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Boost your tour company’s online presence and attract more customers by partnering for your tour company partner with a travel blogger. Discover the benefits of this collaboration and take your business to the next level.
If that’s the case, partnering with a travel blogger could be the key to rapid growth. In the digital world of today, travel blogs have become the new storytellers, drawing people in with their amazing trips and content that makes them want to travel.
But why should your tour company connect up with these people?
I’ll tell you why.
Collaboration with travel bloggers can change your business in a lot of ways, like making your brand more well-known and getting a lot of loyal customers. It can also boost your reputation and help you market to a very specific audience.
In this piece, we’ll look at the compelling reasons why your tour company should build strong partnerships with these well-known travel blogger.
What is a travel blogger?
A travel blog is an online travel journal that includes stories, photos, and movies from the trip. It lets tourists tell their friends and family, other travelers, and even people they meet online about their experiences
Bloggers who write about travel have become a big part of the travel business. They are responsible for getting more people to travel, letting them share their stories, and making the world a smaller place.
This can only help your tour business because you’ll be able to reach new areas and bring in new customers.
So, if your tour company wants to get into that niche, you should start by working with a travel blogger who has fans and knows how things work in that niche.
Benefits of partnering with a travel blogger
Enhanced exposure and brand awareness
Travel bloggers attract much attention, which is excellent for your company’s image and reputation. They can also help promote your products, services, and events through their social media accounts.
Increased credibility and trust
One of the most most trusted sources to find information online is a blog. A blog can help build your company’s reputation in the eyes of customers and potential clients by helping them learn more about what you do. When they see that you’ve teamed up with a travel blogger, they’ll think your business is reputable. They might also think that this blogger has good taste in hotels or restaurants because they share their experiences with users on their blog.
Cost-effective marketing
Travel bloggers can help you reach your target audience at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing. They’re often willing to promote just about anything, from hotels to airlines and everything in between.
Authenticity and personalization of the travel experience
A travel blog is full of stories, tips, and advice on how to make your next trip even better than the last one. Let’s say you want to work together with a writer. If that’s the case, they’ll probably know how to make this trip even better than the last one. They may also have specific suggestions based on what they did and what they know about the place. This can help your tour business bring customer satisfaction and loyalty to a whole new level.
Real-life examples
TripAdvisor's collaboration with Adventurous Kate
TripAdvisor is a popular travel website allowing travelers to share their experiences. TripAdvisor partnered with Adventurous Kate, an avid travel blogger who writes about her adventures worldwide. The company wanted to reach out and connect with people who were passionate about travel and sharing their stories. They contacted several professional bloggers and asked them to share their experiences on the website. As a result of this collaboration, many people are now sharing their trips on TripAdvisor, thanks to Kate’s work.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and The Blonde Abroad partnership
The Blonde Abroad is a travel blog that Australian blogger Elle-Maija Salonen started. She has been writing about her travels and adventures in Europe, Asia, and Australia for many years. The blog has been running since 2012, but only recently did KLM Royal Dutch Airlines start working with it.
According to the blog, this partnership is an effort to connect people who might not otherwise get to know each other — and it’s working. “The partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has been a great success,” says the website. “It helps us to reach new readers and engage with them in a more personal way.”
Contiki's partnership with Tuula Vintage
Contiki’s partnership with Tuula Vintage has been a tremendous success for both parties. The blog has become a valuable resource for people looking to book their trip through Contiki. It is an excellent way to keep the brand in front of potential customers.
Tuula has been so successful that she’s now hired on as the official travel blogger for Contiki, helping spread the word about this fantastic travel company and its destinations worldwide. And when you consider that Tuula’s regular job is as a travel agent, it’s clear that she knows what she’s doing!
Steps to partnering with a travel blogger
Step 1: Identifying suitable bloggers
The first step in working with a blogger is to look for possible partners. You should look for blogs who get good reviews from their readers and have a consistent writing style. If a writer has been around for a while, make sure they have a lot of reviews.
For example, let’s say that your business sells camping and climbing tours. If that’s the case, check out their blog and look for posts that might be interesting to you. The best thing to do would be to look for posts about specific places in the world or specific things to do, like camping or rock climbing. This can be helpful because it tells you what kind of trip they want to take.
Step 2: Establishing clear goals and expectations
Figure out what each of them that you wants to get out of this partnership. Is it just for marketing, or do you want to make material as well? If it’s only for marketing, does that mean you’ll only use their blog for marketing, or could they also write guest posts on your site?
Think about what content will work best for each other, for example. When you need more text-based content, a travel blogger can post pictures or videos. Or, you want your partner to give you a mix of both types of information.
Set dates for when every individual should have finished their part. For example, you might want the first blog post to go up on January 1 and the last one to go up on March 31, but you might also want “at least one post in June.”
Be open in case something changes along the way, like if something comes up that changes when you should post.
Step 3: Providing value to the blogger
When you want to work with a travel blogger, the first thing you need to do is give them something they can use. You need to find out what makes them stand out in their field and then help them give their readers the same value.
There are many ways to add value:
- Promoting their work by linking to their blog or social media account, sharing their content, and making content around their business.
- Giving travel blogs special deals that are only available to them, like free tours, a free service that can be used to apply for a tour, a discount on the tour,…
- You pay them to write reviews, sponsored posts, or guest pieces. This is happening more often now that so many trip bloggers have their own channels (like Instagram).
Step 4: Building a long-term relationship
Working with a travel writer is one of the best things you can do because they can help build your brand over time. You can start by sharing their content on social media or giving them emails with links to all of your products, but eventually you’ll want to go further.
One great way to do this is to work with them all the time. This means that you can work together on specific pieces of content that will introduce new goods or services in an exciting way.
Your blogging friend will also be able to tell you how you’re doing as a whole and give you tips on how to improve things in the future. When it’s time to make changes to your marketing tactics or products in general, this kind of feedback is very helpful.
Conclusion
Tour companies and travel bloggers make for a potent combination. Tour companies get the marketing opportunities listed, such as enhanced exposure and brand awareness, increased credibility and trust, cost-effective marketing, authenticity, and personalization of the travel experience. And travel bloggers get access to a new travel experience and a potential platform for increased exposure. It’s a win-win situation, so if you’re a tour company owner or staff member interested in boosting your marketing efforts and branding strategies, consider reaching out to niche-branded travel blogs to see if they’d be willing to work with you on a sponsored post.