An influencer is a person who shares content online with a group of people who strongly value their opinion. Consumers trust real people!
Traditionally this was a role fulfilled mainly by journalists, celebrities and reality TV stars. Recent years have seen the growth of bloggers, YouTubers and social media stars as influencers.
Although you can create and share your own content online, an influencer tends to have a larger following than your business channels.
Their audience also tends to be highly engaged with what they talk about – so more likely to look up things they mention, or click through to find out more.
Improving search engine optimisation (SEO) to your website
From people talking about, researching or even booking your business offering
Rather than you saying how great it is, this is a valued, authentic and respected opinion
Potential for longer-term benefits from having the content assets to use again in the future, to working together again
Influencers in China are known as KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). They operate within a totally different social media landscape.
Popular social media channels in China include Weibo, WeChat and Douyin etc. This is because Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter) or YouTube aren't available in China.
This would be SEO-friendly, include links to your website and social channels, and can tell your story in a longer format
Also SEO-friendly, this content is evergreen and could continue to deliver results long after the campaign is over. Video is a popular way of storytelling amongst influencers
Short form videos from 15 seconds to 1 minute
These disappear after 24 hours, but have high engagement. They have the option to include "swipe-up links" to drive traffic to a landing page
Short form content delivered in 280 characters or less
Good for sharing links to other content, or pictures and videos
High resolution stills and video footage to help build your asset library
Influencer content follows the same process and drives similar benefits to creating your own content.
If you want to work with an influencer, there’s a few things to check when you pick who you would like to work with.
The age, market and interests of their audience – do they match your target audience?
The engagement they get from other social media posts – do people like, comment and share their work? Look for around a 3-5% rate for an average post.
The response they get when they do advertising on their channel – are the comments from their audience positive in response?
How they talk about other brands – do they seem authentic in their opinions and are they honest about their experiences?
The quality of their content – how good are the images, and the text with their social media posts?
When you make contact with an influencer, make sure you ask for a media kit or professional references of completed work.
Finding and working with an influencer can be daunting. Please use our three simple steps to make this process easier.
Start by following certain influencers and hashtags on X (Twitter) and Instagram to get an idea of the content out there. It’s also a good idea to do some research on the top influencers in your chosen market.
Check out a good UK list by Vicky Flip Flop on vickyflipfloptravels.com.
Be upfront about deliverables and expectations. If possible, draft a contract to set up the agreement of your collaboration. This can include:
Deliver a detailed brief on what you expect from them. Be clear on what you want them to do.
Create a bespoke proposal adapted to their audience and interests – but be flexible! An influencer might have a certain angle for a trip that you may not have thought of.
Remember: Organise activities their followers will also be able to do if they decide to come to Scotland.
You can use these free tools to discover how well a certain influencer's content performs on similar pages to your own. This can help you decide to enter a partnership with them.
You can also use it to track this partnership's success once it goes live.
An essential tool in tracking where your web traffic is coming from.
A useful tool for SEO and content marketing campaigns. Allows users to identify what content is performing and who the…
Do you already know the username of the influencer you’re interested in working with? This tool will help you analyse…
This becomes important when a brand gives an influencer a payment. Once you make a payment, any posts promoting or endorsing the brand or its products or services become subject to consumer protection law.
Payment means:
Stay up to date on requirements for influencers and brands.
At VisitScotland, we work with a variety of different influencers who make all kinds of inspiring content. You can check out some of the amazing partnerships we have organised as part of Scotland:Life.
Scotland: Life was a unique project, involving global vloggers and Instagrammers. They experienced the true Spirit of Scotland through the eyes of the people that have made the country their home.
Check out our Scotland: Life page.
From time to time, we will ask businesses to host an influencer, and in this case we have a campaign lead who will organise the negotiations.