Sharing experiences has always been key for Sarah Daniel. As a travel influencer and single mum with her own business, she was inspired to create an online community who could come along for the ride.
Cut to today and @globetrotting_minis has over 10,000 followers who join Sarah and her two children as they adventure around the world. Here, Sarah explains how she forged a career on Instagram as a family travel influencer and what it takes to become a pro globetrotter…
How did you become a travel influencer?
Originally the Globetrotting minis Instagram page was self-titled. A personal grid with images of my son, an odd quote of positivity and food or fitness inspo. While on maternity leave in 2016, I launched an e-commerce business selling handmade headbands. I learnt how to run a business from scratch, managed the social media accounts and curated photoshoots. I realised these are transferable skills I could refine.
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In 2015, we went on our first family adventure to Japan. I starting curating video and imagery that I could share to my personal Instagram page. Then Instagram introduced stories, making documenting our travels more engaging and interactive.
An email I received in 2017 was the game changer. A mother expressed her admiration for how I’m showing the world to my children and admitted that she lacked courage to do the same. I shared words of encouragement and personal travel tips in the hope to build confidence in taking that leap of adventure.
She never did take that leap. But I realised I have an obligation to show how enriching the experience of travelling as a family can be and for that reason, I should encourage others to be part of it. This was the birth of Globetrotting Minis.
“I realised I have an obligation to show how enriching the experience of travelling as a family can be and I should encourage others to be part of it.”
Are you a travel influencer full-time?
Yes, I work on it every day – the workload is constant and increasing. But I also have a corporate role in Communications two days per week. The aim is to operate solely with Globetrotting Minis. It’s a work in progress…
How do you manage the juggle?
Being a single mother turned entrepreneur does have its struggles! Life is cray-cray most days and is a tiresome balancing act. I love adventure and spontaneity, which the brand provides, so I can’t complain. I can’t foresee committing to a 9-5 work life again – my personality would crumble.
When did being a travel influencer become a viable business?
The idea of generating revenue from Globetrotting Minis was never my goal, then 2018 presented enormous opportunity and travel. We worked with brands in New Zealand, Europe and the USA, which was the turning point in realising the potential of the brand.
In May 2019, we worked with the ultimate family travel brand, Club Med. That was major. I’m truly humbled and grateful each time we get to work with a brand. I never imagined my personal page of badly pixilated images would turn into a viable travel space. Social media has definitely helped manifest this pathway.
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What’s the best thing about being a family travel influencer?
Seeing my children experience things for the first time, like my son skiing Shigagoken in Japan or my daughter learning multiple languages. Travelling can also help to get in touch with yourself. And it’s incredible to allow our audience, as well as family and friends, to live vicariously through our travels. Some might not have the courage to adventure like we do, but they can be right there with us through the screen.
“Some might not have the courage to adventure like we do, but they can be right there with us through the screen.”
How do your children feel about it?
My eldest child and I have a level of respect when it comes to sharing content of him. He is 17 years old and extremely private, so I am respectful of what he allows me to post. He is very supportive in the goals of the brand and extremely grateful each time he gets to experience new places.
Your family photos are so sweet…
Yes, our family shots do spark high engagement. I think this type of content is more relatable; our audience want to see us all in action. I’m currently refining the use of a tripod, remotes and timers to ensure we continue to share images of the three of us rather than me always being behind the lens. I want Globetrotting Minis to be an encouraging representation of world schooling by travel.
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How do you stay unique and stand out from every other travel influencer?
You need to treat your Instagram page as a marketing tool. Having a specific niche is important so develop a theme early that you are passionate about. Maybe you want to share a sneak peek into parenthood, healthy eating, boats, eco-friendly living… What ever excites you, pick one.
You will also need to develop the design of your grid. When using Instagram to establish your brand, it’s no longer about the individual photo – you need to look at your grid as a whole. How does each photo incorporate each other? Is the grid telling a story about your niche? If a new follower was to land on your account, could they easily identify what your brand reflects?
“When using Instagram to establish your brand, it’s no longer about the individual photo – you need to look at your grid as a whole.”
There are loads of apps to help assist in finding the right colour schemes and filters or presets for you. Then keep it consistent! This is a basic rule when creating an eye-catching grid.
So how do you decide what to post?
As the brand has expanded with demanding deadlines and more travel, I use time-efficient tools to plan and schedule content. Not only do they maximise time management, they ensure the aesthetic of my grid is succinct. I use a simple spreadsheet (introduced to me by @KiraHydecreative) that outlines my content plan. I draft posts, upload images, embed links and document any custom requirements. It’s a game changer!
Any advice for getting the perfect shot as a travel influencer?
Our feed is a collection of candid, active shots rather than selfies. It evokes the emotion of telling the story of travel. And my children will not pose! So I recommend taking a batch of pictures in the moment, even if you only share one picture.
