technology infl uencers
Under the infl uence
James Street, co-founder of infl uencer marketing platform Whalar, explains why infl uencers are a powerful force in travel
Q
Why should destinations work with infl uencers? We live in a digital world, where most people have a smartphone, or at least access to the internet. Infl uencers have a larger share of the spotlight within this digital world. The reason these infl uencers have such a powerful voice is because they are creating amazing content (be it video, animation, photography and more), which attracts a large audience. At the same time, they are their authentic selves, which helps audiences trust and engage with them over traditional advertising. Destinations have success using infl uencers because they can tap into this amazing creativity, authenticity and large audience at scale, with a quick turnaround, for a lower cost.
What needs to be in place when working with infl uencers? It doesn’t matter if your marketing is not very advanced – the basic social accounts and a website are all you need to press go. You can utilise infl uencers to drive traffi c to a website, to build your following on Instagram, or for amazing content creation. Travel is also a very ‘Instagrammable’ pursuit – people log on to Instagram to get inspiration for travel.
With so many social media profi les out there, how can you be sure you
are paying the right fee for the best-value content? One of the benefi ts of using a platform such as Whalar is that we vet every infl uencer who is part of our online community to ensure quality, authenticity and transparency. Essentially, we can cut through the noise and deliver genuine quality through our industry expertise. You can look at their engagement rate, the number of followers they have and even their value for money in relation to other infl uencers. Getting value for money is great but, more importantly, you want people who are right for your destination, who are willing to engage with the place over a long period of time and who are prepared to go above and beyond for you.
What technology is helping amplify infl uencers’ messages?
Social media is continually developing and changing to help audiences see what they want – earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook’s news feed will be skewed towards posts from friends and family rather than external publishers, ultimately favouring authenticity of content. This means that infl uencers’ messages are even more important to bridge the gap between destination and friend. Essentially, Facebook wants users to see more of what makes them comment, like and
share, which is the kind of content an infl uencer would produce.
How is latest technology being used to track the results of infl uencer activity?
Most social media platforms have an analytics tool built in, which tends to be the fi rst port of call to track your infl uencer marketing. After that, web page analytics tools such as Google Analytics or Mixpanel also help to track and analyse the web traffi c that infl uencer marketing generates. Finally, affi liate links such as Shopify encourage infl uencers and users alike to shop via special links that enable businesses to track every step of the consumer journey.
Three infl uencers for three diff erent markets UK & Ireland
@Paperboyo Rich McCor
sees the world diff erently.
Using just his camera, some paper and a
pair of scissors, he
transforms famous landmarks into modern-day masterpieces, appealing to that famous British sense of humour.
24 wtm insights summer 2018
Middle East @thesandgypsy
Sai Manzano is an award-winning blogger based in Dubai. Super
luxe and glamorous, yet minimalist and
forward thinking, she represents a new wave of millennials from the Middle East who are seeking fresh experiences.
Latin America @xuzzi
Otherwise known as Mr. Pink, Jesus Castillo Ruiz’s feed is a celebration of his favourite colour. His unique vision
means he strives to fi nd and share the
most Instagrammable destinations for his loyal followers in
Mexico and across the globe.
wtm.com
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