By Kelli Hayes Smith, Agent Marketing Manager at Legato.
Instagram’s latest push toward original
content is going to impact the travel industry more than people realize, and
honestly, I knew this was coming.
Earlier this month, Instagram announced
expanded efforts to prioritize original content and reduce the visibility of
repetitive or duplicated posts. While social media has been moving in this
direction for years, the announcement made the platform's position especially
clear: content that feels mass distributed is becoming less aligned with the
kind of experience recommendation systems are designed to promote.
It was recently reported that 75% of
Instagram recommendations in the U.S. now come from original posts, reinforcing
the platform's shift away from repetitive content.
Because at the end of the day, platforms
are trying to keep people engaged. If users feel like they are seeing the same
posts over and over again, they stop engaging, spend less time on the app, and
eventually tune out. Over time, feeds stop feeling personal and start feeling
predictable.
The problem in the travel industry is
that much of the marketing advice agents were being given was built around
visibility, while platforms were shifting toward individuality and connection.
Entire systems were built to simplify
social media for agents already overwhelmed by marketing, providing ready-made
content, templates, and automation tools.
And for a long time, that became the
standard approach to online travel marketing.
But Instagram expanding originality
protections beyond Reels into photos and carousels is especially significant
for an industry where supplier graphics and shared promotional content have
become deeply embedded into marketing strategies.
In many cases, feeds become filled with
the same announcements and campaigns repeated across hundreds of agent
accounts. Disney is one of the clearest examples. When new dates, itineraries,
or offers are released, feeds are quickly flooded with nearly identical posts
shared at scale by agents across the industry.
And because this has kept agents active,
it became widely reinforced as a successful marketing approach.
But what this announcement really exposes
is that supplier content, by itself, is not functioning as marketing. It is
simply providing something to post.
That is the part many agents are going to
struggle with.
Agents have spent years relying on
done-for-you marketing to maintain visibility and stay active on social media,
but it is becoming increasingly clear that activity alone is not enough for
platforms to prioritize or recommend an account.
That changes the role shared content
should play entirely.
It can be the starting point for your
conversation, but it cannot be the finished product.
The agents who continue to grow will be
the ones who learn to incorporate their own perspective, interpretation, and
personality into the content they share.
I saw a great example of this recently
during an Open Mic session with Legato agents.
One agent, Sasha, shared a story about
planning a girls' trip at an all-inclusive resort when she noticed the room
category the group originally wanted featured open-concept showers. It was the
kind of detail that could completely change the comfort level and dynamic of
the trip, so she guided them toward an alternative instead.
On its own, that detail is just supplier
information.
But the moment an agent explains why it
mattered and how it affected the recommendation, it becomes something much more
valuable: something prospective clients can connect with and remember.
That is the kind of insight that cannot
be duplicated at scale, and it is exactly the kind of perspective these
evolving algorithms are starting to demand.
This does not mean travel agents suddenly
need to abandon every marketing tool or system they already use. But it does
mean the industry is being forced to rethink what it is actually marketing in
the first place: the agent behind the content.
And honestly, in an industry built
entirely around service and relationships, that should not be seen as a
setback. It should be seen as an opportunity.
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