Taking advantage of User Generated Content in the tourism sector

This week we're going to look at User Generated Content (UGC), specifically in travel campaigns developed by the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Visit Norway.

User-Generated Content: An Introduction

As a result of social media, online content can now be produced by ordinary people, rather than just media corporations; these days everyone can create, publish and share their own opinions, ideas and interpretations. User-generated content (UGC) can include comments, photos, videos, stories, reports, reviews and digital artworks. Social media platforms facilitate for the sharing of UGC.

Should companies incorporate UGC in their social media campaigns?

The use of UGC depends on the situations surrounding the firm or industry. In most cases, UGC can help companies to create a higher level of engagement with customers. For those in the tourism industry, it is highly beneficial to incorporate UGC in social media campaigns. Why?

Firstly, when people travel, they tend to take photos, film videos, make scrapbooks, write journals, give reviews or blog about their experiences. As a result, there is already a large pool of content available for tourist boards and travel companies to tap into. When they display UGC, these organizations not only provide lots of interesting, positive content, without high costs or effort, they also make customers feel proud of their work. This sense of pride encourages customers to spread word-of-mouth about the campaigns.

Secondly, travelling is about trying new things and having fun. But sometimes people don't know about the fun activities that exist outside the borders of their own country. UGC like photos, videos and stories can help to bring awareness to, and sell these exciting travel experiences. Below are two successful case studies where tourism organizations have used UGC effectively. The platform used in both cases happens to be Instagram (but UGC can be showcased on many other platforms like YouTube for videos, Facebook for stories etc.)

Case study 1: Hong Kong Tourism Board's Summer Spectacular Viewfinder



To raise awareness for Hong Kong's various tourist attractions and hotspots in summer, the country's tourism board ran a photo competition. Because they knew that locals were avid Instagram users, they took advantage of this platform and asked their audience to send in their best Instagram photos of Hong Kong. The board then developed a website, where visitors could view these photos on a viewfinder. Participants could link family and friends to this website, increasing word-of-mouth.

By creating a competition, the board provided an incentive for customers to send in their best photos. By developing a special website to display this content, they made audience members feel like their work was valued, and therefore worthy of sharing. This campaign resulted in 426,000 likes and shares on Facebook as well as 74.4 thousand micro-blog references (like tweets) on the Chinese social media site, Weibo. It raised inbound travel to Hong Kong from China and South-East Asia over the summer that the campaign ran.

Case study 2: VisitNorway's Your Way campaign & current Instagram platform

A few years ago, Visit Norway created the 'Your Way' campaign in central and Eastern Europe asking audience members to participate in a competition making creative works that portrayed Norway as they saw it. The process of the campaign and results can be viewed in this video: 

As part of their current social media strategy, Visit Norway now runs an active Instagram channel. Like the Hong Kong tourism board, Norway's main tourism organization has created a special platform to view these photos. This platform has gained 560,000 likes from the public on Facebook:

            



From these campaigns, we can see there are a number of benefits with incorporating UGC in social media campaigns. UGC provides:

• Voice: If firms encourage audiences to generate and share their own content about their brands, they give voice to their customers. This can make customers feel valued and appreciated.
• Authenticity: By handing customers the power to generate publicity for a brand, firms can create a sense of legitimacy. A customer's display of enthusiasm for a brand is often considered more believable than a company's advertisements.
• Personal connection: Firms can establish a strong personal connection with customers through UGC if they interact with their audiences' contents.

However, we must also we aware of the problems with UGC, including:

• Negative contributions: Content can be created by trolls, who damage the brand's reputation with poor-taste jokes; angry individuals, who post abusive or racist content; and criminals, who post illicit images or documents.
• Control: It may appear totalitarian to the public if firms exercise strict control over other individuals' content...but firms still need to monitor for abusive or illicit contributions.

How have the case studies examined become successful and managed these issues?

Both the HK Tourism Board and Visit Norway were successful because they maximized the benefits of UGC and minimized the issues with it:

1. They both created competitions to provide an incentive for posting positive UGC. Because users wanted to win the prizes or gain recognition for their work, they were willing to put in more effort to create appropriate and high quality content.
2. They created their own channels and platforms to showcase user-generated content. This allowed them to show that they valued the participation of their audience members. It also allowed them to screen content before posting it online. These platforms were then linked to other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, etc. so they could be shared with other individuals.

Key points to take away from this post:

• Incorporate UGC on social media to encourage customer engagement with brands.
• Be aware of all the benefits and issues with UGC before engaging in it.
• Provide incentives that encourage individuals to make positive contributions and share work.
• Monitor content, but don't control it too much. Provide posting guidelines and screen public contributions first before releasing them online.