There have been some great examples of inspirational travel campaigns this year.
Campaigns that have made us laugh, cry, and consider travel brands we might not have thought about before.
In this blog post, we’ve handpicked some of 2017’s best travel marketing campaigns. The adventurous examples that made our list use the latest technology to create eye-catching marketing that resonates with recipients.
Read on to learn how to convert those with a sense of wanderlust into seasoned travellers.
Qantas: Out of Office Travelogue
Research suggests people are most likely to buy based on tips from personal referrals. It’s the reason brands are so keen to see consumers sharing and promoting them on social media.
Australian airline Qantas took this to heart with an ingenious way to combine the benefits of email marketing and social media. By inviting people to integrate their social media feeds into their out-of-office replies, Qantas turned boring auto-replies into real-time updates of their customers’ holidays.
The travel brand simply asked people to enter their holiday dates in a portal and tag the snaps they wanted to feature from their feeds. This was used to create a nicely branded, personalised out-of-office email that would be sent each time someone emailed them while they were away.
This may sound fancy, but creating a campaign like this is not as complicated as it may seem. Technology like PureTargeting can easily integrate social media updates into email. In this way, the customer can show others exactly how your brand is helping them enjoy their break.
This is a great way of getting referrals from a customer’s personal network of colleagues and friends.
Visit Sweden: Freedom to roam
Sweden has brought us many things—from Ikea and H&M, to Volvo and Abba. But, one less-publicised gift they’ve given us is “the freedom to roam”.
The freedom to roam is the principle, protected by Swedish law, that gives all people the right to roam free in nature. Visit Sweden has used this to great effect in their latest advertising campaign.
Visit Sweden asked people to rate and review the most impressive natural features the country has to offer. Participants had many to choose from—Sweden is brimming with vast woodlands, magnificent waterfalls, spectacular mountaintops and quiet meadows.
Then, Visit Sweden featured these comments in its marketing, using software that integrates relevant reviews into the content (just like PureTargeting does).
This sort of travel marketing campaign is a nice way to highlight visually stunning landscape—and make the most of social proof at the same time.
EasyJet: Why not?
EasyJet made good use of real-time weather updates with its “Why not?” campaign. The messages featured live updates of the snowfall at various skiing resorts, promoting the excellent conditions being enjoyed right now.
These messages were publicised to great effect across multiple marketing channels, delivering a huge dollop of FOMO (fear of missing out) to any traveller that came into contact with them. The messages were then followed up with the simple message of “Why not?” and a call to action to book now.
This campaign is a good way of securing last minute bookings by using the weather to create a sense of urgency—and a reason to book immediately.
This sort of campaign is easy for any travel brand to recreate with PureTargeting, which allows you to include real-time weather updates at any time, for anywhere.
Airbnb: Until we all belong…
Airbnb used current events to bring its brand to the forefront of Australian bookers’ minds with its emotive ‘Until we all belong’ campaign.
With the subject of same-sex marriage still being debated in Australia, Airbnb took the opportunity to promote inclusion.
Inclusion is a value that’s likely to be important to Airbnb’s target audience of millennials. As such, it is one that Airbnb is keen to show it shares—especially after controversy over discrimination by its hosts in recent years.
The timely use of current affairs in this campaign makes the brand ultra relevant and also promotes its anti-discrimination policy. This ties in well to Airbnb’s tagline of “Belonging anywhere”.
We especially liked how Airbnb made the messages personal and even more pertinent. This one’s a real thought-provoking tear-jerker.
Takeaway
We hope you’ve enjoyed our selection of the best travel campaigns of 2017. They show the power of timing, relevancy, and personalisation—as well as the importance of using the right technology to reach your audience.
So, if you’re planning for the year ahead, seek inspiration from the brands we’ve featured. They’ve thought way beyond the typical marketing campaigns that include a boring list of destinations, images, and pricing.
