5 ways influencers actually help your tourism brand

In earlier posts, we've seen how influencers have become an important part of tourism digital marketing efforts and  how you can reach out to engage with them. Today, we will take a look at the actual and tangible ways in which social media influencers can help grow your tourism or travel brand. The fundamental reason to reach out to social media influencers is well established - they have a unique and popular take on nice topics and enjoy a certain amount of clout in the online space. So reaching out to them has a very good justification. In addition to the bigger picture, here are some specific ways in which engaging with influencers can help.

1. Peer recommendations

Most followers of influencers follow them due to their own interest. As such, they view the influencer as someone who is a peer or a trusted friend. They follow the social feed of the influencer in order to gain access to curated and personal information, knowledge or entertainment. Hence, anything that the influencer recommends (in a natural, honest manner) serves as a positive reinforcement of your brand and its products/services. The more specific the recommendation, the better!

2. Influencer created content

While your brand may be creating, curating and collecting content on a regular basis, collaborating with influencers will give you more unique content you can use. Most influencers, especially in the travel and tourism verticals, prefer to experience the brand or destination first-hand. This will allow them to create blogs, photos, videos and other multimedia posts which are personalized and incorporate their unique perspective. This is something that can prove to be invaluable to the brand.

3. User generated content

Having your influencer promote a contest (centered around your brand) to their followers is a great way to not only encourage participation, but also to get hold of relevant user generated content. When the reward is a personalized travel experience, you can be sure that the number of participants will rapidly grow - as will the amount of usable content centered around your brand. Rather than using generic gifts and giveaways, it is better to offer brand experiences to winners. This will weed out the contest junkies while giving you high quality content.

4. Promotions and discounts

Giving your influencers the opportunity to offer their readers/followers with relevant promotions and discounts is a great way to create engagement. Not only does the influencer get the opportunity to reward their followers' loyalty - your brand also get deeply integrated with their audience reach. These promotions and discounts can be used in a multitude of ways. Probably the most effective are time-sensitive discounts which ensure that any unsold inventory you have is quickly disposed!

5. Newsletter Audience

Most influencers who have a blog have the ability to offer a newsletter service through subscription. Getting your brand message integrated into these newsletters gives you yet another way to capitalize on the reach of your influencers. Most subscribers read through the newsletters at their own pace which makes them ideal for reinforcement messages which are not time-sensitive.

These are just some of the tangible ways in which influencers can help your tourism brand reach a larger and more relevant audience. However remember the basic tenets of influencer marketing like allowing them their own tone of voice, giving them relevant inputs and rewarding their followers and you stand to reap great benefits. As digital platforms evolve and more come up every day you need to experiment in order to stay relevant. It is best to plan this as an activity for the longer term, not just as a one off to realize its full potential.