Transcript 

Influencer trips are back. We saw a drop-off during the pandemic, but there has been a lot of chatter about the Tarte influencer trip to Dubai, and, more recently, the Glow Recipe trip in Jackson Hole. With brands returning to the space, I'm sharing how we create influencer trips that tell your brand's story in a way that perfectly tees up influencers for content in a super authentic. I'll also touch on how to craft these events to build lasting relationships with influencers. 

The first thing we look at is the invite list, and it's all about quality over quantity with the number of influencers. Right now, TikTok is filled with de-influencing videos where many users are calling out brands that have saturated their for-you pages with influencer partner trips.

So. to combat this, we recommend a diverse list of influencers that feel super relevant and focused to your brand. Diversifying means in terms of DE&I and also what sectors they're in. 

Then we craft the attendee journey, and we start with pre-event communications. The goal here is to seed the excitement, get them talking about the trip before they leave.

Your invitation needs to set the tone, and nothing says Instagram story, quite like an unboxing opportunity. So send the influencer something that reinforces the key messages of the. Maybe this teases out the type of product you are launching or sending them something they can actually use while they're on the trip.

And then, once they're on the trip with you, here's some programming tips. The goal is to build relationships and to get the best brand-focused content. So to do this, we suggest tying in activities and activations to the actual purpose for the trip. And this isn't just for the people in attendance, but also for their followers.

One way to improve the Tarte trip was to produce content about the foundation itself. For example, with Benefit, we created a launch event that truly unveiled the product. There was a full-stage production that had everybody's phones out filming, and then after this, we had an experiential activity where the influencers could actually play with the product and create hands-on content for their channels.

We even went so far as creating a fully branded content studio to make this easy for. The other thing is to design brand moments throughout the trip. You wanna put the brand in visible spots that will actually be filmed. So one thing that always kind of cracks me up about beauty influencer trips is I know branding the mirrors is super popular, like for selfies, but people really are about those filming, are really about filming the Get Ready With Me videos right now, and their cameras are facing the other direction. So we're losing that opportunity for putting some branding behind. 

The key is to create filming and photo moments and to make it really easy for them. So if you know at the reception they're gonna be taking photos in front of that gorgeous view, at a brand moment in that exact spot, they will stand in front of it. If you're taking them on an activity, brand out the gear and make it pop. That'll be in the next photo. 

So as we design the experience, we walk through the entire event through the eyes of the influencer. This allows us to weave in those brand moments into each touchpoint and make sure they are ready for content capture.

Ultimately, influencer trips are really boiled down to fostering community. The goal is to build a relationship with the brand, so it may come as a surprise. To some that immediate and direct sales do not always come first. It really is about that long game. The key is to keep it real and to bring the life whatever is actually authentic and core to your brand.

So as event professionals, what are your thoughts on the successes and failures of the recent influencer trips? I'd love to hear from you. So message me on LinkedIn.