The Travel Brands That Understand Instagram Video

While we are in the middle of Instagram’s latest mega update for its photo editing tools and Instagram Video’s first birthday, we decided to take a quick look at which travel brands are actively using it to produce video.

Since the launch of Instagram Video on June 4, 2013, there have been close to 450 travel brands on SkiftIQ that have published photos, and out of those brands 70% have published videos. The highest generating sector is Influencers, with Cruises coming in at second. Influencer Tiffany Dowd is the most prolific Influencer and Carnival leads all other cruise lines.

It is important to note that Airlines, Destinations, and Hotel Brands that are active Instagramers are quite prolific in video, but as an average 30% of its brands are not producing videos, which severely impacting their sectors’ performance. To put it in perspective, 80% of Influencers have dabbled in video, resulting in the highest average of 15 videos/year beating the travel industry’s average of seven videos/year.

For the purpose of arriving at a more realistic view on the average, we removed brands that only published one video from our SkiftIQ analysis.

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There is no doubt that airlines dominate social media. In analyzing the leaders, outperformers, and underperformers, the travel industry is not leveraging Instagram video to further connect with users. When looking at video production against total uploads, non-US and non-European airlines are getting the most practice using this feature.

The brands to take notice of are three American Destinations with Followers less than 2,000 outperformed, brands with larger following like, Aeromexico, Airbnb, and American Express.

Active on Instagram, but Not Instagram Video

As it goes, there are always exceptions. Some brands and influencers with tons of followers are not putting much effort into video. The reasons for these largely depend on cohesive visual presentation, marketing strategy, and that they may be in the midst of programming their content.

Overall, the social activity is mixed and there is plenty of room to rise above the ranks. Besides the volume, likes on videos and photos is a benchmark for content efforts. The accounts to beat currently are Aeromexico, Walt Disney World Resorts, Tourism Australia, National Geographic Travel, and Anthony Bourdain.

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