Businesses are sparing no expense to get the perfect ‘gram as Instagram influencers continue to dominate on social media.
Much like press tours, brands are putting together Instagram influencer getaways, sending influencers on vacations across the globe — inviting them to relax, hang out with their friends, and, of course, post all about it.
In this post, we’ll explain how Instagram influencer brand getaways work, why they’re successful, and some things to consider while planning your own:
How Do Instagram Influencer Brand Getaways Work?
As you can imagine, influencer brand getaways take a ton of planning and behind-the-scenes work. The perfectly curated experiences are planned down to the finest details, making sure every moment is a backdrop for the perfect shot.
Companies like Revolve, Benefit, and Boohoo are taking small, highly curated groups of Instagram influencers on vacations to benefit from their significant and relevant followings. They’re creating an experience, cultivating the new cool-girl lifestyle, and inviting audiences to follow along on the adventure.
The Itinerary
Revolve’s most recent trip to Utah included an impressive group of A-list influencers, including Aimee Song, Shay Mitchell, and Rocky Barnes. Photos from the trip include the company’s vacation hashtag #RevolveAroundTheWorld, which has currently been used on over 20K posts.
Instagram Influencers start the week by hopping on a private jet, en route to their dreamy destination. The team at Revolve is skilled at coordinating picture-perfect moments — and it’s all about location, location, location. Every single spot serves as a scene for an image that will be potentially seen by millions of Instagram users.
These getaways are packed with exciting events, allowing influencers to show off their adventures while rocking the website’s most popular brands (with shoppable links to shop the collection, of course):
In celebration of their 10th birthday, Finders Keepers hosted six influencers at the Mandala House in Canggu, Bali for four days. Husskie shared the weekend itinerary, mapping out the days by the hour, making sure the brand got the most out of their investment:
The trip was packed with exciting excursions, photoshoots, gram-worthy meals, and plenty of opportunities to capture the Instagram influencers showing off their brand.
The Cost of Cool
It’s no surprise that these luxury getaways come at a steep price tag, as brands tend to spare no expense when it comes to the extravagant accommodations.
Patricia Bright recently shared this photo, showing off the luxurious villa (slide included) that Benefit Cosmetics sent beauty influencers to in Maldives:
Revelist looked at one beauty brand, Tarte’s Instagram influencer getaway and estimated the cost of the trip. The list of expenses includes travel on private jets, food and drink, swag, and activities. The grand total is a whopping $338,640, but Revelist notes this is only a modest estimate. These trips can easily exceed half a million dollars, since Revelist’s estimate doesn’t including the cost of paying the influencers, trip staff, and other expenses.
While these numbers may seem high, consider this: the average 30-second national ad costs $342K, while a one-page magazine ads runs approximately $250K — and these ads may or may not even reach the brand’s target audience. However, a series of Instagram posts by a fashion blogger with 500,000 followers and a cult-following could sell out an entire product line within 24 hours.
Check out our blog post, This is How Much Instagram Influencers Really Cost, to learn more about calculating your influencer marketing budget.
Why are Instagram Influencer Brand Getaways so Successful?
There’s no question social media influencers have become indispensable for brand campaigns, especially on Instagram. Influencer collaborations and sponsorships have nearly replaced traditional ads and are a huge part of a social media strategies today.
Now that Instagram’s algorithm is limiting the reach of some businesses, Instagram influencer marketing has become a key strategy for promoting products and brands on Instagram.
Here are a few reasons why Instagram influencer brand getaways are so successful:
Tap Into Instagram Influencer’s Following
A typical day on these luxurious trips are packed with fun activities, photoshoots, and five-star meals shared with 20 other influencers (and a few million of their closest followers).
Instagram influencer brand getaways are not only a great way to generate a ton of new content for your own feed, but they also give you access to an influencers following.
Many Instagram influencers will even share their experience on Instagram Stories and their feeds, giving their followers a behind-the-scenes look at their trip. So Instagram influencer brand getaways are a great way for brands to increase their engagement and reach new audiences!
Want to learn more about how your business can benefit from Instagram influencers? Download our free Instagram Influencer Marketing Guide here:
Creating a Perfectly Curated Instagram Moment
The locations of these trips are nothing short of #VacationGoals, including beautiful beach retreats, desert oases, tropical hideaways, and more.
Boohoo recently sent Instagram influencer bffs to a beautiful resort in Mexico, for their #boohooinparadise spring break campaign. The beach views were the perfect backdrop to promote their new swimwear:
The raw content generated from these trips also allows followers to see a different side of the brand, giving them an uncensored peak at what goes on behind the ‘gram.
