This is a much debated question in the industry, with the shift of late being towards the latter, recognising that smaller niche influencers, or so-called 'micro influencers', have a more trusted voice with their audiences and carry a lot more weight on their subject matter.
What are the learnings that others can share when it comes to influencer marketing activity in 2020 and what is the right strategy to deploy? Fewer influencers with bigger reach, or more influences with smaller niche audiences?
This is a much debated question in the industry, with the shift of late being towards the latter, recognising that smaller niche influencers, or so-called 'micro influencers', have a more trusted voice with their audiences and carry a lot more weight on their subject matter.
This is a fact widely recognised by brands and agencies, such as our partners Whalar who themselves have seen a shift in this direction. It comes back to the age-old thinking around quantity over quality where key opinion leaders are often those with subject matter authority.
So who's doing interesting things in this space and what can we learn from them? Well, the truth is there has been a lot less activity in 2020 compared to previous years. With the world's borders closed most DMOs have halted their marketing activities. Here are some of those who had been doing great things up to the pandemic, who offer some great perspectives and reflections.
Switzerland Tourism have long been doing amazing work when it comes to everything digital and working with influencers is no different. They started the Switzerland Tourism Influencer Summit a three years ago and it has been a huge success. Each year, the summit held at the start of the summer gathers around thirty influencers from all over the world to come and discover Switzerland, through a packed multi-day programme, supported by a local host region. Influencers benefit from a really great local immersion in the host destination and a wider discovery of Switzerland, supported by partners, such as Swiss and SBB, who all get behind the initiative.
This is a true collaboration, where each Market Director for Switzerland Tourism does their own work in identifying and reaching out to influencers in different markets who are best matched to Switzerland's target segments.
Having personally delivered workshops for influencers at Switzerland Tourism's influencers summit, I can also personally vouch for the huge value that it creates and just how engaged their chosen influencers are with their audience on the experiences that the team put them on. Ultimately, creating an incredible week long experience is key, so the marketing team work flat out to organise a wide-ranging set of itineraries, considering the different passions and interests of the influencers and the activities to best match their audience interests.
Read about the results of the Switzerland Tourism Influencer summit in their really well shaped annual reports below:
You might find the Influencer Summit Media kit interesting too.
For the real deal take on their summit, check-out Fabian Reichle from Switzerland Tourism speaking at DTTT Campus in Jersey, explaining how the whole initiative came together and what the learnings were.
Visit Scotland have been one to watch when it comes to telling the story of Scotland through the eyes of others. They launched a series called Tour Guide Tales which really stood out as something different because it told the story of the destination through the eyes of local Tour Guides, the unsung ambassadors.
The tales include a video series and most recently there is the addition of a new podcast by the same name.
The concept of Tour Guide Tales is simple - to share fascinating, entertaining and sometimes unexpected stories from some of Scotland’s expert tour guides. In lockdown, many people have been finding spots very close to home that they never knew existed, so we’re sure even our Scotland experts will uncover some hidden gems in the podcasts! We hope people can enjoy this wee bit of Scotland from home or even feel inspired to take a tour at one of the featured locations.
Dubai Tourism are real trailblazers when it comes to their campaign activity. If you want to think big when it comes to influencers, look no further than Dubai's approach to identifying and working with influencers who have real influence and reach.
Hoor Alkhaja, Associate Vice President at Dubai Tourism talks at DTTT Global about their global strategy, with a particular focus on the work they have done with influencers from China and how critical measurement has been to their approach. This was ranked as an audience favourite, so enjoy the talk.
The case study we filmed with Laax is very rounded, it looks at all aspects of their strategy as a niche winter sports retreat, particularly famous for attracting pro-snowboarders and having huge visitor loyalty amongst winter sports lovers.
We love the way Laax have created a holistic end-to-end visitor experience, which much of this case study focuses on, but there is also a key part about their work with pro influencers, which shows the importance of working closely with niche communities whose audiences are perfectly aligned with the subject matter.
Use the chapter markers in the video to jump straight to the part about marketing and content.
Another favourite is Visit California and yes, before you ask, another podcast. We've seen that podcasts have really become central to strategies in recent years and are even more valuable as a medium to engage local audiences, who are more likely to connect with the regularity of the discovery that they can create.
Have a listen to one of their most recent podcasts about wide open spaces below:
What we love about Visit California is how they tell their story through carefully selected ambassadors who create a real sense of connection with their audience. They also do a great job considering different channels, with one of the best examples being the California 365 video on demand content platform, on their website, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.
