How to organize a productory tour?

With the development of social networks, especially Instagram and YouTube, blog tours have become one of the most effective ways to promote tourist destinations. Many our Travel Blogers signed hundreds of thousands of ours interested in travel. Their audience is multiple exceeds any tourist log or site. Having arranged a FAM tour literally out of 10 alarm bloggers, it is quite realistic to cover the target audience of 1-2 million people. And considering that promotion will come from a person to which subscribers are loyal, then such contact will be significantly better than the standard advertising message.

Especially for the tourism of Travel-blogger and business consultant Dmitry Kulikov @KTagon (WWW.Instagram.COM / OKTAGON) based on the experience of its participation in various FAM-Tours, described the basic recommendations when organizing a tour for Travel Bloggers.

Share media and travel agents

Previously, carry one big group, mixing travel agents with media representatives, a fairly common practice in the FAM-turbala, is now an exception, but it still exists. Do not carry journalists and bloggers with inspections for hotels – they still will not put 10 hotels in their ribbon – it will look ridiculous. In addition, life is needed for high-quality hotel shooting – a disassembled bed, a served table, a suitcase in the corner and t.NS., Yes, and the blogger himself, it is desirable, should be in the frame. Make it in a sterile number surrounded by a group of clicking around the chambers of travel agents is not possible.

Do not mix media journalists and instagram bloggers

Most often, the first is the reporter, the second – landscape players and director. The first are local residents and culture, interesting stories, the second beautiful locations, where they themselves or an exciting landscape will be the main character. It is quite difficult to create a unified program that suits both categories.

The blog tour program should be interesting primarily to the audience of bloggers

Make a program not so much under bloggers or local tourism management, how much to the audience of invited bloggers. Problem Tour – attract subscribers to the country as tourists. Therefore, proceed from what audience you need (romantic couples, families with children, extremals, hiking and t.NS.), then choose bloggers that can be potential conductors to it. And already the task of the invited blogger in its style and the manner is interesting to show those things and places that potentially «Clear» Readers. A big mistake to give the whole tour of the deposit to local tourism management, without taking into account the opinion of bloggers whether it will be interesting to his audience.

Provide participants in a blog tour high-speed and unlimited Internet access

Excellent solution is the provision of individual Wi-Fi routers. Many are published and broadcast online, so the calculation of the organizer on the fact that everyone will write and download in the evening in the hotel, erroneous. Also before the start of the tour, it makes sense to create a common chat in the messenger, in which you can discuss all the questions that arise before and during the trip. There you can quickly receive photos and videos made by bloggers for prompt placement on our social channels.

Create conditions for the sincere Delivery of the blogger Share your positive emotions

The travel agent will tell its customers that he saw only on return, and the blogger tells his subscribers about what feels and does it in real time. Take care to hotels and cafes where bloggers will live and eat, stimulated them to turn on the smartphone and start live broadcast full emotions and admiration. This will significantly strengthen the impact of publications. And of course, you should not settle in one number of two bloggers if they are not a couple of course. I know about our blog tours, when a few bloggers were sitting in the room, and some had one bed.

Also, the mistake is when the first day of WoW (the best hotel and restaurant) is done, and the rest of the nights and dinners are ridiculed by falling. If it fails to organize everything at the highest level, it is better to distribute three WOW-Effects – at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the tour. Then the overall impression of the trip will be very positive.

Correct the tour and the specifics of each of the bloggers

What seems to be a cool idea to the Organizer can not at all approach bloggers for content. I know about the project of the blog tour, when participants wanted to put in unusual circumstances. Glamorous girls send to the dive tour, and landscape stakes – hiking on SPA salons and so on in such a way. Perhaps for a blogger it will be an interesting experience, but will it be interesting and useful to his audience? Whether fules will go to the dive tour, if you adore in long skirts to be photographed in stylish cafes, like a blogger on which they are signed? The question arises: whether there will be enough content to accommodate the blogger? Instragraters most often need glossy photos, superstubers are quite long exciting video recorders. It should be immediately taken into account when forming a tour and its participants.

Take bloggers similar or different?

Many travel-bloggers communicate with each other, arrange a joint cross-promotion, go to the same blog tours. Some of them use even similar color filters when processing photos. Most often, similar bloggers, the audience intersects greatly and it may undertake the number of unique contacts. On the other hand, if it is a couple of bloggers, which travels constantly together, then broadcasts on behalf of them both are perceived by the audience more organically and loyally, as their next journey, and not a free advertising blog tour, which goes «Favorites lucky on free».

