CASE STUDY
Transforming Supplier Marketing with Modern Content Strategies
How United Airlines Increased Engagement on Instagram by 85% And What You Can Learn From It
Why Modern Content Matters
The way consumers engage with content has shifted dramatically. For today’s travel suppliers, relying on outdated, sales-heavy graphics and boilerplate copy no longer cuts it. If you want to capture attention, drive inquiries, and grow sales, your content needs to resonate on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and beyond.
This case study highlights how you can elevate your content strategy to meet today’s expectations and achieve better results, including how to amplify your reach by leveraging travel advisors as micro-influencers.
The United Airlines Example: From Passive to Engaging Organic Content
A case study compiled by Dash Hudson highlights just how successful travel brands can be at grabbing attention in the overcrowded social media landscape by taking a fresh approach.
Challenge: United Airlines faced a common challenge: their content wasn’t resonating on today’s fast-paced, visually driven platforms. Static posts and overly promotional messaging resulted in low engagement and limited reach, especially when targeting new and existing customers.
Solution: United Airlines adopted a modern content lifecycle strategy to drive better results. According to Dash Hudson’s case study, they focused on:
Engaging Visuals: Using dynamic images and video content that capture attention within seconds.
Platform Optimization: Creating content tailored to Instagram Reels, TikTok, and Stories, ensuring it aligned with how users naturally interact with these formats.
Lifecycle Content: Designing content for every stage of the customer journey, from awareness to decision-making.
Pop Culture Relevance: Keeping tabs on trends and cultural moments to incorporate humor, relatable themes, and timely references in their content. This approach helped connect with their audience on a personal level, making the brand feel more approachable and relevant.
UGC Strategy: Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) to enhance authenticity. United sourced Reels and photography from real travelers, using advanced tools to filter and curate content that aligned with their messaging. This approach resulted in an organic reach of 475.5 million over a year.
The Results
By shifting to this approach, United Airlines saw significant improvements in audience engagement and brand visibility. Dash Hudson’s data revealed that brands leveraging platform-specific, engaging content experience up to a 75% higher engagement rate compared to traditional static posts.
+200.5%
increase in Video Views
+85.2%
increase in Engagements
+33.8%
increase in Net New Followers
*On Instagram, from October 2022 to September 2023, compared to the previous year according to Dash Hudson
What Travel Suppliers Can Learn From United’s Content Strategy
Outdated Content: Many travel suppliers continue to rely on static graphics and overly promotional messaging, which fail to inspire and convert in today’s content-driven landscape.
Modern Approach: To make your content stand out, focus on creating organic content that truly engages, entertains, and sparks conversations. Today’s consumers are savvy; they know when they’re being sold to, and they often tune out content that feels overly promotional or inauthentic. Instead, focus on strategies that build trust and foster connections:
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Entertaining Video Content: Create short, high-impact videos that showcase the vibrancy of travel experiences and destinations. These should feel less like ads and more like glimpses into memorable moments and experiences. Reels, TikToks and YouTube shorts are video must-haves.
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Interactive Content: Use features like polls, quizzes, and sliders in Stories to actively involve your audience, turning them from passive viewers into active participants. This also gives them more ways to engage as they discover your feed content.
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Leverage Carousels: Share visually compelling, multi-frame posts that offer value by educating and inspiring travelers, giving them bookmarkable content they can come back to at a later date when it’s time to move from inspiration to planning.
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Authentic Storytelling: Use lifestyle imagery that captures aspirational experiences and emotions. Incorporate imagery that isn’t overly curated, photoshopped or edited. Audiences are more likely to engage with content that looks organic and in the moment, even if it isn’t.
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Trend-Driven Content: Be agile and ready to jump on cultural moments or trends. Humor, timely references, and relatable content show your brand’s personality and align with what consumers care about. This humanizes your brand and makes it more approachable.
Another Big Takeaway: Let Organic Content Performance Guide Paid Marketing Strategies
The Power of Testing with Organic Content: Organic content isn’t just for building engagement; it’s a testing ground for identifying what resonates most with travelers.
High-performing organic posts can provide valuable insights for shaping paid campaigns. When you see what drives likes, shares, and conversations, you gain data to refine your strategy, ensuring your ad spend is directed toward content that’s already proven to work.
Rigid, repetitive content strategies don’t resonate with today’s audiences. Adapting to trends, focusing on authenticity, and using organic content as a feedback loop can yield significant payoffs by fostering a deeper connection with consumers.
“The way consumers engage with content has shifted dramatically. For today’s travel suppliers, relying on outdated, sales-heavy graphics and boilerplate copy no longer cuts it. If you want to capture attention, drive inquiries, and grow sales, your content needs to resonate on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and beyond.
This case study highlights how you can elevate your content strategy to meet today’s expectations and achieve better results, including amplifying your reach by leveraging travel advisors as micro-influencers.”
NIKITA FRANCE, CEO, TRAVEL AGENT COLLECTIVE
Amplifying Your Reach Through Travel Advisors
Travel advisors aren’t just a sales tool — they’re a powerful channel for growing your brand awareness, building trust, and amplifying your marketing efforts. Each advisor brings their own network of engaged clients and followers who trust them as travel experts, making them invaluable advocates for your brand.
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Expand Your Reach: When advisors share your dynamic content across their social platforms, your brand gains visibility with their network of followers, many of whom trust their opinions and recommendations.
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Make It Easy: Providing advisors with ready-to-use, visually appealing content saves them time and increases their likelihood of promoting your brand.
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Increase Engagement: Modern content tailored for platforms like Instagram and TikTok performs better, ensuring advisors see results that encourage them to continue advocating for and selling your travel products.
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Drive More Bookings: Advisors equipped with effective marketing tools are more successful at converting inquiries into bookings, directly benefiting your bottom line.