When you’re shooting in countries like Italy, capture as much background as possible. The buildings in Rome, Venice and Florence make for remarkable backdrops. And plan ahead! Remember you’re one of many wanting photos with iconic monuments so go earlier or later in the day to avoid being bombarded by a parade of tourists trying to get the exact same picture. I like to dedicate time to being a tourist and soaking up the experience, then I’ll save a couple of days for photography.
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What are the best locations to shoot in?
Paris is one of my favourite cities, Rome is just unbelievable for culture and history, and Japan is amazing for food.
How do you avoid the travel influencer clichés?
Finding accommodation in areas outside of major cities is best for experiencing new and interesting places. Japan was a great testament to this. We discovered some of the coolest villages, restaurants, parks, art and history all off the grid just by booking an Airbnb further out of Osaka.
“Finding accommodation in areas outside of major cities is best for experiencing new and interesting places.”
In what ways do you use Instagram Stories?
Stories are a great tool for sharing behind the scenes and raw, unedited footage. I try to share in real time so my audience knows we have normality just like everyone else. Using the interactivity features are also fun – like asking a question or creating a poll. It’s brilliant for upping your engagement.
When I’m documenting my travel stories, I like them to be informative or help my audience feel like they are on location with us. I always include interesting facts about our current location, which our followers find useful.
I’ve been trialling a new technique of embedding hidden hashtags in my stories. It’s a great way to increase your reach and gain exposure when other users search those hashtags.
Do you use the Highlights feature?
Yes, they’re a great point of reference when we are bombarded with questions regarding past travels. Highlights are also part of making brand collaborations work. We have a dedicated highlight reel for brands and link everything we document in stories to this highlight. Brands love it as analytics can be extracted, which is crucial when reporting return on investment for a paid partnership.
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How do Instagram Insights help your band?
Numbers excite me so as soon as Globetrotting Minis progressed to a business page, it was my priority to learn the function of the analytics tool. The insights provide a breakdown of story views, demographics of my audience, impressions and so on. I can even identify which posts are receiving the highest engagements. This is extremely useful when developing content strategies. I am able to determine, where my followers are based, what age groups they belong to and who is engaging. It is important to continue to serve this demographic as they are showing up every day on your page for a reason. Even more impressive is the data is entirely free within the Instagram app.
READ MORE: How To Use Instagram Analytics
Before brands will work with bloggers and influencers, they need to determine ROI (return on investment). This is where you can benefit from the analytics tool. When I’m finalising a campaign and preparing an evaluation on deliverables to our clients, Instagram Insights is my best friend. These numbers help document evaluation metrics for each asset within the campaign.
Any tips for growing your following?
Engagement is my priority. Here are my top tips:
- When you post a photo, respond to all comments within the first 15 minutes. It can help to bump the post to the top of your followers’ feeds.
- Spend as little as 10 minutes liking and commenting on the accounts of your favourite brands and their followers’ account to direct traffic back to you.
- Collaborate with other brands and accounts to offer giveaways to your audience.
- Join a Facebook page in your niche and engage with the members daily. It’s also an avenue of support for you.
- Develop relationships with other influencers and their audiences to reach new audiences.
- Finally, share beautiful, original and consistent content to keep your followers coming back for more.
How has Instagram changed your life?
It’s help me to realise my creativity and love for sharing travel experiences with strangers, inspiring others who we would never normally have the chance to meet. Instagram is an amazing platform for building connections and community outside your location. These connections can provide much needed support on what can be an isolating journey.
The opportunity to generate income is a bi-product of these connections. On the negative side, Instagram can be extremely addictive. Not only can it affect your sleep (I have been a victim of this) but also your mental health. It can soak up hours of your day, leaving you unproductive and feeling low. So I am conscious of scrolling with purpose each time I’m using the app, especially as I don’t have the luxury of spare time.
“I am conscious of scrolling with purpose each time I’m using the app, especially as I don’t have the luxury of spare time.”
How do you deal with the negativity?
Some users can be mean and opinionated and although it shouldn’t be tolerated, I do acknowledge there has to be a degree of resilience to work in this space. Personally, I deal with negativity by responding with positivity and compassion. Globetrotting Minis is a family page. To respond from a place of anger or hate is a value I never want to portray to my children or audience. So I try to cultivate a positive vibe on my feed and take the higher road. Having the ability to block trolls is great if the negative comments get overbearing. You should always report pages that are harassing you.
“You should always report pages that are harassing you.”
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Finally, how do you use IG as a positive force?
As I promote family values, it is important to cultivate a positive vibe on my account. Instagram gives the ability to connect, engage, support, influence and highly affect the attitudes of others through the screen. I always want the exchange of information to be a positive experience. When I engage with others on social media, it’s imperative I show up with meaningful comments of kindness and encouragement.
What I have found inspires and calls others to take action is sharing captions of how I’ve overcome adversity to create a positive situation in my own life. Following pages that promote kindness, empowerment and repurposing content that my audience benefit from is a great way to continue to endorse a positive message. @lisamessenger does a brilliant job of doing this, I make a point of reading her daily quotes.
