WORKING WITH DIGITAL INFLUENCERS & CONTENT CREATORS

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1 VISITDENMARK S GUIDELINES Photo: Claire WORKING WITH DIGITAL INFLUENCERS & CONTENT CREATORS

2 VisitDenmark s Guidelines Working with Digital Influencers & Content Creators 5 REASONS TO WORK WITH DIGITAL INFLUENCERS An influencer can be defined as an individual with a large, active online following who has the ability to form opinions and sway purchasing power. 1. Influencer Marketing Collaborations with influencers are an effective way to reach an engaged audience that trusts and listens to the endorsements of the influencers they connect with. Copenhagen 2. Content Creation Digital influencers possessing creative multimedia skills can deliver value through original and authentic high-quality content and visual storytelling, based on personal experiences across several social media platforms. For that reason they are an integral part of our content marketing strategy. 3. Content Marketing We wish to use the unique influencer content for paid marketing and to create engaging, social-first, shareable content across VisitDenmark s digital channels, that transforms our audiences into ambassadors for Denmark, expanding our storytelling networks and ensuring our stories are authentic. Photo: Jacob Page 2

3 The North Sea 4. Distribution Channel We aim to expand distribution possibilities via integrated PR and influencer marketing, through collaborations with digital influencers who have their own editorial universe and an expansive global reach. The organic reach and engagement potential are some of the main reasons for doing influencer marketing campaigns. 5. Bringing our Brand Promise to life Our mission with our content is to convey our brand promise of "Come and be a part of it" and we aim to show Denmark upclose as a place where diverse and creative experiences can be had. The influencer has creative freedom to reach and engage their own audience but influencer content should always work towards this aim and draw their audience in, making them feel welcome in Denmark. Photo: Claire Page 3

4 VisitDenmark s Guidelines Working with Digital Influencers & Content Creators INFLUENCER MARKETING CAMPAIGNS We work with content creators on integrated PR & influencer marketing campaigns if and when it s the right channel to reach our target audience. We always give the influencers creative freedom to create and produce content for their own channels and we constantly look for opportunities to promote the influencer s output to consumers by posting their content on our social channels and, when possible, through paid content seeding. Rubjerg Knude To ensure the content has a longer life span and to expand the reach, a content activation strategy is established. Budget should be available to boost content and for promotion on social media, including banners and Google display, Facebook, Instagram, advertorials, newsletters and web - carefully selected and segmented for the respective categories and target audiences. Primary objective: Reach and engage organic influencer audiences and targeted audience with compelling and trusted user generated content about Denmark s key selling points to lift brand awareness and interest for Denmark as a travel destination. Secondary objective: Access and rights to use unique user generated content with strong visual storytelling and local but diverse authentic perspective in our marketing campaigns and across our digital channels. Photo: Claire Page 4

5 CAMPAIGN FLOW EXAMPLE Geographical targeting Demographic targeting Behavioral targeting Interest targeting Influencer/press trip: content creation & organic reach Commercial partner conversion Paid promotion using influencer content and different ad types Dynamic/programmatic call-to-action Facebook, Instagram & GDN retargeting Page 5

6 VisitDenmark s Guidelines Working with Digital Influencers & Content Creators CHOOSING THE RIGHT INFLUENCER FOR A CAMPAIGN Digital influencers must have a strong following in one or more of our key markets and alignment to our target audiences. We prioritize working with digital influencers who are active and influential on a minimum of two platforms but depending on the campaign, we will consider influencers with an extremely engaged and large following on one platform. Danish Gastronomy As part of our mission to turn influencers into brand ambassadors who are as passionate about our product as we are, we ll always look for opportunities to work with the same influencer on multiple occasions and projects. Stage one of any research into bloggers is to read their blog Do they write about what you want to talk about? Is there a match between their audience and the target group you are trying to reach? Does the style, focus and tone of voice match your objectives? Platforms and distribution channels The lifespan of social media content vs. video and blog content is another important factor that needs to be taken into account. Video and blog content can have an extremely Photo: Jacob Page 6

7 long lifespan, whereas a post on most social media platforms is much more fleeting and its impact is relatively short lived. VisitDenmark has worked with many bloggers and Instagrammers and we are keen to focus a lot more on video content, especially through partnerships with YouTubers. We don t consider Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Google + and Pinterest high priority channels but they can be a nice added bonus. Media kits We always ask to see media kits with website analytics, stats, reader demographics incl. nationality, case studies of their previous work and a list of companies/testimonials from brands and people they have worked with. Professional influencers will always be able to deliver a media kit and to demonstrate ROI and an existing track record helps to build confidence in their work. Reach and engagement Specific criteria used to determine which digital influencers to work with are number of followers, reach and engagement. The first way to measure influence is a person s number of followers. In order to be an influential figure, you need to reach large audiences with your message and an influencer with 200 followers is likely to have less influence than someone with 100k followers. Although that is not always the case. Influencers can be divided into 3 categories: The micro influencer Follower stat range tendencies: 1, ,000 The popular influencer Follower stat range tendencies: 100,000+ The celebrity influencer Follower stat range tendencies: 1 million+ Volume is paramount for us but reach is less important than relevance and engagement is the most important metric for us to consider. Micro-influencers capture an impressive 2-5 x higher engagement rate than influencers with more than 100k followers and therefore we prioritise working with microinfluencers with a highly engaged and active audience. Campaign planning and contracts Discuss objectives and sign a contract stating deliverables incl. reporting. This is mandatory when working with influencers we do not work with influencers in good faith! What are expected content outputs? x number of articles/blog posts x number of photographs/stories Rights to content produced (text, imagery and video) Key messages Tracking codes on articles NOTE: An influencer will need to save their stories within 24hrs and share their stories insights within 14 days, or they disappear from Instagram Insights. Each relationship, contract and campaign activity is negotiated individually. Creative brief Our mission with our content is to convey our brand promise of "Come and be a part of it" and influencer content should always work towards this aim. The influencer will always have creative freedom to reach and engage their own audience and while we don t restrict their subject matter, we should always send them a nice one-pager of our storytelling themes in advance of their trip, for them to have as a reference, as there is so much room for them to work within these content tones and to personalize them. Cross promotion What VisitDenmark and our partner destinations can offer in terms of cross promotion will be reviewed case by case. Advertising & social boosting We recommend boosting the content produced and we always try to allocate funds for media spend from the campaign budget. Page 7

