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Coming Soon: An Organization System to Supercharge Your Visual Strategy

Posted on February 8, 2017May 9, 2017 by Dan Holowack

Today we’re happy to announce an exciting new organizational system for the new CrowdRiff platform, that will let you sort and manage all your visuals even better than before.

Albums and Folders: an easy way to sort through your photos

Find a photo you like? Throw it in an album!

Very soon, you’ll be able to sort your photos into any number of albums, based on any theme or use case.

Create albums dedicated to themes like “Outdoor Adventures” or “Coffee and Cafes” and even for events, like “Winter Gala 2017”, for example.

Then, any time you want to find a great pic from your Gala, you have the ones you’ve personally chosen, close at hand.

And for those who appreciate that extra organization, you can even create folders that contain groups of albums too.

Find it now, save for later

Let’s say you’re tasked with finding some visuals of whitewater rapids in your National Park. As you’re selecting photos to put in a new Whitewater album, you come across the perfect camping photo.

Without losing any of the photos you’ve selected for Whitewater, you can throw that camping photo into the Outdoor Adventures album, and then go right back to where you left off — without skipping a beat.

CrowdRiff lets you sort content on the fly, without breaking your primary workflow. It’s intuitive, fast, and easy.

A system that will exceed your expectations

CrowdRiff albums do more than just categorize your content — they create marketing-ready packages of content. Whether you want to create a gallery out of that content, or get rights to those social photos, albums give you the starting point.

Feel like sharing an album with a partner or with the media? Create a custom share portal from any album to securely send over the assets you want.

What’s more, you’ll never have to worry about content getting buried in an album you’ve forgotten about. All your visuals remain available in your main collection.

And of course, you can search within albums too, with the same robust search function you know and love.

It’s coming soon

Everything about our redesign is about making CrowdRiff more intuitive to use and fit better with the way you work. This awesome organizational system is just one of the new features we’re building.

Stay in the loop for more product updates, and be the first to know when we’re ready to launch the newly finished CrowdRiff.

Bring Together All Your Visuals into One Visual Marketing Platform

Posted on January 30, 2017November 12, 2018 by Dan Holowack

Think about the last time you were looking for a photo to use in your new Facebook ad.

If you are like most marketers, chances are your visuals are spread out across too many places to keep track of.

You’ve probably got some photos in cloud storage systems, and some videos scattered here and there across everyone’s hard drives, hidden behind long-forgotten folders and indecipherable file names.

So when it comes time to find the perfect photo to use on that new web page, sometimes the “best photo” ends up having to be the one that’s closest at hand.

All Your Visuals → One Marketing-Ready Hub

CrowdRiff is the one tool you need for managing all your visual assets, whether they come from social media or a commissioned photographer.

Upload any asset and have it auto-tagged for easy retrieval. Sounds magical? We think so too.

No matter where your visuals are stored (hard drives, cloud storage, USBs) and whether you have 10 or 100,000, you can (and will want to!) upload them to CrowdRiff.

What’s so awesome about uploading photos to CrowdRiff?

Imagine finding a photo by searching for what’s in the photo (i.e. “sunny day” or “friends eating”), instead of its filename (i.e. “2016_01_24.jpg”).

Imagine dozens of photos showing up for a single search (great photos you’d long forgotten about), and having the luxury of browsing and choosing the best one.

By simply searching for what you want to see, CrowdRiff can find those images. Our integration with Google Vision means that each and every photo you upload is automatically and instantly tagged with (searchable) keywords based on what Google’s “sees” in your photo.

Once you try it, you’ll wonder how you managed without it.

Source thousands of new and authentic visual content every day

In addition to uploading the visuals you already own, CrowdRiff can bring in the thousands of user-generated photos people are sharing about you every single day.

Discover the authentic visual content your fans are creating

Get all the photos taken and shared at your most popular restaurants, attractions, and landmarks, sent straight into CrowdRiff.

From hashtags, to keywords, and individual accounts CrowdRiff opens a whole new world of visual content by sourcing social photos.

Managing all your visuals in one place has never felt more intuitive.

The easier it is for you to bring your visuals into your visual marketing platform, the easier it is to do your job — inspiring more people to visit your destination or explore your museum or become a customer.

Make visual marketing a breeze by managing it all within CrowdRiff.

If you don’t already use CrowdRiff, don’t miss out! Let us show you what CrowdRiff can do.

How Smaller Organizations Can Get More Followers on Instagram

Posted on January 19, 2017January 9, 2018 by Elizabeth Ching

What’s the secret to attracting more Instagram followers?

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refresh your Instagram strategy, it can be tough to get more users to click ‘follow’ – especially for smaller brands and organizations that are still growing their customer base.

But there are ways to make it easier!

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a huge budget or well-known brand name to develop a large, loyal Instagram following.

Here are some simple, actionable tips for organizations that want to get noticed, grow their audience, and boost engagement on Instagram.

1 | Identify an official hashtag for your brand

It’s important for your brand to have its own official hashtag to have an organized way to encourage people to share photos and talk about you.

Tip: When Destination BC was just starting out on Instagram, they decided to adopt a hashtag that was already gaining some traction: #exploreBC.

Instead of starting a new social conversation, they hopped on to an existing one. That made it easier than starting from the ground up and trying to get a whole new hashtag to trend.

Choose one that’s short and snappy (and easy to spell!), like Tupelo’s here:

Even if you are creating a new hashtag, as long as you use it consistently and encourage your Instagram followers to do the same, it’ll catch on.

2 | Map out your hashtag strategy ahead of time

There’s nothing worse than having the perfect photo ready to post but no hashtags to go with it!

It’s a good idea to come up with a library of relevant hashtags for future reference. Start by thinking about what key terms you want your brand to be associated with.

A tool like Hashtagify can jumpstart your brainstorming by making it easy to find popular hashtags.

You can also keep a running list of hashtags for campaigns — this might be for any special events you want to participate in or promote on Instagram.

Fun fact: Instagram posts with eleven or more hashtags tend to receive the most engagement.

If you’re worried about going overboard with your hashtags, here’s an elegant way to keep your captions clean: put your hashtags in a comment. Your posts will still show up in those hashtag searches, but won’t clutter your caption.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdYk5l3AVe1/?taken-by=visitnapavalley

Click “comments” and you’ll see the hashtags this small cafe uses!

3 | Post at least once per day

Consistency is key to growing your following, so it’s important to post on Instagram every single day. Posting at least once a day increases your visibility, while posting consistently creates a reliable Instagram presence that your fans can count on.

On average, most major brands post 1-2 times per day – but engagement doesn’t drop off for brands that regularly post even more.

4 | Share a mix of authentic and aspirational content

Posting once a day can sound daunting. You might think, Will I have enough content to share?

Not to fear, though, because you can always look to your fans for inspiration. They’re taking thousands of beautiful photos around your brand.

Find the ones you love, ask for rights, and share them on your own feed!

In fact, studies show that showcasing both authentic (UGC) and aspirational (your own branded photos) increases effectiveness by 28%.

So for maximum impact, share a combination of aspirational visuals (branded images) and authentic content (UGC). Remember to give proper photo creds in your caption, just like how Visit Duluth does it here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPYoD40gc_4/?taken-by=visit_duluth

5 | Define a visual identity that conveys your brand story

The most popular Instagram accounts not only post high-quality images on a regular basis, but their feeds present a clear visual identity.

Think of your Instagram as a lookbook for your brand. It should have a distinct style that shows people, at a glance, what your organization is all about.

On Travel Yukon‘s feed, you can clearly see the appeal it’d have to an adventurous nature lover:

You can also consider using similar filters on all your images or stick to a color theme to tie your posts together.

Simple photo editing tools like VSCO Cam or Camera+ can really up your Instagram game and make your feed appear more polished.

6 | Spark conversations and engage with fans

Want to connect with more Instagram users? Don’t be afraid to make the first move!

Start conversations with anyone who might share your organization’s interests or goals.

Explore your favorite hashtags to find other users and brands who are posting similar content. Like and comment on their photos to get your name out there and make some new connections.

Not sure what to say? It could be something as simple as complimenting a great shot, using emojis to show appreciation, or asking if you can re-share their stellar photo with your audience.

Destinations like Travel Portland use CrowdRiff to discover interesting UGC, engage with it, and publish it in their marketing. Find out more here!

7 | Ask influencers to host takeovers on your account

An Instagram takeover is a fun way to boost engagement, build relationships with industry influencers, and reach a wider audience. It’s a win-win-win scenario!

Initiate your own takeover by inviting a host – either an influencer, employee, partnering organization, or brand advocate you can trust – to temporarily take control your account.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPFznDYj-i-/?taken-by=hellobc

Check out Destination BC’s #guestagrammer series for takeover inspiration!

If it’s your first time planning a social media takeover, we recommend checking out our guide on how to do so successfully.

8 | Hold contests and giveaways for your followers

An Instagram contest is a great way to engage with your existing followers and attract new ones.

For example, hosting a giveaway that gets users to post photos with your brand hashtag will broaden your reach on the platform – not to mention inspire plenty of UGC!

But what to give away?

Consider this: though your overall goal might be to use Instagram to attract more visitors or increase sales, your first followers will likely be locals and existing fans.

So if you’re a destination, don’t be afraid to reach out to your local businesses about offering discounts to winners – perhaps a day-pass to a museum or a gift card to a local restaurant. (And you can never go wrong with a Starbucks gift card.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKDxmW0DWW1/

Don’t forget to ask winners to share pictures of them enjoying their prize!

9 | Share your Instagram posts on Facebook and Twitter

Cross-posting is a simple way to get more from your visuals.

It’s easy to do directly from the app. Tap the three dots in the top right corner of a posted photo, and choose “share”.

Not only does this develop your brand presence across multiple platforms, but it allows more potential fans to discover your content. After all, your Instagram posts deserve to be seen by as many people as possible!

