Finding new and more impactful ways of engaging influencers have been some of the key questions for brand managers as well as influencer management agencies, such as Influencer Africa.
For Influencer Africa, identifying these avenues to create a common value for brands and influencers gives us more opportunities to ensure impactful influencer-led marketing campaigns. Through this, the agency has built several influencer collectives that are deployed periodically to execute campaigns for brands. One such collective is the TravelX collective.
A group of influencers and content creators who explore locations and identify opportunities to promote brand-led messages. During the Easter celebrations last April, we activated the TravelX collective again with a weekend-long trip to Kwahu.
The 8-member TravelX collective consisted of Nana Tea, Ekow Mclean, Dancegod Lloyd, Princess Burland, Ama Governor, Quables, Gingerr, and Mis Julee.
These influencers and creators were paired with brands to document their travel experience while also including their respective brand messages in their content. Some of the brands were Beefeater, Ebony Condoms, Rock City Hotel, Betway, Xwater, and CloseUp.
For an added experience, Influencer Africa partnered with Camps and Hikes to host a camping component for the trip. This allowed some of the followers and fans of these influencers to also join the TravelX trip.
One of the key benefits of influencer marketing in destination marketing is the ability to tap into the power of word-of-mouth recommendations.
According to a study by Rakuten Marketing, 40 percent of consumers have made a purchase after seeing an influencer use a product or service on social media. This means that by partnering with influencers, brands can reach new audiences and drive sales in a way that traditional advertising may not be able to achieve.
In the case of Influencer Africa’s TravelX, it is an opportunity for brands to truly demonstrate how they can be a part of their consumer’s lifestyle and everyday routine by highlighting how easily the creators utilise their brands during their travels.
Creating authentic travel experiences with influencers
One of the key reasons influencer marketing has become so popular in destination marketing is the ability to create authentic travel experiences. These authentic travel experiences can then be leveraged by brands. By working with influencers and creators who are passionate about travel, the brands on TravelX were able to create content that resonated with their target audience in a way that felt genuine and authentic. This authenticity is important as it helps to build trust between the brand, the influencer, and the influencer’s followers.
When an influencer shares their travel experiences and how they utilise the products and services of these brands, they are not only promoting the brand, but they are also sharing a personal story with their followers. This personal connection is incredibly powerful, especially when the influencer or creator has a large and engaged following. The brands who journeyed with Influencer Africa on TravelX were able to create authentic travel experiences with the influencers. This allowed the brands to tap into the emotional connection that people have with travel.
Maximising reach and engagement with Influencer Marketing
Another reason Influencer Africa is championing TravelX and onboarding brands onto this platform is that influencer marketing in destination marketing has this unique ability to introduce the functionality of brands to new audiences and drive engagement in a way that traditional advertising may not be able to achieve. In the travel space, people are often inspired by the experiences of others. So, when you see an influencer share a post of their boat ride experience while enjoying Beefeater Gin with their friends, their engaged followers would also want to relive the experiences for the influencer even if not in the exact same setting.
Influencer Africa’s key considerations for brands collaborating with influencers and creators
While it is beneficial for brands to engage influencers and creators in the destination marketing space, there are some key considerations that brands should keep in mind when collaborating with influencers. These considerations guided Influencer Africa when building the Travel Collective, which has now become the creators’ hub for TravelX.
First and foremost, it’s important for brands to choose the right influencers to partner with. This means selecting an influencer who has an affinity to the brand and is also known to be a natural traveller. This prevents the travel experience from being perceived as inorganic by the influencer’s followers.
It is also important to ensure that the influencer or creator has a large and engaged following. There are tools that help to determine the engagement rate of influencers and creators. The number of followers alone is not a good metric in selecting influencers, especially when the campaign is on travel.
Another key consideration for TravelX was ensuring that the content created by influencers aligned with the brand’s messaging and values. While the content is not an advert, the brand must still be accurately represented in the content.
Just as with any other marketing campaign, it is important to measure the success of influencer marketing campaigns with destination marketing. This means tracking key metrics such as reach, engagement, and if possible, conversions to determine the ROI of the campaign. By tracking these metrics, brands can identify what’s working and what’s not working and make key adjustments to their strategy accordingly.
Results
In the case of Influencer Africa’s TravelX at Kwahu, the campaign was highly successful. In just a week, posts from 8 content creators and influencers had reached more than 6 million people across Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The campaign also attracted almost 100K engagements with more than 16.5 million impressions. About 1K people also made posts including “#TravelX” in their captions or comments. This suggests that content created from TravelX resonated with the audience as they were taking the time to interact with it and even share their own posts using the official hashtag.
Conclusion
Combining influencer marketing with destination marketing offers brands an impactful way to collaborate with influencers and reach new audiences. By leveraging the power of word-of-mouth recommendations, building brand awareness and credibility, creating authentic travel experiences, and maximising reach and engagement, brands can build long-term relationships with their customers as well as drive sales.
However, it’s important for brands to choose the right influencers to partner with, ensure that the content aligns with their messaging and values, and measure the success of influencer marketing campaigns. By doing so, brands can create effective destination marketing campaigns that resonate with their target audience and drive business results. TravelX is able to do this for brands in various sectors.
>>>the writer is an Influencer Strategist at Influencer Africa. She was the Lead on TravelX
