Thanks to the rise of the internet and social media, we’re not shy to share our personal experiences online including incredible travel journeys like famous content creators do.
Influencers sharing candid reviews, travel tips, and top location suggestions have lessened our big fear of the unknown. We can now have all the information we need right at our fingertips.
Technological advancements have also helped to bolster the growing travel trend by making it easier for us to plan epic adventures online at our convenience. So, it’s no surprise that global International tourist arrivals are expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030.
Besides, if we can make use of the power of influencer marketing, it’s sure to be a big hit to the travel industry. This blog will discuss this from different views.
How Influencer Marketing Looks Like in the Traveling Industry
With our paying attention to what influencers say or suggest, many brands try collaborating with these famous people. Social media has provided this chance for everyone to draw social attention and gain fame. There are countless social media users who try to appear different in a certain field in an effort to get more followers.
On the other hand, brands and marketers have found it easy and cost-effective to take advantage of influencer marketing. Many of them have reported a significant ROI for their influencer campaigns.
So, a profitable market has emerged for influencers during the last decade. For example, Social Tradia says that there is a trend of selling Instagram accounts and that this is going to skyrocket. Niche influencers are at the core of this billion-dollar business, and many brands try to make them their company’s advocates.
What is Travel and Tourism Influencer Marketing?
The tourism industry is one of those niches that are heavily affected by influencer marketing. Instagram, in particular, plays a pivotal role in this trend and has, therefore, gained the attention of influencers and business owners.
Travel influencer marketing started as simple travel blogging – a blogger or travel vlogger who reviewed and documented their adventures on one platform. Now, you can expect to see endless travel content across every social media platform.
A variety of multimedia-based features of Instagram, such as posts, stories, Live, and IGTV, have made it unique among the alternatives. It provides travel influencers with exactly what they need: a high-resolution social appearance.
So, influencers create travel content to inspire social users to travel to where they suggest. On the other hand, tour owners and other businesses related to travel try to collaborate with influencers to harness their impact.
Travel Influencer Definition
Travel influencers are creators that make travel seem more possible by sharing photos, travel tips, discount codes, local recommendations, and more. As popular digital nomads, travel enthusiasts, and content creators, they publicly document their traveling experiences and the brands and products they use along the way.
With improved brand awareness and relatability through travel-related content, your brand can also become the mouthpiece for travel updates, changes, and the future of tourism.
Travel influencers create stylish and aesthetic content that helps the consumer imagine themselves in the promoted destination. Travel and lifestyle influencers often collaborate and travel together, bringing even more layered awareness to a brand.
While most creator content is known for being unpolished and unposed, travel content is generally of higher quality with striking backgrounds, bright lighting, and eye-catching colors. Travel is an ultra-competitive space, with content filling up social feeds.
These are common travel and tourism influencer content that you can refer to:
- Tells people about new places and things to do.
- Consumers’ desire to travel and need to escape are fed by this.
- Evens out the rough spots of travel
- Brings new ideas to the services you already have.
- Makes people want and need to plan trips
- Identifies and draws attention to travel providers and suppliers
- Is more effective than corporate travel videos and commercials
- Helps travelers who are worried about safety rules feel better.
- Can be raw and unplanned.
Whether through live stories, streams, TikTok videos, or dreamy Instagram posts, travel influencers should know how to connect with and inform consumers of new places and experiences.
How Influencer Marketing Can Help Traveling Companies
Any travel, hospitality, destination, or tourism brand can benefit from influencer marketing. Whether you’re a hotel, airline, or online travel agency, there are influencers ready to work with you to improve your brand perception.
Just by being in the travel niche, you’ve set your brand on the path to riches. But there are so many more advantages to travel influencer marketing. Let’s take at some:
Morph from a faceless corporation to a company with a personality, mission, and real people
Content by digital natives like influencers feels more natural to a prospective customer, and so it gets a better reception than pristine travel shots by corporations. Your brand can come alive through the influencer and fortify it through your social media efforts.
Maintain engagement with long-standing customers
The great thing about travel influencer marketing is it can keep your existing customers interested in what you’ve got to say and offer. You can use influencer marketing to position your products or services in new ways to inspire your day one crowd to rebook.
Keep your brand on-trend without constantly reinventing it
Trends change frequently, and it can be a struggle to keep up. Besides, rebrands are expensive and take significant amounts of time and energy to execute.
Thankfully, influencer marketing allows you to adapt when the tide shifts quickly. Work with influencers who embody the trend you want to be a part of, and you’re good to go!
Be travel’s mouthpiece to grow your authority
Many travel brands have reduced their marketing campaigns so much that travel ad spending plummeted by a shocking 60% in 2020.
This reduction creates the perfect opportunity to get out there and become the go-to resource for travel-related updates as the world reopens. Show what travel is like now, predict how it may be in the future, and advise on which consumer behaviors and travel regulations may stick around.