8 VisitDenmark s Guidelines Working with Digital Influencers & Content Creators PRESS TRIPS TIPS & IDEAS Press trips can be an excellent means to showcase a destination and generate online exposure. Create a campaign hashtag This will provide continuity. It can also make reporting a lot easier. We always encourage influencers to use #visitdenmarkstories Secure visibility for VisitDenmark and partners Always list and highlight relevant hashtags and SoMe handles for hotels, restaurants, attractions, events, destinations etc. in the itinerary. Make sure to involve all partners in the campaign Inform local partners of the trip/campaign and encourage them to follow the influencer(s) on SoMe. If partners encourage their SoMe fans and followers to join the conversation too, even better! Share and engage in their content An influencer will typically start posting about a trip a few days before departure to engage and involve their followers from the very beginning. We should do the same! Make the influencer feel welcome, share and engage in their content and encourage partners to do the same for maximum exposure. It really is a missed opportunity not to share content! Immediacy Bloggers usually publish their blog content within weeks of the experience but don t forget they also provide real-time marketing opportunities so encourage your social media followers to share their insider tips with the influencer what s the best place to enjoy the sunset, where can you get the best ice cream, what should they do on a rainy day etc. Inform the local press The local press might like to interview the blogger or write a story about the fact that the local tourism board and partners are doing x, y and z to promote or highlight certain aspects of the destination. Free Wi-Fi A list of places where free Wi-Fi is available is a great service to provide for the influencers. Or even better; offer them a local SIM card. Page 8

9 Ribe Take a break Influencers are often posting while on the move. Make sure to allow time in the itinerary for them to edit and upload photos, tweet and engage in SoMe conversations. Try not to fit too many activities into the itinerary and make sure the influencer gets at least a couple of hours of free time every day. Make the campaign last longer, reach further and create better results Make sure to have a content activation strategy in place to keep the conversation going and take full advantage of the influencer s skills, talents, influence, posts and photos and all they do to promote Denmark. Send out a newsletter to your partners post press trip Make it easy for partners to use the content by gathering all the best photos and posts from the trip and encourage everyone involved in the trip to share the content with their partners and followers. Destination content can be shared by all destination partners not just the hotel, attractions and restaurants hosting the influencer. Photo: Dana Nicole Page 9

10 VisitDenmark s Guidelines Working with Digital Influencers & Content Creators Evergreen content Online content exists forever, making it searchable for anyone planning a trip. If evergreen content is created, make sure to add it to the content plan so we can give it an annual push. This goes for blog post about recurring events, such as J-dag, food festivals etc. Keep feeding the influencer High quality blog posts can rank well in search engines many years later, especially if the content is tweaked and updated to remain up to date and relevant. Remember to keep influencers up-to-date so they can amend their blog posts accordingly, should a restaurant mentioned in a post close or open a sister restaurant for example. Turn influencers into brand ambassadors Don t think of a collaboration with an influencer as a standalone one-off project. A partnership with an influencer should go far beyond trips and logos they should be relationships that can continue and drive revenue for years to come for both the influencers and Denmark. Metrics used to measure the effectiveness/roi of working with influencers are: Web traffic generated Engagement/interactions Number of times content shared Completion rate on Snapchat and Instagram stories Estimated advertising value Tracking codes on articles SEO and web traffic to VDK/partners-site Posts with high visibility scores Page 10

11 MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INFLUENCERS To calculate ROI as the average cost for each post engagement we use the following formula: Total amount spent divided by went on a press trip to Aarhus. We paid 1500 DKK for his flight and 2 x 750 DKK. for accommodation for two nights on a B&B basis so the total budget spent on setting up the press trip was 3000 posted 17 photos on Twitter & Instagram during the weekend and the posts received a total of 30,600 Likes and 850 Comments but no shares so in total his posts had 31,450 engagements. Total cost per engagement: 3000 kr. divided by 31,450 = 0,095 DKK. per engagement In addition to this, VisitDenmark, VisitAarhus and Aarhus 2017 reposted his content resulting in an even bigger reach and a lower cost per engagement. This is added value and will not be taken into account in the ROI calculation. Photo: Tun Shin Page 11

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