Here's a glimpse at one series known as 'California Dream Eater':
With borders closed, Visit Denmark responded to the need to pivot by speaking to Danes for the first time ever. The message in their content was "Much more than just Denmark", it was about the undiscovered Denmark that most Danes were yet to uncover and that it isn't 'just Denmark' or a compromise. Central to the campaign was a famous Danish actor who worked with Visit Denmark to create a sense of pride amongst Danes to discover their own country.
Visit Denmark succeeded in getting 19 destinations behind the campaign to drive large-scale awareness across all media, including online and outdoor - a first for Visit Denmark, in particular targeting the domestic market. They also got backing from others, such as the Danish Business Board who contributed to the campaign.
“It is fantastic that so many Danes have shared good holiday tips with each other over the summer, and we would like to pay tribute to this by letting them be the core of our autumn efforts. It gives the communication extra strength that it is actually the Danes' own experiences that we pass on, ”
What was central to the success of this campaign is the overwhelming response from regular Danes, the number of images with the hashtags #baredanmark is considered to be a huge success and allows them to now take that ambassadorship further in online campaigns leveraging on this content.
Here's a glimpse of our interview on the campaign.
We're sharing a glimpse of X. Festival here but as we think about how DMOs have responded to the pandemic one great example is Visit Philadelphia, who launched a podcast series called LOVE + GRIT. This is such a great example of destinations taking on challenges to themselves become content creators, working with new mediums to tell their own story in the most authentic way possible.
Hear, the team at Visit Philly sit down with local ambassadors to tell true local stories and create that endless interest in the city for locals and visitors alike, with no gloss - hence the grit! Catch Rachel Ferguson's full talk at X. Festival.
Read more, on the Visit Philadelphia website.
Looking to read further? We've also got a section about Micro Influencers on the launchpad. This will give you further insights on different strategies and techniques when it comes to hosting influencers.
You might also enjoy watching our Campus 2019 panel discussion on shaping experiences exclusively for influencers, offering a range of insights from a panel of destinations, below:
What are the learnings that others can share when it comes to influencer marketing activity in 2020 and what is the right strategy to deploy? Fewer influencers with bigger reach, or more influences with smaller niche audiences?
This is a much debated question in the industry, with the shift of late being towards the latter, recognising that smaller niche influencers, or so-called 'micro influencers', have a more trusted voice with their audiences and carry a lot more weight on their subject matter.
This is a fact widely recognised by brands and agencies, such as our partners Whalar who themselves have seen a shift in this direction. It comes back to the age-old thinking around quantity over quality where key opinion leaders are often those with subject matter authority.
So who's doing interesting things in this space and what can we learn from them? Well, the truth is there has been a lot less activity in 2020 compared to previous years. With the world's borders closed most DMOs have halted their marketing activities. Here are some of those who had been doing great things up to the pandemic, who offer some great perspectives and reflections.
Switzerland Tourism have long been doing amazing work when it comes to everything digital and working with influencers is no different. They started the Switzerland Tourism Influencer Summit a three years ago and it has been a huge success. Each year, the summit held at the start of the summer gathers around thirty influencers from all over the world to come and discover Switzerland, through a packed multi-day programme, supported by a local host region. Influencers benefit from a really great local immersion in the host destination and a wider discovery of Switzerland, supported by partners, such as Swiss and SBB, who all get behind the initiative.
This is a true collaboration, where each Market Director for Switzerland Tourism does their own work in identifying and reaching out to influencers in different markets who are best matched to Switzerland's target segments.
Having personally delivered workshops for influencers at Switzerland Tourism's influencers summit, I can also personally vouch for the huge value that it creates and just how engaged their chosen influencers are with their audience on the experiences that the team put them on. Ultimately, creating an incredible week long experience is key, so the marketing team work flat out to organise a wide-ranging set of itineraries, considering the different passions and interests of the influencers and the activities to best match their audience interests.
Read about the results of the Switzerland Tourism Influencer summit in their really well shaped annual reports below:
You might find the Influencer Summit Media kit interesting too.
For the real deal take on their summit, check-out Fabian Reichle from Switzerland Tourism speaking at DTTT Campus in Jersey, explaining how the whole initiative came together and what the learnings were.
Visit Scotland have been one to watch when it comes to telling the story of Scotland through the eyes of others. They launched a series called Tour Guide Tales which really stood out as something different because it told the story of the destination through the eyes of local Tour Guides, the unsung ambassadors.