10 | Plan a profile series or themed campaign

Creating an ongoing series of themed posts can bring your Instagram feed to life. It creates a sense of stability, sets expectations, and gives your followers something to look forward to.

Maybe that means sharing one photo a week that features up-and-coming local businesses or a series that highlights hidden gems in popular neighborhoods.

Humans of New York is a great example of a visual influencer that gained traction by specifically doing profile series.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHPl4CUAw8c/?taken-by=humansofny

What makes Humans of New York and Destination BC’s #guestagrammers stand out in the Insta-world? They’ve mastered the art of telling visual stories. When people see these, they connect emotionally.

So why not branch out from the usual one-liner Instagram captions in these special posts, and tell a compelling story?

You should continue posting daily, but balancing your one-off posts with a themed campaign can give your organization a more defined Instagram presence.

11 | Reach out to similar organizations for cross-promotion

You’re not the only organization looking to grow your audience! Reach out to partners and relevant brands for cross-promotion and you’ll both benefit from the spike in exposure.

For example, destinations can reach out to local businesses, as well as nearby cities or states.

Here’s Explore Canada, for example, a huge brand (and country!) with a huge Instagram following.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOkLLyRgEVo/?taken-by=explorecanada&hl=en

In their caption they not only use #ExploreCanada, their own hashtag, but also #ExploreNB (New Brunswick, a small Canadian province) and #Kouchibouguac (a national park).

Whether you promote each other’s accounts, repost each other’s images, or use each other’s hashtags, teaming up with similar organizations is a great way to score some new followers and support your partners.

Any organization (big or small) can achieve “Insta-success”!

Remember, consistency is key. That means ongoing dedication to your strategy. So once you have a clear plan of action, stick to it!

As you develop your Instagram presence and discover what works best for your organization, you’ll see an increase in your followers, engagement levels, and customer base.

Further reading:

20 Visual Marketing Statistics You Need to Know [Infographic]

Posted on January 18, 2017April 17, 2018 by Elizabeth Ching

Let’s say it’s the end of your work day.

As you unwind before your commute home, you take a few minutes to scroll through your Instagram… and there it is.

One of your co-workers recently posted a shot of a mouthwatering burger. Everything, from the perfectly toasted bun, to the crisp lettuce over the beef, looks flawless.

You check the location — it’s from the new cafe that opened up right down the street from your office!

The next day at work, when your stomach starts rumbling for lunch? You remember the cafe… and head right over to grab a burger of your own.

In doing so, you’ve actually just carried out a very specific consumer behavior. We call it visual decision making.

Every day, people are making decisions like what to do, where to go, and what to buy based on the visuals they see.

For brands, this trend opens up a world of opportunity to attract, engage, and inspire more people to take action.

Visual decision making is happening now, and these are the stats you need to know.

Feel free to share and embed this infographic:

<a href="http://bit.ly/2k9wk21" target="_blank"><img src="https://crowdriffv2.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/20-Powerful-Visual-Decision-Making-Statistics-Thatll-Change-the-Way-You-Do-Marketing-jan-17hq-1.jpg" alt=“Visual Decision Making Statistics CrowdRiff Infographic"/></a>

(Skip to next section: How Marketers Can Capitalize on this Trend)

Visual Marketing Statistics

43% of consumers are influenced to purchase by photos they see on Instagram. (Source)

People who shop on their phones say images are the most important feature. (Source)

Instagram users are 70% more likely to purchase a product online. (Source)

Shoppers who view video are 1.81X more likely to purchase than non-viewers. (Source)

46% of consumers say their purchasing decisions are influenced by Pinterest photos. (Source)

The brand Adore Me saw a 4000% increase in Pinterest-referred revenue after using Promoted Pins to reach new customers. (Source)

88% of consumers have purchased something they’ve pinned. (Source)

64% of women say images influence their purchasing decisions when shopping for apparel on mobile. (Source)

67% of product users say images are very important when making a purchasing decision. (Source)

Using a video on a landing page increase conversions by 86%. (Source)

63% of consumers said good images are more important than product descriptions. (Source)

53% of consumers found images more important than ratings or reviews. (Source)

60% of consumers are more likely to consider a business whose images appear in local search results. (Source)

Including a photo next to an item on a restaurant menu increases its orders by 30%. (Source)

Colored visuals are proven to increase people’s willingness to read a piece of content by 80%. (Source)

Only 10% of heard information is retained three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, 65% of the information is retained three days later. (Source)

90% of information sent to the brain is visual. (Source)

65% of people are visual learners. (Source)

The average person reads only 20% of a web page, but will view every image. (Source)

How can marketers capitalize on visual decision making?

Your audience is being inspired by visuals: therefore, you need to build your brand’s visual influence.

Tell your story and market your brand with visual content, and connect with your audience through the language that speaks to them most.

Must-read articles on visual influence:

CrowdRiff’s visual marketing platform helps hundreds of brands optimize their visual content to cater to visual decision making.

Discover the visuals people are using to make decisions about your brand right now — get a demo of CrowdRiff!

Introducing: the CrowdRiff Share Portal

Posted on January 12, 2017August 29, 2017 by Dan Holowack

Media request: Hi Destination, I’m writing a story about you! I’d love some photos of the following: a family enjoying a sunset at the harbor, the skyline as seen from Chinatown, and also any pictures of golden retriever puppies you might have.

Destination: (Oh boy) I know I have those somewhere…

Our customers are always getting requests from the media, as well as other organizations, for their great photos.

But sometimes finding each photo (Which folder did I put it in? Is it on a USB somewhere? Or was that a social photo?), attaching them one-by-one in emails, and outlining their specific terms of use can feel like a full-time job.

That’s why we’ve built the new CrowdRiff to tackle those challenges.

Introducing the CrowdRiff Share Portal

The Share Portal allows you to easily share any visual asset securely, and satisfy any photo request instantly.

Find the right photo in a matter of seconds. Because we’ve partnered with Google Vision, every photo you upload to the platform is automatically tagged with relevant keywords. Combine that with CrowdRiff’s powerful search function, and you can easily find any photo (social or owned) you need to satisfy your requests as quickly as they appear.

(Destination: Got’em!)

No more manually attaching individual photo files to emails. After you’ve found the perfect photos or videos, all you have to do is select them and choose share. In a blink, you have a custom portal for those specific photos, as well as a private link to send.

Add or switch out shared content any time you want. Decided afterward, there’s another photo you want to share? Not a problem. Add it straight through CrowdRiff and it’ll automatically be shared along with the rest of your content.

Easily communicate terms and conditions. When your recipient clicks the link, before they access your photos, you can provide guidelines for using your content, to ensure your assets are being properly used.

Share both owned visuals and social photos. From the photos you own to the photos and videos your fans post, this is the only portal that lets you share them all with a third-party. From the batch you send, your recipient can pick and choose the visuals they want to use.

Share Portal Use Cases

Press releases. A specialized alternative for Dropbox or Google Drive. Include the share link at the end of your press release.
Satisfying photo requests smoothly and securely from partners, operators, and all forms of media.
Freelancers and agency partners. Need to send a few photos to an off-site freelancer? Or to partners that don’t have access to all your photos? The CrowdRiff Share Portal is your answer.
Anytime you want to give access to a number of your visuals to any third-party.

Can you think of any more? Tweet us @CrowdRiff.

See the Share Portal in Action

*Article updated on May 15, 2017

8 Actionable Ways to be More Effective with Your Visual Content

Posted on January 9, 2017May 12, 2017 by Elizabeth Ching

What’s the simplest way to connect with your audience?

If you’re thinking “visual content,” that’s spot on.

Consider that most people only remember 10% of information they hear after three days. But when a relevant visual is presented alongside the same information, people will remember 65% of it.

So if you can leverage visuals to the fullest, you have access to the most powerful forms of influence: visual influence.

Here are eight actionable ways to make your visuals go further:

1 | Add text to say more with your photos

While great visuals speak for themselves, adding text to photos allows you to say even more with the images you share online.

Choose striking visuals that will grab your audience’s attention to overlay with relevant text. That is, use showing and telling to convey your message more quickly and clearly.

Take this tweet for example:

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words: How to Create a #VisualContent Strategy [Podcast] https://t.co/Eyb9JuQneu feat. @amritachandra via @Uberflip pic.twitter.com/G1dfKq0ACH

— CrowdRiff (@CrowdRiff) December 28, 2016

Embedding Amrita’s quote into the image allows us to say more without cluttering up the tweet.

And this isn’t just restricted to social media. Visit Pensacola does an amazing job creating photo buttons for their navigation.

Tools like Pablo make it easy to combine stunning visuals with text to get the most from your visual content.

2 | Get creative with collages and photo grids

Collages and photo grids are an excellent way to showcase a variety of images on your website and social media pages. Presenting a range of visual content in one place offers your customers a more immersive visual experience of what your brand’s all about.

Visit Franklin does this well with a curated photo gallery on their home page.

Another opportunity to make visuals more effective on social media is to simply include multiple photos in a single tweet or Facebook post, like Destination Cleveland does here:

In Cleveland, you can make glass art with your own two hands in a tiny studio that has a pet rooster named Morty. #ThisisCLE #Art pic.twitter.com/blEVawMDec

— Destination Cleveland (@TheCLE) January 4, 2017

Why include only one photo in your tweet, when you can include four?

3 | Combine calls to action with images

Now, you’ve probably made use of images as buttons, but how about the other way around? Why not put more of your visuals to work by embedding links in your photo grids and collages?

When you display lots of visual content, people tend to get inspired. Seize the moment by using your visual content to lead website visitors to take the next step.

For instance, DMOs can embed links to relevant local businesses, like Love Beverly Hills does in the photo gallery on their hotels page, so as people explore these photos and get inspired, they’re easily guided to take the next step.

Interested in CrowdRiff’s CTAs?

4 | Include keywords in filenames and alt tags

Image filenames and alt tags are only visible behind-the-scenes, but they still impact the effectiveness of your visual content.

