Travel brands across the globe use influencer-based marketing techniques to grow their business, increase brand awareness, and improve brand sentiment, among other benefits.
While travel influencer marketing is a strategy with a proven track record of success, it’s also a calculated creative process that requires open collaboration, effective networking, and undeniable social media networking skills to boot.
Below we will explain what an influencer is, break down the components of travel content marketing, and introduce ways your brand can leverage the captivating marketing campaigns our agency creates, to take your business to the next level.
While there is no official definition, an influencer's job is to explore the world and use their creative freedom to document their travel experiences via social media posts, videos, websites, and blogs. In most cases, this includes stunning, high-resolution images and videos of the most exciting components of modern-day international travel.
Along the way, travel influencers share all their adventures from hotels and restaurants to transportation and provide travel hacks, tips, as well as recommendations relating to travel in a particular region or niche.
Creators then use social media marketing, blog posts and other marketing channels to share the content with their followers, generating interest from consumers, allured by a sense of wanderlust and a strong desire to explore every corner of the world (and spend money doing it).
Your modern influencer and micro - influencer wear many hats. They are resourceful digital nomads, with hundreds or thousands of followers, skilled content creators, and talented entrepreneurs. Not to mention inquisitive vloggers or bloggers capable of getting your attention and holding it for a long time.
Travel influencer marketing is a branch of digital marketing characterized by breathtaking visual content (location-based photos and vlogs) alongside travel guides, recommendations, product reviews, and travel hacks to instill a powerful sense of wanderlust and promote products and services in the tourism industry.
This form of marketing is incredibly effective as well. In fact, in 2022, 93% of marketers say they have used influencer marketing, with many brands expected to increase their influencer marketing budgets in the near future. Beyond that, micro influencers continue to lead engagement metrics with 65% of users visiting a brand's website or app after learning about a brand from a micro influencer, as well as 37% visiting a store, 31% following the brand online, and 46% making a purchase.
Here’s what we do know. Travel influencer marketing is a sector where the travel community merges with consumerism and unites on popular social media channels like Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok, and Facebook, to name a few.
As you can imagine, content marketing covers a wide range of services and products, not to mention demographics, all of which directly correlate with the tourism and hospitality industries.
Essentially, a brand uses a travel influencer to tap into the consumer wanderlust market, promote their products using digital content that is organic, authentic, and engaging.
The task of the influencer you hire is to document their travels through social media posts, and include your travel brand somewhere in their coverage of your target area. The key is to find a relevant influencer - an individual that perfectly aligns with your brand philosophy, product, and values.
These are the core components of travel influencer content marketing. Now, let’s explore the ten primary benefits that a potential influencer and a content creator brings to your business, and lay out all the steps to help make your influencer marketing campaign a success.
It’s no secret that quality content created by genuine influencers can make a significant impact on the way your target customers view your brand and boost engagement rates.
So, what are the biggest benefits of running influencer marketing campaigns with content that is on brand and attracts your target audience? Here’s our list:
Influencer marketing campaigns whether it is for travel or any other niche have an extensive reach on social media, meaning brand recognition spans a bigger audience size.
As mentioned before, nearly 79% of active users will further research a potential brand they discover through influencer marketing, making this an incredibly valuable tool for building brand awareness.
Effective content created by relevant travel influencers is proven to boost engagement on social media platforms in a big way. An added benefit is that most of your new traffic to your website is organic, which can lead to increased conversions.
Around 47% of users will make a purchase online or offline after discovering a brand through an influencer.
Brand sentiment is crucial for your brand’s longevity. Social media influencers who travel the world are usually associated with good practice and trustworthiness. As a result, travel consumers tend to trust the businesses and services they promote more.
Authenticity is a huge part of garnering positive brand sentiment, so more businesses are open to modern marketing tactics like genuine content created by real people.
By aligning your brand with individuals regarded as trustworthy, you’re able to glean some of the benefits for the long term, and increase the influencer marketing ROI.
Another benefit of developing long-term relationships with influencers is that the content they create is aesthetically pleasing. Think captivating hi-resolution nature videos, Insta-worthy travel photos, bright colour schemes, and slick visual prowess, all shared with hundreds of thousands of social media followers across social platforms, driving more engagement and improving ROI from influencer marketing.
Since we already know that visual posts receive 2.3 times more engagement than static text posts, travel influencers are well equipped to take advantage of this trend.
Popular travel content inspires wanderlust, meaning it strikes a chord with anybody interested in travel. The result is consumers in this sector are more likely to share this type of content even though it's a paid promotion, which ultimately increases engagement rates.
During a trip, tourists will engage with transportation, hotels, and restaurants, serving a vast, interconnected tourist network. In the digital world, the same rules apply. Cross-brand collaboration is an effective way to merge customer pools and tap into a larger market with shared interests.
Due to the exciting nature of wanderlust content, returning customers remain engaged with your brand for extended periods, even when they aren’t actively traveling. At the same time, it appeals to a broader audience.
Travel influencer marketing is all about appealing to our sense of wonder. This makes it a powerful marketing tool for both new and existing customers.
Considering bookings are an integral component of travel, it should be no surprise that travel influencer campaigns are highly-effective ways to increase the number of bookings for your business.
Engagement rates are high for virtually all metrics when it comes to travel influencer content, meaning more leads, conversions, and general brand awareness.
These days, it’s tough to find trustworthy and positive reviews that are authentic and reliable. Part of the job of influencers is to be direct and honest about the products they endorse, whether sponsored or by personal choice.
This often leads to them becoming trustworthy sources for products and services within their niche. Over time, they will develop a positive and reliable collection of reviews your customers can count on.
MODERNSPEAK represents some of the world’s most prominent social influencers, connecting them with brands and campaigns designed to resonate and build trust. We’ve focused on connecting real people with authentic brands to cultivate engaging campaigns with aesthetic beauty.
Book a meeting today to learn how we can help grow your business and boost brand awareness with creative, high-quality content that captivates travel consumers around the globe.
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