The TwoSix team is back and ready to share what’s On Our Radar for May so that you can stay ahead of the always-evolving digital marketing landscape. This month, the TwoSix team discusses YouTube livestreams, LinkedIn for AI visibility, long-form content on Instagram, and more! Keep reading to find out what we’re keeping On Our Radar for May 2026.

YouTube has been a neglected network for most DMOs. Rarely do I see a consistent effort on the world’s second-largest search engine. What if there was a way that you could grow your Channel consistently, without the need to publish regular content? Well, there may be a low-friction way to “slow grow” your YouTube presence!

Recently, I was so excited to see the Gaylord CVB make a bold move. They launched a 24/7 live stream on their YouTube Channel featuring one of the area’s major attractions, the Elk Herd. They took the initiative and launched the Elk Cam in Gaylord, Michigan, live stream earlier this year. The results blew away my expectations of what an “always on” approach on YouTube can have in terms of reach, views, and subscriber growth.

In just the last month, the Gaylord CVB received over 869,000 impressions of the Elk Cam. Those impressions brought in over 43,000 live stream views with an average view duration of over 12 minutes! Additionally, the Channel grew by almost 200 new subscribers! The best part is that the live stream was discovered through suggested videos on YouTube. It’s helping them reach a TON of new users, which is introducing them to Gaylord, MI for the very first time. Having a 24/7 live stream provides constant exposure to audiences relating to one of their most unique attractions.

This is something any destination can do! To do the 24/7 live stream, you’ll need to invest in a service like UpStream ($30 a month), set up their Live Studio, get your webcam pointed in an interesting direction, and you’re broadcasting in YouTube’s Live feed, which they are obviously giving a TON of attention to these days. Don’t overthink it! You’re probably looking down on your historic downtown main street right now! Point a cam at it, set up the live stream, and start growing your YouTube presence. If you add a regular content upload schedule on the back of the live stream, you’re going to be ahead of the game.

If you need some help jumpstarting your YouTube Strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out to the TwoSix Digital team.

Top domains cited by AI search by platform: Analysis based on 30M sources. Source: Peec AI

LinkedIn isn’t just a place to connect with professional peers anymore. It’s now an important tool for both SEO (search engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization). Generally, LinkedIn ranks in the first 5 of top-cited domains by research into the subject, like a recent study putting at number three overall. That’s just behind Reddit and YouTube, and ahead of Wikipedia and Forbes. It’s time to start leveraging it.

LinkedIn Articles are one of the best ways to utilize the platform in order to appear search results and AI-generated answers. Don’t think of your content just as posts — they’re SEO assets. Take advantage of the greater opportunity it provides by using it to directly shape how AI depicts your organization / destination.

Last month, Meta announced for the first time in its history that it saw a loss in daily usage in Q1. The first chink in Meta’s armor might make you think the fall of Rome is coming, but let’s actually look at what happened before we start panicking and moving our ad budgets around.

In Q1 2026, Meta’s daily active users dropped from 3.58 billion to 3.56 billion. Except the company traced it back to two very specific external events: major internet disruptions in Iran and a government-imposed ban on WhatsApp in Russia. Pull those two markets out, and Meta says growth would have been positive quarter over quarter. Oh, and ad revenue hit a record $56.3 billion in the same period. Not exactly a platform in freefall.

Sound familiar? The exact same conflict is showing up in your gas tank. Gas prices in the US are up over 45% in some places since the Iran war began, airlines are tacking on fees to offset surging jet fuel costs, and the travel industry is feeling it across the board, but nobody is calling for the end of road trips or air travel. Geopolitical chaos is messy, expensive, and largely out of our control. That is true whether it is showing up in a Meta earnings report or at the pump.

This is not a story about people finally getting sick of their Facebook feeds. It is a story about global disruption doing what global disruption does. For DMOs with budgets in Meta right now, not much needs to change. The audience is still enormous and the targeting is still some of the best available for reaching people actively planning travel.

Instagram is trying to bridge the gap between YouTube and TikTok by offering both long and short form content to help drive engagement. Since taking their app to television screens, it seems that short form content isn’t enough for it to be successful on a larger screen. Their plan could include more podcasts, live streams and just longer story themed content. YouTube is currently the most-watched streaming video service. This has created rising interest of CTV ads on the platform, providing similar reach to traditional television with lower costs and more specific targeting. Instagram is aiming to follow in YouTube’s footsteps by making their platform accessible to both long form and short form content creators to add more variety.

For years, we’ve been pushing short form video, and it remains very relevant but if this is successful and starts to shift, creating a 10 second reel followed by a longer video that’s more immersive in the destination may prove to be a huge benefit. This could be an opportunity for an itinerary walk through, behind the scenes or day in the life (destination) content. Short form content could still be a key role in discovery, but long form storytelling can help build a connection, inspire trip planning and increase viewing time. This doesn’t have to mean more work or more money spent, more authentic and less polished video is what is working right now. As social media platforms are evolving from social networks to entertainment-based platforms, new opportunities such as this will continue to emerge. Now that this is in development, it may be a good time to start thinking about expanding your video strategy!

For years and years, email marketers have been stressing the importance of making your emails mobile-friendly. This has looked like: Making your subject lines and pre-header text short enough that it can be read on mobile. Using a single-column email template that is easy to follow. Adding buttons for each CTA. Using appropriate font sizes… You get the gist.

Somehow, even massive brands are forgetting this one thing when it comes to optimizing emails for mobile – dark mode.

What started as a preferred way for Gen Z to use their phones, has turned into the norm across mobile users of all ages and device types. This stat blew my mind… a whopping 82% of cell phone users prefer dark mode. This is no longer a trend, dark mode is now a part of your audience’s daily life. Neglecting the way our emails are viewed on the vast majority of our subscribers’ devices is not a very “hospitality” thing to do. We can do better!

So, if you haven’t been testing your emails for dark mode, this is your sign! Click the button below for a helpful tool you can use to check your email in dark mode from your desktop. If you need any help with updating your templates to be optimized for all devices, contact the TwoSix Digital team and we’d be happy to help! 

We’re heading into peak summer travel season, and fuel prices continue to dominate headlines. The national average for gas has climbed over $4.50/gallon, up more than a dollar from this time last year. Airfares have jumped more than 20% as airlines absorb rising jet fuel costs. Some have cut routes and capacity, and Spirit Airlines shut down operations, removing a major budget option from the market. At the same time, a recent consumer survey found 37% of Americans are skipping summer vacations entirely because of rising travel costs.

Despite the jarring stats, this is not the time to panic but rather to reevaluate our strategy. The survey found that a majority of summer travel is still happening; it just may look a little different this year. According to the survey, consumers are adjusting their travel plans by choosing destinations closer to home, shortening trips to a few days or a long weekend, and placing a greater emphasis on affordability when selecting accommodations, attractions, and activities.

When the economy gives us lemons and budgets get squeezed, the best response is lemonade. In this case, that means creating content that positions your destination as an affordable and worthwhile choice this summer. Highlight free or low-cost experiences, promote itinerary ideas for quick getaways, and lean into messaging that makes travel feel easy, flexible, and accessible for budget-conscious travelers.

With the ever-changing digital marketing world, we are here to keep you informed of new digital trends and what we are keeping on our radar each month. Have any questions? Contact us! We’re here to help. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter  to receive monthly updates on trends and insights in the digital marketing and tourism industries straight to your inbox! Click the buttons below to connect with us on social media and stay in the loop on all things TwoSix Digital.