Travel Bloggers Share Their Best Instagram Tips
It’s no secret that there are a lot of travel Instagram accounts out there. However, this should not discourage you from starting your own! It’s very possible to stand out in a saturated field. We got the chance to chat with 15 successful travel bloggers about their secret sauce when it comes to Instagram success!
Tatum of Bonvoyage Bitches
“LET YOUR PERSONALITY SHINE THROUGH. If you say fuck a lot then say fuck. If you hate a place you’ve visited that everyone loves, go against the norm! These people click the “follow” button because you are YOU. And if you stand out amongst the rest and go against the grain, they will remember that. They will remember you and your brand!
Your captions need to captivate your audience while giving them some behind the scenes. Anyone can take decent photos and post dumb Pinterest caption under it, but not everyone can continually entertain and engage their audience! Do you boo boo 🙌🏻🙌🏻💅🏻💅🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻” - @bonvoyage_bitches
Taylor of Salty Luxe
“What’s your top Instagram tip?
This is a question I get asked all the time. My answer is ‘be you – undeniably & unconditionally YOU! There ain’t no-one like you & that is your magic!’ Also, seriously ask yourself what value YOU can bring to your tribe: are you there to inspire, educate, raise awareness about a cause you care about? Find what it is that makes you tick & showing up for that every day will not be a problem (because showing up EVERY day is what it takes!” - @saltyluxe
Alexis of The Babe Abroad
“My #1 tip for running a successful Instagram account has to be consistency and authenticity. Being consistent is so important, to give your audience the new content that they expect when they follow you. Authenticity is also key because if your audience feels like you’re “just another blogger with an Instagram account” they will end up leaving. You need to create authentic content and be consistent with it to make your audience want to stay and engage with you!” - @thebabeabroad
Layla of Las Angeles Travel Girl
“I’d say my number piece of advice to run a successful Instagram account is: engage with your audience! We would be no one without our supporters/readers so stay connected... be kind, be human. Ask questions in your captions, your insta stories so you can grow a community while growing your brand! Answer your DMs & respond to comments. We are all on this earth and being kind to each other should be a priority... apply that to your social media platforms as well!” - @latravelgirl
Michelle Chu of Michu Travel
“Don’t travel for Instagram, but travel for yourself - this way you’ll end up creating contents that you enjoy while having fun!” - @michutravel
Taylor of Taverna Travels
“This might seem obvious, but my number tip to having a success travel Instagram account is to TRAVEL! You need to spend time actually traveling and exploring in order to create incredible travel content. You’d be surprised by how many aspiring travel bloggers don’t actually travel.
Once you have that covered, then you can start focusing on the social media side of things. Engaging daily with accounts in your niche, creating interactive and engaging captions, and making sure to constantly be posting new content in the form of posts and stories!” - @tavernatravels
Melissa of Wanderful Traveler
“Say yes to new adventures and experiences (you probably are already doing this, fellow travel bug!), develop your shooting style and edit your photos so your feed is cohesive. When I embarked on a 2.5 month trip around South America a couple years ago, I knew I wanted to document the journey and kickstart my account. I didn’t quite know what to do but followed and engaged with other travel Instagrammers that really inspired me. After a lot of bad pictures, you begin to find out what works and what doesn’t for your feed - my creative direction began to shape and is still evolving now.
Another big tip is to spend hours (literally) everyday engaging with other people in the travel niche. This is an important step to building an engaged community as well as getting people to notice you as social media is meant to be, well, social! ;) I would recommend doing it in short spurs of 15 minutes throughout the day rather than one big sitting to keep it light and fun.” - @wanderfultraveler
Edana of Wanderstylust
“First, I would suggest choosing a secondary niche. For example, you can choose travel and lifestyle (which are my niches), travel and food, travel and outdoors/adventure etc. This will hone your target audience.
Next, create a consistent feed by using a similar editing style on all your photos and planning your grid out ahead of time using an app like Plann or UNUM. If there’s a specific series of photos that are a bit different than the rest of your feed, group them together into a block of nine so it looks intentional, not messy. If you’re not traveling, you can still create content by taking photos around your hometown and using them to fill in the travel gaps.
Finally, collaborate! One of the best parts of Instagram is the community. Reach out to other accounts in your niche and around your size, get together, take photos, swap tips, and who knows? You may even find some new friends!” - @wanderstylust
Alex of Out of the Office Traveling
“Engagement is key! Like and comment on tons of accounts so that you’re visible. Plan out your feed in advance so it looks pretty and flows well together. Use a high quality editing software like Lightroom to get beautiful images!” - @outoftheofficetraveling
Jyo of Jyo Shankar
“My no 1 mantra is always “hustle and heart will set you apart ! “ Hustle hard and never give up on your goals and always be kind throughout your journey ❤️” - @jyo_shankar
Tara of Tara Michelle Brose
“If you’ve considered starting a travel Instagram account because you are passionate about travel and sharing your experiences, I would say to go for it! Don’t feel like you need to have it all figured out before you start— just start somewhere.
My biggest piece of advice (for any kind of Instagram account really) is to stay true to yourself and don’t get so caught up in how your post will perform. Sometimes my favorite pictures perform the worst and that’s okay! As long as you’re passionate about what you are posting, that is most important.” - @taramichellebrose
Nadia of Travel the Life
“There are many travel accounts nowadays, they are good for inspiration but if you want to have success you have to be unique. Find that niche not so exploited where you can feel comfortable and where you can contribute and be creative. And of course, keep enjoying the experiences that you are going share. This is a work you have to do with passion.” - @travelthelife
Jess of The Trendy Voyager
“There are so many opportunities to work with travel brands out there that no one tells you about. Look at 5 travel brands you love and slide into their DM’s. Make that pitch about them and the value you’re going to provide them. Send them an email, call them and tell them why you would love to create content for them and how you feel about their brand and if they say yes execute on that.
Deliver from a place of service and genuine love from the brand/company. I’ve been able to do this in my own work, I’ve secured partnerships with companies like Hotel Hive, Getaway House and Majestic Mirage Punta Cana. You’d be surprised at how many companies need content and exposure on social media. Most companies are willing to work with you on that.
Keep in mind, some companies will say no for different reasons so don’t take it personally. Be persistent and there’s so many travel brands out there you can reach out. Think about the travel ribbon, there are different parts of a travelers experience. Get specific on your niche and hone in on your message and the value you want to provide others. That’s how you create great content- when you think about what your audience needs, think about the brands you could be an asset to and what you can provide. Don’t just work with brands to get free stays or experiences in exchange. Choose brands you truly love.“ - @thetrendyvoyager
Ophélie of LA Bengale
“Share what you love the most, what inspires you and stay yourself.” - @labengale
What other tips and tricks do you have? Let us know in the comments!
Xx,
Katie
