by using hashtags though? Well, start by creating a hashtag for your travel business’ name and use it on all of your posts.

You can also create an Instagram campaign and give it a hashtag to encourage your followers’ participation and increase interaction with them. Promote a particular product and encourage your clients to use the hashtag when sharing their experience on Instagram.

Norwegian Cruise Line has a good example of this – their hashtag campaign #CruiseLikeANorweign has thirty-one and a half thousand posts. That is thirty-one and a half thousand posts that promote their brand and give their business visibility on the social media platform.

5. Create An Instagram Take Over Campaign

Offer an influencer, guest writer, or client the chance to Take Over your Instagram account for a stipulated amount of time to share a number of Instagram posts that focus solely on your travel offering.

The idea is for the person to share their experience of your travel offering on Instagram in a bid to generate interest and get more Instagram followers for your travel business.

The focus on your travel offering will give your followers (and potential clients) a real look at your product outside of the usual sales brochure write up.

6. Share Your Clients’ Content

With their permission of course. Check your hashtag campaigns to see what pictures your clients are posting and then select and share their already optimized content with the appropriate accreditation to your own account to promote your travel product.

This is similar to the Take Over campaign in the sense that the imagery provides your followers with a review of your travel offering so to speak. Any content that depicts your values and portrays your product in a positive manner is worth sharing.

7. Engage With Your Followers

Everyone enjoys recognition, so win your followers over by commenting on their posts. Answer any questions they may have on your offering and be responsive overall.

People like to know that there is a person on the other end of the line so it works in your favor to be personable and relatable towards your followers.

8. Address Any Negative Posts

In the same way that you would be responsive to a positive commentary, it is also important to address any negative posts that you receive on Instagram in an open and empathetic manner.

As we know, Social Media has an extensive reach, so be proactive in your responses to avoid small issues from spiraling unnecessarily.

9. Publish Content Frequently

You need to publish high-quality fresh content frequently in order to build an Instagram following and get more followers for your travel company.

Devise a daily, weekly and monthly content plan and schedule this into your calendar for posting. Consistent sharing increases your visibility and lets your followers know that you have a lot to offer them.

10. Times Of Publications

Use social media managing tools such as Hootsuite to schedule the timely release of your posts across all of your social media platforms. Identify any upcoming holidays or events in your calendar and schedule your Instagram posts in advance to manage your workflow.

Depending on which tool you use, some have additional capabilities such as being able to identify trending topics and offer insights into how your posts are performing. This allows you to stay on top of what is popular with your followers.

11. Who Are Other Accounts Following?

Instagram is a social media platform so take note of travel trends and identify popular and influential figures in your industry to remain relevant and promote your brand.

Take a look at the accounts that other travel businesses in your niche are following, and asses which ones are doing well and why. Follow them to see how to get more Instagram followers, and interact with them to promote your own visibility.

12. Sponsored Adverts On Instagram

Instagram for business accounts has its own version of sponsored adverts that you can use to promote your travel company and get more Instagram followers. There are several formats that you can use for your adverts – photo, video, carousel ads, and stories ads.

Each of them drives visibility for your travel brand on the platform and you can choose how long or frequently your ad campaign runs for depending on your budget.

13. Measure The Effectiveness Of Your Campaigns

Instagram offers an Ads Manager tool that lets you plan and set your campaigns and track their performance either from your desktop or mobile device.

Create competitions or promotions on your Instagram account and ask your followers to quote a promo code when making their booking or claiming their prize. This will allow you to track the success of your campaign as you will see how often your promo code is hashtagged and shared.

Using insights such as these will help you to track what is working on your Instagram account and help you to improve and adjust your offering for future campaigns

Summary

With a bit of time, effort, and insight into how to get more Instagram followers, this open and interactive visual social media platform really can be an ideal marketing tool for travel companies to use to promote their business.

The key takeaway for travel companies on the platform is to build a following and be an online presence who interacts with followers and curates amazing content. This adds value for your followers and will establish your brand as one worth following.

Use the Instagram platform along with the other social media giants and travel marketplaces to promote your travel business online. Check our free resources for other marketing tips and guides to promote your travel business.