Influencer marketing is one of those buzz words that just won’t go away – and with good reason. Data from a TapInfluence and Nielsen Catalina Solutions case study showed that influencer marketing can deliver up to 11 times greater ROI than traditional advertising campaigns, is more effective that paid ads due to the increased use of ad blockers and can generate impressions (and therefore traffic) long after the campaign has ended.

Add to this Nielsen Research figures which show 92% of consumers trust a recommendation from an individual (even someone they don’t know personally) more than a brand and the questions isn’t, should you add influencer marketing to your mix? It should be – how can I make my influencer marketing campaign successful?

Use our five ways to enjoy a successful influencer marketing campaign and tap into these benefits for yourself.

1. Seek out the micro influencer

The success of your influencer marketing initiative will depend on many factors but choosing the right influencers is one of the key considerations. While it’s natural to gravitate to the bigger names, don’t underestimate the power of the micro influencer.

 

A micro influencer is an individual who is very influential across a very small niche. This niche may be a narrow geographical area, a very specific topic or focus on a highly targeted sub-set of a particular demographic. A micro influencer doesn’t need a large follower count to be successful because they have a highly engaged fan base. If your budget is on the modest side, collaborating with a micro influencer will work to your favour. A big travel blogger might suck up the entire budget and give you one post in return. That same spend could be split across perhaps four, five or even ten micro influencers, giving you multiple posts and audience touch points.

There’s a temptation to want to set all of the terms of your influencer marketing collaboration and specify exactly how the campaign should roll out. More successful influencer marketing campaigns recognise the skill set of the influencer and their knowledge of their audience, giving them creative freedom to promote the product or service in a way that works authentically with their fan base.

 

An influencer marketing campaign is not a replacement for direct advertising and you shouldn’t approach it as such. That means messages such as ‘book our suite’ or ‘get one night free when you book five nights’ aren’t appropriate. Avoid overtly promotional wording and staging. Simply having your influencer post a flat lay of an incredible breakfast wearing a monogramed hotel bathrobe is an effective way to grab the audience’s attention. Be authentic in your content and posts, rather than considering it a sales opportunity.

4. Set clear expectations

It’s always wise to set clear expectations and you should have a contract in place between your hotel and your influencer or micro influencer. This should set out exactly what is expected, what is offered and what is being received. Don’t assume that your influencer will re-share content on social media or back up their blog post with an Instagram picture. Have them document exactly what is and isn’t included and be clear with your own offering to them. If you are offering a weekend stay for example, is a partner or companion also welcome? Will all food and drinks be included?

Measuring engagement and adding an ROI figure to your influencer marketing campaign is essential. Tracking and analysing your efforts is the only way to know if what you are doing is effective and if the influencers you are choosing are the right ones.

Don’t just rely on obvious figures such as how many likes an Instagram post or Facebook status received. Look at important business metrics such as whether your referring traffic from that social media site blossomed around the time of the campaign. Did the influencer’s own website drive traffic to your booking engine? How many times was a discount code used to book a room? All of this data should be collated and the impact measured to help shape your influencer marketing strategy moving forwards.