When it comes to being a successful travel influencer, you have to be on top of your social media game. Whether you’re making money by promoting travel products or selling travel-related ebooks, you aren’t going to have any success if you don’t connect with a large audience. Chances are, if you’ve already started as a travel influencer, you’re taking some great pictures and coming up with a voice that works for your blog and Instagram posts. You’ve checked out your competitors and figured out what niche audience to market your content to. But that isn’t enough, not in today’s influencer world that’s so competitive.
That’s why it’s so important to use the right tools to get your audience’s attention. Equipped with these tools, you’ll be well on your way to success. So if you want to learn more, read on.
1 Crello
One of the greatest tools out there is Crello. Especially if you haven’t got a background in design or UX, you’re going to benefit a lot of from this tool. Crello is a graphic design tool that has 10,000 free templates available, which means that you’re sure to find one that works for you. Once you’ve researched what aesthetic will draw in your followers, you can find it here. Additionally, they’ve got stock images and free design elements, and you can even create animated designs. It’s free for the most part, though some additional features will cost you a little extra (less than a dollar, so it’s still budget-friendly).
Don’t forget, as well, to make your designs mobile-friendly. More and more people are spending time on their phones now, so study up on that, too.
2 SocialSteeze
One of the most important goals for any influencer is getting lots of followers. But sometimes, even when you’re putting out great content (e.g., a beautiful video of the view from the top of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, on all social media channels), and coming up with clever captions and hashtags, you only get a few likes. It’s frustrating! That’s why using a service like SocialSteeze, which will help you earn Instagram likes, makes such a big difference. You’ll get real Instagram followers by using this service (as opposed to fake ones, which doesn’t work), and you can choose your target audience based on geography, usernames, and who’s following your competitors.
Considering that 60 percent of Instagram users are using the platform to find out more about the brands they’re following, getting a good number of followers with a service will make a huge difference to your success.
3 Buffer App
Another important feature of social media is posting at the right time and maintaining a social media calendar that publishes your posts in all the right versions on varied platforms. But if you’re working on your own without a social media manager, this can be challenging. That’s why the Buffer App is so great. According to eClincher, “Buffer is a well established social media management platform. It has several good features – publishing with queue, engagement, analytics, and team features. It integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and Linkedin.”
So in addition to helping you schedule your posts, you’ll also get more engagement and the analytics you need to improve your social media performance. Considering that this app has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars by PCWorld, it’s a great addition to your arsenal.
4 Owlmetrics
Speaking of analytics–it never hurts to get more of them. And there are great ways to get more info about your followers, such as Instagram’s Insights feature. But if you want to learn as much as you can, using a tool like Owlmetrics will get you the info you need, specifically for Instagram. They have a 7-day free trial, which means that you can decide after trying them out whether you want to use the $25, $50, or $199/ month plan.
Chances are you’ll want to use at least one of these. After all, half of Instagram active users log in every day–so the more you know about them and how they’re reacting to your posts, the more successful you’ll be. If you’re looking for other tools to help you with your other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, check out this article from SproutSocial to learn more about the metrics that matter most.
These are some of the best tools out there, especially for travel influencers who are picking up followers not only in the US but globally, too. How else do you connect with your followers? What strategies work best?