> "The vast majority of cold-call approaches are really badly written"
I think he means, "poorly written".
Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
11–20 of 278 posts
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#12I wonder why the strategy of these "brand personalities" has to be limited to "luxury" type branding. For example, could you build a following traveling the country by interstate in a Fiesta, staying at Motel 6 and eating at Waffle House? It wouldn't cost Motel 6 and Waffle House almost anything to comp a few waffles and otherwise-unoccupied rooms as an experiment, if they aren't doing similar things already.
There are certainly people with channels that cater to camping or living out of a Jeep / Van. IAmJake for example on YouTube. [0] As evidenced by that I don't think a brand personality has to be luxury but it does have to have a point of view people can take interest in.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbjw-VrJCUb8PTGoiDI2UMw
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#13I wonder why the strategy of these "brand personalities" has to be limited to "luxury" type branding. For example, could you build a following traveling the country by interstate in a Fiesta, staying at Motel 6 and eating at Waffle House? It wouldn't cost Motel 6 and Waffle House almost anything to comp a few waffles and otherwise-unoccupied rooms as an experiment, if they aren't doing similar things already.
This is sort of what the report of the week ('reviewbrah' [0]) is doing, no? Reviewing fast food in a quirky manner. Million+ subscribers on youtube, really interesting to have followed this for 5+ years when he had a few hundred subscribers.
Doing the exact same thing with very small refinements, over and over. It's not that glamorous, but I reckon at 1M+ subscribers he is doing quite a lot better than many obscure luxurious lifestyle personalities.
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#14Wow, 10% of unsolicited requests are worth looking at? That seems remarkably high.
The stats cited in the article fell short of my definition inundation.
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#15Wow, 10% of unsolicited requests are worth looking at? That seems remarkably high.
I'm guessing most people realize it's ridiculous to even send such requests when they have 2k followers.
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#16Sounds to me like this is a big opportunity for an intermediary to connect useful social media influencers with various brands.
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#17I just want to know who the heck takes recommendations of 'influencers' seriously? Gullible teens with no money?
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#18I wonder why the strategy of these "brand personalities" has to be limited to "luxury" type branding. For example, could you build a following traveling the country by interstate in a Fiesta, staying at Motel 6 and eating at Waffle House? It wouldn't cost Motel 6 and Waffle House almost anything to comp a few waffles and otherwise-unoccupied rooms as an experiment, if they aren't doing similar things already.
People want escapism. Something out of their ordinary lives. Like movies. As someone who is heavily involved in Instagram marketing, I don't see the value for anyone other than dreamers. Which is why my focus is niche, local, and accessible to everyone. In return I send a TON of real customers to places that I choose to promote.
Why do people trust your recommendations? I’m not saying you are untrustworthy. I don’t know you. But that is my point. Why do people trust “influencers”? I would feel like a tremendous fool even following a stranger’s account, much less going somewhere on their say-so.
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#19[deleted]
Re: Luxury hotels are being inundated with requests from self-described influencers
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
People want escapism. Something out of their ordinary lives. Like movies. As someone who is heavily involved in Instagram marketing, I don't see the value for anyone other than dreamers. Which is why my focus is niche, local, and accessible to everyone. In return I send a TON of real customers to places that I choose to promote.
Why do people trust your recommendations? I’m not saying you are untrustworthy. I don’t know you. But that is my point. Why do people trust “influencers”? I would feel like a tremendous fool even following a stranger’s account, much less going somewhere on their say-so.
Well, why can people trust any other people at all?
Well, here are some ways:
1. They have an incentive to be honest* (e.g. they would be punished if they weren't), e.g. lawyers, engineers, family members
2. They seem like just honest people, e.g. the Dalai Lama?
3. They say or do many other things that you agree with and your values seem aligned, e.g. politicians, athletes, some corporate leaders
4. They are a lot like you, except slightly different, so you trust them implicitly because you would trust yourself
Influencers can hit a bit of all those notes.
At this early point, it's probably easier as an influencer to actually find a place that they like and think are good, rather than just taking cash to promote something they don't believe in. Later on that may change.
Influencers do have a reputation, if they keep sending people to garbage, eventually those people will notice, so they have something to lose.
Some influencers are really good at certain things that people admire (e.g. game influencers), and a lot of influencers go for that 'just a regular person who is your friend and let's go on cool trips together' feel.
But note that these same points are potential reasons to distrust, e.g. an influencer who has hit it big and plans to exit the business anyway may find it more worthwhile to start shilling since their future reputation doesn't matter to them.