Best practices for collaborating with Instagram Travel Influencers

Are you eager to skyrocket your influencer marketing strategy? Look no further than Instagram travel influencers. In this article, we'll delve into the reasons why you should prioritize these creators in your strategy, provide invaluable tips and best practices for collaborating with them, and introduce you to some of the standout influencers making waves right now. Let's dive in!

Why Instagram Travel Influencers are a Must-Have in Your Strategy

Instagram's visually appealing, engagement-friendly platform offers an ideal space for travel influencers to captivate audiences and add value to your marketing initiatives. Here are some compelling reasons why partnering with them can elevate your game:

Instagram's Ongoing Dominance

Even with TikTok's surging popularity, Instagram remains a social media powerhouse. It ranks fourth in terms of usage, trailing only Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Moreover, Instagram boasts the highest total downloads of any social media app worldwide. Incorporating Instagram into your influencer marketing strategy is pivotal for success.

Extensive User Engagement

People spend a significant amount of time scrolling through Instagram. Research reveals that nearly 60% of users engage with the platform daily, dedicating over 50 minutes per day, which accumulates to about eight months over a lifetime. This level of engagement provides ample opportunities to garner attention for your products.

Diverse Array of Travel Influencers

Travel is a multifaceted experience, attracting individuals from diverse backgrounds and skill sets. This diversity allows brands to collaborate with creators from various walks of life, ensuring representation for everyone. Consequently, it enriches the travel influencer space, offering a plethora of perspectives and experiences for audiences to explore.

High Influence Factor

When traveling to unfamiliar destinations, people often seek expert advice. A staggering 85% of individuals admit to relying on travel influencers for recommendations while on trips. Partnering with travel influencers provides an excellent opportunity to place your products in the hands of travelers and have your business featured on their itineraries.

Leverage In-App Shopping

Instagram's in-app shopping features simplify the process of promoting and selling travel-related products. This enables influencers to facilitate seamless conversions for followers interested in purchasing, making it a win-win for both parties.

Tips and Best Practices for Collaborating with Instagram Travel Influencers

If you're ready to embark on a partnership with Instagram travel influencers, here are some valuable tips and best practices to maximize the potential of each collaboration:

1. Provide Solutions for Common Travel Challenges

Travel can be stressful, especially when language barriers exist. Collaborate with influencers to demonstrate how your products or services can alleviate travel anxiety. They can also share practical travel tips they've picked up during their journeys.

2. Embrace Live Experiences

Partner with travel influencers for live-streamed adventures, including live Q&A sessions, real-time travel updates, and behind-the-scenes insights into their journeys. Live broadcasts offer an intimate look into the creators' content, creating an exclusive viewing experience for audiences.

3. Explore Local Stories

While traveling is exciting, taking the time to connect with the locals adds a unique dimension to the content. Encourage influencers to explore off-the-beaten-path destinations and engage with the people they encounter along the way. This approach adds authenticity to your content.

4. Host Contests

Organizing contests is an excellent way to boost engagement among your target audience. Collaborate with influencers to offer trips or products to their followers, encouraging likes, shares, and comments on the posts and generating buzz around your brand.

5. Prioritize Sustainability

Modern travelers are increasingly conscious of their carbon footprint. Encourage influencers to promote sustainable travel practices. This aligns with the values of over half of travel consumers and can positively impact their decisions.

6. Create Travel Maps

Encourage influencers to craft Google maps featuring their favorite destinations from their trips. Share these maps with their audience after the trip ends, offering an interactive way for followers to explore and plan their journeys.

7. Diversify Your Influencer Mix

Consider the pros and cons of influencers with different audience sizes. Nano influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers), micro influencers (10,000 to 100,000 followers), macro influencers (100,000 to 1 million followers), and celebrity influencers (1 million+ followers) each have their unique advantages. A combination of these influencers in your strategy can yield outstanding results.

Top Instagram Travel Influencers to Follow

Top Nano Instagram Travel Influencers

1. Nikki on Her Way: Nikki and her husband Colton's journey from a "default lifestyle" to a global adventure is captivating. They explore incredible places and document their journey.
2. Maryhia Layla: Maryhia, an Atlanta-based creator, inspires her followers to make the most of every day with her travel and everyday inspiration content.
3. Eric Garced: Eric, a real estate investor and travel host, offers inspiration for your next trip and can even help plan it for you.
4. Maddie Parrish: Maddie, a registered nurse and prolific traveler, now explores the world with her baby girl as her top travel companion.
5. Dan Diveny Jr: Dan is a soccer coach and travel and lifestyle creator, offering a unique blend of travel and soccer content.

Top Micro Instagram Travel Influencers

1. Julia Carter: Julia, an internal medicine doctor, shares her journey through life and education to inspire, motivate, and educate her followers.
2. Beto Aceves: Beto Aceves encourages his followers to make every place they visit a memorable experience, always bringing the fun.
3. Adam Lovick: Adam Lovick, a travel correspondent, offers luxurious travel inspiration and entertaining content from his journeys.
4. Siham: Siham, a Swedish fashion and travel influencer, showcases stunning travel destinations worldwide.
5. Nicholas Kusnir: Nicholas is a down-to-earth travel influencer, foodie, and internet jokester, offering a relatable perspective on travel.

