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To reach luxury customers, talk to their influencers

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Devon Wijesinghe is cofounder/CEO of Insightpool Devon Wijesinghe is cofounder/CEO of Insightpool

 

By Devon Wijesinghe What is the best way to reach prospective customers and remind previous customers to come back? Rather than buy ads that may never be seen, many marketers are reaching out to influencers — people who have built followings on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. But how can brands find such influencers? Is it all about paying celebrities top dollar? It is not. Making a connection Rather than hire a celebrity whose followers may not be the least bit interested in your product, it can be far wiser to connect to people who are less well-known but strongly connected to the communities they influence. We set out to discover who the biggest influencers in luxury travel might be. Using social characteristic, conversation and affiliation data from more than 100 social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, we compiled 360-degree social profiles. We then ranked the data of every influencer on four criteria to determine each individual’s social influence: reach (the cumulative follower base of that individual); relevance (social relevance to the specific topic being analyzed); resonance (audience engagement with the individual’s post activity); and engagement (an individual’s engagement with the specific topic being analyzed). For Luxury Daily, we analyzed the following filter variables to determine the influencer ranking of those listed: Tagged as influencers of travel and luxury goods; percentage of Twitter and Instagram conversations focused on travel and related keywords; audience engagement with conversation on travel and related keywords; and a three-month weighted average applied to all influencer scores and metrics. That process led us to influencers whose names are not world-famous, but whose followers certainly see them as celebrities. Tip Top Here are the Top 15 luxury travel influencers:

  1. Lauren Bullen (Gypsea Lust)
  2. Scott Eddy
  3. Brooke Saward (World of Wanderlust)
  4. The Blonde Abroad
  5. The Travelista
  6. Tiffany Dowd
  7. Ben Schlappig (One Mile at a Time)
  8. Eric Hoffman (The Husband in Tow)
  9. Kim-Marie (Luxury Travel Mom)
  10. Lux Travel Guy
  11. Lindsey Calla
  12. Angie Silver (SilverSpoon)
  13. Laura Hyatt (Heroine in Heels)
  14. Ana Silva O'Reilly (Mrs O Around the World)
  15. Christina Vidal (Jetset Christina)
Many of the luxury travel influencers found in the platform are lifestyle influencers. Their insights influence people across many overlapping topics, including travel, style and food. SO WHILE marketers might reach out to them about topics directly related to travel — particular destinations, hotels, cruises — such a marketer might also reach out about a clothing brand or a restaurant, and find a well-targeted audience. Also of note, many of these influencers rely on Instagram and their own personal blogs and sites and have large, though smaller, followings on Twitter. So though marketers can find these people on Twitter, they should probably focus more on Instagram. Devon Wijesinghe is cofounder/CEO of Insightpool, Atlanta. Reach him at devon.wijesinghe@insightpool.com .