Influencer marketing for hotels

Influencer marketing is a means of social media marketing. There are experts in various categories who regularly post about products to their followers on social networks. They make purchase recommendations and influence followers' purchasing decisions through their trustworthiness and popularity.

There are many different ways to cooperate. There are the classic hotel visits by influencers, but they can also write guest posts on your blog or social media channels. Sweepstakes for your hotel that are advertised by them are also popular.

A buyout is the transfer or time-limited permission to use rights to image or video material to third parties by the author. Buyouts make it possible to acquire exclusive rights to influencer content, which offers flexibility, time savings and cost control. This promotes the uniqueness of the message, maximizes the value of the content and ensures better brand integrity, creating long-term assets for the marketing strategy.

There are three sizes of influencers, which have different advantages and disadvantages:

• Macro-influencers: These have a large following, often over 100,000 followers. They can offer a wide reach, but their collaboration can be more expensive. Macro-influencers are ideal when it comes to increasing awareness of the hotel.
• Micro-influencers: These usually have a smaller but dedicated following of 1,000 to 100,000 followers. They can reach a more targeted audience and their collaboration is often more cost-efficient. Micro-influencers are effective at increasing bookings and engagement.
• Nano-influencers: Nano-influencers usually have fewer than 1,000 followers, but they enjoy a high level of credibility and authenticity. They are ideal for reaching a highly engaged target group, but are limited in terms of reach.

The choice between macro, micro and nano influencers depends on the hotel's specific goals, budget and target group.
A mix of different influencers can also be an effective strategy to achieve different goals.

Influencers are a dime a dozen. Picking out the right AND trustworthy ones from the abundance is not always easy because, as in every industry, there are many black sheep. Purchased likes and followers are not uncommon. It is therefore advisable to put the selection in professional hands.

If an influencer is considered a self-employed artist or publicist within the meaning of the German Artists' Social Insurance Act (KSVG), it is possible that duties must be paid to the Artists' Social Insurance Fund (KSK). It is therefore essential to have a legally secure contract that specifies who pays the contributions.