Remember the #ShareACoke campaign that took Instagram by storm? People posted pictures with their partners and Coke bottles. Coca-Cola’s sales sored thanks to the tiny “#” symbol. If you’re a travel agency looking to boost your business on Instagram, you’re on the right track. In this article, we’ll delve into a step-by-step guide to strategizing the best Instagram hashtag for travel agencies.
Imagine that your agency offers a great Europe package deal and worked hard on designing an engrossing Instagram ad too. Know that there may be people out there looking for such a deal right now. 1M+ travel related hashtags are searched on Instagram every week. But how will your ad reach those exact people in this vastly crowded Instagram world? The right hashtags are essential for connecting with your target audience. Stay tuned to learn how to incorporate the best Instagram hashtag for travel agencies.
Understanding the Power of Hashtags
Let’s start with understanding the power of hashtags in this social media era.
What Is Hashtag?
When you add a hashtag to a word on social media platforms, the word becomes clickable and qualifies to appear in search results. For example, if you caption your picture as pet care and write #petcare, it will count in the search results for pet care. This way, it gets easier to reach your target audience.
Significance of Instagram Hashtags
Instagram hashtags are the most effective and have the highest engagement rate, as Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post. Instagram hashtags make the keywords count in the algorithm, which generates users’ feeds based on their interests. Moreover, Instagram hashtags give you a deeper insights into the audience.
Why Is Instagram Marketing Crucial for Your Travel Agency’s Growth?
Let us share you some interesting facts that will make it easy for you to understand how crucial Instagram Marketing is for your travel agency.
- 40% of millennials pick their holiday destination based on how Instagrammable the pics will be?
- 700M+ post on Instagram contains the keyword “travel”.
- Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users, 35% of them are potential buyers.
- Nearly 50% of American adults use Instagram.
- And the best part for you is that the travel and hospitality business accounts grow its followers by 0.33% each month.
These are just a few examples of the craze of Instagram. Instagram marketing can change the image of your travel business overnight.
Above Instagram post is about Instagram being the number 1 in making brand loyalty. So what else can be the best place for you to promote your travel agency?
Benefits of Using Hashtags Effectively for Travel Agencies’ Marketing Efforts
To make the most out of Instagram, it is essential to use hashtags effectively. Here are some benefits of using Instagram hashtags for travel agency to boost their marketing efforts:
1. Reaching the Target Audience
Hashtags in Instagram make it easier for viewers to find relevant content. For instance, using appropriate hashtags like #italy or #italianhotel can help you reach people searching for the hotels in Italy.
2. Creating a Niche
Hashtags allow you to create a niche by targeting specific audiences with more accurate hashtags.
3. Hashtag for Better SEO
Hashtags are critical for social media search engine optimization as they are clickable and searchable. In Instagram, using relevant hashtags can help you become more visible.
4. Appearing in Users’ Feed
Proper use of hashtags can make your post appear in the feed of your target audience, based on Instagram’s algorithm.
5. Increasing Engagement
You can create a branded hashtag and ask your customers to use it, making it popular and more visible in search engines.
Take a look at how “The Trippers” implemented their hashtag strategy in their bio.
6. Audience Analysis
By searching a hashtag on Instagram, you can see how many posts, accounts, tags, etc. are related to that particular keyword. This can help you choose other relevant keywords based on their popularity and explore more.
Look at the Instagram explore option in the above screenshot, how many “miami” related hashtags, post, accounts, tags, etc. are there in the Instagram just by searching with “#miami”.
7. Competitor Analysis
Instagram hashtags can help you explore what keywords your competitors are using and get new ideas.
8. Segregating Content
Hashtags can help you categorize your content. For example, you might have sections like #Switzerlandhotels, #Londonhotels, #Italyhotels under #Europehotels.
9. Gaining Followers
If you rank in a hashtag or get visible in a hashtag, people might visit your profile and follow you if they find your content valuable.
Research and Discover Relevant Hashtags
First and foremost, your hashtag should be relevant to your content. Otherwise you end up giving popularity to somebody else. That’s why we will show you the path to curate the best relevant hashtags for your travel business.
3 Ways to Discover and Research Trending and Niche-Specific Hashtags for Your Travel Agency
Below are 3 major sources to discover best hashtags.
1. Using Instagram search tool: As we have shown before, by searching a hashtag in Instagram you can find out how many posts are there with that particular keyword. You can choose other related keyword also based on their popularity.
2. Get insights from influencers: We all know influencers are the pillar of social media marketing’s increasing success. So search for influencers in your niche and see what hashtags they are using.