Include the name of your brand or organization, along with relevant keywords, in alt tags and filenames, and you’ll rank higher in search.

Paying attention to naming conventions for image and video files will help search engines identify and categorize your visuals more effectively. This is important for SEO and makes it easier for more consumers to discover your content online.

5 | Balance authentic and aspirational content

Pairing professional content with user-generated content (UGC) boosts the effectiveness of your visuals by 28%.

The secret to this success lies in the combination of authentic and aspirational visuals.

Showcase the professional photos you already commission next to the real, everyday shots from your fans on your website and social media channels. These aspirational visuals show potential customers what they could be experiencing, while curated UGC offers a look at the authentic experiences of your current fans.

This is the best way to build visual influence, which will help you inspire more people to take action.

6 | Don’t be afraid of video

Did you know that 92% of mobile consumers share video content with others?

Branded videos can help build relationships with viewers, encourage engagement, and score more social shares.

Tara Hunt shares her insights about video for travel organizations:

The influence of video content is still growing. In fact, Cisco projects that global consumer internet traffic from videos will account for 80% of all web traffic by 2019.

7 | Embed Pinterest “save” buttons in your photos

Adding Pinterest buttons to photos on your website helps spread your content across multiple platforms. Although it might not make sense for all your visuals, allowing visitors to pin images from, say, your blog is a great way to expand your reach.

The option to pin a picture can spark interest from website visitors that might not otherwise engage. These ‘Pin It’ buttons make it easy for anyone to save and share your content – and can even inspire would-be travelers to start a Pinterest board for your destination.

Check out this guide to see how it’s done.

8 | Reuse visuals across different marketing channels to create a consistent online presence

Let’s say you have a really great photo from a recent event you hosted. So you share it to Instagram. But that same photo can also work on other social channels like Facebook or Twitter, and perhaps even on your website.

If you’re working with a user-generated photo, you can consider creating a gallery (like we mentioned in point 2) especially for showcasing authentic social photos for your website.

This is a gallery featured on the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis‘s website, for example.

Sharing your best visuals across multiple platforms not only extends the lifecycle of your content, but it also helps establish a consistent and recognizable brand presence.

A visual marketing platform (like CrowdRiff!) will simplify this process and make it easy to be consistent across all your marketing channels.

Now over to you

Don’t miss out on the full potential of your visual content! We hope these tips have been helpful going forward with your visual influence strategy.

Visual content can be so influential, and in the hands of a savvy visual marketer, infinitely powerful.

7 Effective Ways to Source More User-Generated Content for Your Brand

Posted on January 5, 2017January 15, 2018 by CrowdRiff

I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage, “Sharing is caring.”

But in the world of destination marketing, sharing is currency.

When your visitors share the photos they’ve taken, they’re putting the authentic experiences they’ve had with your brand out into the world. You gain social proof, engagement with your brand, and more sources of inspiration to entice new potential visitors.

User-generated content is also one of the most powerful forms of promotion out there.

It’s 20% more influential than any other kind of media for customers making a purchase decision
And in combination with branded content, it’s 28% more effective

So if you want to get seen and heard in your niche, you want to encourage your visitors to share more photos.

Here are 7 ways you can do just that:

1 | Create a dedicated hashtag for photos and use it to post to your own channels regularly

The first thing you want to do is make sure you’ve got a hashtag people know they can use when posting photos! So put it in your Twitter and Instagram bio, and share your own photos with it too.

It's a beautiful winter morning here in Ottawa! #MyOttawa #DiscoverON #ExploreCanada pic.twitter.com/wzUUFxZpSj

— Ottawa Tourism (@Ottawa_Tourism) January 4, 2017

Show the social community that you’re active (and love showcasing beautiful photos!).

Buffer recommends posting once a day on Instagram for brands.

Too busy to take a new photo each day? Well, your visitors aren’t!

Take advantage of the photos they’re already sharing, and, if they give permission, repost them. And this is where your hashtag can come in handy:

2 | Engage with people who are posting about you

What’s the difference between talking to a) a human vs. b) a pet rock?

Well for starters, a human responds and reacts to what you say. A human is fun to talk to. You’re more likely to keep talking to a human.

It’s simple: the more you engage with people that are talking about you, the more people are going to talk to you.

Whether it’s an Insta photo or a tweet you’re mentioned in, shoot a quick like or comment, and keep the conversation around your brand going!

Because it can seem daunting to reply to every single mention or interaction, Tourism Toronto actually uses CrowdRiff to help do this at scale.

Your active engagement shows that you’re listening, and that encourages people to keep sharing more.

3 | Get a boost from influencers

Influencers have the ability to reach different followers from you. Working with them expands your reach and visibility.

But how can they help you get more user-generated content?

Hashtags and locations that influencers share photos of get a lot of visibility, so the more influencers invested in your location or destination, the more prominent you can become.

So once you identify influencers you want to work with, here are some things you can consider doing:

Ask them to share a photo with your hashtag at a landmark or business you want to promote
Invite them to do a social media takeover (Destination BC hosts some amazing ones on their Instagram!)
Invite them to a special promotional event (maybe that’s a food/coffee crawl, a preview of an exhibit, etc.)

The Guggenheim Museum in New York City has developed a masterful strategy for that last idea.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF36tn3v5kU/?tagged=emptyguggenheim

When a new exhibit is about to launch, the museum organizes meetups of social influencers and members for a preview. Only 20 people are allowed, and they’re given free reign of the halls to snap photos that will be seen by millions, and generate excitement to entice new visitors to come explore the exhibit for themselves.

4 | Reward people for using your official hashtag and posting photos

Now this doesn’t (neccessarily) mean sending a prize to each person who shares about you.

Something as simple as a “Thanks for sharing!” or “Nice pic!” that you leave on their photo will do the trick.

This shows that you’re engaged with the community, and encourages people to keep sharing what you’re offering.

Another way to reward users is to re-share their photos and posts, with permission, to give them some extra visibility. Hosting a gallery on your website to feature your favorite visitor photos on your site is one of our favorite ways to recognize and showcase these images.

This kind of engagement shows that you value what people are sharing. And that’s great encouragement to keep sharing more photos.

5 | Start a Photo of the Day/Week social campaign

Once a day (or week) choose one great visitor photo you want to highlight, and share it! It’s an easy way to both promote your destination, and incentivize people to share great photos.

Visit Houston does an excellent job of encouraging visitor photos by sharing a #PhotoofTheDay with their 64,000 followers on Twitter.

#PhotooftheDay The Bayou City under the stars. 📷: @zshtx #MyHouston pic.twitter.com/ioqiiiLjPP

— Houston (@VisitHouston) January 3, 2017

Not only does this encourage tourists, locals, and prospective visitors to post beautiful images of the city, it gives great local photographers a reason to really strive to capture Houston in its best light.

Top tip: If you’re reposting a photo, ask for permission in advance, and remember to give photo creds!

6 | Ask great questions to solicit photos

Sometimes all it takes is a little prompting to get that photo activity rolling.

You can tweet something as simple as, “What’s your go-to spot at [your destination]? Show us your photos and tag us with #hashtag!”

The Wellcome Collection, a museum in London, goes one step further by inviting its visitors to share their thoughts on the permanent Wellcome Medicine Man exhibit on social media, with the prompt “This makes me feel…” and the hashtag #MuseumFeels.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEOinG-KhG3/?tagged=museumfeels&hl=en

Museum staff then print out their favorite responses from Instagram, and display them on clipboards inside the exhibit.

It gives visitors both the inspiration and incentive to share meaningful photos of their experience with the museum.

7 | Create photo-ready spots

Nothing prompts people to snap an Insta pic faster than a dedicated photo-op spot with a hashtag.

The beautiful Distillery District in Toronto has quite a few popular sites that people love taking photos at — like in front of their iconic LOVE installation.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLoM5qHD7nI/

Taking advantage of this, Glade created a similar sign, saying JOY, and strategically placed the punny hashtag #feelglade in front of it.

The result? Thousands of photos about Glade shared to Instagram.

Think about creating a dedicated photo sharing spot the next time you host an event or festival. And in many cases, you could even consider a permanent hashtag sign to an already popular photo-spot.

Now it’s your turn

Asking your visitors to take and share photos doesn’t have to be a game of cat and mouse.

Take these easy tips and watch as your visitors get excited to share more photos.

Happy sharing!

*Updated post. Originally published Oct 26, 2015

How to Navigate the Destination Marketing Tech Stack

Posted on December 21, 2016May 12, 2017 by Elizabeth Ching

Simply put, destination marketing has changed.

Today’s traveler not only has a more connected network of friends to recommend the next best place to visit, but also the entire web at their fingertips. There are hundreds of sites and apps (and not to mention user-generated content on social media) out there that help inspire travelers.

But on the flip side, us marketers have more tools than ever to help us stand out.

In fact from 2015 to 2016, there was an 87% growth in marketing technology.

And there are so many tools out there, that it can be hard trying to identify the ones that are right for your destination marketing strategy.

So to help you sift through all the tech out there, we went ahead and did some research.

From CRMs to DAMs to visual marketing platforms, we make it easy for destination marketers to understand what all these tools are for and which ones they need.

Take this free guide, share it across your team, and keep it handy for whenever you want to evaluate (or just better understand!) your destination marketing tech stack.

Your Guide to Attracting More Visitors with Social Media Takeovers

Posted on December 19, 2016August 2, 2017 by Elizabeth Ching

Whether you’ve spent months or years crafting the perfect social media presence for your brand, the idea of handing over the reins to someone else can be a bit unnerving. But that’s exactly what many DMOs and museums are doing to attract new visitors – and it’s working!

A social media takeover is a strategic decision to give someone else control of your social media account for a set amount of time. It sounds less crazy when you consider the strategy behind it.

