Utilizing Influencer Marketing to Propel Hotel Brand Expansionl

To ensure successful influencer marketing campaigns, hotels must choose influencers who align with their brand values and have a genuine connection with their followers.

In today’s competitive hospitality landscape, hotels increasingly turn to influencer marketing as a strategic tool to boost brand visibility and drive bookings. Why? Partnering with influencers allows hotels to tap into their engaged audiences, leverage authentic storytelling, and create compelling content that resonates with potential guests. 

Here are a few ideas for how hotels can effectively collaborate with influencers to strengthen their online presence and attract more guests.

Understanding the Power of Influencer Marketing

To start, let’s define “influencer marketing.” Simply put, influencer marketing is how brands promote their products and services using influencers’ endorsements. The idea is to collaborate with someone who has the power to influence and motivate people to purchase what you offer.

Influencers offer a distinct marketing opportunity because they have built loyal followings based on trust and credibility. By partnering with influencers whose values align with your hotel’s brand, you can reach a targeted audience interested in travel and hospitality experiences more authentically than with traditional marketing efforts.

How to Craft Collaborative Hospitality Influencer Campaigns

Finding the right influencer is the first and arguably the most crucial step in executing a successful influencer marketing campaign. Choosing the wrong influencer is one of hotels’ biggest influencer marketing mistakes.

Working with “big” influencers may be tempting, but they might not be the best fit based on numbers alone. In many cases, going for niche or micro-influencers is often a better fit since they have more of a narrow (in this case, ideally travel-focused), close-knit community.

Look for influencers whose audience demographics match your target market. Consider location, interests, and engagement rates to ensure alignment with your brand.

You also want to tailor the partnership to your specific brand and audience. Collaborate with influencers to create customized experiences highlighting your hotel’s unique selling points. This could include sponsored stays, exclusive tours, or themed experiences that resonate with their followers. 

Once your partnership is established, encourage your influencers to share their experiences through high-quality photos, videos, and engaging captions. Do you have Instagrammable spaces in your hotel? This is the perfect opportunity to feature them. Authentic storytelling can significantly impact potential guests’ perceptions and desire to book a stay.

Benefits of Influencer Campaigns

Influencers are great for amplifying your hotel’s reach and engagement. These efforts can then bleed over long-term into your general social media strategy. For example, guests can be encouraged to share their experiences using branded hashtags to foster community and user-generated content. Once an influencer starts that trend, it’ll be more natural for others to follow.

Influencer campaigns can also be beneficial from an SEO and content integration perspective. Incorporate influencer-generated content into your website’s blog posts, landing pages, and email newsletters. This not only enhances SEO but also provides authentic testimonials for prospective guests.

Real-World Examples

Whether you collaborate with lifestyle bloggers, travel photographers, or social media personalities, influencers have a unique ability to showcase your hotel’s offerings more appealingly. We often think of “influencers” as younger women, but that’s not always true.

For instance, Sun Peaks Resort partnered with travel photographer Callum Snape to showcase the resort’s beautiful vistas. Some of Callum’s beautiful shots generated over 17,000 likes on Instagram, giving Sun Peaks more approachable publicity than if they had shared the photos themselves. This is an example of a photographer, rather than a social media “content creator,” being the right fit for a campaign.

The Giraffe Manor sought out luxury travel micro-influencers to promote its “Sponsor a Giraffe” initiative. Hafou Touré, a women’s empowerment and leadership exec, was invited to partake in unparalleled photoshoots with the property’s giraffes. While the company consistently shares giraffe photos on its social channels, showing the giraffes interacting with real people makes a much more substantial impact.

An out-of-the-box “influencer” was Bill Young, Marriott’s “Carpet Dad.” Bill was simply a quirky father whose Instagram account about hotel carpets became an overnight sensation after his daughter Jill tweeted about his Instagram account, @myhotelcarpet. The account grew overnight from a few hundred followers to hundreds of thousands.

Given the number of times Bill had tagged Marriott properties over the years, the M Live team noted Bill’s presence and asked if he’d help design a carpet that would make its way to an Aloft Hotel. He agreed!

Measuring Success and ROI

Track key metrics such as engagement rates, website traffic, and direct bookings attributed to influencer collaborations. Use tools like Google Analytics and social media insights to assess campaign performance and optimize future partnerships.

Conclusion

Ready to elevate your hotel’s marketing strategy through influencer partnerships? You should consider influencer campaigns to remain relevant with today’s must-watch hotel social media trends. Influencers give hotels a powerful opportunity to increase brand awareness, engage with targeted audiences, and ultimately drive bookings. 

By carefully selecting influencers, crafting enticing campaigns, and leveraging authentic storytelling, hotels can effectively enhance their visibility and attract more guests seeking memorable travel experiences.

About Debbie Miller

Debbie Miller is a big-picture and detail-oriented marketing communications specialist who has worked in hospitality digital marketing, content development, and social media for 15+ years. A motivated digital marketer, Debbie brings a unique perspective from her brand, agency, and consulting experience. Her expertise resides in social media (strategy, management, campaigns), copywriting, editing, integrated digital strategies, project management, and strategic partnerships. She’s proficient in storytelling, internal communications, and team leadership.

Social Hospitality is a boutique digital marketing agency that helps brands develop their online identities, create engaging content, and build their social media presences. “Social hospitality” is an all-encompassing phrase that embodies the dynamic fusion of social media and the art of hospitality. It represents the seamless integration of two powerful forces that revolutionize the way businesses interact with customers. Debbie is an active member of Cayuga Hospitality Consultants.