3. Use hashtag generator tool: Last but not the least, using a hashtag generator tool is most convenient for your marketing plan. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), there are numerous tools available in the market that make your social media marketing super easy. Thinking about cost? Don’t worry there are top softwares which provide you the best service with free trial. Predis.ai is one of them. They will provide you the best ideas about Instagram hashtag for travel agencies.
Instagram Hashtag Generator and Analytical Tool for Your Travel Agency Marketing
You can get most effective hashtag ideas of your niche and professional analytical tool by using Instagram hashtag generator tool. They can help you get more views and likes, impression and clicks, reach and followers.
Above is the image where Predis generates many related hashtags to “Europe tour package” with their reach.
Create a Branded Hashtag
Now we will discuss branded hashtags and how to use them in your promotional campaign.
What is a Branded Hashtag?
A branded hashtag is a unique hashtag created by a specific brand for their marketing campaign. The goal is to drive high engagement, such as #BelmondLegends created by Belmond travel agency on Instagram.
Why Are Branded Hashtags Beneficial for Your Travel Agency?
Creating an interesting and unique branded hashtag has the potential to go viral, as demonstrated by the ALS Association’s #IceBucketChallenge campaign. Going viral can help build your brand identity. Once Instagram users find it fun, they will talk about it, leading to more user-generated content (UGC). We will discuss UGC in detail later in this article.
Going with the flow, people may buy your product or service. Remember, the majority of social media users are young and impulsive.
How to Create a Unique Branded Hashtag for Your Travel Agency?
Here are a few ideas to keep in mind while crafting a branded Instagram hashtag for travel agencies.
- Make it engaging, actionable, or shareable.
- Combine your brand name with the hashtag to promote your agency. Avoid using a hashtag like #BelmondLegends if your brand is not yet well-known.
- Get ideas from successful brands and see how they use their branded hashtags.
- Know your purpose. It’s okay to make a hashtag that doesn’t define your brand, but it’s not okay to make a hashtag that is completely unrelated to your brand.
- Mention the hashtag in your bio and ask people to use it.
- Mention your current branded hashtag in all your current posts.
Look at how “SmartFlyer” mentioned their branded hashtag in their bio.
Customers have used the hashtag #smartflyertakemeto in their posts and the hashtag has now 10k posts.
Effective Hashtag Placement
Have you noticed one more thing in the previous image where “heidiburketravel” added all the hashtags in the comment section of the post? Not in caption. Let me tell you this is also a part of the hashtag placement approach and we will discuss about it in this section.
Importance of Placing Hashtags Strategically Within Your Posts
Using hashtags on Instagram can be effective in both the caption as well as the comment section. Nowadays people add hashtags to the comment section instead of adding them to the caption. It can be a good idea but if you choose to do this, make sure to add the first comment immediately after publishing the post.
Another way to create an aesthetic post is to add hashtags further down in the caption.
It’s worth noting that the hashtags in the above picture will not be visible until you scroll down to the end of the caption section.
Similarly, you can hide hashtags in your Instagram stories by either hiding them behind emojis or just not using them at all.
Do’s and Don’Ts of Hashtag Placement
When it comes to placing hashtags, there are some important do’s and don’ts to consider.
Do’s:
- Place your branded hashtag in your Instagram bio.
- Add hashtags in the caption as it’s proven to be the most effective way.
- Add your current branded hashtag to all your related posts.
Don’ts:
- Hide your branded hashtag in your story or caption; the purpose of your branded hashtag is to make it visible.
- Use all 30 hashtags in one post.
Engage With User-Generated Content (Ugc)
In this section, we will discuss the significance of user-generated content (UGC) in your travel agency’s Instagram strategy.
Significance of User-Generated Content in Your Travel Agency’s Instagram Strategy
UGC refers to the content created by other users that mention your brand by tagging you or using your branded hashtag. This is the most organic way to promote your travel agency as it increases your brand reliability, which is critical in the travel industry. UGC also increases your engagement rate and exposure, leading to more conversions.
How to Encourage Customers to Use Your Branded Hashtag
To encourage customers to use your branded hashtag, follow the below points.
- Mention your branded hashtag in your Instagram bio and ask people to use it as Sta travel does in the earlier image in this article.
- Create visually appealing content so that people take interest in your brand.
- Ask customers to mention it in their holiday pictures which you’ll re-share and inveigle others.
- Keep up with the trending topics. That is the key to cope up with this digital age. So check what’s going on in Instagram.
- Use an Instagram analysis tool that is easily available and makes your marketing work more professional and effortless. Some of the best tools that can help you with this are Instagram’s own analytical tool, Sprout social, Keyhole, etc.
