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10 Ways To Make Money As A Travel Influencer

Wondering how do travel influencers make money? Read this blog to find out how you can 10X your income as a travel influencer. 

how do travel influencers make money

It is not always easy to get a proper answer when faced with a question such as, ‘How do travel influencers make money?’ But here at Pathfndr, we specialise in providing you with all the correct solutions when it comes to helping our clients set up their travel plans.

The idea of generating revenue through social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok is gaining traction with every passing day. Now that almost the entire world has opened up after the disastrous pandemic, more travel influencers and travel enthusiasts are getting back on their feet to get their engines rolling again.

Latest reports suggest that the travel influencer marketing industry is slated to grow to around $ 16.4 billion in 2022. It is not a surprise that more and more people are venturing into this lucrative business. In a similar vein, partnerships between travel influencers and large hotel chains are set to go up in the post-pandemic world.

Recent estimates point to the fact that many luxury hotel chains have begun allocating a substantial amount in their budget to cater to their travel influencer partners. This speaks loads on how well someone with a relative social media presence can benefit from this trend and build sufficient travel influencer salary to take care of all basic needs for a great life.

Before diving into the hugely competitive travel influencer industry, you must be concerned with one critical query: ‘How do travel influencers make money?’ This is because behind the idyllic shots and stunning locations lies an enormous amount of hard work and dedication.

How Do Travel Influencers to Make Money

The following section of the piece will tell you how to make money as an influencer. We will also get to know, ‘Does Instagram pay influencers?’, and if yes, what proportion of the total profits.

Tip #1 – It All Begins By Building Your Brand

With any business endeavour, it takes time and patience to see the first few bucks coming your way. Creating a brand should be the stepping stone for any aspiring travel influencer on their way to earning revenue through their content. When someone invests in building a brand on a social media platform such as Instagram, it catches the attention of big clients looking for collaborative work.

Many successful travel influencers have repeatedly mentioned in their blogs and interviews how they used to act as freelance writers at the outset of their careers. Writing for clients in the early days would not bring in the thousands or the millions like one would hope, but it would definitely set the ball rolling. This is the phase when the travel influencer lays the foundation for bigger things to come.

As your personal brand grows, an increasing number of clients will come looking for your services, and that would be the time to negotiate more lucrative deals. In the travel industry, patience is indeed a virtue.

Tip #2 – Tag Along With An Established Travel Influencer

Like in any field of work, a little working experience goes a long way in turning those fledging ideas in the head into full-grown money-making behemoths. As in an internship, finding someone who is already a big name in the travel influencer industry and asking if it is possible to get an assistantship would surely set you up for a brighter future.

Learning the nitty-gritty of the business from the professionals would give you the perfect launchpad to bring your own engine running. To get in touch with people who are already flying high in the said field, look for leads on LinkedIn or Facebook. VA matchmaking services like Satiated Artists can also provide channels of communication with the right persons for this task.

Also Read: Top 50 Micro & Macro Travel Influencers on Instagram

Tip #3 – Try Your Hand At Affiliate Marketing

Another great way in which you can take care of your travel influencer salary is through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing further strengthens your personal brand by developing long-standing professional relationships between the influencer and the affiliates.

Let’s say you write about what items you used while travelling through Western Europe. When your trip is over, recommend those same things at sites like Amazon, Rakuten, Groupon, and GetYourGuide, to earn a substantial sum of money from your affiliates. The basic idea behind affiliate marketing is promoting products that you yourself use and care about.

Tip #4 – Use Your Space For Advertisements

What better way to spiral up your travel influencer salary than inviting the cash flow via advertisements? It all depends on how much internet traffic your Instagram account or any other social media platform is attracting per month.

The most famous blogs get at least 50k views on a monthly basis. Ad agencies like Mediavine help up-and-coming travel influencers set up their revenue goal via placing advertisements. 

Tip #5 – Make Sure You Sell Your Pictures

A discussion on ‘How do travel influencers make money?’ will remain incomplete if we do not talk about the revenue-generating power of pictures. The art of photography happens to be one of the cornerstones of the travel influencer industry. The surest way the influencers get inside your head and fascinate you is through those magnificent pictures you get to see on their feeds.

Visual appeal is a must if you want to make a name for yourself in this field. If you are wondering, ‘Does Instagram pay influencers?’, the quick answer is a resounding “Yes”! You can also sell stock pictures online. Whichever avenue you choose, a sharp eye for beautiful views is nothing short of an asset in this industry.

Tip #6 – Make Money Through YouTube Videos

As many of you already know, YouTube has become another great source of income for travel influencers. By establishing an audience in your channel, you too can partake of the revenue that YouTube generates for influencers worldwide.

All it takes is consistency and quality content creation; anyone having both can earn plenty of money via YouTube these days.

Tip #7 – Target Big Clients For Paid Trips

Once all the tiring work has been done, and you have been able to build a personal brand, you will attract the attention of the biggest partners in the industry. This would be the perfect opportunity to strike gold. With a solid audience and robust social media channels at your disposal, it would be a matter of time before your first big break arrives at your doorstep. 

Multinational companies often look for travel influencers to promote their products in nondescript locations anywhere around the globe. If you are lucky, you too will take up an ambassadorial role in a promotional project. 

Tip #8 – Focus On Investing In Your Personal Products

A golden rule in the travel influencer industry is to come up with your own products. This strategy has helped the highest-rated influencers reach the levels where they are now. As a sought-after influencer with a dedicated fan following on a variety of social media platforms, your powers would be endless.

Get innovative and start selling products to your audience. It could be something as basic as a book or something more elaborate like an online course.

Tip #9 – Start Your Own Podcast

As someone willing to connect to their audience in a meaningful way, coming up with your podcast is a brilliant way to get closer to your audience and, at the same time, increase your travel influencer salary in the process.

Since podcasts are becoming more and more the rage these days, it would not be a bad idea to carve out the time and energy to start your own. 

Tip #10 – Try Public Speaking 

What better way of projecting yourself as an authority in itself than donning the role of a celebrated public speaker? You will be right there in front of your audience and will have the chance to enter their mind space on a personal level.

This will fulfil your role as a storyteller par excellence as a travel influencer. Going live can only do wonders for your personal brand and image.

Final Thoughts

Becoming a success in the travel influencer industry takes time and patience. Always remember to remain true to yourself while producing content for your audience. Originality and an occasional creative overdrive are what will set you apart in this hugely competitive market space. Keep innovating with your content, just like the world around you is constantly changing day in and day out.

If you believe that you have something to offer to the rest of the world and that something is unique and will stand the test of time, then go for it!
So, now that we have discussed in detail ‘How do travel influencers make money?’, it is now time for us to help you take the next step toward the lucrative industry influence. By clicking on ‘How To Become A Travel Influencer 2022 & Get Paid’, you will better understand the travel influencer industry and how it works. Ultimately, it is all about your passion and love for this profession that will see you rise above the rest.