Calculating the ROI of Instagram Influencer Brand Getaways
Although it may initially seem like a risk to invest large amounts of money into influencer marketing, it’s important to consider exactly what you are paying for and, most importantly, measure the results.
Some of the most common performance metrics you can use for measuring the impact of your influencer marketing are:
Engagement rate: likes, comments, shares
Brand sentiment: how people are talking about your brand
Traffic: customers visiting your website
Sales: conversions and revenues generated
Last year, Richer Poorer set off for Honolulu, bringing along a small, highly curated group of Instagram influencers who embodied the “can-do” spirit of their brand.
Richer Poorer told NBC News, “The trip was a huge success, with the Richer Poorer ecommerce site receiving millions of impressions as a direct result. Pawling and Morse were also able to launch post-trip marketing initiates like ‘Just More’ giveaways, giving them direct access to hundreds of thousands of potential new customers.”
As with all of your social media marketing efforts, performance data should be measured to see what drove the best results (and why), and then used to inform how you construct future campaigns.
Tips To Run Your Own Instagram Influencer Brand Getaway
While there are many different factors to consider when planning your own Instagram influencer trip, brands and agency partners should have a well-developed strategy to ensure the investment has a desirable return.
Here’s a few tips to help your company start planning your own Instagram influencer brand getaway:
Choosing the “Right” Instagram influencers to Partner with
Influencer marketing gives brands a unique opportunity to reach a niche and engaged audience. However, with so many varying rates and different types of Instagram influencers, how do you know who is the right fit for your partnership?
According to our report, 79% of businesses rank engagement as the most important factor when evaluating who is an ideal influencer, followed by quality of followers (70%) and industry or niche (67%).
It’s important that you don’t choose an influencer simply based on their social status but carefully select influencers that embody your brand aesthetic. Think about your product on their feed — would it be a natural fit? Are they already talking about things related to your industry?
Choosing the “right” fit for your brand giveaway will help you ensure you’re reaching the right audiences and making the most of your investment.
Download the Instagram Influencer Marketing Strategy Guide now and learn how to find the right influencers for your business!
Cut Costs by Partnering with Other Brands
Collaborating with other brands can help your company cut costs and create a mutually beneficial partnership. Many hotels, restaurants, and excursion companies are looking to build awareness and may be willing to agree on a “trade” for some free exposure. Businesses should plan these partnerships ahead of time with projected reach and mutually beneficial opportunity.
Aimee Song showed off the Amangiri Luxury 5-star hotel & resort in Utah during Revolve’s trip to Utah. By tagging the resort location in her post, she’s put Amangiri in front of her 4.7 million followers eyes:
The post is a win-win for both Revolve and Amangiri Resort, generating 87K likes and over 700 comments.
Build Out An Itinerary With Photo Opps in Mind
During your trip, you’ll want to have activities mapped out that appropriately tie-in your brand. It’s important to make sure the influencers have plenty of “Instagrammable” moments, while also giving them the freedom to enjoy the experience.
This year, Chloe took a group of Instagram influencers to Palm Springs to celebrate the launch of their new fragrance, Nomad. The location, setting, and activities embodied the “independent, charismatic essence” of the the new fragrance:
The road trip included a stop at the iconic Fox Theatre, a performance from a local indie rock band, horseback-riding through the desert and more — giving influencer’s plenty of opportunities to snap the perfect shot.
Since influencers will be sharing tons of content with your branded getaway hashtag, make sure you keep tabs on all the new posts. Using a tool like Later’s Search and Repost can help you stay on top of the content overload by uncovering all of the photos and videos containing your branded hashtag:
Influencer brand getaways are a great way for your company to generate a ton of new content. Instagram influencers are pros at capturing product and have mastered the art of “getting the ‘gram”. It’s important your company takes advantage of all the influencer-generated content on your trip. This content should not only be shared while on the getaway, but also re-posted throughout the following weeks to continue promoting your campaign.
Assemble An All-Star Team
Assembling an all-star team will be crucial in making sure your Instagram influencer brand getaway goes off without a hitch.
Whether you’re coordinating your event in-house or with an agency, make sure you have enough hands on deck to keep things running smoothly. Photographers, event coordinators, and staff should be fully briefed before the trip, anticipating issues ahead of time and have a plan in place before the crisis hits.
Instagram influencer brand getaways are a great way to connect with new audiences and grow your engagement! With the proper planning, running your own brand getaway can help you take your business’ social media marketing efforts to the next level!
Dive even deeper into Instagram influencer marketing with our free guide:
