Instagram has now passed the billion-user threshold and in this hugely popular keynote, Instagram and Facebook travel marketer Neasa Bannon tells us how travel is one of the most engaging topics on Insta, how travel brands are using it, the top four trends in travel and how we can all get the best from Instagram.

On this episode we cover:

• How travel and Instagram are great partners More than a billion active monthly users grown from 800 million just a year ago
• How travel and Instagram are made for each other 160 million posts tagged #travel across the globe in just one month.
• Moved from postcards that say wish you were here to photos that say we’re glad you’re here Instant reaction is very powerful
• How people are inspired by other people’s photos
• 50% of people follow non reciprocal relationships on Instagram
• People are in discovery mode
• Photos v stories Opens our appetite for adventure
• Making memories to share but also to keep for a lifetime
• Passion for travel unites people and business on Instagram
• Unprecedented growth – 550m active on a daily basis
• 80% of accounts are out of the US
• 400m people use Instagram stories every day – shift in user behaviour

Travel on Instagram:

• Travel on Instagram is among the most active and engaged audiences on Instagram
• Travel fans watch 3 x more accounts than the global average
• 7/10 accounts are following brands
• Two times more likely to watch video content than other audiences
• 1m travel related hashtags are searched for every week on Instagram
• 290,000 #hiddengems
• 56% share photos and videos on Instagram
• 80% of people follow business 75% of these are willing to take action (swipe up, click etc)
• 1/3 of stories viewed on Instagram are from businesses
• 4 key trends that are really important to the Instagram audience :
  • 1 Inspiring Inspiration
  • 2 Making memories
  • 3 Tips for travel
  • 4 Uncovering gems travel
• ‘Instagram is where travel adventures begin’
• Where new users come from
• Finding friends by logging in with Facebook
• 2018 has been the year of Stories – unprecedented growth, doubled in six months and showing no signs of slowing down
• How people are using fewer filters #nofilter is on the rise
• The casual side of stories has counteracted the filter trend – self-correcting, people are coming back to more ‘normal’ pictures
• How influencers use Instagram and #ad
• The platform is evolving all the time
• How transparency is really important to them with branded content
• How they handle negative images on Instagram
• #swipeupforsmalls