We’re kicking off our 2025 Holiday Gift Guide Series with our Shop Local Holiday Gift Guide: Locally Handmade in Asheville, North Carolina! This guide will shine a spotlight on Asheville's talented local makers, artisans, and artists. We’ll be promoting the guide extensively through Christmas across Instagram, our website, and all our social media channels—Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and Threads.
We're extending our 'Pay What You Can' option for small business owners interested in advertising with us but are unable to afford our full rates at this time.
This guide will be released right before Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, making it the perfect time to highlight your work, share holiday deals, and encourage shoppers to buy local.
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Exclusive NEW Holiday Guide Perks:
Businesses featured at our full rate ($450) will also receive a free bonus holiday collaborator post on our Instagram feed — a $750 value — shared with our 150K+ Asheville-loving audience!
All participating businesses (at any rate) will receive at least 3 seasonal reposts from our Instagram during the holiday season to help boost visibility and engagement.
(These will appear under the new “Reposts” section of our profile — not on our main feed.)All approved businesses will be added to our interactive TGA Holiday Gift Map, making it easy for followers to find and shop local in person this season. Local makers will be able to be included by letting us know which local stores carry their products and/or which local holiday markets they can be found at this holiday season!
Full-rate participants and early approvals may receive priority placement near the top of the guide for maximum visibility.
Our website version of the guide can now feature more than 4 photos per business — allowing you to showcase a full gallery of holiday product images or marketing graphics.
You can include:
• Styled photos of your holiday products or gift sets
• Flat lays or packaging detail shots
• Lifestyle or “gift in action” photos
• Graphics with text/pricing (e.g., “Gift Sets Starting at $25”)
• Holiday displays, storefronts, or behind-the-scenes shots
💌 Optional Incentive:
• You’re invited to create a custom promo or discount code for TGA followers — a fun way to drive more holiday sales, track engagement, and make your offer stand out to new customers.
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Why Apply:
Get featured across Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, and our website
Reach thousands of engaged local and regional followers, with over 1M total monthly viewers on IG alone
We’re reinvesting profits in two ways:
Running paid ads to expand the guide’s reach
Funding a $250 giveaway per guide to drive engagement (and giving you a chance to win back your investment)
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This guide will be posted on Travel Guides Asheville’s Instagram & website on Wednesday, November 26, 2024.
*Applications close Thursday, November 20th at 11:55pm.
*Approvals will be sent on a rolling basis and by the latest Friday, November 21st. To keep this guide accessible and well-balanced, we’ll be reviewing applications in phases and confirming spots as space allows.
*One-Time Payment of $450 (or optional ‘Pay What You Can’ option) is due within 24 business hours of approval to guarantee your spot.
How It Works:
Once you submit your application you will receive an approval email by the latest Friday, November 21st.
You will receive a check out link within your approval email to purchase your business’s spot in the guide.
You must purchase your spot (a one-time fee of $450, or your approved ‘Pay What You Can’) to be included in this guide within 24 business hours of receiving your approval email. Your payment guarantees your spot!
Our “Shop Local Holiday Gift Guide: Locally Handmade in Asheville, North Carolina” guide will be posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2025. Every guide is posted on:
Instagram Feed (@travelguidesasheville)
Instagram Reels
Instagram Stories
Facebook (@travelguidesasheville)
Website (added to our home page through Christmas, remains on our site forever! (www.travelguidesasheville.com)
Pinterest (@travelguidesasheville)
Tik Tok (@travelguidesasheville)
Example:
Here’s an example of a previous guide for reference:
Deadlines & Important Dates:
This guide will be posted on Travel Guides Asheville’s Instagram & website on Wednesday, November 26, 2024.
*Applications close Thursday, November 20th at 11:55pm.
*Approvals will be sent on a rolling basis and by the latest Friday, November 21st. To keep this guide accessible and well-balanced, we’ll be reviewing applications in phases and confirming spots as space allows.
