If you go on holiday and didn’t post a #selfie, did it really happen?
The travel influencers’ secret.

User-generated content (UGC) in the travel industry is a ‘gold mine hidden in plain sight’, says Adweek. Indeed, social content influences travellers’ destinations more than any other type of advertising. For this reason, travel companies must shift their marketing focus to UGC.

Sharing user-generated content on social networks is one thing; using your guests’ social content strategically is the real challenge. How can travel marketers maximise the impact of their guest photos? Social media influencers are about to become your best friends.

Brand influencers play a key role in the distribution and dissemination of UGC. With hundreds of thousands (and even millions) of engaged followers, influencers enable brands to reach audiences worldwide.

In this post, we will explore ways in which influencer marketing can help your travel brand reach millennial customers.

1. Reaching millennials through visual channels

Travelling means immersing yourself in an aesthetically surprising culture and landscape different from your own. Storytelling through captivating visual content lends itself to capturing fascination, emotion and first-hand travel experiences.

Visual content sharing platforms Instagram and Snapchat are the most important social channels for travel brands, says Drew Binsky of The Hungry Partier. It’s all about getting travellers to tell their own unique stories – through personal photography on Instagram; and through unedited video content on Snapchat. Drew’s Snapchat shares his experiences from city to city in an authentic and engaging way for his millennial followers. His photos inspire them to visit new destinations. Snapchat is already the No. 3 social app among millennials and Drew predicts that “in the next three years [it] will become the single most important marketing tool for the travel industry”.

 2. Creating more authentic marketing

Studies show that 92 per cent of customers trust online content created by peers over all other forms of advertising, and this is especially true in the travel industry. Millennials now look to their favourite bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers and YouTubers for their next travel inspiration, rather than traditional advertising.

Factor in how an influencer’s brand recommendation carries more weight than a celebrity endorsement, and you’ll see why so many travel agencies partner with influencers to boast the appeal of their destinations and reinforce their value proposition.

3. Save on content creation costs

The good news is that travel influencers want to work with your brand as much as you do. Influencers are constantly looking to grow their audience through positive publicity and collaborating with reputable companies is the smartest way to achieve this.

A popular tactic is for brands to partner with an influencer to make a social media takeover. For example, Drew has done ‘Snapchat takeovers’ for Yahoo and TripIt, where he posts his travel content on the company’s Snapchat story for a day. The result is mutually beneficial: an influencer’s trusted content validates a company’s brand, while generating publicity and recognition for the influencer.

So how can you incentivise influencers to collaborate with your travel brand? Give them rewards other than cash and they will be more than happy to work with you. Spokesperson roles, brand ambassadors and other PR opportunities legitimise an influencer’s reputation while growing their audience. Add to that the costs you save on advertising spend and you have achieved real success!

What is your next step?

User-generated content is a powerful marketing tool in the travel industry. The question is no longer whether companies should use social content, but how to maximise the impact of this content.

Travel influencers have a great grip on where millennials travel. If your brand has the resources, partner with leading travel influencers to validate and strengthen your brand. If resources are limited, tap into the valuable social proof of everyday influencers.

Still stuck on how to harness influencer marketing for your brand? Here is an article explaining how to structure an influencer marketing strategy.