Do travelers know what a funnel is?
Marketers do. We build entire strategies around funnels, carefully mapping out awareness, consideration, and conversion stages. But travelers don’t think this way. They don’t move neatly through predefined steps or consciously progress through a journey.
Instead, people move through moments.
Moments of inspiration, curiosity, happiness, or escape. Moments when they are actively planning a trip, and just as importantly, moments when they are not. Many of the most influential moments happen when there is no intent at all—when someone is simply scrolling, watching, or consuming content with no thought of travel.
That’s where the real opportunity is.
Before someone searches, before they compare destinations, before they even realize they want to travel—something has to create that desire in the first place.
If your destination shows up in that moment with strong storytelling and compelling visuals, you’re not capturing demand. You’re creating it. You’re planting a memory that didn’t exist before—and that memory can shape future decisions in a way performance marketing never can
Capturing Potential Travelers Without Intent
It is possible to run traditional awareness campaigns to reach people without intent, but breaking through in those moments is difficult. If content does not feel relevant or engaging, it is quickly filtered out. Most people won’t even register that they saw it. So how do you make an ad that both feels relevant and has the storytelling to cement a memory? Influencer marketing.
The most effective influencer content doesn’t feel like advertising. It feels like a real person sharing a real experience. It draws people in, creates an emotional response, and helps them imagine themselves in a place. It provides just enough detail to reduce friction, while leaving enough curiosity to encourage further exploration.
This is very different from the highly polished, overly curated content that dominated influencer marketing in the 2010s. Today, what resonates is authenticity. Content that feels lived-in, personal, and believable. When done well, it doesn’t just capture attention; it creates a lasting impression.
The Importance of a Persistent Connection
Capturing attention is only the first step. Most people who engage with travel content are not ready to book immediately. They may not take action for weeks or even months.
Without a way to stay connected, that initial moment of influence can easily fade or be replaced by another destination that shows up later in their journey.
To turn those early moments into real value, destinations need a way to maintain a connection with potential travelers over time. This is where building a persistent relationship becomes critical.
At Steller, we approach this through Steller Connect, which allows destinations to establish a direct, ongoing connection with viewers. From there, it becomes possible to continue delivering relevant content: guides, recommendations, and booking opportunities. When they’re ready to book, you’re just a click away.
If you don’t have this, there is a chance your memorable social moment will lead to a booking months later, but you’ll never be able to attribute it to the content. Which means you’ll never be able to truly understand what’s working and scale it.
If You’re Only Focusing On Declared Intent, You’re Not Building An Audience
Because the traveler journey is fragmented, many destinations and travel brands focus their efforts at the bottom of the funnel. They push for conversion with those who have already raised their hand and said, I’m interested through a search, website visit, or a booking site.
While this can be effective in capturing existing demand, it does little to grow it.
Focusing only on declared intent means competing for the same audience as everyone else. It does not create new demand or expand your reach to future travelers who have not yet decided where to go.
If the goal is to grow your audience and drive more travel, it starts by recognizing the power of moments that create intent. A single piece of content can spark curiosity where none existed before. That curiosity can turn into interest, then into intent, and eventually into a trip. But only if there is a way to carry that moment forward.
At Steller, we focus on creating those moments and connecting them to measurable outcomes. By combining compelling storytelling with persistent engagement, destinations can move beyond capturing demand and begin creating it.
Ready to capture a whole new audience? It starts with a moment. We’re experts at creating moments that cement in people’s minds and turning them into real intent.
Ready to see what that could look like for your destination?
