Wanderlust is the emotional spark that drives travel decisions, and the focus of the research was to identify specific ingredients in travel content that create this feeling, allowing brands to inspire, connect and convert travelers to bookings.
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There are several things brands can use to create this type of engagement.
“The way consumers interact with brands has changed dramatically,” said Rob Torres, senior vice president of Expedia Group Advertising. “The findings provide concrete insights that marketers can take action on: video has nearly three times the impact of static images, and travelers respond most to stories with a clear storyline. Travelers crave trust, relatability and authenticity in the message, tone and images. While open to AI-powered content, human input remains essential to building trust and emotional resonance.”
Let’s take a closer look at these study findings.
Video is a key influencer when the timing aligns
Video influences travel three times more often than static images: 71% of travelers respond to moving images rather than still images. Although there is a small difference, the length of videos is not that important: both short (49%) and long videos (45%) have a positive influence on booking decisions. However, long videos evoke the most emotion.
The research clearly shows how influential videos can be when approached in a way that engages viewers. Yet many marketing teams aren’t as attuned to creating videos as they are to editing and preparing photos.
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In many cases, this may involve reallocating resources to produce narrative videos with cuts to facilitate optimal comprehension, typically with a duration of nine seconds or less. On the contrary, content that relies on quick cuts and rapid scene changes of less than two seconds hinders understanding of the story and thus fails to make a compelling case for its destination.
Marketing teams should prioritize clear story structures, because even nice static images won’t work if the message is unclear, and provide a clear call to action to conclude the content. To capitalize on the power of video in building an emotional connection that drives bookings, marketers must develop a video-first strategy instead of treating the medium as an afterthought or a “nice to have.”
Authenticity and trust are still the key words
Marketing messages and images must be clear, honest and in many ways focused on building a real connection if brands want to gain attention, trust and drive bookings. This also means creating targeted content, messages and offers that appeal to different audience segments.
The study categorized audiences based on both generations (e.g., Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Boomers) and traveler archetypes (e.g., theme park travelers, target city escapists, adventure travelers, and cultural connectors).
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Travelers rely on authentic shades to create trust. The tones travelers selected as inspiring the most trust were transparency (52%), followed by clarity and confidence (46%) and authenticity (45%). Representation and recognisability also contributed to engagement and response rates.
To build authenticity and trust, marketers must segment their audiences appropriately and personalize content delivery accordingly, whether through Generational Targeting or Archetype Targeting.
Using Generational Targeting effectively means deploying highly emotional videos and influencer content to younger generations (Millennials and Gen Z), who feel the most emotional about travel content. For Gen
To use Archetype Targeting, marketers must approach each group slightly differently. For example, using short, socially influenced videos for theme park travelers, or long, food-driven videos for Target City Escapists, can yield great results. This means that a one-size-fits-all approach to content creation, or simply exchanging a few words or images, is not enough. These different archetypes are looking for very different things.
AI still requires people
While it’s hard to escape the buzz about how important AI is in the marketing world, travelers aren’t always eager to embrace AI-generated content and remain skeptical. According to the survey, only 41% of travelers found it useful, and only then when it was combined with human input. Generationally, millennials and Gen Z are most comfortable using AI in content.
The adoption of AI-generated content should shift to tools such as smarter deals and budgeting solutions (24%) and personalized travel planning (19%), rather than images that can easily be identified as fake.
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There are significant benefits to using AI in the marketing process, but marketers should use it for utility and scale, not to achieve authenticity. They should also avoid relying on fully AI-generated content, especially for images such as landscapes or influencer content, as this can cause discomfort and annoyance.
Instead, marketing teams should focus on using AI to improve the traveler booking process, such as creating smarter deals and improving personalized travel planning. Then, ensure that content intended to inspire the emotions behind wanderlust is carefully reviewed and combined with human creativity and oversight.
The bottom line
Stimulating wanderlust in potential consumers requires marketers to create compelling video assets, emphasize authenticity and trust, and use personalization and tools like AI to enhance experiences and opportunities, rather than overshadowing key emotional selling points.
By going beyond generic content and carefully segmenting their approach based on travelers’ unique, often diverse preferences, brands can gain a competitive advantage, earn travelers’ trust and achieve their goal of driving conversions in this highly competitive industry.
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Contributing authors are invited to create content for MarTech and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the martech community. Our contributors work under the supervision of the editors and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. MarTech is owned by Semrush. The contributor was not asked to make any direct or indirect mentions of it Semrush. The opinions they express are their own.
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