Working with social media influencers to promote your property on their Instagram accounts is known as influencer marketing. Influencers are people with a sizable Instagram following who have the power to sway their followers’ shopping decisions. As of 2022, the influencer market has expanded to a whopping $16.4 billion industry.
Hotels have shied away from collaborating with influencers, due to the effect it can have on the brand image, but in fact, influencers tend to gradually improve the social media element of a hotel. Instead of just a web page, hiring micro-influencers to produce user-generated content in the name of your hotel is a unique way in tailoring a compelling brand story.
The reason why influencers are a unique marketing tool is because people trust people much more than logo’s.
The following are some of the factors that make Instagram influencer marketing effective for hotels:
- Increased Brand Awareness: Collaboration with influencers who have a sizable following can help your hotel’s brand become more well-known. Influencers introduce your brand to a larger audience that may not be familiar with your hotel when they promote it to their followers on social media.
- Authenticity: Influencers are regarded as trustworthy and real by their fans. When they advertise your hotel, their followers are more inclined to take them at their word and this could result in additional reservations.
- Improved Engagement: Influencer marketing can also aid in boosting Instagram engagement for your hotel. Influencers’ followers are likely to interact with their posts by liking, commenting, and sharing them when they include your hotel. This can help your hotel’s Instagram account become more visible and draw in more followers.
- Greater return on investment: As compared to conventional types of advertising, influencer marketing can provide a higher return on investment (ROI). This is so that your hotel may benefit from higher bookings and income from influencers’ highly engaged and focused audiences.
Smaller chains and independent hotels are in a disadvantage, as larger hotels have the capital and resources to promote their campaigns more efficiently. OTAs also have the advantage in dominating the top of search results, due to the constantly increasing funds they invest in them.
Influencer marketing is a field of marketing shaped by low costs, but high results if the campaign is directed properly towards the most profitable target groups. The main challenge is finding influential social media outlets that have the potential to reach what the hotel aims on reaching.
John Fowler Holiday Parks decided to re-market their 3 family oriented resorts through micro-influencers focusing on family travel influencers and public figures famous among the younger generations (gamers or YouTubers). The company managed to generate a 67% increase in revenue, a 630% ROI (Return On Investment), and a 52% increase in organic conversion rate.
So, how can you get started with influencer marketing for your hotel on Instagram? Here are some tips:
- Find the Right Influencers: Look for influencers with a sizable following whose followers are similar to the target market for your lodging. You can discover influencers in your niche by using tools like Social Blade or Influencer.co.
- Create a Partnership: After you’ve located the appropriate leaders, get in touch with them to explore a possible alliance. Create a strategy that details what you want the influencer to support and the payment you will offer.
- Choosing the right strategy: Prior to launching an influencer marketing strategy, make sure your objectives are crystal clear. This might entail raising brand recognition, encouraging reservations, or boosting Instagram interaction for your hotel.
- Track Your Results: To determine whether your influencer marketing efforts were successful, use Instagram’s analytics tools. This will enable you to identify the ads and influencers that are working the best and those that require modification.
The following list includes five influencers who have specialized for the hotel industry. Even though collaborating with these influencers is an investment, tracking micro-influencers with content similar to these can be a successful content strategy.
- Johnny Jet (Instagram: johnnyjet)
- Damon Dominique (Instagram: damondominique)
- Louis Cole (Instagram: louiscole)
- Eric Stoen (Instagram: travelbabbo)
- Ruben and Rachel (Instagram: gamintraveler)
In conclusion, influencer marketing can be a potent tool for hotels on Instagram. Hotels can improve their ROI by partnering with the right influencers and creating a focused strategy to raise brand recognition, encourage bookings, and increase revenue.
