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Influencer marketing has become a critical tool for the hospitality industry to reach its target market. Historically we relied on TV ads, magazines, travel books and travel agents for inspiration when deciding where to go and stay on holiday. Fast forward to today, and social media platforms provide us with an enormous amount of content that acts as a targeted and personalized recommendation tool.
This has not gone unnoticed by the hospitality industry, with major hotel brands including Marriott and Moxy Hotels launching successful social media influencer campaigns as part of their marketing strategies. Instead of A-list celebrity brand ambassador engagements, hospitality brands realize they can achieve a much better return on investment by working with social media influencers. In fact, according to one study, 70 percent of teenagers trust influencers more than traditional celebrities, and 49 percent of consumers depend on influencer recommendations.
The shift in content consumption requires hospitality brands to reconsider how they market. Whereas reach and volume were key objectives for brands previously, the industry is learning that using social media marketing allows it to be much more targeted and favor engagement over reach. Brands now have access to much richer data about their target market and can use that to help them carefully select the influencers to work with who will have the most relevance.
- Influencers are critical and powerful assets for hospitality brands to engage customers.
- Brands must be selective about which influencers they choose to work with.
- Appropriate disclosure of commercial relationships between brands and influencers is important.