For travel brands to create marketing campaigns that succeed, they must meet consumers where they naturally seek inspiration and information.
Social media has become the new search engine. 46% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials prefer social media over traditional search engines.
TikTok has emerged as a platform to gather quick tips and tricks, but YouTube remains the powerhouse platform for travel content as it leads the way for long-form storytelling, in-depth reviews, and beautiful destination shots that can be watched on CTV big screens.
We partnered with Expedia during Black Friday to promote their latest feature, Travel Shops. Travel Shops serve as a shoppable storefront within the Expedia app, highlighting top travel recommendations from creators. This feature provides prospective travelers with a unique space to explore curated travel suggestions from their favorite influencers.
Expedia® is one of the world’s leading full-service travel brands, where travelers can book everything they need in one place, including flights, hotels, and car rentals. We recently partnered with Expedia during Black Friday to promote their latest feature, Travel Shops. Travel Shops is a shoppable storefront within the Expedia app that highlights top travel recommendations from creators. This feature provides prospective travelers with a unique space to explore curated travel suggestions from their favorite influencers.
We selected YouTube and partnered with a range of Travel creators to target Gen Z and Millennials in the US.
Unlike short-form vertical video platforms, YouTube videos have longevity and remain discoverable for years, continuously driving organic traffic. Whether users are researching destinations, comparing accommodations, or looking for itinerary ideas, YouTube’s search and recommendation algorithms ensure that high-quality content remains relevant and accessible long after its initial upload.
Travel creators craft immersive, high-quality videos that drive strong audience engagement. Through stunning visuals, compelling storytelling, and firsthand experiences, viewers feel like they’ve been transported to new destinations, making the content both aspirational and practical. With no time limit on a YouTube video, creators can go into immense depth with their recommendations, and use the time stamp feature to allow their audience to navigate easily to the parts that are relevant to them.
YouTube was the first platform that we explored as an agency to produce impactful influencer campaigns for clients. For almost 6 years we’ve seen consistent results on the platform for Surfshark VPN, as well as campaigns for brands like LUSH, Panasonic, and Headcount.
The results of the Expedia campaign speak for themselves:
To enhance the likelihood of our influencer partner’s audiences clicking through to their Travel Shops – which was one of our core aims – we had to ensure we selected creators who loved to travel and whose audiences would find the service beneficial.
We identified 3 key influencer personas to collaborate with on this campaign – selecting 14 in total:
Lisa and Josh’s video is the perfect example of how super long-form videos thrive on YouTube. Their 2-hour and 20-minute long video gave their audience a deep dive into budget-friendly travel tips for Iceland while integrating Expedia’s curated deals.
“Jumping Places” aka Chris and Carol brought their audience along on their anniversary trip to El Salvador and showed them how they could recreate the trip with Expedia and visiting their Travel Shop. The comment section on this video shows how deeply invested audiences are in the creators they follow on YouTube, sending congratulations on their anniversary and showing gratitude for the travel trips.
Showcasing off-the-beaten-path destinations with Expedia’s Travel Shop as the go-to resource.
Linh Truong’s solo travel vlog was described by her audience as feeling “like a movie.” Again, this is an excellent example of the connection between creator and audience on YouTube. Comments on the video included: “I teared up a few times this was made beautifully”, “this vlog healed something in me”, and “I would just like to say that you make me feel so safe and comfortable online”. Seeing how much Linh’s audience values her content and her recommendations, we knew she would be the ideal partner for our Expedia campaign.
For travel brands looking to drive bookings and engagement, partnering with YouTube travel creators is a no-brainer.
Our Travel Shop campaign with Expedia proves that authentic, well-integrated content on YouTube converts inspiration into action. Whether targeting seasoned explorers or first-time travelers, YouTube creators can showcase destinations, share planning resources, and drive measurable business results.
Outside of YouTube, short-form native platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels offer opportunities for travel influencer campaigns. We used both platforms to position SWISS as the premier choice for premium air travel and reinforce its identity as "the skier's airline."
If you want to explore working with influencers for your next travel campaign, reach out to us at hello@digitalvoices.com.
