Travel is on the minds of many, and to that end you have people out there who enjoy travel so much as to document their experiences and opinions online as travel bloggers. In this way they utilize the internet as a platform for their voice and also to gain insight from other blogs. In doing so, there’s a bunch of people out there who can point to whatever is shared by travel bloggers as the fuel for their own travel dreams. It can be a bit of encouragement to those who want to make a career out of writing about travel or just within the industry itself. It’s also a gateway to their next step towards making all of those dreams come true – being a travel influencer.
Being a travel influencer today means that you’re part of a group that’s taking their knowledge to a higher level to the point where they can leverage it into opportunities like paid promotions or some form of corporate sponsorship. If that’s something that interests you, read on for a step-by-step guide on just how to up your game to be one of those influencers many take time out to read and follow.
What Are Influencers?
Travel influencers are basically people who love to travel and have found themselves in a position to maximize their visibility while on these excursions to a wide audience. These individuals make themselves highly visible through their social media profiles (more on that later on) primarily and through well-composed blog posts and article contributions to other travel-related websites. An example of this is Brian Kelly, aka The Points Guy. Kelly started writing about his experiences in learning how to fully unlock the potential of all of the frequent flyer miles he accrued while flying on business eleven years ago. Now, his site is listed as one of the go-to’s for those learning how to do the same and he’s attracted a lot of attention from corporate groups.
Another new element is how these influencers are taking advantage of video as a means to connect to their audience. This is helped along by the key advances that are present in technology on a consumer level. One example of this is the way influencers are documenting their travels using smartphones to capture videos and photos that really make others gravitate to their blogs and pages. The improved video quality of these phones as well as the camera capabilities have helped them take video and pictures on a near-professional level of quality. There are those who still employ regular cameras, in particular DSLRs in order to capture images of where they travel to add more heft to their written accounts. This takes us right into the next point.
How To Use Social Media To Raise Your Profile
Social media is a way of life these days. Wherever you look, you’ll see those icons that denote the popular staples like Facebook and Twitter. When it comes to the world of travel influencers however, Instagram is the way to go. This platform is all about imagery that stirs the senses, and one compelling image can garner thousands of likes – which equates to a serious amount of traffic that makes established travel companies and hospitality groups take notice. There are now quite a few individuals who love travel that have made their name as influencers through Instagram pictures and recently, video clips. For example, the couple of Nataly Osmann and her photographer husband Murad Osmann have built a captivating world summed up by its hashtag: #FollowMeTo. Between them, they have close to six million followers on Instagram thanks to all of their photographs with Nataly leading Murad by the hand in absolutely fabulous locations being posted on Instagram in conjunction to blogs they post on their website. In this way, they’ve managed to exponentially grow their audience over the past six years.
With social media, the key is to strike that fine balance between quality and quantity. It pays to make your posts engaging each time so that people can connect to them and share them freely, which will increase your blog’s visibility. There are different metrics to consider, such as the best time for you to post and the right hashtags to use depending on your post. There is another factor to consider to take it to the next level.
Extend Your Niche
The best travel influencers out there all have one key thing that links them, and that is the willingness to extend their niche and in turn, their core audience. This can lead to more opportunities that can put them in the influencer class, such as linking up with various brands and travel industry stalwarts of all levels. The aforementioned couple of Nataly and Murad Osmann actually elevated their profile thanks to taking part in a photographic campaign with fashion giant Michael Kors. One way we try to help travel bloggers and influencers is through Travel Influencers Asia, which is an initiative that links up travel companies with relevant influencers to execute marketing campaigns. This provides a network where one can gain insight from others and a chance to truly amplify their own blogs and websites to a larger audience.
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