How Influencers Travel the World for Free (and how you can too!)

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HOW INFLUENCERS TRAVEL THE WORLD FOR FREE (AND HOW YOU CAN TOO!)

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a travel influencer? Better yet, ever wondered how to get started as a travel influencer? Today we’re answering some frequently asked questions and covering all the basics: the power of influencer marketing within the travel industry, different types of travel partnerships, and how to begin your travel content creator journey without breaking the bank!

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Why do influencers get paid to travel?

Influencer marketing has quickly become a huge factor in marketing for the travel industry, and it’s easy to see why. Seeing beautiful images of people like you in exotic locations on your feed is just as, if not more effective, than ads in magazines or newspapers. I know when planning my own trips I never use Google or TripAdvisor anymore. Instead I look at social media: saved images, feature pages, other influencers, and the list goes on. Not only is it effective, influencer marketing also has a cheaper CPM (cost per thousand impressions) than traditional media: as an example, a collab on my recent Italy trip got over 4 MILLION impressions! I am not at liberty to disclose the $ amount for this campaign, but it’s certainly much more affordable than a magazine ad, which has a CPM between $140 and $1300. You can read about the CPM for other media forms here.

Along with the cheaper cost, other advantages to using influencer marketing include the personal connection that influencers have with their followers. Influencers often have an audience with a very specific interest, which makes it a lot easier for hotels to locate their target customers. Influencer marketing is also more relatable to the average person than seeing a celebrity endorse a brand or location: when you see a person like you in a beautiful place, it's easy to imagine yourself there as well.

What are the different types of travel partnerships?

Fully comped trip + payment: The sponsors of these types of trips aren’t necessarily restricted to travel niche brands: I’ve seen (and been on) trips with clothing, beauty, and even tech brands. Hotels offer these types of trips less frequently, but generally comp + pay if there’s a grand opening or a big event with a marketing budget.
Fully comped trips: Not all brands have the budget for payment on top of comped trips, so another popular offering is the fully comped trip, where they cover expenses for you and sometimes a plus one to visit the location. This option is good for influencers who are trying to create more content, or micro influencers who are looking to expand their media kits.
Hotel collabs: Hotel partnerships are typically initiated by influencers, who reach out to hotels in an area they’re already planning to travel to. The industry norm for these types of trips is that they are usually unpaid.
Partial comped trips: If a hotel has already hit their marketing budget for the quarter, or if an influencer pitches them a visit during the busy season, they may offer you a stay at a media rate, slightly lower than the full cost of a stay (typically around a 30% discount).

Another type of trip you may get invited on is a familiarization trip (fam trip). These trips are typically hosted by tourism boards or travel brands, and are intended to give you a well rounded experience at the specific hotel or location so that you can show your audience everything the place has to offer. They are typically organized with groups of either travel journalists or travel influencers, but may sometimes also be a mix of the two. Your flights, accommodation, and daily schedule are organized for you, and these types of trips can be partially comped, fully comped, or even fully comped with payment on top.

How do influencers choose which hotels to work with?

It really depends on your account and what your goals are. When I was first starting out, I’d pitch any hotel that I thought there might even be a chance of getting a good photo, but at this point in my career, I really only pitch hotels where I’m certain I’ll be able to create content that I love. If the area I’m staying in has no hotels that I’d want to shoot, I just pay for a hotel that’s conveniently located to the area’s tourist attractions.

How do hotels choose which influencers to work with?

When I was first starting out, I would pitch 30+ hotels in the area I wanted to stay in. Results were not always good:

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Rejections can feel personal (I know I definitely took it to heart in the beginning), but at the end of the day, results really do vary from hotel to hotel depending on their marketing goals. Maybe you don’t have the numbers they’re looking for, maybe you’re not reaching the right audience, and you might just be contacting the wrong hotel: there are some places that will never ever have budget, and that’s fine- you’ll find another!

How many followers do you need?

I get this question over and over again, and I hate to say it but it really does vary. If you have a super targeted, engaged audience, you might be able to secure a hotel collab with only 2 or 3 thousand followers, and on the other hand, you might have 50 or 100 thousand followers but will get passed up by a hotel because it's not the right fit. The best advice I can give you here is to position yourself to show off your strengths, whether that's engagement, audience interest, or special licensing, and prove to the hotel that what you have to offer is worth their while. Don’t let a small account size stop you from pitching hotels: I’ve seen @followthenap stay at hotels that wouldn’t even collab with me, and @nakiesa_ has scored a bunch of travel collabs with less than 3K followers!

How do I reach out to hotels and tourism boards?

There’s way too much info on this topic to cover in one post, but here’s a quick overview:

Create a media kit: A media kit is essentially a resume for influencers, with info on your account, following, and previous partnerships. It helps the brand get to know you and your audience, and shows them how you can help them achieve their marketing goals.
Compose a pitch email: Tell the brand who you are and why they’d benefit from working with you. Speak about yourself, but also how your brand relates to theirs. Including their marketing goals, mood board images, and something specific about the place all help show that you’ve done your research and are serious about this collaboration.
Find the right contact: Typically you’ll want to contact either the marketing or media/press person for the hotel, but sometimes this is handled by an outside PR firm as well, in which case you should look for someone from that PR firm who represents the brand.
Follow up: if they don’t respond, make sure you follow up in a timely manner. We all get busy, but you don’t want an opportunity to fly by because of that!
Negotiate the terms: Tell them what you can offer, and make sure that what you get in return is worth your time and effort. Remember to never include full perpetual rights away for free- you’ll be losing out on a LOT of money and they can do whatever they want with your content, forever!

How can I get started?

Start locally: what is worth discovering in your neighborhood? Offering valuable tips and advice from your area will help you gain a following and establish yourself as a travel expert, which will make it easier to work with brands in the future. Avoid pitching during busy seasons, popular travel destinations, and larger brands, as they’ll be more likely to decline.