TRENDSPOTTING: Interactive Content

Content marketing plays a vital role in our digital age. And with today’s travel limitations, its importance is even greater for travel and tourism brands. Everyone knows content marketing is key. The challenge now is standing out from the crowd. Designing more interactive content and immersive experiences are a great way to refresh dated content and stay active in the market.

Engage Consumers with Interactive Content

If images and videos are considered a passive experience, then inviting audience members to answer questions, tap the screen and make choices are interactive. This is because they have to think and respond instead of simply scroll. According to Tencent’s Top 10 Most Liked WeChat Moment Ads in Q2 2020 report, 70% of ads in the top 10 list are interactive.

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• Tapping The Screen
  
  Here’s a great example from Tourism Ireland. Ireland is home to the puffin. One of the most distinct and adorable birds. Rather than simply showcase cute—yet static—images of puffins with sightseeing facts on WeChat, we created a “click to discover” experience. This generated a 20% higher than average reading completion rate. To make our Puffin content more interactive, we invited users to tap the screen to learn the truth about puffins. This leaves space for imagination and makes reading more interesting and amusing. Articles with interactive content have a higher rate of reading completion than average.

• Fun and Games
  
  Interactive content also includes fun and games. Take for instance, Tourism Ireland’s Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. Fans were invited to an online celebration and Irish blessing. Since the color green represents health and hope, participants received digital green hats in honor of this special day. More than 500 fans updated their profile photos to wear a green hat and left positive comments of appreciation.

Connect with Consumers through Immersive Experiences

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In the absence of outbound travel, tourism boards are working hard to immerse audiences in virtual environments and stay top of mind. Calming content, online tours, slow TV and live streaming are all ways destinations are connecting with travelers.

• Calming Content
  Tourism Australia shared a video of an empty Sydney Opera House sparkling in the sun. Calming and joyful music sets a tone of hope for the future. They also shared peaceful sounds of showers in the forest to calm viewers and make them feel a part of the natural environment. Consider immersive experiences that will interest and relax your audience during the pandemic.

• Online Tours and Live Streaming
  Take Chinese consumers from scrolling to experiencing. While travel guides and itinerary recommendations are useful, audio and visual tours work well to engage audiences. For instance, at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a Chinese celebrity guides guests in a futuristic audio and visual experience. And Norway, known for its Slow TV phenomenon, took live-streaming viewers on a train ride with stunning vistas.

During this dormant period for overseas tourism, travel brands are searching for effective ways to communicate with consumers and stay top-of-mind. Now is the time to consider interactive content and immersive experiences to tell your brand story.