How Social Influencers Are Changing the Travel Industry

Running a business is exhausting.

It really is. It was before the internet and now it's even more so. Especially since you need to have a presence on every social media platform. And post regularly. And make sure it's good content. And advertise.

And so on and so forth. How are you supposed to run your business and still post all the time? Well, one way is to hire someone to do it for you.

No, not someone who will work for you and need a benefits package. We're talking about social influencers.

They're the new trend in marketing. And while they will cost you more, they can actually reduce your workload. They'll also get you more exposure and bring interest to your brand.

Want to learn more? Read about how sending just one influencer on a vacation can increase your sales below.

What/Who Are Social Influencers?

When you talk about social influencers, the first person that people think of is usually Kylie Jenner. For better or for worse. She created a makeup line and advertised it almost completely online.

She and her sisters have also created a cult following behind products they "use" like Skinny Fit Tea and waist trainers. Why? Well, because people like them and they have a lot of followers.

Those followers trust the celebrity's opinions and want to be like them. So if they think buying a vitamin will help them get Kardashian skin, then they'll do it.

That's the idea behind social influencers. Companies partner with them to promote something to their audience. It's like buying a stamp of approval.

For a while, Instagram was letting people get away with this. Until they realized it was hurting the authenticity of their platform. Now you'll see "partnership with" at the top of sponsored influencer posts.

It doesn't seem like those extra words are hurting the influencer marketing trend. We're still seeing businesses make big audience gains and big profits off of partnerships.

So - what do you think so far? Are you on board? Let's get a little more detailed about the how-tos of picking an influencer below.

How to Pick Social Influencers

Let's level with each other for a second. You can't afford to pay Kylie Jenner to vacation at your hotel or sing your praises. She'll easily charge you upwards of 50 grand for a single post.

That's a lot of capital, and it's warranted. She has 106,572,983 followers. That's 100 million eyes on your post. Talk about exposure, right?

But you don't necessarily need 100 million eyes. A good amount of Kylie's followers are teens and young people who can't afford your services anyways.

If you worked with her, you wouldn't be getting targeted exposure. So who do you work with instead?

The idea is to find an influencer with a good amount of followers (as many as you can afford) that is already on the edge of your target audience.

Think about your current audience demographics. Who do you need help reaching? Maybe you're trying to target more families for your family-friendly vacation excursion.

You're having trouble targeting the middle-class mom, who goes on two vacations a year. That's where an influencer can help.

You want to find someone who's a middle-class mom or at least someone who appeals to them. She's their Kylie - except without the lip fillers and the giant post price tag.

Where to Find Influencers

Now that you know what type of influencer you're looking for - where do you find the perfect one?

That's a good question. There are some agencies that will pair you up with influencers, and they're the best at what they do. They charge fair fees and they've done this before, so you're not walking on uncharted ground.

If you're just starting to get an idea of the process, you can try to do things on your own, but we don't recommend it. Learn more about our services here.

A good place to start is with your competition, especially with brand bigger than your own. Who are they using as their influencers?

You can reach out to them - but they're likely out of budget. Check out who comments on their photos regularly. You're going to go on a little Instagram creeping adventure for this one.

Insta shows comments from people with more followers and influence first. Check out if these people seem like a good fit for your brand and if they're working with any reputable agencies.

An Example

Okay, enough of the vague "if this, then that" stuff. Let's talk about an actual partnership between an influencer and a brand. Have you heard of Dream Hotels?

If you have, was it because you saw their partnership with @GiGiGorgeous? We don't blame you if you just spent 7 minutes checking out Gigi's glamorous Insta feed.

But to get back on track - here's what happened with her Dream Hotels partnership.

Pride month is in June and it's a month long celebration for the LGBTQ+ community. To capitalize on the gayness and to show that their brand is inclusive, Dream Hotels put Gigi up in their hotels during the month of June.

She has two million followers, so part of the gig was her talking about her Dream Hotel experience to them. We don't have access to the Hotel's audience analytics, but we're willing to bet they did well targeting to an LGBTQ+ audience with that campaign.

Or at least people who are LGBTQ+ friendly.

How much did that cost? We don't know. But we also know that the same brand has had luck with influencers with lower reach. Even someone with 5,000 followers, if they're the right kind of followers, can be a good influencer fit.

Creating Your First Influencer Campaign

Okay, now back to reality. You're interested in gaining exposure, followers, and sales by using an influencer. You know who you need to target and you know where you're going to at least start to look.

Now, what does the actual partnership look like? That depends entirely on each situation. There's no dollar-per-follower global amount. Each influencer can set their own rates.

And it's not always pure exchanged cash. Maybe that mom-influencer would do a few posts if you put her up in your hotel for a weekend on the house.

But you'll have to reach out to her if you want to figure that out. Before you do that, figure out what kind of budget you have and the kinds of content you want.

You don't have to have a concrete idea: influencers are content creators. They can help you figure out what to post. But you do need to know what you want them to concentrate on.

Is it the quality of your hotel? The location? The amenities? Have a list of things you want them to focus on.

You can offer their followers a special discount rate if they book with a code from their posts if you'd like.

Why Bother? The Statistics

Finally, let's look at the numbers behind the industry. Where did this idea come from?

Well, it has to do with the importance of person-to-person reviews. People trust the opinion of other consumers way more than they trust a business.

In fact, 84% of people read an online review before they buy or book anything from a new company.

Now imagine if one of those reviews came from someone your audience knows, loves, and trusts. Their opinion would hold more value than someone they don't know.

That's how the influencer game was born and why it's so valuable.

Why Instagram Over the Others?

Finally, let's talk about why influencers are using Instagram over all the other available social media networks. There are two reasons. One: Instagram is growing quicker than any other platform and doesn't have the distrust that Facebook currently has.

And two: a picture is worth 1000 words. The visual set up of Instagram makes it easy for influencers to post pictures that create wanderlust. It's not overcomplicated. There are no articles to read or links to click through - unless they want to.

The audience can simply see a picture and think "I want to go there". "There" being your business.

Wrapping Up

We're living in a crazy time. Instead of putting ads and information out in newspapers and on TVs, we're paying people for word of mouth. Or word of eyes, if you will.

As we approach 2019, we're going to see people using non-traditional marketing channels more and more. Thanks to Zuckerberg, your Facebook campaigns probably will do worse and worse as the years go on.

So, it's time to think about social influencers and what they can do for your business. Just make sure they're the right fit, first.

Ready to hand over the wheel and let someone find the perfect influencer for you? Click here.