How to Survey Your Community and Qualify as a TrovaTrip Host

Promotion strategies that get a response (literally!)

In our previous blog, we talked about why surveying is so important in the trip planning process, so next we’ll go over how it’s done. To make sure everyone’s caught up, we’ll start with a little recap. If it’s all fresh in your mind, feel free to hit that imaginary “skip intro” button and jump right ahead to the good stuff, otherwise let’s take a quick moment to remember why surveying is worth the effort.

Previously on Host Resources: Conducting a survey tells you if your community is actually interested in traveling. If they are, it shows definitively where they want to go and exactly how much they’re willing to spend. The more survey responses you get, the more your mathematical odds of confirming (successfully selling your trip) go up AND the more data you’ll have to base future trips on.

As for how to actually get those responses…

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Key takeaways

• Meet your community where they’re at! Share your survey link on the social channel(s) where your community is most engaged. And don’t be afraid to break into non-social media promotions as well. That email list you’ve built from blogging over the years? A survey gold mine!
• Promote across various platforms. The more potential Travelers you reach, the better. Plus, who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to travel the world with you!
• Video is king. Announce your survey with a video featuring you speaking directly to your audience, and issuing a clear call to action to respond.
• Plan to actively survey for at least a week, if not longer. Follow the posting cadence outlined below to engage your community effectively using Q+A, polls, and aspirational travel content.
• Yes, the survey is required to host a TrovaTrip. At first glance it can seem daunting, but it’s really just an amazing opportunity to get to know your community better and set yourself up for success. Stay true to your personality and brand, and your community will respond well!

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Meet your community where they’re at

If you’re wondering which platform is best for surveying, the answer will always be: wherever your community is strongest. It’s true that most of our Hosts trend toward Instagram, but many have also found success across a variety of social channels. So if you have an active Facebook group or TikTok following, go there first. Concentrate your efforts on making sure your community is engaged, then cross-promote on other platforms to ensure no potential Travelers miss the memo. 

And although every Creator has a main social channel where their community is the strongest, chances are you probably have a few others with at least a handful of followers and content. Don’t ignore them! 

50 qualified survey responses (18+ and older with a $2,000+ budget) are the minimum required, but the more you collect the more likely you’ll be to successfully sell your trip. By the numbers, Hosts that collect even 100-199 qualified responses are 83% more likely to confirm a trip than those who only get 50-99. You can even find success off of social media if you have a mailing list or another network of people to contact. It might feel a little awkward or old-fashioned but, considering some of the things that find their way to our inboxes these days, a few travel questions from a friend are almost always a welcome diversion!

What to post and when

Surveying your community isn’t an exact science but, after booking over 21,000 Travelers on trips around the world, we’ve figured out a posting cadence that makes promotion easy and impactful. The survey itself is pretty simple: a link that leads to a few basic questions for potential Travelers and literally takes minutes to complete. The insights from this survey allow you to plan the perfect trip by narrowing down destination, dates, price, and more.

When it comes to sharing your survey, however, doing so effectively calls for more than just posting the link, even if you do add a bunch of fun stickers.

Here’s how it looks over the course of a week:

Make sure your survey link is pinned somewhere for the duration of the promotion. Link it in your bio, on your website, saved to an Instagram story highlight…you get the picture. Then record a video sharing why you want to host a trip and what excites you about bringing your community. Hit on the fact that this is a group experience and their feedback about destinations, budget, activities, etc. will actually determine what the trip looks like.

 

The #1 thing to keep in mind with your initial post is “be direct and make it personal.” Record the video with you front and center, speaking directly to your audience. Then, once you have your community’s attention (more on what kind of content connects in a little bit) capitalize on the moment with a clear call to action. Painting a pretty travel picture is great but it will only become reality if you ask your audience directly to participate by clicking the link and answering the questions.

 

Check out how some of these Trova Hosts used video to effectively survey and excite their communities!

 

 

💡Trova Tip: Using text overlay will help get your message across no matter when or how your audience watches, and it makes for more dynamic content overall.

TrovaTrip Host Brae Hunziker shared his survey in the intro of his video to capture viewers' attention. He positioned the survey as an opportunity for him and his community to connect with other people who love film/photography and the outdoors.

Follow up with another post (doesn’t necessarily need to be a video) to keep the momentum going and remind your followers that this trip won’t be possible without their feedback. Algorithms are unpredictable and not everyone will have seen your announcement on day 1. Or they may just need you to nudge them again, ever so gently, to take action.

Let things marinate for a day (you can check and see how many responses you’re getting in your Host portal) then kick engagement up a notch. We recommend inviting your community to ask questions and answering as many as you can, as well as sharing the most popular destination picks and favorite activities. At this point, the potential trip will be coming into focus and there will be plenty for you and your community to be excited about and discuss.

 

 

After another day of engaging with your community via comments and DMs, it’s time to narrow things down. Share what excites you about each of the top 2 or 3 destinations, then encourage people to have the final say.

Finally, wrap it all up by thanking your community for participating. Send a handwritten letter in your best cursive to each person that…jk, just post something telling everyone how much you appreciate their time and opinions. Whatever feels most heartfelt and share on your platforms of choice. Be sure to let folks know that more details will be coming soon as you craft an experience based on their input.

P.S. Posting so much over a week-long period can feel like you’re spamming or coming off thirsty but, trust us, you’re not. Not everyone will see everything you post so what feels like repetition is actually just covering your bases. In fact, research from Socialinsider suggests an average of 4.4% organic view rate for Instagram stories, so posting more–within reason–is definitely a good thing. And you can keep things fresh by including a variety of travel content to inspire viewers. (This is actually a technique we’ll revisit to help sell out the trip itself, so check that out here under “Set the tone” for a little preview!)

Survey says…you’ve got this!

Ultimately, whichever platform or platforms you decide to focus on, what really matters is staying true to yourself and your brand. Some aspiring Hosts worry way too much about making a perfect, “professional” sales pitch that appeals to everyone. That’s a lot of pressure! 

The truth is, no matter what happens, the survey is a chance to get to know your community even better. So stick with what brought them to you in the first place–your personality, creativity, weird sense of humor, shared interests–and see if they’re ready to take this whole online thing into the real world. 🫶