Influencer marketing is an increasingly popular phenomenon. Online influencers are not celebrities in a traditional sense. However, they command as much following if not more. Influencers inspire their followers just like how celebrities induce aspirations in their fans.
A common aspirational dream that everyone has is to travel. Combining people’s love for travel and the influence of online influencers is a powerful combination. Travel and tourism are increasingly enlisting influencers to promote their locations. Influencers are happily obliging as it increases their follower count, and they get to travel for free.
The New Age of Travel Influencers
About 50% of millennials follow at least one travel influencer on social media. Before we look into collaborating with travel influencers for travel agencies, let’s understand who travel influencers are. Travel influencers create exclusively travel-related content. They fund their travels by collaborating with tourism departments and travel agencies. In return, promote the travel agencies to their millions of followers.
The influencer travels for free and gains more followers. The travel agency can showcase its products in a relatable way. You can create a highly successful partnership with an influencer if done right.
A great example of a successful travel influencer story is the recent increase in people traveling to the Maldives. So many influencers promoted the resorts and hotels that people wanted to have the same experience.
Tips to Use Influencers to Market Travel Agencies
Modern tourists value experiences more than visiting a place for the sake of checking it off on their bucket list. They depend on the Internet to discover unique experiences and consider influencers experts. They aspire to have the same experiences and upload similar pictures.
People usually seek out travel information. It is the perfect match when they find their favorite influencer advertising their dream location within their budget. Here are a few tips for travel agencies to effectively use influencers to promote their travel products and services.
Choose the Right Influencers
Several influencers have made travel advertising their primary profession. Not everyone may be a right fit for your travel agency. The trick to maximize your returns is to choose the right influencer.
A simple trick for identifying the right influencer is to pay attention to the audience they influence. Look for significant overlap between the influencer’s followers and your target audience. Notice the influencer’s type of posts and compare it to what your travel agency sells.
The next step is to find an affordable influencer. A luxury travel influencer may not be the right endorser if your travel agency sells budget travel packages. Finding a match where the niche aligns is the key.
Influencers are most effective with travelers in the younger age group. Influencers post on social media, and younger people are the largest demographic.
Create Compelling Content
Creating compelling content is an art and a science. It is an art because travel agencies can induce wanderlust in people who do not realize they want to travel. It is a science because studying the existing customer base reveals how to find similar demographics.
Travel agencies must take an art and science approach when working with influencers. Showing unique experiences is a reliable strategy when using influencers to market a travel agency product. People want experiences that stand out in their social media feeds.
Previously people used to capture pictures to store memories of an incredible trip. People travel to unique places these days, documenting their moments on social media. Targeting this aspect in the content will make influencer marketing a lot more effective.
Know your Goals
Influencers are not inexpensive. For maximizing returns through influencer marketing, know your travel agency goals. Visualize the expected outcome of the influencer collaboration. Tailor content to directly contribute to meeting the travel agency’s goals.
An example of a clear goal is aiming to increase followers on Instagram. Another example is trying to sell more travel products. Influencer marketing strategies for these goals will be significantly different. Clear goals avoid wastage of funds.
Take Advantage of an Influencer’s Creativity
With the right influencer, you can be less prescriptive and be directional in your approach. Many influencers are highly creative and aware of their followers’ likes. The prescriptive approach may break the natural theme of influencers’ posts. When an influencer’s post shows up as force-fitted, followers do not respond to it.
It may seem uncomfortable to leave the creative aspect of promoting your travel agency. However, trust the influence’s creativity and their skills. Instead of being a director, be a collaborator. Work together on the vision and the storyline. Agree on what data to track and how to use the insights. Chase the same goals.
Edit Your Videos
Do not upload your influencer’s videos without going through the content with a fine-toothed comb. Editing is a critical stage in video making. So, even if your influencers make cool videos, you can improve them even further by adding a few embellishments. You can use an online video editor to add the final touches.
Promote a Cause
One advantage of using influencer marketing for travel is the choice of niche. A good influencer for marketing your travel agency is one with a large enough following, good values, and an aligned style of creating content.
Many influencers promote eco-friendly travel. Sustainable travel is another popular niche. Identifying a cause that matches the brand values of your travel agency will maximize the returns from influencer marketing.
For example, a travel agency that organizes trips to remote places to help the local population can partner with a travel influencer who travels for a cause. Deeper collaboration with the travel influencer will take advantage of what they bring to the table and also yield favorable results.
Conclusion
Today’s traveler does not respond to traditional travel ads. They want to see where the cool people on the Internet are traveling to and want to go there. Travel influencers are most effective in these cases. Influencers are the cool people on the Internet these days, and their endorsement of a travel product goes a long way.
If travel agencies can identify the right influencer promoting their products the right way, sales are bound to increase. For this reason alone, the budget you spend on a travel influencer is money well spent.
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