Five Tips to Amplify Travel PR with Micro-Influencers

Let’s stop dancing around it and talk more about micro-influencers in travel. Marketers already know that micro-influencers can engage fans of sporting events, so why not in the tourism sector? Harvard Business Review suggests that smaller audiences can in fact be better when it comes to influencing. Destinations need to get in on the action.

Micro-influencing is part of the travel industry’s shift from transactional one-off posts to strategic, long-term influencer partnerships that allow for sustained storytelling and deeper audience connections. Travel micro-influencers are the secret ingredient to that.

Continuous collaborations enable influencers to showcase destinations authentically through multiple visits and seasonal changes, building audience trust. Destinations need to prioritize brand ambassadorships that generate ongoing engagement over sporadic sponsored content.

There’s no legal definition, but micro-influencers generally have between 10-100 thousand followers. They speak to highly engaged niche communities. Macro-influencers, on the other hand, speak to broader but potentially less connected audiences.

Travel micro-influencers’ detailed, personal content style and authentic recommendations resonate deeply with travelers. At the same time, multiple diverse content creators unlock new market opportunities by showcasing destination experiences through different lenses and storytelling styles. Travel micro-influencer partnerships, for example, can operate in key feeder markets to promote new air service. 

There is a real impact on traveler confidence when audiences see authentic content from creators they relate to and trust. These five tips will help destinations focus their micro-influencer partnerships by homing in on their specialities.

1. Sync Niche Audiences to Experiences

Destinations can identify micro-influencers whose audience demographics align with target visitors. Not every traveler wants to do every single activity in a destination. But there is a niche—and an influencer—for nearly everything, offering a direct line to audiences who want to know more.

By spreading your marketing across several smaller influencers, these partnerships create content opportunities that resonate with special interest traveler segments whether its sustainability and adventure or luxury and food.

2. Prioritize Engagement, Not Reach

With travel micro-influencers, higher engagement rates matter more than follower count. Destination marketers need to look at numbers of comments, shares, and other metrics to evaluate engagement quality. Working with a micro-influencer means developing strategies for maximizing authentic interaction with potential visitors. 

Though their numbers may seem less impressive than a macro-influencer, marketers measure success through meaningful metrics beyond impressions—which ultimately have more impact.

3. Partner with Local Voices

Featuring varied perspectives and experiences creates a more complete, authentic destination narrative that resonates with different potential visitors. Micro-influencers living in a destination provide that.

Locals are often the best source to showcase authentic, off-the-beaten-path experiences. Destinations need to leverage their established community connections and tap these micro-influencers for year-round content opportunities through seasonal changes.

4. Target Feeder Markets

The advantage of micro-influencers is that it’s cost effective to work with multiple individuals, so partnering with micro-influencers in your top source markets compliments any local partnerships you develop.

These influencers are adept at creating content that addresses specific travel barriers like flight routes and travel time that local partnerships may lack. They can also speak to specific markets more efficiently, allowing your destination to have representation in different states or countries that you want to reach.

5. Amplify Diverse Perspective

No matter where they are located, micro-influencers provide their distinct, diverse voices that destinations need to embrace. Their storytelling power can be leveraged to speak to communities and groups through DEI-related content, uplifting marginalized voices.

These micro-influencers can even help you authentically showcase your destination’s accessibility and inclusivity in new ways. They’ll create content that resonates with certain communities like Black or Hispanic travelers while addressing travel considerations and experiences for people with disabilities or LGBTQ+ travelers. 

Remember, partnering with multiple micro-influencers can represent the same investment as one macro-influencer or celebrity influencer campaign. Destinations, however, don’t have to put all their proverbial eggs in one influencer basket anymore.

Curious about partnering with travel micro-influencers? Get in touch with Tania Kedikian at tania.kedikian@old.aboutdci.com to learn more about creating sustainable, long-term partnerships that feed into your destination’s goals. Check out DCI’s list of top travel influencers, while you’re here!