- When you are sharing someone else’s post that talks about your brand, Don’t forget to give credit to the original content creators by mentioning them in your post.
- Offer rewards, discounts or giveaways to encourage participation.
- Users want their post to be shared. So be specific about the type of content you want users to make about your brand so that you can share their content.
Take a look at how Calvin Klein nailed their user-generated content in the image above.
- Initiate a contest to increase engagement, but make sure that the task is not too difficult for people to participate in.
Apple launched a campaign named #shotoniphone, in which iPhone users from all corners of the world posted stunning pictures on Instagram that they had taken with their iPhones. This campaign helped the company regain its reputation, which had been damaged due to customers’ dissatisfaction with the quality of the newly launched iphone camera.
Tips and Tricks of Using Instagram Hashtags for Your Travel Agency
Now let’s take a quick look at some tips and tricks for creating Instagram hashtag for travel agencies.
- Using 3-5 hashtags on Instagram has been observed to yield the best results.
- Don’t make your hashtag too large to read. #brazilflightticket is easier to read than #megasaleonbrazilflight.
- It is advised to avoid using the most popular hashtags as it will be difficult for you to stand out among the crowd. Instead, find your niche and use hashtags specific to your content. For instance, if you are offering a Europe tour package, using #europetour will be more effective than using generic hashtags like #europe or #tour. You can take the help of the free Instagram hashtag generator tool by Predis.ai, as mentioned earlier.
- Remember to double-check for any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors before posting.
- It is important to not use the same list of hashtags in every post. As per Instagram guidelines, doing so can result in penalization.
- Make sure that people can understand the meaning of your hashtag as there is no space allowed in a hashtag. For example, “The rapist” will be shown as “#therapist”, so it is best to avoid such misleading hashtags.
- To be a part of both big and small SEO race, use a combination of big, medium, and small hashtags. This will help you reach a wider audience on Instagram.
- Don’t forget to check your hashtag performance by analytical tool.
Hashtags Suggestion for Travel Agency
Below are a few ideas of Instagram hashtag for your travel agencies in general. Search for more specific hashtags according to your niche.
#travelagent
#independenttravelagent
#tourpackagedeals
#holidayagents
#hotelonlinemarketing
#holidayagency
#luxurytravelagency
#travelspecialist
#travelconsultant
#onlinebooking
#traveladvisor
#travelplanner
#travelagency
We have covered all the strategies that can help you make the best use of hashtags in your travel agency’s Instagram marketing. But do you know how to track them? In the next section, we will discuss how you can monitor and adjust your hashtag strategy.
Monitor and Adjust Your Hashtag Strategy
It is essential to track your account insights regularly, whether you are a renowned brand or a small business. To access the professional dashboard, you need to ensure that your Instagram account is a business account. Read on to learn how to track the performance of your hashtags.
How to Track the Performance of Your Instagram Hashtag?
Now social media platforms like Instagram are vast, and it’s not easy to keep track of your hashtag performance efficiently and regularly. That’s why hashtag analysis tools have come to the rescue. These tools can track your hashtag usage, their performance, future performance prediction, identify the best-performing hashtag within your industry, and help you improve your strategy. They save your cost and time and work for you more professionally than you can ever do yourself. Instagram has its analytical tool called Instagram Insights that you can access from the menu on your Instagram profile. Apart from that, Hashtagify provides a promising service among all.
To help you understand how to monitor the professional analytical tool better, we have included a video below.
Ways to Adjust and Refine Your Approach Based on Analytics
Don’t just analyze, act accordingly. Improve your Insta game by adjusting and refining your approach through analytics.
- Remember you are not just a personal Instagrammer, you are a business who has to take care of the audience first. So analyze your audience properly and craft hashtags that fits their taste and trends.
- Implement best performing hashtags.
- Use hashtag for a special day or a awareness day.
- Check what are the hashtags your competitors are using. Get idea from your competitors by the help of competitor analysis tool. Predis.ai provides the best competitor analysis tool with deep insights at an affordable cost. Click here to check and start your free trial.
Conclusion
As a travel agency, you have ample scope to attract customers with Instagrammable pictures and alluring travel deals. But reaching the correct audience is the key to success and that’ll be accomplished by a winning Instagram hashtag for travel agencies that this article will help you execute successfully.
So, are you ready to transform your travel agency’s Instagram presence? Start crafting your hashtag today and watch your business soar!
Thank you for being with us. Let us know in the comment section if you have any concerns regarding this topic.
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