The benefits of a social media takeover include:

Creating more user-generated content around your destination or organization
Humanizing your brand by linking it to real people in the real world
Expanding your social reach to connect with more potential customers

Of course, you wouldn’t trust just anyone with the power to shape your brand’s online presence. Choosing the right person to host makes all the difference between a successful, hitch-free takeover and a potential PR disaster.

When planning a takeover for one of your brand’s social media channels, look for someone who’s interesting, trustworthy, and relevant.

Let’s take a look at some of the right types of people to consider for hosting your takeover:

Employees

You don’t have to look far to find a group of excellent candidates for hosting your takeover. Not only do your employees know your organization inside and out, but you can also coach them to share a specific message or story that serves your marketing goals.

Whether you want to offer a sneak peek of a new exhibit or show the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into a local festival, an employee with internal knowledge of interesting projects makes a great host.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLI_QawAEi6/

Bonus points if you get someone from marketing to do your first social media takeover since they’re already comfortable with your brand’s messaging, and can set the tone for future hosts!

Influencers

Inviting influencers, such as artists, bloggers, or well-known public figures, to do a social media takeover is a fantastic way to grow your own audience.

We’re beyond excited for our Snapchat takeover today! 🇨🇦 PM @JustinTrudeau is snapping his way through #Shopify HQ 👉 https://t.co/hn40OoheFN

— Shopify (@Shopify) December 5, 2016

Reach out to influencers who are relevant to your audience so their takeover can drive the right kind of engagement and maximize your visibility on the platform.

A popular influencer can increase your reach simply by telling their sizeable list of followers to check out their takeover on your brand’s channel.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG65eLIn58k/

If you need some help starting out, here’s a guide for finding influencers and micro-influencers.

Customers and Fans

Aside from your employees, customers are the people who know and love your brand best.

While not everyone will have thousands of followers, they will have a genuine experience with your brand – and that authenticity can be powerful. A passionate, unscripted fan perspective often resonates with viewers more strongly than a carefully crafted social media update.

These are just some of the amazing photos from Destination BC’s regular social media takeovers on Instagram:

Of course, you’ll want to keep a close eye on what any non-employee takeover host is posting. Luckily, you have a few options if you don’t feel comfortable giving a customer direct access to your social media account.

Using a tool like Hootsuite allows your host to post updates without giving out your passwords. You can also use the dashboard to monitor every move your host makes (and revoke access if necessary) to reduce the risk for your brand.

Partners, Brands and Businesses

Destinations and museums can partner with other organizations to execute a takeover that creatively promotes both brands.

For example, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art teamed up with Disney to retell Beauty and the Beast on its 20th anniversary, through a series of Snapchats starring works of art.

Image from Oh My Disney

Destinations can form similar partnerships with local restaurants, cafes, and museums. Allow local businesses to showcase their brand story on your social media page as an incentive for doing the takeover.

Another variation is to simultaneously swap accounts – meaning someone from your organization takes over another brand’s account at the same time they take over yours.

Guidelines for Pulling off a Social Media Takeover of Your Own

A successful social media takeover increases short-term and long-term engagement. It offers a fun experience and fresh perspective for your current followers while introducing your brand to a new audience of potential visitors.

To make the most of your extra visibility, it’s important to plan ahead and prepare for the big event. Follow these guidelines to ensure your social media takeover goes off without a hitch.

1 | Make it mutually beneficial

Remember to consider why someone would agree to host a takeover on your channel. Can you offer more exposure to their target audience? If not, include a more personal gift to thank them for participating. Think about what’s in it for the host and create a pitch to help them see the value in participating.

2 | Choose the right platform

The most popular channels for social media takeovers are Facebook Live, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Each of these offers different advantages that you should think about when planning a takeover. For example, we love that content posted during Instagram takeovers seamlessly flow with the rest of your posts and give your host a chance to get visually creative.

3 | Use consistent hashtags

Help people identify content that’s part of a takeover with clear, consistent hashtags. It can be something as simple as #employeetakover to promote one of your internal takeovers or a popular hashtag like #guestagrammer or #instatakeover to highlight a takeover on Instagram. You should also ask your host to sign-on and off with a hashtag or personal tag to signal the start and end of the event.

4 | Set clear expectations and guidelines

Talk to your host about how long the takeover will last, how many posts they should share, what type of content they should feature, how they should promote the takeover, and anything else that will help things go smoothly. Encourage the host to introduce themselves with a selfie and express their creativity throughout the process. If your first takeover is hosted by an employee, ask that they reflect on the experience and contribute to your guidelines for future hosts.

5 | Have a secure plan for collecting content

To avoid giving away unrestricted access to your social media accounts, consider using a system for getting the content from your host and posting it yourself. Whether you copy and paste their tweets from a messaging platform like WhatsApp, get their videos and pictures from Dropbox, or use Hootsuite to monitor all social interactions during the takeover, have a plan in place to keep your accounts secure.

Further reading:

How to Find Micro-Influencers Using CrowdRiff

Posted on December 12, 2016April 29, 2019 by Elizabeth Ching

Influencer marketing and micro influencers have become one of the biggest marketing buzzwords lately.

Most of the time, marketers approach this strategy by reaching out to people with large followings.

But we’ve actually found that the companies we work with have grown their audiences and engagement by activating the micro-influencers.

They may only have 200 followers, not 2000, but a lot of the time they hold even more influence with their connections, than big-time bloggers.

These are the everyday people excited about your brand, and sharing photos online for their families and friends — people they have real, personal relationships with.

If you activate enough relationships with these micro-influencers, you can reach the same size audience as you would with traditional influencers — with a potentially better return too.

CrowdRiff can help you find the right micro influencers

CrowdRiff’s visual marketing platform pulls in photos from all over social media, and arms you with powerful search, sorting, and organization functionality.

It’s so much easier to find the active users, large or small, that are sharing photos about your brand with CrowdRiff, than manually scouring the web.

This is how you find micro-influencers using CrowdRiff:

Step 1 | Add strategic tracking terms

CrowdRiff brings in photos to your collection by tracking hashtags, geolocations, and users that you choose.

But besides tracking your brand hashtag, there are more unconventional terms you can track in order to pull photos from micro-influencers into CrowdRiff. Try thinking outside the box with these prompts!

“Insider” photo-op spots

You know your destination best — where do people like taking photos? Think trendy local spots — not just commonly known tourist attractions.

Within your location, there are specific spots that people who are active on Instagram flock to — whether that’s an aesthetic coffee shop or a wall of street art. These locations become trendy within the Instagram community.

If you’re stumped on which locations to track, do a quick search on Google — “most Instagrammed places in [your destination]” — and add those locations to start pulling in those photos.

You can also keep an eye out on your existing visual collection in CrowdRiff, to keep your finger on the pulse of what and where people are sharing photos, and get a sense of what’s trendy.

Crowdsourced accounts

A lot of Instagram accounts out there are now created with crowdsourced photos (or user-generated content).

In other words, their feeds are made up of reposts from other active Instagram users.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVfLYwFgWQi/?taken-by=toreats

These food-themed accounts, for example, curate photos different people have taken all over these cities. You can also find fashion accounts, photography accounts, etc. Most of these accounts source their photos based on location.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMq8OglABVj/?taken-by=fashioncanadians&hl=en

If you explore these crowdsourced accounts for your location, you can find the names of these talented photographers and micro-influencers in the captions. These are people you can consider reaching out to.

You can also consider looking into related destination marketing accounts for your location.

If you’re a state DMO, track the accounts of your cities. If you’re a city DMO, consider tracking your state or county’s account.

By tracking these crowdsourced accounts, you can discover the micro-influencers other accounts have already found.

Step 2 | Dive into CrowdRiff’s Search Insights

Search Insights is a new feature in CrowdRiff that shows you the top locations and top contributors of all the visuals in your collection. You can even discover Insights for each specific search.

For example, if you’re looking for a specific type of influencer, like fiid, you can search “#latteart” or something and then dive into Insights for the content with that hashtag.

And voila! Your traditional influencers are (likely) the ones listed in Top Contributors, and you’ll find dozens of micro-influencers by searching within those top locations.

Step 3 | Sort each tracking term by likes

Now that you’ve pulled in a good collection of photos, and identified a few good locations to search, it’s time to sort your results by likes to surface the photos taken by micro-influencers.

You can do this in two ways:

Sorting your entire collection at once
Sorting within each tracking term

We recommend clicking into each tracking term and sorting through there. It narrows down your search, so there’s likely less sifting and scrolling you’ll have to do.

By clicking on a photo in CrowdRiff, you can see how many likes and comments the photo has on Instagram, as well as the number of followers the user has. What you want to look for is a low ratio of both likes to followers, and likes to comments.

Traditional influencers tend to have significantly more likes than comments — but since people who follow micro-influencers typically know them, they have high engagement in both likes and comments.

Step 4 | Explore micro influencer accounts

People who are active on Instagram are usually connected with other active users. That means that if you know how to look, one micro-influencer will open up a pool of other active Instagrammers for you to explore.

This is how you do it: Search a known micro-influencer’s username in CrowdRiff to see who else has tagged them in photos. Those other names are likely active Instagram users.

What’s more, Instagram has “suggested accounts” next to the Follow button on each profile. If you’re on an influencer account, you’ll be able to discover many similar accounts through that feature.

By delving into a micro-influencer’s account, you can also see which niche hashtags they’re using. For example, in Hong Kong, the hashtags #hkig and #hkfood are popular, and in Toronto, #torontoigers. If they’re using these, other active Instagrammers are likely using them too.

You can search these hashtags in CrowdRiff to pull up the other photos tagged with these hashtags, and also add them to your list of strategic tracking terms to pull in more.

Step 5 | Organize photos to keep track of influencers you’ve found

There are a dozen ways you can organize micro-influencers in CrowdRiff, once you find them.

Since CrowdRiff lets you use both folders and albums, we recommend create a folder called “Influencers” to house albums that sort influencers based on their niche (photography, food, fashion, etc.) and/or project (Instagram takeover, festival promotion, etc.).