Top Macro Instagram Travel Influencers

1. Semaj the Poet: Semaj, a lifestyle, fitness, fashion, travel, and cooking content creator, delivers entertaining and high-quality video content.
2. Adriana Maria: Adriana Maria specializes in "slow travel" and offers unique travel guides and outfit inspiration.
3. Katie Scollan: Katie Scollan's grid is filled with vibrant colors from her global travels, mingling with local people and wildlife.
4. Eric Sierra: Eric is a thrill-seeker who creates travel and lifestyle content promoting healthy, fun, and adventurous activities.
5. Meghan O'Rourke: Meghan turned her wanderlust into a full-time career and partners with various brands and tourism boards, creating content from locations worldwide.

Top Celebrity Instagram Travel Influencers

1. Murad and Nataly Osmann: This Russian-born husband-and-wife duo is renowned for their "follow me to" photography series, which showcases breathtaking destinations worldwide.
2. Lauren Bullen (gypsea_lust): Lauren's passion for travel and storytelling, combined with her self-taught photography skills, makes her a valuable inspiration for incorporating influencers into various types of travel content.
3. Jack Morris: Jack Morris is a world traveler and serial entrepreneur who brings style to his global adventures, keeping his followers guessing about his next destination and mode of travel.
4. Chris Burkard: Chris Burkard is a photographer, speaker, and filmmaker known for capturing stunning landscapes and introducing audiences to lesser-known places. His nature photography is awe-inspiring, coupled with educational insights.
5. Sjana Elise: Sjana, an Australian living in Hawaii, takes the opportunity to travel the world whenever possible. She embodies the "everyday" person and encourages her followers to embrace the imperfect aspects of life.

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Key Takeaway

Instagram travel influencers offer the versatility needed to enhance your marketing strategy. With their diverse backgrounds and skill sets, brands can find value in prioritizing them as a vital part of their strategy. As you proceed, ensure you align with influencers who share your mission, laying the groundwork for fruitful partnerships in the years to come.

How do you find travel influencers?

Discovering Instagram travel influencers can be done through various methods. For a comprehensive guide on this topic, check out our guidebook to get started. Additionally, when you're ready to take your strategy to the next level, explore the Roundabout platform, the most comprehensive influencer discovery tool available today.

How much do Instagram travel influencers make?

The earnings of Instagram travel influencers can vary widely. In general, influencer rates can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars for a single sponsored post or campaign. Long-term partnerships, exclusive content, and additional deliverables, such as blog posts, stories, or video content, can also influence compensation. Ultimately, the specific earnings of travel influencers depend on their individual circumstances and the terms negotiated with brands.

What is the most followed travel account on Instagram?

National Geographic Travel holds the distinction of being the most followed travel account on Instagram, boasting more than 47 million followers. Their visually stunning content captures the essence of travel and the beauty of destinations around the world, making it a beacon for travel enthusiasts.

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Measuring the Impact of Instagram Travel Influencer Campaigns

One crucial aspect of working with Instagram travel influencers is measuring the impact of your campaigns. To ensure you're getting a return on your investment, consider the following metrics:

Engagement Metrics

• Likes and Comments: Monitor the number of likes and comments on influencer posts. High engagement signifies that the content is resonating with the audience.
• Shares and Saves: The number of shares and saves can indicate the content's quality and its long-term value.
• Follower Growth: Analyze the increase in the influencer's follower count during and after the campaign.

Website Traffic and Conversions

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): If the influencers include links to your website, track the CTR to measure the traffic generated.
• Conversion Rate: Measure how many visitors from influencer posts convert into customers or subscribers.

Reach and Impressions

• Reach: Calculate the number of unique users who have seen the influencer's content.
• Impressions: The total number of times the content has been viewed, including multiple views by the same user.

Brand Sentiment

• Monitor the sentiment surrounding your brand after influencer collaborations. Are mentions and comments positive or negative? A positive sentiment is a valuable indicator of brand perception.

Maintaining Authenticity in Influencer Collaborations

Maintaining authenticity is key to the success of your influencer marketing campaigns. Here are some strategies to ensure your collaborations feel genuine:

• Select Influencers Carefully: Choose influencers whose values align with your brand. When their love for travel and your products or services genuinely match, the authenticity shines through.
• Give Creative Freedom: Allow influencers to express themselves and showcase your products or services in their unique way. Micromanaging can lead to inauthentic content.
• Honest Reviews: Encourage influencers to provide honest reviews, even if they encounter issues. Authenticity comes from genuine experiences, both positive and negative.
• Disclose Partnerships: Ensure that influencers clearly disclose their partnership with your brand. Transparency builds trust with their audience.

The Future of Instagram Travel Influencer Marketing

The world of influencer marketing is constantly evolving. To stay ahead, keep an eye on these emerging trends:

• Niche Micro-Influencers: As audiences seek more authenticity, niche micro-influencers are gaining popularity. Their smaller but highly engaged followings can be highly valuable for brands.
• Video Content: Video content is on the rise, with influencers using Instagram's IGTV and Reels to engage their audience in a more dynamic way.
• User-Generated Content: Encouraging travelers to share their own experiences with your products or services can create a snowball effect of user-generated content, further promoting your brand.
• Sustainability: As travelers become more conscious of their environmental impact, partnering with influencers who promote sustainable travel practices can resonate with your audience.

In conclusion, Instagram travel influencers are an essential component of a successful marketing strategy. By collaborating with influencers authentically, measuring the impact of your campaigns, and staying attuned to emerging trends, you can continue to leverage their influence effectively and connect with your target audience in meaningful ways.