https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/06/instagram-influencers-are-driving-luxury-hotels-crazy/562679/
Kate Jones, marketing and communications manager at the Dusit Thani, a five-star resort in the Maldives, said that her hotel receives at least six requests from self-described influencers per day, typically through Instagram direct message.
#OMG
Yup. That pretty much describes it.
The thing is, the vast majority of these "influencers" have followers in their demographic. A luxury hotel, like the one I am sitting in at this moment, overwhelmingly has an older demographic who can afford to pay $500/night. So they say, "I have 200,000 followers," but they have 26 followers who would ever consider paying for a luxury hotel.
They always hit you with what a great value it is.
Now, some of them treat it like work. They have a lot of followers and they are good photographers/videographers and they will offer you exposure, plus full use of photos and vidoe they shoot. Sometimes we'll take them up on it. The thing about a hotel is that the inventory expires every night. If you are not going to sell out, the marginal cost of putting someone in a room is only about $50. So if they turn over even a couple of decent, usable photos, that can be worth it.
One rainy day with a half-empty hotel, we got a last-minute pitch from two couples and the man in one couple had a million followers on YouTube and the other had something like that on Instagram, and they treated it like a media site visit, meaning they endured a property tour, posted video of suites they toured, but did not get to stay in, and so forth. The true cost there was only a few hundred dollars since they didn't displace revenue.
[update: actually, I just looked him up - the YouTuber has 2,000,000 followers, but again, most of them are under 25 and will not be potential customers for another twenty years]
Some of them don't get this though - they will pitch you for a stay in high season when you're going to sell out. Then the cost of that stay can be $1000 in lost revenue. More if they insist on free meals too. Most of them are living in fantasy land and I can't believe that hotels will even consider this in most cases.
As a general rule, they are a plague. But the good ones can be worth it.
Now the travel bloggers... they're actually worse. No clue about value.
>demographic
We know a certain DK mommy blogger that once got a huge comp from Disney. The demographic was a match, traffic was good.
I never bothered with hotel comps but I did use "I own BigDog domain" to try and get better access/co-operation from attractions. Early on, most didn't have a clue, but later it did work pretty well for my freelance writers as press credentials.
In the affiliate space we are seeing influencers with their own AGENCIES
>>affiliate space
Most of the ones we see have no clue how to actually value their "influence". "I have 2000 followers. Give me $2000 and I will post on IG and wear your shirt while I go to Disney World" They want free product and a lot of money. We have dipped out toes in the water with a couple that looked like great fits for us. Spent about $500 in money and gear and they have sold about $300 worth of stuff for us. I know some merchants do see good results with some influencers but we have yet to see one that is worth it.
>In the affiliate space we are seeing influencers with their own AGENCIES
No kidding? Really? Show me.
>show me
Mentioned here
Wane of social media 'influencers' as big brands drop 'stars' over fears of fake followers
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/22/wane-social-media-influencers-big-brands-drop-stars-fears-fake/
Influencers constantly begging for free hotel rooms
https://old.reddit.com/r/ChoosingBeggars/comments/iz6piw/influencers_constantly_begging_for_free_hotel/
ha ha... yup.
Actually, before Covid, wannabe influencers would come, then send us free video (some very good ones) and ask us to share it in return for exposure. I have no idea what's happening now.