You can also add multiple keywords to each photo or video, so you can cross-sort and organize to create the system that best works for you. We recommend using keywords to identify the relationship you currently have with them (monitor, contacted, working with, etc.).

So the next time you come across an influencer, you can take one their their photos and organize it into the right album. Now, any time you want to find an influencer, you have a whole album of potential people you can work with or reach out to.

Now it’s your turn

With these tips handy, it’s time to try it out for yourself.

Find the everyday people that love your brand, that hold visual influence with their friends and followers.

Partnering with them will help you amplify their voices, and complement your own visual influence strategy.

From narrowing down Instagram photos, to strategically sorting and organizing them, CrowdRiff’s visual marketing platform helps marketers like you surface micro-influencers.

To see what CrowdRiff can do for you, drop us a line! We’d love to hear from you.

Header image courtesy of: @janiewanders

Further reading:

9 Destinations that are Charming Travelers on Twitter

Posted on December 8, 2016May 12, 2017 by Elizabeth Ching

Creating a compelling, engaging social media presence as a destination marketing organization isn’t easy.

You have to start a conversation. You have to find a unique way to highlight the best attractions, food, and drink, etc.

So new followers and (eventually) visitors can find you, fall in love with your destination, and see you as a go-to resource as they make their travel plans.

With so many competing voices out there, especially on Twitter, it’s easy to fall into the same, safe patterns in terms of what you share and say.

Here are 10 DMO’s whose voices are standing out on Twitter and charming travelers all around the digital world.

@Queensland

Queensland, Australia’s Twitter feed immediately stood out to us because of their unique, cheeky humor and personality, and the beautiful photos they share.

We asked u for local secrets & #thisisqueensland bucket📝 essentials. 👀 a collection of our 🙌 moments, as told by u.https://t.co/3lXz4VuORw

— Queensland Australia (@Queensland) November 29, 2016

Both their avatar (a koala in a Hawaiian shirt), and their liberal use of emojis and slang serve to create an engaging, quirky voice that reflects the demographic of their visitors: young, fun, and excited to explore.

BLOG: Where to SUP in Queensland https://t.co/TQ401bsIyV
#thisisqueensland pic.twitter.com/YS9fXOm7fU

— Queensland Australia (@Queensland) December 8, 2016

Scrolling their feed, you’ll notice they share their own posts, as well as posts from influencers, on everything from the best coffee on the Sunshine Coast to tricks for gaining more Instagram followers. To keep up with their almost-hourly posting frequency, they also liberally retweet photos from visitors and tourism partners. But the most consistent on their feed is beautiful photos of the tropical beauty of Queensland.

@MyTupelo

Tupelo may be a small destination, but has a knack for tying pop culture, past and present, in with witty commentary, and updates on local events, attractions, history and more.

This summer was sultry, but this fall is going to be fabulous!
Bring it home to Tupelo, #Elvis fan! pic.twitter.com/21cHCMPyCd

— Tupelo, Mississippi (@MyTupelo) October 13, 2016

When this small but proud city isn’t sharing info about local events and attractions, or making cracks about the weather or current events, they also regularly respond to people who Tweet at them in a friendly, approachable way, and retweet those who tag posts with #MyTupelo with regular gusto.

@TravelPortland

Portland has a reputation all its own as a city — and it’s Twitter feed is no different. Their social media marketing strategy is a perfect example of concierge-level post time, response time, and travel topics.

Alongside their charming voice, they use images in every single post to keep the feed visual, and share frequent reminders about local events. They’re also constantly sharing “best of” lists of exactly what to do in the city whether it’s hot, cold, snowing, raining, or anywhere in between.

Today's mission, should you choose to accept it: Grab lunch at Mac and Trees food cart in #PDX!

(Pic: leahyousquare – Instagram) #PDXeats pic.twitter.com/Eaa8owNQnA

— Travel Portland (@travelportland) November 29, 2016

Like most DMOs, Travel Portland shares information about local hotspots, but they also share information on must-know events for locals, including protests, civil engagements, and more.

@VisitHolland

While so many DMO’s social media strategies aim to engage with visitors currently on-site, and locals, Visit Holland’s approach makes them appealing to follow even if you don’t plan on dropping by Holland any time soon. And while you might think great storytelling is hard in 140 characters, Holland does it.

A dog, a human, & a bike. Not just part of the #HollandCool movie, but a way of life for the Dutch. https://t.co/UGG5waRB0l pic.twitter.com/vfufMhqVFY

— Visit Netherlands (@Visit_NL) November 17, 2016

They invite interaction by asking engaging questions. For example, they like to share photos of popular attractions and invite followers to identify the location.

Another great element to their feed? They feature a ton of incredible art from resident creators in galleries, and on the street.

#Eindhoven is transformed into one giant exhibition of light. Visit GLOW now and enjoy this magnificent spectacle. #GlowEindhoven pic.twitter.com/9NjWV5Tlww

— Visit Netherlands (@Visit_NL) November 13, 2016

@TexasTourism

Texas Tourism offers a great source for state-wide and small town information, helping tourists find fun stuff to do wherever they might be.

They utilize a lot of Q&A style Tweets, and use their platform to share interesting information about TV shows filming locally.

They also encourage photo-sharing by inviting their audience to showcase the best of Texas (i.e. like challenging their followers to a “queso-off” by Tweeting photos of their favorite local queso).

.@Mashdfrisco's queso is the real deal. #TeamQueso #TexasToDo pic.twitter.com/MQqFqBCuIA

— Travel Texas (@TravelTexas) November 27, 2016

Another cool aspect of their feed? They make sure to highlight lesser-known industries, like Texas’ vineyards, and other lesser-known attractions.

@ExploreGeorgia

Explore Georgia loves to promote their seasonal events, local movie productions, and the best of their local foods on Twitter.

But what they do really well is providing short, informative listicles to help visitors and locals find the best of the best — from Georgia’s many covered bridges and roadside attractions, to towns with famous Holiday displays, and more.

All aboard for holiday cheer! 🚂 8 Holiday #train adventures to explore in Georgia: https://t.co/h48GJtz1cu pic.twitter.com/0qMEsAKDfb

— Explore Georgia (@ExploreGeorgia) November 29, 2016

Explore Georgia also frequently retweets articles that feature Georgia, from big and small organizations — most recently, they were listed in National Geographic’s 2017 “Best of the World” list.

Did you hear the news? @NatGeoTravel just named Georgia one of the 21 places you need to visit in 2017! https://t.co/Vwvs5vJnZS pic.twitter.com/QB77dXfD81

— Explore Georgia (@ExploreGeorgia) November 18, 2016

You’ll also note that their avatar is their Snapchat logo, which also invites followers to find them on the platform for livestreams and photos.

@BaltimoreMD

Baltimore has mastered the art of the sharing value-focused info on their Twitter feed in a fun and interesting way. So peppered between images of local attractions and events, they also boost the earning potential of local businesses by sharing great deals and discounts in the area on food and drink, museum tickets, and more.

Check out our city neighborhoods where you can “shop small” November 26 (and year-round!) https://t.co/ApAskI6tGF #ShopSmall pic.twitter.com/jRugTbPAt5

— Visit Baltimore (@BaltimoreMD) November 23, 2016

Much like Tupelo, they love to showcase local celebs/talent (emphasis on Food Network Chopped stars from Baltimore), and promote down-home industries, like their local food and beer promotions.

.@LaCucharaBalt sous chef, Sarah Murray, will be competing on @FoodNetwork's Chopped 11/22 at 10 pm! Let's wish her #luck! pic.twitter.com/96eQOavd6v

— Visit Baltimore (@BaltimoreMD) November 16, 2016

They offer a range of varied retweets from partners and visitors alike, to create a wide-angle view of what they have on hand.

@TourismCalgary

Calgary nails their feed’s vibe with a humorous, laid back attitude.

A Calgary getaway offers the perfect opportunity to take in the best of the city’s thriving arts scene: https://t.co/lfvL3Y6mku pic.twitter.com/XGV7Nc5886

— Tourism Calgary (@TourismCalgary) November 26, 2016

They regularly share of profiles of influencers, along with local theater and concerts being held – which makes them unique on this list.

You know you're dreaming of a getaway on this Fri morn! Get some inspiration from @ElanMorgan after her trip to YYC https://t.co/FbXKW9Gqyk

— Tourism Calgary (@TourismCalgary) November 18, 2016

Their partnerships come across as friendly, as they’re actively engaging local promotional handles, and are active on Twitter chats, and frequently cheering on local sports teams.

@VisitPittsburgh

Audience interaction and photo sharing are something Pittsburg has mastered. They celebrate local sports teams, most notably the Pittsburgh Steelers, and also do a great job showcasing local architecture.

RT @katelynjperry: Baseball! #badgephotos #abstractions @abstractionscon @visitpittsburgh https://t.co/RjJx6xvyUl

— MeetPITTSBURGH (@visitpittsburgh) August 22, 2016

Their account devotes a lot of focus to Pittsburg’s world famous bar and food scene, but they also discuss a number of activities depending on the weather — like the best places to visit in the rain, sand snow, or on hot summer days.

But the crux of their social media strategy always seems to be engagement and response — to feature the best of their city through the eyes of their visitors.

Ready to step up your destination’s social media presence?

Here are our takeaways:

Respond and interact. Don’t forget the social in social media! Engage with the other people talking about you, by replying and favoriting their Tweets. The more you engage with your followers, the more you’ll be seen as a friendly, helpful presence in your space.
Retweet so that your feed is diverse and connected. Retweeting means less content creation on your part, and more interactive community for your Twitter presence as a whole.
Show some personality. Whatever your unique brand voice is, embrace it. Don’t hesitate to go for a few laughs and just let it shine!
Use your brand hashtag when replying to people. The more you share your hashtag, the more likely people are to use it too when Tweeting about your destination.
Collaborate with your local and regional partners. Retweet and share what your partners are posting, and encourage them to retweet and share in kind. This mutual exposure will help you consistently be seen as an authoritative, connected resource in your space.

