Key Tips for Travel Businesses About Influencer Marketing

Author: Eycan Yagmur ARAS

The impact of influencer marketing on industries is becoming more and more important day by day. The fact that businesses use this type of marketing more often brings different trends. New trends are becoming the new favorite of bloggers, travelers and travel companies. So, what does this marketing mean and how can companies use influencer marketing for growth or brand awareness?

 

Many years ago, traveling was a luxury for humans. People preferred to invest their money primarily in the house or car rather than travel. People with plenty of money outside of their budget could travel easily. However, the current situation for the younger generation in the new society is very different. Millennials and Gen Z value experiences more than traditional spending, and they travel and share on their social media at the earliest opportunity.

If you are a tourism business active on social media, it is much easier and more effective to contact them than before. But, how?

People who cannot travel or are very busy also follow influencers and are motivated. In this way, it will be easier for you to reach people who do not travel, but who are interested, and you will expand your potential customer base. 

 

What is the Concept of Travel Influencer?

Users who focus on going to new places and constantly sharing their experiences on social media and producing content are called travel influencers. There are influencers who do this because they really like to travel, and there are those who do it just for brand collaborations.

Regardless, they have become a major issue for marketing techniques and have become a new opportunity for brands and companies. Tourism and travel businesses use this method to both expand their businesses and gain customers.

 

Travel influencers have a very strong bond with their followers and their interactions are high. Because they sell their experiences in a more visionary and romantic way, so followers feel connected to those experiences. Thanks to these abilities, influencers give a message of trust, loyalty, friendship and peace to their audiences. For the travel industries and businesses, this kind of loyalty and trust is invaluable. Collaborating with an influencer with such an audience will be an advantage for them. Because the audience will trust this business in the same way thanks to the influencer's guarantee. Online travel businesses can use influencers to increase their popularity among travelers.

 

 

How to take advantage of Travel Influencers?

 

If you cooperate with the right people, your business will literally change and level up. Because the more their followers trust an influencer, the more they will trust your business. This will be an irresistible development for your brand.

This partnership should come to a conclusion that can be leveraged to create an engaging experience that will inspire other users as well.

 

There are 3 easy steps to achieve all this:

 

 

1. Allocate a specific budget:

 

As a travel business, having a budget reserved for marketing only allows you to reach influencers more easily and have more options. Because as the audience of the influencer grows, they have wider reach rates and they may be more costly for you.

The cost varies according to the social media platform. Typically, Facebook influencers will charge $25 for 1000 followers, while Instagram will cost less than $10.

Knowing how much you can afford helps you create the right strategy and narrows down your options so you can find the right influencer. Because what kind of partnership you want will also affect the price. A picture, a video or a different concept may cause prices to change.

 

 

2. What will your campaign be about?

According to the Influencer Marketing Benchmart Report, 68% of businesses prefer a campaign-based partnership to a long-term partnership that will restrict marketing.

 

So what kind of campaign can you choose?

-Sponsored post

This cooperation is preferred by travel businesses that want to increase their brand awareness and gain customers.

You need to pay travel influencers to highlight your business, create content and share your brand in their stories.

 

You should also invite them and offer some services to let them try your services for free. This way, they will talk about your brand more clearly and knowledgeablely. In this way, you will have better quality content on your own social media platforms.

 

-Brand representative

If you can afford it, you can arrange a regular collaboration with a travel influencer and ask them to be your brand ambassador.

You can create a content calendar for them to highlight that they will have a permanent discount for your services and share you on social media.

 

This collaboration is generally preferred by businesses that want to increase their sales and have more interaction with the online audience.

-Giveaway

This type of influencer marketing is a method in which your services are randomly distributed to followers who meet the right criteria, with a certain lottery or method.

In this way, you can enable them to follow your account, like your posts, and use your brand hashtag.

This will both increase your followers and make your brand known as you can always be shared online.

 

3. Choosing the Right Travel Influencer

All kinds of institutions and people use social media. If you know an influencer who works or has visited the regions you serve, you can contact him. You can reach certain people by scanning hashtags on the relevant platform. (#sponsored, #promotion...)

If you search based on the location tag, you can find the results that are suitable for you.

 

If you choose an average of 10 accounts, you can contact them directly or through the agency account written in their bio.

 

Note:

Due to the increasing scams in recent years, we recommend that you carefully examine the posts and likes of Influencers. Check the rate of comments, likes and follower count before making the payment. They may have shared fake travel photos. You can use the Instagram Audit tool to understand this.

 

Lexicon:

Travel Influencer, Influencer Marketing, Marketing for Travel Businesses, Influencer

References

1. Sideqik. (2020). How Influencer Marketing is Changing the Travel Industry. [online] Available at: https://www.sideqik.com/influencer-marketing/travel-influencers [Accessed 25 Feb. 2022].

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2. Bolchinova, A. (2020). Influencer Marketing for Travel and Tourism Companies. [online] Regiondo. Available at: https://pro.regiondo.com/influencer-marketing-tourism/.

3. ‌travel2latam (po). (n.d.). The travel industry invests in new technologies to transform the experiences. [online] Available at: https://po.travel2latam.com/nota/53166-the-travel-industry-invests-in-new-technologies-to-transform-the-experiences [Accessed 25 Feb. 2022].

Author: Eycan Yagmur Aras

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