The Instagram Algorithm Debacle

Anyone who is an instagram user (or instagram marketer) realized last week the channel went a bit crazy. Instagram's algorithm was announced, and just like that bloggers, whose livelihood felt threatened, and brands, who just started investing in the channel, start uploading images asking 'fans' to turn on notifications for their brands. Everyone needs to SLOW down and take a breather, because this is NOT a catastrophe... it's life when you are playing on an earned, not owned channel. 

I'm not sure why so many people freaked out exactly, because once Facebook officially purchased Instagram, everyone saw this coming from miles away... and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, you will have to pay to play, but what's new in social media these days? STOP asking your followers to turn on notifications, personally, I stopped following a few for that, and had to get off instagram for a few days to keep from getting too angry about it. 

If you're THAT worried about your instagram content, you either have the wrong audience or you're playing on the wrong channel. For my hotels, I'm not worried, because we get great engagement, we share relevant like-worthy content, and I don't think the instagram is going to decrease any of that. 

"Worry about your CONTENT, not your followers... as you should on any channel. "

Focus on the content you're creating, really make sure you're posting quality over quantity now that the algorithm is in play, and support your incredible content with ads, which is easily and conveniently integrated into Facebook's ad tool. 

Why Social Media Is A Great Tool For Travel

I've been meaning to write the post for awhile & will add on Instagram for that matter. Why are these tools so great when traveling? Let me tell you several great reasons. 

1. Pre-travel research has been made much more interactive. When googling certain places, you can also check out their social media feeds to find non-stock photos and (if they're smart) real images from recent guests! 
2. Geo-tags are phenomenal to find inspiration for activities, locations & trips as well. 
3. Hotels & airlines are embracing these as customer service channels and instead of sitting on a phone call angrily for 30 minutes, you can simply tweet them for assistance! A real life-saver. 
4. Finding great deals on social media! Many hospitality industry social channels are still figuring out how to prove these channels are worth monitoring constantly, so the offer deals only found via these channels -why not take advantage! 
5. Tips, tips,  tips. I frequently follow not only hotel & airlines I'm using, but their convention bureaus to find out about new activities & events

What other reasons do you use social media when traveling for? 

The Year of The Visual

I've begun to notice a shift... a big one too. Long gone are the days of images being upload to Facebook, and hours upon hours spent only on Facebook to find anything and everything. The younger generation has left Facebook in the dust, and fast.

It's a great thing they acquired Instagram, otherwise they'd be in real trouble. The younger generation usually seems to become enamored with a new app/social media channel quickly, then all of a sudden you hear it's the new "place to be".

I'm not sure if Facebook's focus on imagery wasn't enough, or if we've all become so overloaded by information and status updates that we want to get back to the time where a picture was worth 1,000 words! Between Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat, if you're not collecting inspiring visuals and focusing on image-heavy content... you're doing it wrong.

Eventually, there will be another new and hipper channel (videos? wearables?) but for now, images rule the web.. and for good reason too!