Have you ever been approached by an influencer? Did you host them? Are you already working with influencers? Often influencers appear to be carefree millennials traveling the world, looking pretty, living large and not paying for things. However, you can’t deny that influencers attract a lot of attention. As digital natives, they seem to command huge numbers of engaged followers. In fact, working with influencers can help you market your STR. It is an interesting way to live a life and make a living. For a Gen X’er like myself, very far removed from how I approach business. I am kinda old school – I create a product, market the product and sell the product. For influencers, they ARE the product.
In my hosting business, Tokyo Family Stays, we recently hosted a La Carmina. A popular travel and food blogger with a gothic edge. I did some research on her and spoke to some other vendors who had worked with her in the past. I satisfied myself that she was a professional and took her “job” seriously. So in the interest of “science” and a desire for an interesting blog post, I gave it a shot. Now you get to hear all about how I have been working with influencers, plus I have a feeling it will be another step that leads to more direct bookings.
It was an excellent experience for all of us but there was some back and forth to strike up the final deal.
Here are my top 5 tips for working with influencers
- Ask for their demographics, stats and target audience. A professional influencer will have a clearly defined market, will know their numbers and have clear goals for their business. They may even have a standard bio with all of these data points clearly identified.
- Ask them which channels they use and the types of content they produce. A good influencer will have a presence on all the major social media platforms as well as potential tie ups with other media – blogs, magazines – print or digital. Then verify that the claims are true.
- Negotiate cash plus media deliverables. Ensure there is some skin in the game from the influencer. One example is they cover cleaning fees and a day rate for utilities.
- Have a written agreement. Make sure the terms are clear and transparent for both parties. Have this signed with terms and conditions of who will own the copyright of all created content. Plus if there is a non-deliverable on either side, there needs to be some recourse and a system for settling dispute.
- Follow up and amplify their posts with your own socials.
In my case, La Carmina stayed for 10 days. She was traveling with her photographer – a paid freelancer. They were professional, polite and hard working. She also did her own write up here.
We negotiated a daily rate for utilities and the cleaning fee to be covered – my cleaners don’t work for free. In exchange, we negotiated for a set number of posts, stories, blog posts and also professional house photos. Some of the photos included the influencer and some were just of the house. It is very clear that I own the copyright of the house photos and if I use the photos with La Carmina in them, I need to tag her as well.
Making your life look effortless and interesting takes quite a bit of effort.
It was so interesting to talk with her as Carmen – her real life persona. Plus, I was so curious to hear how she approached her job. She has a very clear distinction between her working “avatar” and her regular life. She creates content for her audience based on what she knows is going to trend well and what her audience is wanting to see. As much of our digital world is managed by algorithms and engagement, knowing the tech and staying current is as much the job as is creating the content.
The stories and photos were not published in real time but over a set calendar and strategy. La Carmina is very conscious about personal safety and so never lets people know where she is while she is there.
Final Thoughts – Am I satisfied?
She has over-delivered on her promises and you can check them out on my socials too. It was lovely to meet her and her photographer and to get a glimpse behind the instagram persona.
So yes I am definitely satisfied. Will this mean more bookings for me? – time will tell. My IG stats certainly look healthy and I need to make sure I add new content to keep that moving well.
Another quick tip from me, if you are getting approached by influencers, you can weed out the freebie hunters from the pros, by having them fill in a google form asking for their stats and media channels. If they pass this challenge, have a contract prepped in advance that they need to sign. If you want to copy the form that I use and my contract template, reach out to me and we can discuss – happy to talk more about how working with influencers can market your own STR as well.
Side note: We all know I am a big believer in direct bookings! My direct booking company Lodgify is having a sale right now and if you use SALE50 (bi-yearly/yearly plans) or SALE30 (monthly plans) you can save a ton! Only available for limited number of participants. Don’t miss out, especially if you have been on the fence.
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