You know that feeling when the whole industry finally catches up to the thing you've been shouting from the rooftops for years? Yeah, that's us right now.
From backlash against synthetic imagery to travelers only trusting what their peers show them, the evidence is piling up. Marketing that relies on staged, soulless photos is officially dead.
Here are 5 recent pieces of internet chatter that prove it (and why we’re still right about the power of authentic, guest-captured content):
The backlash against AI imagery in ads has begun
Fotaflo Hot Take:
"The world is finally figuring out that nobody trusts images generated by a robot. Shocker. We'll be here with the real, guest-captured photos when you're ready to show people what your experience actually looks like. Turns out authenticity is the best algorithm."
Fotaflo Hot Take:
"Reviews and authenticity matter more than your polished brand photos? You don't say. Maybe if hotels stopped using uninspired stock images and started leveraging their guests' actual, amazing moments—the ones we help them capture—they wouldn't need a study to tell them this. Glad to know we're still ahead of the 'trends' curve."
Peter Syme LinkedIn post on Travel Activity
Fotaflo Hot Take:
"It’s always about the activity, not the room. People travel to do things, and they want to see themselves doing them. If you’re not making it drop-dead simple for guests to get high-quality photos of their experience—and share them—you’re basically advertising a bookshelf. Focus on the feeling, people!"
Madeline List LinkedIn post: There's a gap in how travel brands vs. travelers...
Fotaflo Hot Take:
"A 'gap' between brand perception and traveler reality? That’s what happens when you’re showing them perfectly staged, uninspired stock photos that don't reflect the vibe. The gap disappears the second you start using content captured by the people who actually experienced the trip. We’re in the business of closing that gap, one authentic photo at a time."
Chris Torres LinkedIn Pulse: How to Turn Guest Quotes into 10 Pieces of Marketing Content
Fotaflo Hot Take:
"Leveraging guest quotes is great, but imagine turning every quote into visual proof captured by that same guest. Quotes are nice, but pictures and video of those happy customers are how you actually convert. We’re already on version 2.0 of this concept: Visual UGC is the new verbal testimonial."