The Value of Blogging

I feel like this can go unsaid, but in case you didn’t know, the travel industry is global.

It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, the topics covered are not geographically specific – which is an aspect that I think makes travel blogging a particularly attractive subject.

There are quite a few large companies who successfully use travel blogging to their advantages; however, there are also many successful individual travel bloggers who have created personal brands for themselves through the acts of blogging, Instagraming pictures, and sharing their stories via other social media channels.

Some companies within the travel industry which successfully use blogging to enhance their brands are:

1. Virgin Travel (they even have outer-space as a destination)
2. Herschel Supply Co. (a Canadian clothing brand which has all travel inspired posts)
3. Tuula Vintage (includes both fashion and travel in her blog)

In order to enhance their blogs, these companies use some of the following methods in optimizing their posts:

1. Posting valuable content; which includes photos, videos, and great stories. …Frequently
2. Advertising their posts by publishing the post across all their social media channels (Websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.)
3. Using great:
   1. SEO techniques – So that search engines pick up on the blog’s relevant content to provide value to the people searching for it
   2. Titles – To capture the potential reader’s attention and inspire them to keep reading
   3. Categories and tags – For a higher CTR, so the reader can find related articles of interest throughout the blog
   4. Hashtags – To link to other interesting content
4. User Generated Content (UGC)
5. Links to other websites and blogs of interest to followers. Sharing is caring in the world of social media, so in order to receive more followers, it is essential to to acknowledge those that inspire your blog

And speaking of links to other websites…

In case you weren’t aware, this blog was originally created for my social media marketing course at BCIT. And while this may have been my last blog post in relation to the course, it will not be my last blog post about travel!

So continue following along on my adventures through Europe and who knows where else…

❤

-K

The Virgin Fantasy

As a travel blogger; one of my biggest interests are other travel bloggers interests – I.e. the places they’ve been, the food they’ve tasted, and the adventures they’ve ventured.

As a PR girl and marketer; one of my biggest inspirations is Richard Branson and his Virgin empire.

Combine the two, and you’ve got Virgin Travel.

Forget planes, trains, and automobiles; they’ve got planes, trains, and spaceships! Not to mention their venture into markets such as the cruise ship, vacation, and hotel industries – including Virgin Limited Edition: “Sir Richard Branson’s collection of unique retreats and luxury hotels.”

But how does a company like Virgin; with so many companies from travel to entertainment to conservation of our planet, manage to communicate with all their audiences?

Via social media, of course!

Not only does Virgin use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest, but they also have an interactive website which houses blogs and other articles of interest relating to the travel industry as a whole. On top of all this, Richard Branson has personal social media accounts across all these platforms including his work as a LinkedIn Influencer as well as a regular contributor to the Virgin Group’s website blog.

While their Instagram accounts use quick captions and witty anecdotes to highlight pictures of beautiful places and portraits of their staff; their Twitter accounts are used to promote articles, events, and promotional campaigns – take for example their interactive #letitfly campaign via Virgin Atlantic.

These combined efforts are an effective tool in the Virgin Group’s approach to social media marketing. It shows both their transparency and above all, enthusiasm for what they do. If you miss and/or are not following one of the Virgin accounts posts, it is almost guaranteed that you will find that information elsewhere through one of their other mediums, as they all promote each other; yet, at the same time, aim to target the demographics of specific audiences.

These efforts obviously work in favor for the company as it drives the interest of their followers to want to travel with Virgin – and I’m sure that those followers with the extra disposable income would obviously choose the Virgin fantasy.

However, what does not work in their favor, is that they have so many positive attributes, that it drives their prices way up. Not that these higher prices are undeserved – they are absolutely 100% in line with the features and benefits that Virgin offers.

The problem, rather, is for those who do not have the extra $500 plus dollars to spend on a flight, the best they can do is sit back and admire the social media updates from behind their computer screens and phones.

While this problem might seem like a pitfall, it really isn’t in the sense that it creates a dream of what people would like to work towards in becoming part of that elite Virgin club – not unlike Vogue Magazine in creating a fantasy suitable only for those who subscribe. 

So here’s my questions for you:

Do you subscribe to a Virgin account (including Richard Branson)?

And if so, are you sold on the fantasy that Virgin sells via their approaches to social media?

Post your responses in the comments – I’d love to hear your personal experiences with Virgin as a follower and/or customer.

-K