We recommend taking some time this month to review your Twitter strategy. What are some great qualities of the examples above that you could recreate on your own feed?

Create. Experiment. And most importantly: have fun!

Announcing CrowdRiff’s New Visual Marketing Platform

Posted on December 7, 2016May 12, 2017 by Dan Holowack

Today, people are taking inspiration and action from the visuals they see.

We’re making all sorts of decisions from where we go for lunch that day all the way to where we choose to travel, based on visuals all the time.

Knowing this, brands need to rethink the way they’re connecting with their audiences — to center their marketing around visual content. Brands need to embrace visual influence.

We’ve worked with hundreds of brands to learn what it takes to become visual influencers. And we’ve taken what we’ve learned, and completely redesigned our visual marketing platform to serve the goal of visual influence.

We’re so excited to tell you about the new CrowdRiff that’s in the works.

It’s the same visual marketing platform you know and love, re-engineered to put visual influence at the center.

Our goal, as always, is to help brands connect with their audiences even better than before, through the power of visuals. We’re making it even easier for you to show consumers what matters.

Transforming the way you do marketing

We’ve listened to what marketers have been saying about how they use visuals, and where they struggle. The new CrowdRiff platform makes it easier to put visuals at the center of any marketing initiative.

A new home for any and every visual asset

Most marketers work with more than user-generated content, so your visual marketing platform should too. CrowdRiff doesn’t just source and manage UGC — it’s for all your brand’s visual content.

CrowdRiff is an all-in-one visual marketing platform. We’re making it possible for brand marketers to house and manage all visual assets — from photos to videos, earned and owned — in one robust system. No more photos lost in individual folders or hard drives.

A seamless, intuitive workflow

The new CrowdRiff is designed to center your workflow around your visuals, in 4 main stages.

Source

CrowdRiff combines the photos people are sharing about you online (earned content) with the visual assets you’ve commissioned or purchased (owned content) to give you an enormous collection of visual assets, one that keeps on growing.

Organize

With folders, keywords, and powerful universal search features, you can easily organize all your visual assets in a system that makes sense for you. And with our Google Vision integration, all photos you upload are auto-tagged with relevant keywords — allowing you to find any visual easily, eliminating manual effort.

Publish

Any photo that lives in CrowdRiff can be published to a visual influence app, or multiple apps, depending on what you want to do with it. That might be the Galleries App, for publishing dynamic visual content to a web page, or the Rights Management App, so you can request, receive and track rights to the UGC visuals you love.

Optimize

CrowdRiff helps you learn about the photos that deliver the optimal results, whether those visuals are used in your email marketing, website, or on social media.

It’s an intuitive workflow that starts with visuals and ends with visual influence.

Introducing a new publishing workflow

We’re introducing an entirely new way of pushing your visuals out from CrowdRiff. It’ll enables us to more easily add new features to the platform as well as open up the platform to partners that are creating more exciting ways to leverage visuals.

This new workflow will allow CrowdRiff customers to do even more with their visual content, and tap into the innovations of our industry partners. Stay tuned!

Be a part of our journey

As we prepare to launch the new CrowdRiff platform, we’re selecting a handful of existing CrowdRiff power-users to have the first, exclusive access to the platform.

We pride ourselves on having a direct line of communication with our customers, and I’m excited to personally work closely with our Early Access Program members to share what we have built and incorporate their feedback.

We’re going to be rolling out new features continuously, and will share regular updates in blog posts like this one. Join our product update mailing list, and be the first to know about our newest releases and advancements in the new CrowdRiff.

Small Destinations Doing Big Things with Visuals

Posted on December 6, 2016April 17, 2018 by Courtney Malinas

Does it feel like the large destinations are always getting all the spotlight?

Sure, they’re doing some creative things, but sometimes that makes it seem like you need their large budgets and resources to keep up.

Today we’re here to prove that with a splash of creativity, a bit of resourcefulness, and the right tools, destinations of any size can do big things with visual content.

These are five small destination marketing organizations (DMOs) that are standing out and inspiring travelers with visuals.

1 | Tupelo, Mississippi

The proud birthplace of Elvis, Tupelo is a hotspot of American culture, tradition — and cheeky humor. Population: 35,800

The first thing you see when you land on Tupelo’s website? A colorful and rowdy action shot of who else but the King of Rock doing what he does best, across a backsplash of bright orange, yellow, greens, and blues.

With bold visuals, Tupelo is a small DMO that has a strong, enticing destination brand story. And yes, Elvis is a huge part of it.

Almost every page of their website, and on all their social feeds, you see photos and videos of Elvis. In fact, their Twitter personality is one of our favorites ones!

This rarely-seen live video of #Elvis in concert may not be as thrilling as a visit to Tupelo, but it'll do for now:https://t.co/OmpsKO8HRb

— Tupelo, Mississippi (@MyTupelo) October 17, 2016

And beyond fun Elvis fandom, their website has a section where users can explore Tupelo through photos locals and visitors have shared:

Though their destination size might be small, they have no shortage of user-generated photos to display. Their secret: tracking more than the brand hashtag.

Tupelo uses CrowdRiff to uncover thousands of photos being taken at local restaurants, parks, attractions (such as Elvis landmarks, of course), as well as the ones tagged with #MyTupelo.

Through their creativity with visuals, they’re not only able to show what their destination looks like, but also their culture and values, in a very real and likable way.

2 | Telluride, Colorado

Once a mining town, Telluride is a now a premier ski destination nestled in Colorado’s Rocky mountains. Population: 2,300

Weather and climate are always things travelers consider (especially ski conditions!). Visit Telluride has found an ingenious way of showing interested visitors a (literal) window into their destination:

Their website hosts webcams that show live photos taken in Telluride throughout the day, so you can see exactly what conditions are like. With your mouse, you can scroll through a time-lapse of these photos. This is the webcam that shows their Main Street.

And it doesn’t stop there. You can toggle between winter and summer themes on their website, which will change the video you see on their homepage. Whether you’re a ski traveler or a regular summer vacationer, they’ll show you what experience you might get through targeted visual content.

In addition, this is another small destination that has tapped into the power of user-generated content with a section dedicated to “fan photos”. They have literally hundreds of visitor photos people can scroll through and explore.

3 | Pensacola, Florida

With sunny weather and protected beaches, Pensacola is a popular waterfront destination off the coast of Florida. Population: 52,000

Pensacola’s website visuals do a fantastic job of illustrating their brand. From the blues and sandy colors, you know at once they’re a beachfront destination.

Pensacola’s done a great job of designing their homepage navigation in visual grids:

The visuals capture your attention and draw you in to click deeper into the site. And putting video into that grid is really creative — it’s a small element that really stands out.

They also feature interactive photo galleries on many “Things to Do” pages on their site:

Featuring multiple visitor photos like this gives interested travelers a better picture of the activity, and the gallery format gives them something they can click into and explore.

But Pensacola’s strength is its video strategy. On their YouTube channel they’ve produced over 100 videos, to show tourists the kind of vacation Pensacola can offer.

Notably, they have a fun video series Three-Minute Adventures, where in each video, they explore a different activity you can do in Pensacola — in three minutes. They’ve covered skydiving, paddleboarding, parasailing, and ziplining to name a few.

These quick videos are genius because it’s easy to consume multiple in one sitting (especially with their playlists). But also on the DMO side, they won’t break the bank.

Just goes to show: you don’t need a major destination’s budget or a documentary crew to be effective with video!

4 | Branson, Missouri

Branson is a destination popular with families and known for its vibrant theater culture. Population: 11,000

While Branson might be a small destination, they’ve dedicated a lot to making their website’s visual experience shine.

What they’ve done exceptionally well is keeping all their visuals up-to-date and relevant. Right now in December, as they’re catering to holiday travelers, Branson’s homepage visuals are completely Christmas themed.

It’s not just their own branded visuals — with the help of CrowdRiff, Branson has curated enough Christmas-specific photos from locals and visitors to fill the (expandable) photo gallery on their homepage.

And with the call to “Share Your Branson Story,” at the bottom of each photo, people grab the chance to get their photos featured on Branson’s official website by sharing even more.

A lot of people might think that smaller destinations don’t have as many user-generated photos available, but Branson completely throws that misconception out the window. With the way they’ve used such a variety of visual content, in our opinion, Branson has created one of the best user experiences we’ve come across.

5 | Franklin, Tennessee

From their culture and history to their music scene, Franklin is proudly “Rooted in Americana”. Population 69,000

Franklin is one destination that centers their marketing around visuals — and they’re doing big things.

When you land on their homepage, an immersive photo of Franklin fills your screen. Below it, you find a stunning collage of visuals, with over 3000 photos you can scroll through.

Their website features 19 of these photo galleries, all showcasing authentic photos from locals and tourists. From web pages to blog content, Franklin proudly lets its fans support their visual marketing.

Franklin, like Telluride and Tupelo, has a social hub where they display visuals people have shared in their location. You can keep scrolling and clicking “Load More”, but you’ll never reach the bottom: that hub hosts more than 77,000 photo and videos!

To power these giant visual galleries, Franklin uses CrowdRiff to track over 100 terms (including hashtags, geo-locations, and users) to bring in content people are sharing from all over the web.

In their guides and Things to Do section, Visit Franklin liberally fills their pages with large, relevant visual content. Their attractions shine when they let their visuals do the talking.

Some might consider Franklin a “small destination,” but with the big way they’re leveraging visual content, they’re definitely a leader in visual influence.

We enable smaller DMOs to do bigger things with visuals

Today’s traveler is a visual consumer — meaning they make their decisions based on visuals.

CrowdRiff enables both large and small destinations to inspire the most people to visit your destination, with a powerful visual influence strategy.

In other words, we help DMOs do big things with visual content.

Book your demo today!