Trust but check

When choosing bloggers, ask the statistics of publication views. It is more difficult for this figure than husky. If this is an instagram blogger, let it be a screenshot of statistics of publications for the last month. Also, if you are interested in the our audience, ask the screen with interest on countries. The detailed comments say about the activity of the audience, if they all consist of 1-3 Emodi signs or words like «Great» «How beautiful» «Stunning» «Sobeautiful!», There is a possibility that they are made or a bot or participants of the mutual comment chat.

It is also worth to ask what kind of activities a blogger participated, who was the organizer that he received in the end. Read the portfolio of the project performed. You can also find out the organizer, how the blogger showed itself in the tour. Someone this will seem unnecessary, but I met in the tours of media representatives, who almost every day came to themselves after parties only to dinner or missed planned and paid excursions to go to shopping. The psychotype of a person is also important, with someone very easy to work, and someone is so designed, which is always unhappy and constantly broadcasts his negative, poisoning the mood to all participants in the group.

Clearly define what you want to get from the blogger

Number of publications, the timing of the output and maintenance of them in the tape, the volume of the transmitted material (photos, video content, texts and t.NS.). All this makes sense to documented in the contract.

Be ready to pay for bloggers

Who would not think about, a blog tour is work, from morning to evening, when you do not get enough sleep, and at best, during the tour, you have only a few hours to fall on the chaise lounge. In addition, photos / video equipment should also be taken into account, which sometimes cost hundreds of thousands of rubles, and the cost of a blogger to promote your channel. If bloggers with a small audience are ready to drive for free, for the sake of content, creating connections and fame, then popular (100 thousand +) are quite selective: they will most likely agree to Hawaii or Iceland, but in Turkey or Georgia hardly.

Make a proposal from which it is not possible to refuse

I believe that the blog tour to Turkey and Georgia can also be unique and very expensive. But for this you will have to work hard and interest the top bloggers. Create a truly interesting and colorful media player blog tour, tell us about this exclusive colorful photo and video. To blogger, having received it, so much like the desire to visit this direction that he himself would be ready to pay extra for such a trip.

Optimal number of bloggers

A blog tour can be individual – for one or pair of bloggers, then the audience perceives it as another interesting journey made at his own expense. If we talk about group round, then in my experience, optimum – 6-8 people. This allows everyone to feel like the same command, all quickly establish communication. When the participants are 10 or more, they begin to break into separate groups and pairs, which reduces efficiency: they are harder to share with each other, they are not configured to assist when shooting, can sabotage the program, deciding to go on shopping or sleep and t.NS. A group of more than 12 people are generally difficult manageable, and such a better break into two parts, departing for two buses with separate guides or curators.

Consider the alleged program with bloggers

For beautiful photos in nature are important «Primary clock» At sunrise and sunset, this is the best time to shoot. For the Food-photo you need a good illumination in the restaurant. Less museums and monuments, more authentic places and landscapes.

Perhaps bloggers, searching on the Internet, they will offer a place, little interesting from the point of view of history and culture, but very colorful from the point of view of visual content.

Specify the food preferences of bloggers

As not strange, it is pretty critical. I met in the blog tours of Vegan and I know about the case when bloggers did not have an alternative, except for there is a boiled whole ram, holding back nausea, in order not to offend the receiving side and existing local traditions.

Provide assistance in organizing filming

In many countries, there is a restriction on the use of drones and it must be taken into account. It is possible to import and use on attractions to be required in advance. Therefore, it should be found in advance what technique is carrying a blogger with you and if you need to agree on its use with the receiving party.

The same applies to the shooting in hotels and shopping centers. It may take advantage of previously these moments with management.

Take care of really high-quality guide

What will be more interesting than the story from a guide, the more exciting content of the bloggers. But here is the Golden Middle. There is no other guides who do not know anything other than facts from Wikipedia and Guides-Encyclopedists. Second can be real «Eaters attention», Ready speaks without a turn and bus and at the sights, while very much nervous, when you try to divide them with your attention, move away and take some photos.

Lay more time to visit really beautiful places

After the guide told everything about the sights (and it is better to do it yet in the bus), you need enough time to organize high-quality shooting.

Be flexible

Warn the receiving party that there may be progress in the program if they want to get high-quality blogs in blogs and photos / video content. It is also possible to remove photographers to the dawn on some kind of species platform found along the tour, which was not in the program before.

Request a report with statistics of publications

After completing the agreed publications, ask to send the statistics of all blogger posts to track efficiency. Pay attention to those accounts that left comments. In the future, you can make a special offer for them, such as sent to the Direct special discount.

I hope these recommendations will be useful for organizing productive blog tours and promotion of tourist destinations you do. If you liked the material, I will be grateful if you share it on social networks by clicking on the button below. This feedback will be the stimulus to write a number of articles-recommendations, how to organize effective advertising cooperation with a blogger, how to efficiently increase the audience of your instagram account, I will also share the main trends in jurisdiction of social media in the tourism market.