As Southeast Asia’s travel sector opened up post-COVID-19 lockdowns, tourist hotspots in the region started bustling again, with travel and tourism revenue projected to hit US$31.53 billion in 2024 and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.93% expected from 2024 to 2028. However, traditional marketing approaches are facing hurdles in the digital realm. While online sales are poised to dominate, traditional advertising avenues such as paid social, search, display banners, and video ads are losing efficacy as consumer behaviours evolve.
Today’s digital landscape is saturated, leading to declining Click-Through Rates (CTR) for traditional ads, worsened by ad-blocking software. In Southeast Asia, ad-blocking rates hit 53% in Indonesia and 51% in Malaysia. Coupled with a growing scepticism towards conventional advertising among audiences, travel brands are prompted to re-evaluate their marketing strategies.
This is where influencer marketing comes. It emerges as a genuine and engaging alternative for brands to connect with potential customers. In Southeast Asia, influencer endorsements hold significant power, especially when it comes to travel. In the region, over 80% of consumers base their travel decisions on influencer recommendations. This is reflected in the projected growth of the influencer marketing sector in the region, which is expected to surpass US$2.59 billion by 2024.
Enter travel influencers who have garnered online followings by sharing their adventures and insights. Unlike impersonal advertisements, travel influencers foster trust with their audiences, offering recommendations grounded in genuine experiences. Proficient in visual storytelling, they use compelling visuals to evoke wanderlust, making dream destinations feel within reach. Moreover, travel influencers often cater to specific travel preferences or niches, enabling brands to connect with highly relevant audiences. By fostering interactive content, reviews, and follower recommendations, partnering with the right travel influencers generates buzz around a destination, reaches new audiences, enhances engagement and ultimately, drives bookings.
Nano influencers or mega influencers?
The truth about influencer marketing is — that brands can tap into influencers across the marketing funnel, from generating awareness to educating potential consumers, converting them to buyers, and ultimately, instilling brand loyalty. However, a common challenge is finding the right influencers that would yield the desired results. The rule of thumb is that whether they are macro, micro, or nano influencers, each influencer niche offers different levels of reach and engagement, and each should serve a distinct purpose in one’s campaign. In short, choosing micro or nano influencers instead of larger ones should not be framed as an “either/or” situation but rather as a consideration revolving around reach and frequency.
Delving into this, celebrities and mega influencers excel in providing immediate access to vast target audiences. Due to their extensive reach, they can swiftly elevate brand visibility and awareness. This means they can be better engaged for top-funnel strategies and get initial buzz and interest in campaigns. In fact, data from impact.com and Cube Asia’s ‘The Power of Influence’ Report shows that for 67% of Southeast Asian consumers, mega influencers hold the most sway when it comes to their purchasing decisions – even more than traditional celebrities. And by leveraging such big personalities’ star power and large following, travel brands can create aspirational content to get the attention of the masses to any travel destination or experience. For example, this has fared well particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines, where mega influencers are taking over live-selling for brands at a rapid scale, generating up to US$500k per streaming session.
On the other hand, micro and nano influencers excel at building deeper connections with their audiences. Their recommendations hold a sense of authenticity and trust, fostering long-term relationships with consumers. This “granular engagement” allows for highly personalised content that promotes exclusive deals and discounts. In Southeast Asia, Singaporean consumers had the highest engagement rate (47%) when it comes to micro-influencers affecting their purchasing decisions, with YouTube and Facebook being the most popular platforms.
Additionally, the smaller scale and frequent interaction between micro/nano influencers and their followers enable them to amplify brand messages and reach a wider audience through creative content and targeted campaigns. These close relationships can also be leveraged to run contests and giveaways, ultimately driving brand awareness, bookings, and sales.
Ultimately, the choice between these influencer categories should be driven by their role in the overall campaign objective and marketing mix—whether it’s for brand awareness, conversions, sales or both. Remember, influencer marketing is not a one-size-fits-all approach. By clearly defining your campaign objectives (awareness, engagement, sales) and aligning them with the unique strengths of each influencer tier, travel brands can unlock the full potential of influencer marketing and achieve maximum impact.
Paying influencers and measuring success
In the travel industry, brands have various options for contracting and compensating influencers, depending on their specific objectives and budget considerations. A common tactic is “hosted stays or free tickets,” where travel brands offer influencers complimentary accommodations or flights, meals, and experiences in exchange for content creation and promotion. This approach is particularly prevalent among hotels, airlines, and tour operators. For instance, a luxury resort might invite influencers to stay for a weekend and share their experiences on social media.
Another approach is the affiliate model, where brands establish partnerships with influencers, offering them a commission for driving traffic, leads, or sales to the brand’s website through their unique affiliate links. This method effectively generates direct bookings or sales, with influencers compensated based on the number of conversions they generate. Some brands opt for hybrid agreements, combining a fixed fee payment and the affiliate model. In this scenario, influencers are rewarded for the time and resources they put into creating the content. They also then receive a commission based on their performance metrics, allowing brands to leverage influencers’ reach while incentivising tangible results.
Manually tracking the performance of an influencer program can be time-consuming, prone to errors, and lacks scalability for larger campaigns. Fortunately, specialised influencer and partnership marketing platforms such as impact.com offer a cost-effective solution that delivers significant advantages. These platforms typically represent a small fraction of the overall campaign budget, yet provide tremendous benefits in terms of accuracy, scalability, and streamlined payment processes. Furthermore, these technology platforms offer valuable insights for both brands and influencers. Brands can monitor key performance metrics, track ROI, and optimise their campaigns, while influencers can measure their own performance, see their earnings, and communicate with brands all in one interface.
Playing the long-haul flight
As influencers continue to become indispensable in the travel industry, brands must consider their long-term impact and the scale of their overall marketing strategy and success. A successful influencer partnership depends on how both brands and influencers can work together with transparency and autonomy and, most importantly, strike a balance between influencing and selling. By carefully crafting mutually beneficial partnerships, marketers can unlock the true power of influencers, propelling their brands to new heights and fostering lasting bonds with adventure-seeking audiences.