Step Up Your Destination Newsletter: Inspiration from 5 DMOs Doing it Right

Posted on November 29, 2016May 9, 2017 by CrowdRiff

What’s a good way to stay on top of a traveler’s radar?

Social media, of course, is one way – and then there’s your destination newsletter.

Your newsletter is the perfect opportunity to show off your destination’s highlights and keep in touch with the people that have signed up to get updates from you.

Send an amazing newsletter and these potential visitors will keep discovering more about the unique experiences your destination has to offer.

So, what’s the secret to sending an “amazing” newsletter?

The best destination newsletters are able to inspire people to come and provide the information they need to plan their next visit.

Let’s take a look at these 5 destination newsletters, and see what they’re doing right.

1 | Visit Franklin

We really like the creative use of visuals in Visit Franklin’s newsletter. Even the subject line incorporates fun, eye-catching emojis – and a lot of personality:

Fall in #FranklinTn is calling and it looks good on you!??

Visit Franklin has achieved a good balance between images and text: the layout gives equal weight to the visuals and the descriptions that accompany them.

Best of all, the focal point of the newsletter is the cinemagraph of pouring whiskey at the top. The movement draws readers into the newsletter, creating a sense of realness and immediacy that brings the distillery – and Franklin – to life.

2 | Visit Jacksonville

Short and sweet, this example from Visit Jacksonville is a different kind of newsletter. The single-page layout is simple, clean, and to the point.

It only includes the essentials: their logo, a short message, and a single call-to-action. And the photo collage that follows speaks the rest.

Overall, this newsletter reads like a personal invitation. The recipient is addressed by name and the message is signed Patty, Jax Lover. In fact, the copy repeats Jacksonville’s nickname, Jax, three times.

Using local lingo and personal language invites your reader to feel like a special guest with insider information – especially when combined with tips about free local activities.

3 | Tourism Toronto

For an awesome example of how to create a more in-depth newsletter, look no further than Tourism Toronto. It’s packed full of content, but doesn’t feel long or cluttered. It includes articles, calls to book now, as well as fun facts, and upcoming events.

This newsletter appeals to a wide audience and showcases events ranging from the Grey Cup to the Toronto Christmas Market. Broken down into easy-to-skim sections, every piece of text is coupled with a relevant visual and a link to more information.

One of the best things about this newsletter is the seamless use of UGC. Tourism Toronto features “Social Finds” straight from Instagram and promotes the #SeeTorontoNow hashtag to encourage even more engagement from visitors.

4 | Visit Austin Texas

This destination newsletter is certainly easy on the eyes. All the visuals are bright, interesting, and show off the many sides of Austin’s charm.

We love that a simple heading – “Autumnal Eats” – overlays the main image, both of which appeal to the reader’s craving for seasonal comfort food.

By accenting one section with a red background, Visit Austin Texas draws attention to local discounts and free activities. Highlighting event dates and details is an effective way to motivate visitors to book for a specific time.

The newsletter includes three simple calls to action: book now and save, click for more info, and plan a visit – all of which make it easy for someone to go from reading your email to planning their trip.

5 | Choose Chicago

The moment you open this email, you’re captivated with a vibrant photo of the Windy City.

This entire newsletter is black and white, aside from the images, which really makes the visuals pop. Choose Chicago uses stunning UGC found on Instagram to promote its attractions.

The direct call to action to “join the conversation” inspires a sense of community and visitors are asked to participate by using the hashtag #mychicagopix.

On top of being super visual, we like that this newsletter provides tons of ideas and tips to help travelers plan their next visit. It features blog posts, guides, a calednar of events, and links to deals at local businesses.

Plus, Choose Chicago offers their free official visitor’s guide for download right in the newsletter – making it easy for visitors to discover more about the city.

Takeaways for Your Destination Newsletter

Crafting an effective newsletter that inspires and excites your readers requires following the classic writing rule of “show, don’t tell.”

The best way to show readers why they should visit your destination is to start with on-brand visuals and create a newsletter around the visual experience – rather than vice versa.

Whether your destination newsletter features professional photographs, lifelike cinemagraphs, or UGC, visuals allow you to tell stories of your destination’s distinct personality, local events, and seasonal highlights.

Start with how your newsletter looks, and your readers will see why your destination is the perfect place to plan their next getaway.

Visual Influencer Spotlight: Bill Sycalik and #runningtheparks

Posted on November 28, 2016May 12, 2017 by Amrita Gurney

Bill Sycalik is the Founder and Chief Running Officer of the National Parks Marathon Project. He’s on a mission to bring people together and experience nature through running. He’s running a marathon in all 59 American national parks and documenting his journey in photos and on his blog. We interviewed Bill earlier this year to learn how he uses social media and visual influence to connect and inspire people all over the country.

Mission statement from the National Parks Marathon Project website

We love what you’re doing with the National Parks Marathon Project. Can you tell us about the moment you realized you were going to bring this idea to life?

I was most recently living and working in New York City. While I do love the energy of the city after five years I realized it just wasn’t feeding me anymore. I longed for easier access to the outdoors and nature.

My lease was up in May 2016 and I was planning to move to the Denver area. I was going to take some time off before I settled but hadn’t determined what that would be. I wanted to do something experiential and not just about drinking cocktails on a beach.

As I was surfing the ‘net one day I came across info highlighting this year being the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. My first thought was that I would visit some of the National Parks on the way to Denver.

But that itself wasn’t compelling enough for me. I wanted to experience the parks differently.

I enjoy running long distances completing both marathons and ultramarathons up to the 50-mile distance. I thought that it would be amazing to run 26.2 miles in every national park. That would be an incredible way to see the parks, challenge myself, and inspire others to really get into the parks, not just see them from the overlooks.

Thus, the National Parks Marathon Project was born.

What inspired you to start running marathons in the first place?

I ran my first marathon at the age of 33. I will be 45 years old on 8/17 so while I’ve been running for 12 years I can be considered a late starter to running. I never ran in high school or college and always thought I would hate it. But, I was living in Detroit and wanted to do something to get in better shape and tick “run a marathon” off the bucket list.

Like many I felt it out of reach — something only extremely fit people do. But, I thought, if Oprah can run a marathon so can I.

On October 29, 2006, I completed the Detroit Marathon in 3:49.08. Once I finished I thought to myself, “Oh, I can do better than that….” And that started my interest in marathons which then expanded to ultramarathons.

Any favorite trails so far?

Of course I don’t want any of the National Parks to feel bad because they are all different and amazing in their own right. I will say that Theodore Roosevelt National Park was the most difficult to date. Everything from navigation issues, heat, elevation, water crossings, animals and complete solitude challenged me thoroughly. TRNP is extremely beautiful, diverse and remote.

The sunrise and sunset at Badlands National Park ended up being beautiful despite choppy clouds.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIWTL-GheO8/

Had any crazy experiences on the trail?

At Wind Cave National Park I fell. Just tripped and did a roll. Bruised my shoulder but otherwise came out unscathed. I figure that if I fall like that every seven marathons plus 21.5 miles I’ll take it.

I’ve also had to avoid bison on the trail there, and at Theodore Roosevelt National Park (three times!). I’ve also seen bears at Grand Teton and Voyageurs National Park.

Voyageurs was interesting. I had highlighted a trail that I was planning to run. When I asked the ranger about it, she said that the trail is on the map but most of it is underwater. Between the recent rain and the beavers building dams, I wouldn’t get too far before I would have to swim. She suggested another route which required me to hire a water taxi to take me 35 minutes across Lake Kabetogama to another trailhead.

We see you’re posting a lot of photos of the parks, and your runs on social media. How’s sharing the journey been going?

I’m now a little over seven weeks into the trip. I am still trying to find that balance between sharing and enjoying. I want people to realize through my example that it is OK to take some time off. It is not crazy to stop working for a while and enjoy nature, enjoy life! I don’t want people to live vicariously through me. I want them to create their own experiences.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLyjhoVAk-g/

I hope my photos and reports can help do that. I also use HootSuite to schedule posts. When I have good internet I schedule a bunch of posts so that I don’t have to do it every day.

How do you think platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter can help Americans value and appreciate their parks more?

Social media allows people to share ideas and information more easily than any time in our past. I have received and given recommendations to other travelers and visitors to the national parks.

Social media is a great way to learn from others’ experience and mistakes. And best, social media enables connection in person easier than ever.

All the people who have run with me on this trip I met through social media. It is a way to bring people together around a subject or activity they care about, in this case running and our national parks.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHsoiFYBSHj/

You can also use social media to learn about issues concerning the parks like proposed construction, logging, pipelines, etc. You can help take action where you feel inspired to help protect these fragile places. The National Parks Conservation Alliance is my recommendation for learning about how you can help.

All that said, it is very easy to get caught up in social media. Putting limits on checking and posting when in or around the national parks is a good idea. That way you don’t get distracted from the experience.

On so many of your posts, you’re inviting people to run with you, or just spend some time in nature with you. How’s the engagement been from this offer?

I’ve had people run with me at six of the nine parks. For three of those parks I had someone do the entire marathon with me. Those are strong runners! It looks like I should have some company for Yellowstone as well.

In addition, at Badlands, someone I met through Instagram wanted to run with me even though he wasn’t going to be there for the marathon day. He and his family were staying in the same campground so we ran our own off-trail route around the buttes and spires near the visitor center. Despite loving both distance running and our National Parks, he said that he would never have gone on that run if I had not been there but was so happy he did. He said he’s definitely going to try to run at future parks as he can.

This is what it’s about — meeting new people and experiencing our National Parks through running.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ6WONoBPWx/

You mention on your website that one of your core values involves “contribution and impact”. What impact do you hope to make with this project?

There are three things I would like to contribute.

I want to serve as an example to those who might feel trapped by their job, location, or lifestyle that it is possible to make a change. I want people to recognize that it is OK to take some time off and you don’t need a lot of money to do so. I want people to know that recognize their happiness is not measured by the number of things they accumulate.Trying to keep up with what other people have is exhausting both for the person and their bank account. Have what you need, save prudently and use the rest to experience the world.

