Paper Planes Co. · Travel Advisor Series · Volume I

The Viral
Reels Playbook.

How to stop posting into the void and start creating content the algorithm — and your dream clients — actually want to see.

Editor's Note · Volume I

Reels won't close your next client.
But they will put you in the room.

Let's start with what this playbook isn't.

It isn't a guide to going viral for the sake of it. It isn't a list of trending audios you'll be three weeks late to. It isn't an algorithm hack that'll be obsolete by the time you read it.

This is a playbook for travel advisors and hospitality founders who are tired of posting into the void. Who've watched competitors with worse taste and weaker offers build followings while their own beautifully curated grid sits at 312 followers. Who know they should be on reels but feel slightly ridiculous talking to camera while their dog watches from the sofa.

A note before you begin

The strategy in this playbook is the easy half. The harder half is the mindset — showing up consistently when the metrics are quiet, posting on the days you'd rather not, trusting your point of view when the algorithm makes you doubt it. Every account you admire was built by someone who kept going through that exact stretch. The work in here is the map. Your willingness to walk it daily is the actual currency.

One more thing before we begin.

A reel does not need to convert. It needs to be watched. The pressure to make every piece of content "sell something" is what kills travel businesses on Instagram. Your reel's job is to get the right person to stop scrolling, watch, and follow. That's it. The conversion happens later — in your carousels, your email list, your DMs, your discovery calls. Reels are the front door. Don't try to close the deal at the door.

And while we're here — your reel doesn't need to be polished, either. The advisors who break past 312 followers aren't the ones with the most beautiful grids. They're the ones who post messy, post often, and stop curating. Talk to camera with your dog watching. Use the take where you laughed at yourself. Post the one you almost deleted. Done beats perfect, every single time. The audience you want isn't going to find you through a polished feed — they'll find you the day you stop trying to make one.

One last thing while we're setting expectations — a reel should take you 20 minutes. Not 20 minutes of agonising. 20 minutes of doing. If yours is taking two hours, you're overthinking it, and the playbook is going to walk you through exactly why and how to compress it. Chapter 04 has the full timing breakdown to the minute.

What follows is how we do that. Eight chapters. Read them in order the first time. Come back to Chapter 04 (Edits) as your working reference forever after.

Take flight,

Claire & Georgia

Index · Volume I