Explore until you Die with Hostelworld: The benefits of micro-influencers for Budget Services
Wanderlust is defined as having a strong or innate desire to rove or travel about. Although many people may feel this urge to travel it is sadly not easily realistic for most. With many obligations like work, family, and school we can easily end up rooted to a specific geographical location. To feed that desire to travel we turn to social media and live vicariously through the posts of those individuals who are lucky enough to live out our fantasies. Looking at the hashtag wanderlust on Instagram we see that it has over 120 million tags. One company that can help prospective travelers plan out their trips is HostelWorld.
In 2017 during my junior year of undergrad, I did a semester exchange in Perth Australia. During this time I took full advantage of my location and decided to travel to “neighboring countries” while on that side of the world justifying the insane amount of money I was spending on the fact that I didn’t know when if ever I would be presented with the opportunity again. When all was said and done in the 7 months I was abroad I went to 4 countries, and over 30 different islands (2 months was spent backpacking and volunteering in the Fiji islands). To help keep the costs down I stayed in dormitory accommodations at hostels for this Hostelworld was an invaluable resource.
During my time abroad I met countless new friends from all over the world. One of the friends I made while I did my semester at Murdoch University in Perth was Mitchell Watson. Mitchell runs an Instagram brand called Explore until you Die which currently has 88.5K followers. He has been able to grow his brand to a point where he can earn money to fund his further adventures and has companies reach out to him to endorse their products. Mitchell was the first Social Media Influencer I had ever met and was the first time when it clicked that these people are exactly that… people.
When looking at a brand like Hostelworld which is catering to travels on a budget I think an influencer like Exploreuntilyoudie would be a perfect fit for the company to go with. With 80 thousand followers, I would put them into the category of Micro-influencers. Although their following isn’t as substantial as some of the large travel macro-influencers like @funforlouis (1.2M) or @lostleblanc (685k) I think their following size offers more authenticity for what Hostelworld is. People are going on that website to find fun, scenic, and cheap accommodation for their backpacking trips, they are not looking for luxury vacation destinations. Although those bigger name travel influencers may have their roots in backpacking and staying in hostels they have accrued enough wealth and clout to be able to stay in higher-end resorts and accommodation. So while they can still advertise for hostelworld on their social media it would just seem weird when in their videos they are staying in luxury suits and the Marriot. Even though Hostelworld is the largest platform for finding hostel accommodation around the world I think there would be a disconnect if they paid Macro-influencers to market for them.
It is important to identify the product you are selling and who the target market is for that product. While it may sound amazing to try and go after an influencer who has millions of followers to promote your product you need to ask yourself if it will feel genuine. In some cases I believe it is better to split up your budget for marketing and work with multiple micro-influencers who will better target your audience than to go all in on a macro-influencer who wouldn’t use your product themeslves. This is the philosophy I am implementing when I say I believe that @exploreuntilyoudie would be a great influencer for hostelworld.com to partner with.