The tales include a video series and most recently there is the addition of a new podcast by the same name.
The concept of Tour Guide Tales is simple - to share fascinating, entertaining and sometimes unexpected stories from some of Scotland’s expert tour guides. In lockdown, many people have been finding spots very close to home that they never knew existed, so we’re sure even our Scotland experts will uncover some hidden gems in the podcasts! We hope people can enjoy this wee bit of Scotland from home or even feel inspired to take a tour at one of the featured locations.
Dubai Tourism are real trailblazers when it comes to their campaign activity. If you want to think big when it comes to influencers, look no further than Dubai's approach to identifying and working with influencers who have real influence and reach.
Hoor Alkhaja, Associate Vice President at Dubai Tourism talks at DTTT Global about their global strategy, with a particular focus on the work they have done with influencers from China and how critical measurement has been to their approach. This was ranked as an audience favourite, so enjoy the talk.
The case study we filmed with Laax is very rounded, it looks at all aspects of their strategy as a niche winter sports retreat, particularly famous for attracting pro-snowboarders and having huge visitor loyalty amongst winter sports lovers.
We love the way Laax have created a holistic end-to-end visitor experience, which much of this case study focuses on, but there is also a key part about their work with pro influencers, which shows the importance of working closely with niche communities whose audiences are perfectly aligned with the subject matter.
Use the chapter markers in the video to jump straight to the part about marketing and content.
Another favourite is Visit California and yes, before you ask, another podcast. We've seen that podcasts have really become central to strategies in recent years and are even more valuable as a medium to engage local audiences, who are more likely to connect with the regularity of the discovery that they can create.
Have a listen to one of their most recent podcasts about wide open spaces below:
What we love about Visit California is how they tell their story through carefully selected ambassadors who create a real sense of connection with their audience. They also do a great job considering different channels, with one of the best examples being the California 365 video on demand content platform, on their website, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.
Here's a glimpse at one series known as 'California Dream Eater':
With borders closed, Visit Denmark responded to the need to pivot by speaking to Danes for the first time ever. The message in their content was "Much more than just Denmark", it was about the undiscovered Denmark that most Danes were yet to uncover and that it isn't 'just Denmark' or a compromise. Central to the campaign was a famous Danish actor who worked with Visit Denmark to create a sense of pride amongst Danes to discover their own country.
Visit Denmark succeeded in getting 19 destinations behind the campaign to drive large-scale awareness across all media, including online and outdoor - a first for Visit Denmark, in particular targeting the domestic market. They also got backing from others, such as the Danish Business Board who contributed to the campaign.
“It is fantastic that so many Danes have shared good holiday tips with each other over the summer, and we would like to pay tribute to this by letting them be the core of our autumn efforts. It gives the communication extra strength that it is actually the Danes' own experiences that we pass on, ”
What was central to the success of this campaign is the overwhelming response from regular Danes, the number of images with the hashtags #baredanmark is considered to be a huge success and allows them to now take that ambassadorship further in online campaigns leveraging on this content.
Here's a glimpse of our interview on the campaign.
We're sharing a glimpse of X. Festival here but as we think about how DMOs have responded to the pandemic one great example is Visit Philadelphia, who launched a podcast series called LOVE + GRIT. This is such a great example of destinations taking on challenges to themselves become content creators, working with new mediums to tell their own story in the most authentic way possible.
Hear, the team at Visit Philly sit down with local ambassadors to tell true local stories and create that endless interest in the city for locals and visitors alike, with no gloss - hence the grit! Catch Rachel Ferguson's full talk at X. Festival.
Read more, on the Visit Philadelphia website.
Looking to read further? We've also got a section about Micro Influencers on the launchpad. This will give you further insights on different strategies and techniques when it comes to hosting influencers.
You might also enjoy watching our Campus 2019 panel discussion on shaping experiences exclusively for influencers, offering a range of insights from a panel of destinations, below:
What are the learnings that others can share when it comes to influencer marketing activity in 2020 and what is the right strategy to deploy? Fewer influencers with bigger reach, or more influences with smaller niche audiences?
We received this request from a member keen to understand what is happening in the influencer marketing space as we head into 2021.
What are the learnings that others can share when it comes to influencer marketing activity in 2020 and what is the right strategy to deploy? Fewer influencers with bigger reach, or more influences with smaller niche audiences?
We received this request from a member keen to understand what is happening in the influencer marketing space as we head into 2021.
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