We are living in the era of influencers, where the digital world is dominated by creators who have their audiences hooked with engaging content, honest reviews, and personal experiences.
For hotels and the hospitality industry, this presents a golden opportunity as nowadays travelers won’t just rely on a stunning picture shared on ads or brochures with the services listed on it. They want to feel the real experience behind a stunning resort, a cozy boutique stay, or a luxury hotel mesmerizing content shared by influencers.
As a matter of fact, 61% of travelers aged 18 to 34 book a hotel or resort after virtually experiencing it featured by an influencer. (IMH) This shows how powerful influencer marketing can be in shaping travel decisions and driving real hotel bookings.
On top of that, 75% of travelers state that social media inspires their choice of destination. (Trends Global Survey) Not only does this highlight the growing influence of social media in the travel industry, but it also states that travelers are constantly turning to travel influencers for inspiration when planning their next getaway.
That said, as we move into the core of our blog, we will understand and learn more about why hotels work with influencers. What marketing approach do they use to promote your hotel? and an example of a successful campaign of influencer marketing for the hospitality industry.
Role of Influencer Marketing in the Hospitality Industry
With the evolution of influencer marketing for hotel industry, implementing a campaign demands more than having influencers post about properties on their social media outlets. Hospitality businesses need to follow a complete strategic implementation process to execute their influencer marketing campaigns. It’s highly imperative to identify influencers whose brand persona aligns with your hotel's brand image. Their audience demographics should also match your target customers.
Besides, it is important that the type of content generated is captivating and corresponds to the influencer’s character to maintain authenticity. Such content can include behind-the-scenes videos, room tours, food-tasting sessions, or even exploring the particular city where those hotels are. In general, such content should give people who would like to visit your hotel an idea about what staying in your property would feel like.
As we now have an understanding of hotel influencer marketing campaigns, we can move ahead to study the stage-by-stage execution of hospitality influencer marketing campaigns. That, if done alongside an influencer marketing agency in India, is executed way better considering their expertise and experience in the field.
Top 5 Strategies of Influencer Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism Sector
1. Understand Your Brand and Hotel Marketing Trends:
Before jumping into an influencer campaign for hotels and resorts, marketers need to understand the hotel industry from the inside out. Next, stay updated on the latest and top hotel marketing trends. Keep an eye on the best hotel influencer marketing ideas that are gaining traction in the market. And most important of all, don’t forget to look at your competitors for analysis.
2. Identify the Right Influencer for Hotels and Resorts:
Finding out which influencers fit your hotel’s image and values, particularly in the travel and lifestyle niche, is one of the top tasks on the list to execute influencer marketing campaigns for hotels and resorts. Search for those who are actively involved in hospitality marketing or at least have previous experience in partnerships with hotels. Their competence and trustworthiness will lead to a more fruitful collaboration.
3. Craft Compelling Storytelling of the Hotels and Resorts:
Collaborate strenuously with influencers to construct fascinating and real content about your hotel’s narrative. Offer them information and distinct selling points that they can emphasize while lodging at that place. The content ought to strike home with their viewership and hence present the very soul of your hotel, be it through luxurious amenities, exclusive experiences, or breathtaking sites.
4. Monitor and Analyse Engagement:
Regularly track and analyze the engagement metrics of your onboarded influencer posts and stories. Pay attention to likes, comments, shares, and website traffic generated through their content. This data will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of influencer marketing campaigns for hotels and help make data-driven adjustments for better results.
5. Evaluate and Learn:
The advancement of influencer marketing in the hospitality industry is a continuous journey. One must, therefore, consider experience from any past campaign as well as anything that may enhance such a campaign in the future. Those hotels that are flexible enough to change with the upcoming trends and developments and refine their approach to influencer marketing strategies gradually tend to obtain improved results.
Let’s now move ahead and look at an example of Influencer Marketing for Hotels.
An Example of A Luxury Hotel Influencer Marketing Campaign
ITC Hotels’ Responsible Luxury Fellowship Campaign
Objective:
The main objective was to highlight the ITC Hotel’s “Responsible Luxury” initiative, which necessarily states luxury standards alongside environmental mindfulness. The goal was to raise awareness about sustainable hospitality and attract like-minded travelers.
Strategy:
Influencers were invited to stay at the properties and document it, mentioning ITC's eco-friendly initiatives, luxurious services, and overall hospitality. The contents were shared on social media, particularly YouTube and Facebook, to ensure wider reach.
Influencers:
20 influencers were invited from different domains like travel, luxury, and sustainability. These creators had a strong following in luxury and eco-conscious travel spaces, ensuring the right audience saw the content.
Results:
In all, 82 videos were created, and the campaign garnered more than 1 million views and attained 75 million impressions across YouTube and Facebook. By placing ITC Hotels in the vanguard of the sustainable luxury paradigm, the campaign also lent further traction to the brand positioning.
The campaign was a huge success as it combined storytelling with brand values, which made the message more engaging.
Wrapping Up
As we come to the end of our blog, we have understood the fact that influencers are the key drivers of the hospitality industry. With their personal experiences, one-of-a-kind stories, and quality content, travelers tend to trust them for their authentic and honest content. This trend has brought marketers to the conclusion that influencer marketing for hotels in India works like a charm.