How to Tell a Joyful Story Across the Traveler's Journey

Even long before we pack our bags, we’re heavily influenced by the stories destinations are selling, the stories we tell ourselves and the ones we share with each other. All this anticipation gives brands opportunities to bring joy across the planning process.

According to PETERMAYER’s Brand Joy Lab, consumers rank taking a vacation as the most joy-inducing experience one can have, among a long list of products and services. Leisure travel gets 79 out of a possible 100 on our Joy Score index. More important for brands, we’ve found a consumer’s intent to travel to a destination is tightly connected to the joy they think that place will bring (there’s an 80% correlation there). So, how to harness your brand’s unique joy to drive that purchase intent?

We’ve found ways to tell your story throughout the traveler's journey. Whether dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing or sharing, there are opportunities for brands to spark joy in every phase.  

Dreaming of Where’s Next

Even when we aren’t actively planning a trip, we still daydream of the places we want to go. Americans spend an average of eight days out of their year thinking about vacation. The joy in dreaming lies in being able to escape from the day-to-day, even if it’s just for a fleeting mental moment. People want to be able to envision themselves in a destination before visiting, and this daydreaming is being fuelled by video content that helps them do so. 

With social media, seeing travel influencers play out their own 'story' in a destination can work the same way. Destinations and experiences go viral as people flock to familiarized places to create their own stories. It’s why we’re filling our social media feeds, particularly TikTok, with content that provokes ideas on where to go, whether it’s spurring fantasies of vacationing in exotic getaways or giving us a vision for easy and accessible trips. 

How Your Brand Can Spark Joy:

The opportunity for brands to provide joy to travelers starts before dreamers even begin thinking of planning their next trip. Brands can help people become familiar with the unfamiliar by offering up content that stirs daydreams of personal travel stories unfolding. 

If Hollywood isn’t coming to town, video and influencer content can help brands make their mark at this stage. According to Statista, social media has the greatest influence on travel choices, with 75% of respondents saying they were influenced to travel to a destination by the channel. TikTok has quickly gained ground as one of the most influential platforms to influence travel decision-making. MGH’s survey of US TikTok users found that 60% have become interested in visiting a new destination after seeing a TikTok video about it. By engaging influencers and producing their own engaging content, brands can capture the imaginations of prospective travelers to get on their shortlist. 

Anticipating What’s to Come

Once the serious research and planning into a trip begins, the joy of the journey really begins to take off. A study published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life found that the largest boost in happiness can come from the simple act of planning a vacation. There’s a sense of control and creativity that one has when planning a trip and exploring the possibilities and options that a vacation offers. 

Content featuring itineraries, tips or guides, must-see things to do, hidden gems and lists ranking the best of the best in any given destination triggers people’s happy hormones as they begin to anticipate their trip. Much of their discovery of this content is happening on social media, but they’re also going to destination websites, travel blogs and publications, and online travel forums. Once they decide where to go, that anticipation of a break from the norm can bring an increased sense of happiness for up to eight weeks before the trip. 

How Your Brand Can Spark Joy: 

Brands can stand out at this stage by delivering itinerary-building content in surprising, unique and engaging ways. You want people to not only daydream of being in your destination – you want to immerse them in discovery and feed their creativity as they begin choosing the places, experiences and sights that will make their trip as joyful as it can be.  

Rather than share another blog article featuring a list of things to do, partner with influencers to create a guided tour of the best your destination has to offer that tells a story of what it’s like to travel there. Create your own content around a creative idea that flips the traditional itinerary on its head. Get travelers to feel the experience of visiting, while helping them plan their trip.  

Living the Dream

People are traveling in search of an emotional experience, whether that’s excitement, relaxation, authenticity or adventure. By helping travelers become fully immersed in the experiences of the trip, brands can tap into the psychological theory of 'flow,' ensuring that they get the maximum amount of joy from their travels. 

Spaces and experiences that help people relax or enrich their trips can add on to the joy of discovery (or familiarity) that travelers already feel. Motivating unique, real-word encounters can bring novelty to environments, cultures and activities that stimulate the brain and promote feelings of joy. Addressing the mental health and wellness of travelers can smooth the way for personal enrichment, community connections, rest and restoration. 

How Your Brand Can Spark Joy:

Much of the success brands can find at this stage can be attributed to how well they spark joy at the previous stages. If your brand is steering travelers toward the right experiences and providing them the information they’re seeking, their trip will be more seamless, after all.

But there’s ample opportunity to smooth out the act of travel. Airlines, accommodations and rental services all have potential to be spaces where brands can appear in positive ways. In destinations and along the way, brands can explore creative ways to address the needs and pain points of travelers to create experiences that leave travelers saying 'wow' and enable them to have the trip of their dreams. 

Sharing & Reminiscing 

Sharing photos and stories allow people to reconnect with their experiences and share the joy they experienced with others. How people choose to share can contribute to their sense of self and how they are perceived by others. Even though the trip is over, the process of remembering it is just beginning.

Looking back on a trip once it’s over can be as significant of a point in the journey as the earlier stages. It can evoke feelings of nostalgia, which is linked to happiness, and a sense of personal growth. People are creating shared albums, building Instagram Story Highlights, posting trip wrap-ups and even printing physical photo albums. We share moments in real-time - and keep them to look back on - as a way to relive our travel stories. 

How Your Brand Can Spark Joy:

There’s opportunity here for brands to earn the love of travelers and most importantly, another trip. Connecting with travelers as they leave a destination can be as significant as connecting with them before they arrive.

Leveraging UGC (user-generated content) in interesting and creative ways can celebrate individual travelers while enticing prospective travelers. Exploring ideas that turn travelers into brand ambassadors can give them opportunities to tell their own travel stories and enable them to be influencers of their own. Having travelers take home a piece of the brand in the form of merchandise, merit badges, keepsakes or swag can be a joyful reminder of the trip and show that your brand is going the extra mile to connect with them. 

Connecting the Journey Is Key

From dreaming through sharing, it’s critical that brands tell a cohesive story along these stages and leverage touchpoints to bring joy in every interaction. By strategically and creatively exploring ways to reach travelers throughout the journey, brands can develop communications plans that ensure their objectives are met, while building long-lasting relationships with travelers.

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