Working With Bloggers

Chris Christensen

Text

• TV, Movies, Magazines, Books, Friends, Travel Blogs and Podcasts

• Where to Go• Start of the Planning process

Trip Inspiration

• Guidebooks, Google, Travel Blogs and Podcasts, TripAdvisor

• Dominated by Search• Long Term Content valued

Trip Planning

Influence• UNWTO report shows 33% of US travelers going to Europe cite travel blogs as part of their trip planning. • Only 10% less than traditional media • Up from 0% 5 years ago. Fastest growing source of information for travelers.

http://www.etc-corporation.org/resources/uploads/ETC-UNWTO_Study_on_the_Outbound_Travel_Market.pdf

World Travel Market 2011 Industry Reportshows that social media and blogging are considered the #1 and #2 online marketing vehicles for travel, ahead of mobile, pay per click and video.

http://www.wtmlondon.com/files/onsite_wtm_industry_report_2011.pdf

Social Media54% of British holiday makers used social media platforms in the run up to their trip abroad to gain personal recommendations and reviews beforehand.

(source: poll by sunshine.co.uk June 2011)

SearchAbout two-thirds of travelers reported having used the Internet to research a trip during the past six months.

Source: Google survey (Sept. 2010)

What Bloggers Bring

• Audience• Engagement / Trust• Focus• Content Creation- words, pictures, video, audio• Story Telling• Social Media Reach• SEO value- long shelf life• Knowledge• Immediacy

Jordan Bloggers’ circles of influence include other influencers. #GoJordan 2011 Generated 42m tweet impressions The 2011 social media outreach Reached 1.9m people campaign, including #GoJordan, was immensely successful, leading to Jordan being on travelers’ minds and on many top travel lists, including Condé Nast Traveler, New York Times Travel, Virtuoso, and National Geographic, among many others.

- Jordan Tourism Board

Case Study: Jordan

• 7 Bloggers invited January to June 2011• 516% increase in searches for Visit Lanai• Visitors spending up 28% (more than other Hawaiian Islands• 715% ROI based on program costs• Total return of 1.5m in PR/SM value• Syndication on USAToday.com, TheAtlantic.com, LonelyPlanet.com

Case Study: Lanai

• Read their blogs• Listen to their Podcasts• Follow them on Social Media• Ask for recommendations• Meet Bloggers- Blogging Conferences - TBEX, TBU, etc- Tweetups - Travel Massive- Blogging Events at Trade Shows - WTM, ITM• Blogging Search Engines - BloggerBridge

Finding Bloggers

• Focus - Family Solo, Volunteer, Luxury, etc• Audience - readers, listeners, viewers- Google Analytics- Compete, Quantcast, Alexa• Demographics - Geography, Demographics, Age• Reputation• Social Media engagement - Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Klout, etc

Matching Bloggers

Working with Bloggers• Press Trips / Blog Trips / Personal Trips• Local Bloggers• Post for your blog• Place to Guest post• Sponsored Posts• Photos• Videos• Podcasts• Consulting - Social Media, Marketing, Web• Twitter Chats• Contest Promotion• Advertising / Sponsorship

Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe, California – Indoor Campout

• Family Bloggers

Hotels

Win a Free Hotel Stay in Radisson’s “50 Years, 50 Days, 50 Rooms” Contest

• Social Media audience

Four Seasons Lanai

• Luxury Travel Bloggers

Hotels

Business Travel Blogs / Podcasts

Working with Bloggers: Pre-Trip

• Expectations• Itinerary and Input• Campaign Goals• Audience Involvement• Clarify Expenses

Working with Bloggers: During

• Internet, mobile data plans• Flexibility• Time to Create• Coordinate Promotion

Working with Bloggers: After

• Follow Up• Repurpose content• Promote- mailing lists- printed brochures- podcasts- links- web pages

http://AmateurTraveler.com

chris2x@chris2x.com

@chris2x

Contact

Etc

World Travel Market 2011 Industry ReportRise of travel blogging is listed as a trend

http://www.wtmlondon.com/page.cfm/action=Archive/ContentID=209/EntryID=24