Marketing Communication Analysis of Instagram Taraju Tourism Village: The Real Experience of West Java

The Government of the Republic of Indonesia prioritizes the development of tourism villages in order to support enhanced economic growth, people's welfare, poverty eradication, unemployment reduction, the preservation of nature, the environment, and resources, and cultural advancement. Tourism villages must establish suitable marketing messages as part of the decentralized social, cultural, and economic transformation of villages, in which each region assesses its potential for development as a tourism attraction based on its distinctiveness and authenticity. Taraju Tourism Village in Tasikmalaya Regency, West Java, was named one of the top 75 in the 2023 Indonesian Tourism Village Award and received first place in the national Digital and Creative category. This study examines Taraju Tourism Village's marketing communications on the Instagram social media account @wisata_taraju in terms of two key issues: content type and media type. Taraju Tourism Village prioritizes reminder content and earned media in its marketing communications, according on a qualitative approach using content analysis tools. The Instagram social media account @wisata_taraju manages reminder content and earned media sourced from user-generated content provided by Taraju Tourism Village visitors. The Taraju Tourism Village Instagram account can be managed in a balanced manner, with informational, persuasive, and reminder content to promote attractiveness, unified identity, and more intense connection on the @wisata_taraju social media page. Meanwhile, the dominance of earned media over owned and paid media must be tempered with balanced owned media to make the Taraju Tourism Village's identity more manageable and brandable.