Make Your Brand Stand Out with Travel Influencer Marketing
As travel influencer marketing continues to grow, stiff competition is the natural byproduct. But there are a few ways to rise above the noise and get your target customers’ attention. Let’s dive into the best ways to nail your travel influencer marketing to secure your spot among the greats:
Let your creativity run wild
In the travel-influencing market, which is very competitive, sloppy campaigns won’t cut it. Also, don’t jump on content styles and collaborations with certain influencers just because everyone else is doing them.
Instead, find out what your target market thinks of as inspiring, envious, and drool-worthy images, and then go make them. Feed into the travel desires of your target market, as these campaigns will have a greater chance of stopping their scrolling and checking out your content.
Always be on the lookout for ways to keep your target audience excited about your brand and offerings. And aim to inspire an entire segment at once.
For example, you could host an “influencer weekender” where you invite a group of influencers to a place and ask them to post about it on their social media.
Also, popular travel influencers often travel together; you could use this to your advantage. Arrange to work with their favorite group simultaneously or put together your own and collaborate with them on a series of vlogs or short videos (they get more engagement than photos).
Feature your products and highlight their benefits to drive tons of traffic to your social pages and website. This approach can also create more momentum and long-lasting results.
‘Be yourself. Everyone else is taken’
The well-known quote above is to encourage people, but it rings true for travel influencer marketing. Many brands fall into the trap of thinking they must present their products in a certain way to get customers.
Consequently, they miss out on building a community that vibes with their brand’s true personality and mission by alienating them with content that speaks to an entirely different crowd. Other companies misrepresent locations to get more customers, only to have it backfire and cause reputational damage.
Authenticity is the secret sauce for influencer marketing success. 90% of consumers believe authenticity is essential when deciding whether to back a brand.
Places don’t change, but people do. So, influencers can offer new perspectives on your products. Their unique creator voice will always bring a fresh perspective. A great way to increase authenticity in your campaigns is to blend user-generated content with influencer marketing, as shoppers find the former 2.4X more authentic than brand-created content.
So, don’t feel like you must follow the luxe travel trend if you built your brand to serve backpackers or try to make your offerings appear like something they’re not. Embrace your brand’s uniqueness and push what makes your brand different.
Your tribe is waiting for you on the other side. Tap into your target customers’ deepest desires and make them attainable – Social media is known for its awe-inspiring posts, especially in travel.
Research your customers’ deepest desires and recreate them in your campaigns
From Instagrammable snaps of tropical locales to enviable skiing getaways, there’s something about travel that keeps audiences hooked and coming back for more. Use the human desire for exploration to your advantage.
Dig deep into your target customers’ deepest wants and needs to uncover the experiences and products that will set their souls on fire. For example, do they love escapism content? Perhaps they want to feel free. Does luxury travel content stop them in their tracks? Perhaps they want to feel successful and accomplished.
Once you know the feeling they want to achieve, you can set out to create them in your influencer campaigns to inspire them to take action, whether that’s booking a trip or buying a travel-related product.
Lastly, make your offering seem attainable to your target market by carefully selecting influencers your target customers can relate to so you increase the odds of your content resonating with them.
Some Noteworthy Travel Influencer Marketing Examples
We’re in the age of multi-platform users. So, to be successful in your influencer marketing endeavors, you should aim to be on all the platforms your customers use when wanderlust hits. To give you some inspiration, here are some content types that have hit it big in travel influencer marketing:
City of Miami
The City of Miami worked with Miami influencers who focus on travel, family activities, and cultural experiences to show residents what the city has to offer.
The campaign led to beautiful photos and great quotes from people from all walks of life, who showed their audiences that there are many places to discover.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority (LVCVA)
To highlight what the city has to offer its residents, the City of Miami teamed up with Miami influencers who concentrate on travel, family fun, and cultural experiences.
Beautiful photos and stellar endorsements from people from all walks of life were produced as a result of the campaign, showing audiences that there are many places still waiting to be explored.
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
To draw attention to their distinctive site located in the heart of Las Vegas, some brands collaborated with the luxury resort The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. In order to produce entertaining, “in the moment” content that would give good viewers instant F.O.M.O., they worked with lifestyle influencers.
The advertising emphasized the benefits of visiting the resort, such as the breathtaking views and delectable cuisine. They were able to emphasize that this was the place for picture-perfect girls’ trips as a result.
Use Influencer Marketing Campaigns to Boost Your Travel Brands Right Now!
The influencer marketing space in the travel industry is full of fresh opportunities. Finding the right influencer to work with can take some time.
But once you’ve established a rapport and earned a reputation as a reliable brand to collaborate with, it’s simple to develop a wide range of content and campaigns and reach out to new audiences.
If you’re not using influence marketing, do some research and book some influencers now. It’s your time to level up your travel brands.