INDUSTRY, Caroline Makepeace is the co-founder of yTravel blog, one of the world’s biggest travel blogs, alongside her husband, Craig and their two daughters. They work with brands and tourism boards in an authentic and powerful way to connect with their story and engaged community. After completing a successful 18 month road trip around Australia, they are currently replicating the same concept on a 2- 3 year America Unplugged road trip. They’ve collaborated with brands such as Ford, Amex, Skyscanner, Booking.com and many international and state tourism boards. Caroline regularly shares her insights at travel, blogging and social media conferences

2. The magic of possibilities

3. Get the slides
BLOGGERSTEXT: Blogger
+ Top 4 Blogging Mistakes
ecourse
BRANDS TEXT: Brands
+ Top 5 tips for working
with travel bloggers
9198162513

4. @ytravelblo
g

5. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
How to
collaborate
with
travel blogg
ers
W W W . Y T R A V E L B L O G . C O M
to share your
destination through
their AUTHENTIC travel sto
ry

6. An alternative to
normal

7. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
How to shut down
possibilityAnd kill your growth and suc
cess
• I know this already
• I can’t have this because you are …. Lucky, bigger than me
• We can’t do this because .. the system, the budgets, the rules
etc.

9. This doesn’t make sense

12. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
“Me and my girlfriend are traveling Australia at the moment.
I want to thank you because you made our trip very special. The only
advices we take are from the
Lonely Planet and from your blog.”

13. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Social Post Blog Post
• 4 hours of likes
• Fades away
• Easy to game, cheat & fake
• The Dreamer Stuck
• Photos that lead to nowhere
• In-depth information
and tips from expert
travellers living the
experience
• The Dreamer Ready
• Indefinite shelf life
• Highly searchable
• Enables the traveller
to book and go

14. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Australian road trip18 Months around the countr
y
In a camper trailer
Time to discover our own country.
Let’s just see what happens.

15. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m

16. Story
YOUR
OUR
DESTIN
ATION

17. I will keep reading
whether you’re
travelling 24/7 or
staring at your
picket fence.
Your journey has been
so much fun
to follow and given me
so much to
dream about.

18. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
America unplugged
3 years around the country
Discover the Real America and tell the stories untold.
Use our community to shape our experiences

19. Story
YOUR
OUR
DESTIN
ATION

20. Why it works

21. Real story
told by real
travelers

22. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Passion + mission +
influence
An interesting and engaged
story you can join
The gift that keeps giving

23. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Dreaming
Planning
BookingExperiencing
Sharing
Five stages of
travel

24. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Australian
ambassadors
Experts & Ambassadors

25. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Global audiences
Target your
key audiences
with one
blogger

26. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Before
INFORM, INVITE, INVOLVE
before

27. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
INVESTING OUR READERS INTO THE JOURNEY FROM
THE START

28. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Sharing tips
Brand
interaction
Sharing
memoriesSHARE
INTERACT
During

29. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
INSPIRE
INFORM
INCLUDE
CARE
after

30. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Constant new and recycled content

31. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
USEFUL INSPIRING SHAREABLE
172, 085 views 87, 051+ shares153 comments

32. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
PINS REPINS SEARCH TRAFFI
C

33. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Rich content

34. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Booking Functionality

35. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Diverse content
Well organized
content

39. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Useful and inspiring content that doesn’t disappear

40. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
More bang for your
buck
• Less on the ground costs
• More flexibility
• No need for hosts
• Long-term relationships save you money
• Relevant activities avoid wastage and give greater exposure
• Don’t have to convince the writer to visit (high expenses)
IF CHOSEN CORRECTLY
MORE BANG FOR YOUR BU
CK

41. leverage

42. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
349,88
1
550,25
3
21,743 4,000+
53,43246,876 42.5K 4 MIL 1242
Extensive Reach

43. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Extended
influence

44. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Provide content to other sites

45. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Share their CONTENT ON your channels
Caz and Craig are on th
eir way to Sunshine Coa
st –
what should they see an
d do there?

46. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Share their story with traditional media

47. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Work in collaboration with brands

48. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Create content for your site

49. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Use their authority
Speaking at trade sh
ows
and events
Meet ups/ Hang outs
INSPIRATION +
EXPERT ADVICE

50. Leverage case
studies

51. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Singapore Tourism
4 days
To encourage Australian families to discover the “real Singap
ore” and to
get off the beaten track and explore the wealth of diverse ex
periences

52. creative
leverageFeatured Experts in Traditional Media

53. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Outback Queensland
12 days
Using a trusted influencer to assist in developing family content a
nd demystify
family travel in Outback Queensland by showing ease, accessibili
ty and value.
Using the tips from our social communities to create the
experiences

54. Social
leverage

55. content
leverage
Advertising budget via Facebook ads and Outb
rain
direct to our content

56. creative
leverage
ONLINE COMMERCIAL
1 Major + 3 smaller activity focus snippets

57. further
leverageHomepage feature +
featured landing
page with package
deals and itineraries
similar to our trip.
Shared via our
channels
POST ON QUEENSL
AND BLOG

58. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
CASE
ST
UDY

59. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
TOURISM NORTHERN
TERRITORYDURATION: 3 weeks
PURPOSE:
To share our authentic family road trip through the Red Centre Way,
visiting Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, West MacDonald Ranges
and Alice Springs.
DELIVERABLES:
• Social media coverage (4x updates on Instagram and FB each
day) using NT specific hashtags
• Joint copyright for use of images on their social media channels
• 3 x Blog posts
• Participation in an Hypermeet in Alice Springs
CONTENT PRODUCED:
• http://www.ytravelblog.com/uluru-ayers-rock/
• http://www.ytravelblog.com/kings-canyon-australia-rim-walk/
• http://www.ytravelblog.com/west-macdonnell-ranges-alice-springs/
CASE STUDY: TOURISM NORTHERN
TERRITORY

60. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
RESULTS
436,
146REA
CH
18.
847
REACH
19,1
89
BLOG POST
VIEWS
78
UPDAT
ES
4:28
AVG
TIME
ON
POSTS
76
UPDAT
ES
19,94
9
LIKES
666
COMME
NTS
108
COMME
NTS
18K
SHAR
ES
1,209
COMME
NTS
430
SHARES
CASE STUDY: TOURISM NORTHERN
TERRITORY

61. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
EXTENDED REACH CONTENT FEATURED AND SHARED DUE TO OUR
INFLUENCE AND REACH
Uluru photos are featured in a 4-minute
feature story on us on The Today Show
(Aussie version = millions of viewers)
and National Nine News
Featured on Wandering Lens – Uluru
most photogenic place
Photo reshare on the NT UK
Facebook (most popular update ever)
Have now written a post on their site.
OTHER
Shared in a presentation at
Camping show that is attended by
70,000 people
Mentioned in article in Gold
Coast Bulletin
Experiences mentioned in other
compilation posts on yTravel, which
have resulted in over 500,000 views
4 photos featured on Australia
Instagram account (1.3m
followers)
Lonely Planet featured an Uluru
photo when we took over their
Instagram account (261K followers)
CASE STUDY: TOURISM NORTHERN
TERRITORY
6
1

62. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
THIS IS THE BENEFIT OF
WORKING WITH
BLOGGERS. CONTENT
DOESN’T END WHEN
THE TRIP DOES.
CASE STUDY: TOURISM NORTHERN
TERRITORY

63. Getting it right

64. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Important ?
• Fish where the committed fish are
• Professionalism
• Clear expectations and guidelines
• Use leverage
• Disclaim
• Trust and value the blogger
• Choose correctly

65. Trust and value
the blogger

66. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
Consideror?
• Time
• Creativity
• Assets
• Influence (and how long that took to build)
• Unique Voice and Story
• Relatability and likeability
• Longevity
• Expertise

67. payment

68. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
 Purchase their images and videos for your use
 Republish their content
 Add booking widgets
 Add links to your website
 Embed video content or social updates
 Social marketing
 Creative leverage opportunities – expertise and
authority
Beyond the published story

69. Find the pots

70. negotiate

71. Honesty + transparency

72. Choosing the right
blogger

73. Do your due diligence

74. w w w . y t r a v e l b l o g . c o m
what to look for for?
• What’s the
angle/Personal
story/Mission?
• Audience
Demographics
• Stats + Engagement
• Wider Influence
• Local Experts
• Ambassadors
• Research content and
style
• Case studies
• Working relationship

75. Believe in the magic of
possibilities.
Mould the rules into
something that makes
better sense.

76. Let’s chat

77. @ytravelblog
cazcraig@ytravelblog.co