I want people to be inspired to get out of their cars and see our national parks on the ground. Even if they don’t run, I hope people will at least get out and do a long hike. I want people to see that moving in our national parks is possible for everyone. By getting closer to nature, hopefully people will recognize why these places need to be protected.

I also want people to see that a plant-based athlete can accomplish great things. One of the very few things that an adult human has full control over is what they eat.It is time for the country to take ownership of what we eat, reach out to organizations which can provide less crazy dietary guidance (like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) and become collectively the healthiest nation on earth. We are far, far from that.

So, what happens next? You talk about being a “recovering management consultant”. Do you ever see yourself going back to corporate America after this?

While I never say never, I don’t see myself ending up in another traditional consulting or corporate position.

My current thinking is that I would like to work in product development and marketing in the outdoors or athletic industry. This could be gear, footwear, clothing, or nutrition for instance. I would like to work with athletes and users of the products to make them stronger, faster, better. I would also like to leverage my running coaching certifications so maybe I’ll pick up some clients as well.

The other option, which I could do in parallel, is to be an educator in diet and exercise. I choose to eat fully plant-based (vegan) and I feel it would benefit most people to eat the same. I can be an example of what is possible.

However, I know that it is a process to get to that point and my feeling is that we’re lacking proper education. I used to think people just chose to make bad decisions. Now I’m beginning to believe they don’t know any better — which is an education problem, not a willpower problem.

Thanks for taking the time to answer all of our questions, Bill!

You clearly have such a passion for what you’re doing, and that really comes across. We love your vision behind the National Parks Marathon, and especially the way you’re bringing awareness to it with visual influence. Your photos and blog are inspirational. Best of luck!

Connect with Bill

Follow his progress! Yellow pins mark completed parks, and red are still to go.

Official website
Twitter: @runtheparks
Facebook: www.facebook.com/runningtheparks
Instagram: @runningtheparks
YouTube

CrowdRiff is a visual marketing platform that helps brands take charge of their visual influence strategy. To find out how CrowdRiff can help your brand find people like Bill, drop us a line!

Header image from the National Parks Marathon Project website

5 Ways CrowdRiff Helps DMOs Be Better Visual Influencers

Posted on November 23, 2016November 12, 2018 by Courtney Malinas

You’ve heard the saying, “Looks aren’t everything.”

And in most cases, we’d agree!

However, when it comes to spreading the word about your destination (to attract new tourists and fans), visual influence matters more than ever.

As a DMO, you want to stand out as the visual influencer (or authority) for your destination, and inspire potential travelers with powerful visual stories. You want to be the first place people go to when they want to find out what kind of travel experience you can offer.

CrowdRiff’s visual marketing platform helps DMO’s, attractions, and museums become better visual influencers, to spark powerful engagement, and stand out as the go-to experts in their field.

These are five ways CrowdRiff helps brands take hold of their visual influence, and be better visual influencers.

1 | Finding your destination’s best UGC photos with powerful tracking and search functions

Every day, people are sharing photos of your destination all over Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (and more). CrowdRiff helps you easily tap into this growing collection of visual content, by sourcing relevant photos into the platform.

Each time someone shares a photo or video tagged with a hashtag you’re tracking, it appears in CrowdRiff.

That makes it easy for you as a visual influencer, to stay up-to-date on what people are sharing in your destination. By browsing the photos CrowdRiff pulls in, you can discover the local coffee shops locals are frequenting, the attractions that make the best photo-op spots, and the latest trends in your destination.

“There’s so much going on you find little nuggets of things that are happening in town, new public art, new murals, new stuff happening…you can have your finger on the pulse of what’s going on.”

– Wes Rhea, CEO of Visit Stockton

And one of the best parts about your CrowdRiff collection is that the thousands of photos in there are all searchable and sortable. Our industry-leading search lets you search more than just hashtags and keywords.

So whether you know what you’re looking for, or just want to discover something new, CrowdRiff can help you find the photos to be the best visual influencer in your location.

2 | Storing all your visual assets in one organized hub

User-generated photos of course aren’t the only visuals you have — you probably have photos from professional shoots, images you’ve taken yourself, event pictures, and such.

CrowdRiff’s visual marketing platform is a hub for all of these. Besides pulling in user-generated photos into your collection, you can also upload any owned visual assets, so that all your visuals are stored in one place.

CrowdRiff also makes it simple to sort and organize all your photos. You can tag photos and sort them into folders, so that while your collection might be huge, everything remains easy-to-find.

What’s more, using artificial intelligence, in the form of Google Cloud Vision, every photo you upload is automatically tagged with relevant keywords — meaning your entire CrowdRiff collection is searchable.

Having everything in one place makes it easier to keep on top of all the assets available for your use, so you can get creative with your visual influence campaigns.

3 | Simplifying rights management for UGC photos

A part of being a powerful visual influencer involves curating and showcasing the photos that tell your brand story best. And since others are always sharing photos in your destination, having a system in place to get rights to use UGC photos is a must.

When you’re looking for a variety photos to use on your website, typing out individual comments (“I love this photo! Do we mind if we use it on our website?”) can take a ton of time.

CrowdRiff simplifies the rights management process in two ways:

It allows you to request permission at scale
It keeps track of who’s given permission to which photos

You can select multiple photos in your collection and send out customized rights requests with just a click — saving you hours of manual searching and typing. And once someone responds with permission, the photo automatically becomes available for you to download.

For the brands that require another layer of protection, our Advanced Rights Management feature lets you link users to an actual terms and conditions document. Watch it in action in our ARM announcement.

4 | Helping you give actionable inspiration with Calls-to-Action

Visual influence is all about inspiring people to action through visuals — and a part of being a visual influencer is enabling both the inspiration and the action.

CrowdRiff’s Call-to-Action (CTA) feature allows you to insert relevant links within photos. So when someone finds a stunning picture of a historic theatre, and suddenly feels inspired to visit, you can make sure there’s a link to that theatre’s website for them to take the next step.

Linking to a partner’s listing on your own site or directly to their website boosts your role as a visual influencer and authority because you can offer all the information people need.

After implementing CTAs to their photos, Hammock Coast was able to drive 20% of their web traffic to their tourism partners. Read the full story here.

And as your follower count and engagement grows, so will your opportunities to share the successes with businesses within or around your destination by helping filter some digital and foot traffic their way. This solidifies your standing as an authority on your brand.

5 | Extending your visual influence to every channel

A lot of brands are already doing great things with visual influence on social media — reposting and curating popular photos to their own feeds — but it doesn’t stop there.

CrowdRiff makes it easy to be a visual influencer across all marketing platforms — your website, your social channels, and in out-of-home advertising too. Being consistent with the story you share will cement your position as the visual influencer of your brand to visitors wherever they go.

Go To Louisville, for example, is a fantastic example of a DMO who’s embraced visual influence on multiple channels. They’ve become the top visual influencer for Louisville, Kentucky.

When you find a photo you like in CrowdRiff, you can put it in a gallery on your website, download it for use (after getting rights) in a visitor’s guide or other print ads, or schedule it straight into Buffer to share on social. Or all three!

CrowdRiff can help your brand become its primary visual influencer.

Visual influence isn’t just a way to hold sway over your market. It’s the way to share your story, the best parts of your destination, and create a lasting, powerful bond with your audience and visitors.

With CrowdRiff’s robust visual marketing platform, you can rise to the top as the visual influencer of your brand, to reach and inspire more people to visit your unique destination.

We’ve found thousands of photos taken in your destination! Request a demo link to see what CrowdRiff can do for you.

Header image credit: @ribbonaj

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Upload any asset and have it auto-tagged for easy retrieval. Sounds magical? We think so too.

Source thousands of new and authentic visual content every day

Managing all your visuals in one place has never felt more intuitive.

1 | Identify an official hashtag for your brand

2 | Map out your hashtag strategy ahead of time

3 | Post at least once per day

4 | Share a mix of authentic and aspirational content

5 | Define a visual identity that conveys your brand story

6 | Spark conversations and engage with fans

7 | Ask influencers to host takeovers on your account

8 | Hold contests and giveaways for your followers

9 | Share your Instagram posts on Facebook and Twitter

10 | Plan a profile series or themed campaign

11 | Reach out to similar organizations for cross-promotion

Any organization (big or small) can achieve “Insta-success”!

In doing so, you’ve actually just carried out a very specific consumer behavior. We call it visual decision making.

For brands, this trend opens up a world of opportunity to attract, engage, and inspire more people to take action.

(Skip to next section: How Marketers Can Capitalize on this Trend)

Visual Marketing Statistics

How can marketers capitalize on visual decision making?

Our customers are always getting requests from the media, as well as other organizations, for their great photos.

Introducing the CrowdRiff Share Portal

(Destination: Got’em!)

Share Portal Use Cases

See the Share Portal in Action

1 | Add text to say more with your photos

2 | Get creative with collages and photo grids

3 | Combine calls to action with images

4 | Include keywords in filenames and alt tags

5 | Balance authentic and aspirational content

6 | Don’t be afraid of video

7 | Embed Pinterest “save” buttons in your photos

8 | Reuse visuals across different marketing channels to create a consistent online presence

Now over to you

1 | Create a dedicated hashtag for photos and use it to post to your own channels regularly

2 | Engage with people who are posting about you

3 | Get a boost from influencers

4 | Reward people for using your official hashtag and posting photos

5 | Start a Photo of the Day/Week social campaign

6 | Ask great questions to solicit photos

7 | Create photo-ready spots

Now it’s your turn

The benefits of a social media takeover include:

Employees

Influencers

Customers and Fans

Partners, Brands and Businesses

Image from Oh My Disney

Guidelines for Pulling off a Social Media Takeover of Your Own

1 | Make it mutually beneficial

2 | Choose the right platform

3 | Use consistent hashtags

4 | Set clear expectations and guidelines

5 | Have a secure plan for collecting content