Several hotel chains are realising the value of working together with travel bloggers as an online marketing strategy. According to the Digital Index: Travel and Tourism study by Text100, travel bloggers are more influential than any other social media channel when it comes to holiday planning.
Travel bloggers have established themselves as experts in the industry and the advice and insight they offer is considered valuable by their followers. Also, it is very easy for hotels to work together with travel bloggers. They are more adventurous than those who work in traditional media and they love to discover new things. When hotels and travel bloggers partner up, they can offer each other fantastic benefits and opportunities.
One of the major points to keep in mind is that travel bloggers love what they do. Starting a blog is a labour of love and filling it with articles requires passion and commitment. Most travel bloggers start their blog as a hobby and they would continue to travel and write about their adventures even if they weren’t getting paid for it. Their fans appreciate their honesty and enthusiasm, as well as their charming and personal approach.
So if you are planning on launching an effective travel blogger campaign and reaching out to influencers there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, you should find the right travel blogger whose style and personality will fit with your brand. Some bloggers focus on budget travel while others feature adventures off the beaten track and other write about boutique luxury hotels – so select the writer who specialises in your style of travel.
Looking for some creative ways that hotels and travel bloggers can work together? Here are some ideas:
Creating a Twitter Chat
A Twitter chat is an organised event on Twitter in which people participate and answer questions by using the hashtag. It can be a fantastic way to get people talking about your destination or your hotel. It usually only works when you have a large engaged following, which is why partnering with a travel blogger who has a lot of followers will help to promote your Twitter chat.
Organise a Hospitality Blogging Campaign as part of your Restaurant Marketing Strategy
Rather than having the travel blogger stay at your hotel and then write a review on their website, why not work together for a bigger social media/blogging campaign? You can work with a blogger to develop a series of blog posts around a specific theme that will be relevant to your hotel. You can compensate them for these blog posts with free stays at your hotel, or by paying them. It’s important to note that industry standards require the travel blogger to disclose when they are being compensated for a blog post.
Create a Video of your Hotel
Most travel bloggers rely on text and images to convey their message, but using video can be a very effective way to convey the experience of staying at your hotel and visiting your destination. Some travel bloggers are very adept at using video and are able to create high quality polished video content. Encourage travel bloggers to make a video of their stay and of the things to do in your region. If the video turns out really well you can even display it on your own website.
Host a Contest
Another interesting and creative way to work together with travel bloggers is to host a contest via their blog. You can offer a stay at your hotel as a prize and the travel blogger can encourage all of their readers to enter the draw for the prize. If the prize is a good one then the contest will get a lot of attention and shares on social media and a lot of people will enter. This will spread the word about your hotel and be a great promotional tool.
Offer an Experience, Not Just a Stay
If you decide to invite a travel blogger to stay at your hotel, why not give them a unique experience they can write about that will make their story more interesting? Perhaps you can organise a local food cooking course, a horseback riding expedition around your property or a traditional dance performance. This will make for a much more entertaining and impactful blog when the blogger writes about your hotel.
Keep these ideas in mind so that you can work with travel bloggers in an effective and creative way and promote your hotel brand.