Influencer Marketing and Digital Transformation in the Hotel Industry: A Double-Edged Sword of Opportunities and Challenges
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Influencer marketing is sending shockwaves through the travel industry, disrupting how hotels attract and engage with potential guests. While the promise of leveraging social influencers offers tempting benefits like expanded reach and bookings, it also poses substantial risks in today's fickle digital landscape.
This leaves hospitality brands weighing whether collaborating with influencers is the right marketing strategy in an increasingly technology-driven world. As hotels navigate the fine line between authentic recommendations and commercial partnerships, they must answer the central question: are influencers friend or foe when it comes to brand control in the digital age?
This article examines the alluring advantages along with the potential perils for hotels considering embracing the influencer marketing movement.
Let’s dive in to learn more.
Influencer Marketing and Digital Transformation in the Hotel Industry: A Double-Edged Sword of Opportunities and Challenges
The hotel industry is undergoing a massive digital transformation. Technology now plays a pivotal role in how hotels operate, engage with guests, and compete in the marketplace. In this digital-focused era, influencer marketing has emerged as a potentially powerful but risky trend for hospitality brands.
On one hand, collaborating with travel influencers provides hotels with an opportunity to tap into new audiences and increase visibility. Influencers offer a way for brands to humanize their messaging and connect with consumers who value social recommendations. However, relinquishing control of brand narratives to influencers also presents major hazards.
As hotels weigh the pros and cons of partnerships with influencers, they must evaluate if the potential benefits are worth the risks in today's volatile digital landscape.
The Allure of Influencers for Hotels
Influencers come with built-in audiences that can expand a hotel's reach exponentially. A single post from an influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers can introduce a brand to more people than months of dedicated social media and content efforts.
And these aren’t passive audiences. Influencers elicit engagement and action with their hyper-targeted and passion-driven communities. A positive review from an influencer confers the social proof many travelers seek before booking.
The numbers don’t lie – influencer marketing pays dividends. One recent study showed that every $1 spent on influencer marketing generates $5.78 in earned media value for hotels on average.
The Perils of Ceding Control
However, hotels must also be cognizant of the risks that come with relinquishing control of their brand image and reputation to outside voices. One negative review or damaging post can counteract months of careful content curation and marketing.
And fraudulent influencers with fake followings and purchased engagement threaten to skew ROI metrics. Nearly 15% of influencer accounts exhibit signs of fraud, per a recent study by Cheq and the University of Baltimore.
Walking The Fine Line Between Authenticity and Brand Integration
Savvy social media users can spot overly commercialized and forced influencer partnerships from a mile away. If not handled carefully, these arrangements risk turning followers off for lacking authenticity.
Hotels must identify influencers who genuinely resonate with the brand’s values and offerings. The focus should be on building relationships and nurturing influencers as true advocates.
The Verdict: Proceed, But with Caution
Influencer marketing—like most aspects of digital transformation—is not without its challenges and risks. But it also offers substantial upside if hotels take the time to vet partners thoroughly, prioritize authentic storytelling over hard-sell promotions, and monitor performance closely.
While giving up complete control can be uneasy, the rewards merit judicious experimentation with influencer campaigns. With the right strategies and safeguards in place, partnering thoughtfully with influencers can humanize a hotel’s outreach and catalyze positive brand experiences.
Here are some tips on where hotels can find and connect with relevant influencers for potential partnerships:
Travel Influencer Networks - There are agencies and platforms like Traverse, TravelMindset, and TravelFreak that specialize in connecting hotels with vetted travel influencers. They already have relationships with influencers in the space.
Instagram - Search relevant hashtags like #travelblogger, #travelinfluencer, or #hoteltrip to find influencers posting travel content. Vet their engagement levels and see if their style fits your brand. Reach out to set up a collaboration.
YouTube - Travel vloggers with compelling video content can showcase your property authentically. Search YouTube for your location + "travel vlog" to find potential partners.
Travel Blog Directories - Sites like TravelBloggers.com allow you to search and browse influencers by location, topics, and reach. You can identify influencers aligned with your brand.
Prioritize Quality Over Reach - An influencer with 10K very engaged followers can be better than someone with 100K fake bot followers. Vet engagement and credibility over vanity metrics.
Hashtag Searches - Follow hashtags like #ttot, #TravelTuesday, #luxurytravel, #foodie, #familytravel, etc. to find influencers posting relevant content. Engage with them and make a connection.
Attend Influencer Events - Conferences like TBEX attract travel influencers looking to network and partner with brands. Attending allows you to meet and get to know influencers in person.
TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange) conferences offer hotels a prime opportunity to directly connect with vetted travel influencers. By attending TBEX events, hospitality brands can meet face-to-face with top travel content creators looking to partner with brands.
Influencers at TBEX have engaged audiences and storytelling abilities to authentically promote hotels to new potential guests. Attending also allows hotel marketers to save time finding and vetting viable influencer partners.
Conferences like TBEX facilitate networking and fostering relationships with influencers that can pay dividends through expanded reach, bookings, and ROI from collaborative campaigns. The high-value exposure and ambassadorship make TBEX a worthwhile investment for hotels serious about influencer marketing.
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The key is to do your research to find influencers with an authentic voice and engaged audience that closely matches your hotel's target guest demographic and values. Take time to vet potential partners thoroughly.
Summary
Influencers can provide great value to hotels by attracting new, relevant audiences. However, influencers must reach customers who are genuinely interested in the hotel's offerings, not just followers seeking freebies.
The best influencers build communities that drive bookings across the customer journey - from dreaming and planning to the on-site experience and post-stay sharing.
To demonstrate their value, influencers should share data and case studies on how their content impacts each stage of the customer journey. For example, showing the increase in bookings or social chatter after creating a video on the hotel. Influencers should also showcase how they use technology like AI to enhance their content and make it more engaging.
The goal is to prove that the right influencer partnerships can expand reach into untapped markets and drive ROI through bookings and beyond.
Digital Transformation Partnership for Hotels
Hotels today must invest in people and technology in a context that adds value to everyone involved.
Don’t continue to neglect or take the people's transformation for granted. Technology is a digital tool that will help your hotel when implemented in collaboration with your employees.
Partner with your employees and they will help with retaining and hiring people.
I also invite you to work with me as your hotel partner to help implement a new innovative digital transformation framework that opens the digital gateways to more direct bookings without competing with the OTA.
Through value innovation, I help hotels with cost-effective alternatives that are focused on eliminating and reducing factors the hotel industry competes on. I also help lift employee and customer value by raising and creating elements that hotels never offered before.
The Role of?Are Morch - Digital Transformation Coach as a Cloudbeds Ambassador: In this age of rapid technological advancement, having an expert guide can make all the difference. Are Morch, a renowned?Digital Transformation Coach, and?Cloudbeds Ambassador, plays a pivotal role in assisting hotels with their digital transformation journey.
Digitally transform now or get left behind. Mobile, automation, and AI - elevate guest experiences and efficiency to the next level. Invest in innovation today for your hotel’s future.
DM me on LinkedIn or shoot me an email at:?[email protected]
Are Morch?is a digital transformation coach helping hotels open their digital front door, reimagine their processes and culture and transform experiences in a fast-paced world!
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