If you are a #hotel owner or manager you will probably relate immediately. If you are not part of the industry you may read on just for fun. Either way, it is fine.
Working in hotels and the wider #hospitality industry since the early 80s I have lived through all changes that have taken place.
Changes to the way properties are marketed, advertised, and promoted. Changes to the way people book their vacations.
Changes to the styles of the hotels. To the services offered. To the type of travelers. And the list goes on and on…
In recent years and towards the end of the past decade influencers appeared in our lives and businesses. A new profession. A new identity. A very interesting one as well, one can say.
Our industry (hospitality) welcomed them graciously.
Hotels and every business offering accommodation, especially in the luxury segment not only know and understand the power of marketing and advertising but they invest thousands of Euros every year in that.
So we all thought that something good was happening. But as each one of us knows only time can tell…
However, time did its magic as it always does.
I worked with #influencers. A lot. And as a responsible professional who cares for and values results, I used all available metrics to calculate the ROI.
Regretfully I couldn’t see it. So initially I thought it was too early. Not enough systems were in place.
We all said that this is something new and we need to give it time. And time passed and the results remain still to be seen.
For those of you who don’t really know how all these work, I will make the long story short.
A hotel or a business can choose to work with an influencer and pay them for their services. Very similar to what they would do with any other publication online or in print.
Or an influencer will reach out to a business and offer their services in exchange for a stay, a meal, a freebie, etc. This is fine too. The business is not obliged to accept.
In either scenario, the influencer has to be at the property. They do photoshoots of them and their team having a good time.
The photos are of themselves. The backdrop is the property or destination and in most cases, it is not even clear.
Then they publish their photos on Instagram, and their followers click like. Bravo and well done to them.
They managed to impress their audience who, till very recently when the law changed, did not know that all that was paid one way or another.
The influencer may even have promoted the said post in order to get more likes to impress the client (paid Instagram campaign).
And if you wonder, we, the clients, were indeed impressed when it all started. But that did not last very long.
You see when a post has something like 200.000 likes on Instagram we falsely believed that the 1% will reach out for information at least. But that never happened.
The years are going by and more influencers appear every day. The number of messages via Instagram is way too many.
Messages that do not make sense in most cases. Messages are sent using the “copy and paste” functionality to random people and properties.
Today, for example, I received the same message from the same person, on the Instagram account of three different properties.
And guess what… are the properties all located in a different country than the one the influencer is planning to visit.
In the last month alone I have received over 100 requests from influencers asking for a free stay during the month of August at the most highly requested properties and destinations in both Greece and Italy.
And they all offered the same. Social media exposure. But none of them cared to share detailed information about their audience or rates.
They did not care to send a proper email with their name and contact details.
To top that up, and because after the rise comes the fall, influencers are starting to rebrand and re-market themselves as bloggers without a blog.
I am not sure if I should laugh or cry about this.
You see travel bloggers are influencers. Always have been. And will remain as such.
They may have smaller audiences which is actually a good thing. Equally good to great publications like Conde Nast.
On the other hand, influencers need to work hard to become bloggers. A travel blogger is not all about sharing photos of themselves.
Travel bloggers who respect their audience write about the good, the bad, and the ugly.
They are honest. At least most of them.
They invest time. They create content that matters. Content that lasts for decades and maybe a lifetime.
So dear influencers, please stop sending random messages and stop feeling entitled to free stays because you will post images of yourself in our hotels and villas in order to impress your audience.
Dear hoteliers and villa owners just stop and think for a moment only…
How many messages requesting more info or availability about your property, have you ever received through Instagram?
How many clients did you have that chose your property because of your collaboration with an influencer?
Of course, not all influencers are the same. But the few that matter are a lot more than just an Instagram account.
They are professionals and do not feel entitled. They are business people who understand our industry and respect it as we respect their work.
Professional influencers actually never ask for a free stay. They talk about fees.
Professional influencers do not threaten hospitality business owners with bad publicity when they do not get what they want.
These are the real facts based on actual experiences and not just thoughts or opinions.