*One-Time Payment of $450 (or optional ‘Pay What You Can’ option) is due within 24 business hours of approval to guarantee your spot.
FAQ
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You’ll submit 4 photos for the Instagram version of the guide — plus you’re welcome to include additional photos for the website version, where we can now feature a full gallery!
Your business name, Instagram handle, and physical location address (if applicable) will be included as well!
The guide - as posted on our website - also includes a button that links to your business website (not included on Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest versions of the guide).
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No, Travel Guides Asheville is currently an online-only travel guide!
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No. It’s a one-time fee to be included in the guide. The guide then remains available forever.
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Forever! The guide stays on our website and socials (Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok) as a permanent post.
Bonus? For up to a year after the guide is posted, we frequently re-share it into our Instagram stories. This reminds our audience (and new followers) what guides we have available on our page!
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No! The application is free and payment will only be due after you have been approved. One you receive your approval email, you then have 48 business hours (Saturday & Sunday excluded) to check out and submit payment.
Your spot is held during this time, and once you submit payment you are guaranteed your spot.
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There are so many benefits to working with us!
Think of Travel Guides Asheville as being your personal marketing team - we love supporting the businesses & individuals we work with. Here are some of the benefits of participating in a guide feature:
• You will be presented in front of our Asheville-based audience, across each of our channels - all of which are popular among locals & visitors to the area! Our guides also make a great reference point. For example, when someone asks, “Who are the best wedding photographers in the area?”, our followers (or anyone who has seen the list) can easily share the applicable guide.
• Our approach also takes social media “SEO” into consideration by using strategically curated hashtags. Because our posts are often popular enough to appear in the “Top” section of selected hashtags, we are able to offer you added visibility to a wider audience through both the guide Feed Post & IG Reel. For example, when someone searches Instagram for ”#AshevilleWeddingPhotographers”, our posts can frequently be found among the first few “Top” posts within that hashtag.
• Another way we get you in front of your key target audience and potential clients is through our involvement in the popular Facebook Communities/Groups for Asheville. It is common to see visitors and locals alike popping into these Facebook groups to ask questions. For example, a user may post, "Who's a great wedding photographer based in Asheville?" We actively monitor these groups, sharing relevant guides to help answer questions and promote our featured businesses and individuals.
• Across all our channels and social media engagement, we continually prioritize those who have worked with us - especially as it relates to sharing content you tag us in on Instagram! We love to share local businesses and entrepreneurs in our stories whenever we can. That's what we're all about - supporting local! You now have a forever social media support team - tag us in your posts or your stories and we will re-share with our audience, even long after the guide has posted. We also try to keep an eye on your page and comment, save, share, and like your posts, too!
• Our guides are frequently reposted into our stories on Instagram to remind our audience what guides have already been published. So you can count on this guide being re-shared long after its posting date.
• We also provide you with publicity directly on our website! We regularly rotate our “Featured Guides” on display at the top of our home page. These are the first guides people see when they visit our site. Each new guide remains in our "Featured" section for two weeks, though many will be rotated back into this section even after the initial two weeks.
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• You pick the photos that are included in the guide! We feature four photos on each business's page in the guide. You’ll find this information in the form you fill out before checking out/submitting payment.
• Your business’s Instagram @ name is shared on your page of the guide and in the caption/description section. This way viewers can easily find you on social media and check out your page!
• Wanting more backlinks to your website? When a guide is posted on our website, we have a clickable button under each businesses featured section that links to their website.
• Questions about SEO? A ton of work behind the scenes goes into to making sure our guides appear in Google results and Pinterest/Facebook/Instagram searches. SEO Titles, navigation titles, keywords, tags and categories, site and page descriptions, image names, alt. text, etc. are all part of our process for SEO.
• Insights after 21 days of the guide posting date are sent to your email. This way you can see how well the post performed on all of our social platforms!