Brands and destinations which want to work with digital influencers will have access to insights and inspiration at the many dedicated sessions at this year’s WTM London, the event where ideas arrive.
The digital influencer community comprises bloggers, video bloggers and photographers who use consumer technology to create online content. Brands now realise that engaging digital influencers can drive not only digital visits to their website but also real visits to the destination.
Destinations are now able to accurately measure how much interest is generated directly by their working with digital influencers. This is helping to develop successful commercial relationships under new business models.
Results are a theme of many of the sessions. A compelling case study, looking at the results from this May’s Love Antigua Barbuda influencer conference, will frame an hour-long session on how the Caribbean region can work with the community.
Colin James, CEO of The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, masterminded the project. He will be sharing the results and is joined by Amy Skelding, a partner at Brighter Group. They will use the findings to provide some guidelines for Caribbean islands to work with influencers in 2019.
The session takes place on Monday 5 November from 15:00 – 16:00 in the Americas Inspiration Zone (LA360).
The following day the attention switches to the Europe Inspiration Zone (EU80) for two sessions covering important issues. Blogs, YouTube and Instagram are just three of the options brands and destinations have when working with online content creators, and deciding where to take part is complex
Mollie Bylett is an influencer, owner of blog and community Where’s Mollie and UK ambassador for GoPro. She takes a look at the pros and cons of each platform and suggests ways to mix and match for an effective influencer campaign.
Her 45-minute session starts at 10.15am. It is followed by “The next two years of influencer platforms” which will look at how the big platforms will change and which smaller players could emerge.
The final day of the three-day event sees the conversation around influencers move onto the WTM Global Stage (AS1350). Experts will present evidence proving that high-quality writing, photography, audio and video remain the bedrock of any successful engagement with the digital influencer community.
“Why quality is still the king of content” takes place from 12.00 – 12.45.
Finally, Kash Bhattacharya, founder and editor of BudgetTraveller and 2016 National Geographic Traveller’s Blogger of the Year, will talk about how brands and destinations can market themselves to more people by making by thinking differently.
“Working with Influencers – getting the most from what you have to offer” will explain why, to the online content creators and their audience, the travellers’ experience is more important than the product being sold.
The session takes place from 12.45-13.30.
Traverse Events has organised the sessions above. Michael Ball, cofounder and director, said: “Digital influencers and online content creation are now a mainstream marketing channel for major brands, and the support of WTM London has been a key factor in raising the profile and improving the understanding of what this community can deliver for brands and destinations.”
WTM Portfolio, Press and PR Manager Paul Nelson, said: “WTM London is proud to have engaged the digital influencer community since the very first bloggers made an impact. The number of digital influencers at WTM London increases every year, as they continue to recognise WTM London is the event to agree partnerships with the travel industry and stay ahead of the trends.”