How to work with an influencer

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Hello, hello and welcome to another episode of the Boostly Podcast. This is the finale of season 10 of the Boostly podcast and today I'm going to be talking about a tactic that not many people are sharing with you right now. Let's jump in. This is a freestyle going off the dumb.

Ready for my close up good looking let me tell you. Get more bookings. Aw that'd be nice. Giving me tips, tools and advice. Yeah you're gonna get em hun. You're gonna sit back, listen to Mark Simpson.

Whoa.

Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee like Bruce Lee cause it's so hard and the T is loosely making up those rhymes. Don't write it, just do it loosely. If you want my respect, you're better put direct. Here are the words in the podcast. That's what comes next.

Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, welcome wherever you are tuning in from in the world. And all I ask of you right now is if you are watching this with me live, please do me the biggest favor and just leave a little hashtag live in the comments in the chat. Wherever you are tuning in from, let me know where you are watching from in the world and also as well comment. Do me another big favor. Grab your phone, either take a screenshot or take a picture of the screen and then upload it to Instagram stories or Facebook stories and tag in ostlyuk. If this is the first time that you are tuning into a Boostly podcast episode, well my name is Mark Simpson and I give hosts just like you the tools, the tactics, the training. But Most importantly, the confidence to go and increase your direct bookings. And this, like I said, is episode 10, season 10. This is the finale of the season that we've currently been doing. Please stick around to the end of this. I've got some exciting news to share with you about season 11 and what we're going to be doing. But today I want to share with you a tactic that not many people are talking about, but it's proven to be really successful and something that you can do right now. So before we go through that, please make sure that you are liking this page that you are tuning in from. Please make sure that you leave a like button on the emoji on the app. Whatever you're tuning in on, tap that emoji button many, many, many, many times. Get the social media going and tell everybody that you are watching this and then share it into a Facebook group. Please go and hit that share button. Share it into a Facebook group. Anything that's hospitality related, please let them know that every single week, every single week on this channel, I give the tools and the tactics and training to help them get more bookings. And hopefully there will be direct bookings at that. Okay, so first and foremost, let's get into it. So what am I talking about? Well, I'm going to be talking about influencer marketing. And influencer marketing is something that so many people don't understand. And because they don't understand it, then when I say influencer marketing, then basically a lot of people just turn or roll their eyes to it because it does have a bad influencer, a bad rap, a bad rep. And you know, I will quite easily say that I do see so many people that have tried it and have tested it and people who have maybe not done so yet. But again, this is something that I want to talk to you about because it is really important and I think it's really important that so many of you are adopting this tactic in 2021 and beyond. Now, what is an influencer? Now I have done an episode with Harry from the Goat Agency and I've done an episode with Manny, Hotel man based out of Liverpool. And we have discussed the many different forms of influencers. I think when we hear the term influencer, social media influencer, Instagram influencer, we assume that it's somebody that's got millions of followers. When really what I'm talking about here and I'm alluding to is what's known as a micro influencer or a nano influencer, somebody that maybe has between 1,000 and 10,000 followers that this is somebody that is going to be number one, easily attainable. So you can easily reach out to them and send a message to them and you know, and have a conversation with them quite easily without having to talk to maybe their agent or a manager, et cetera. But it's also as well, somebody who has got an uber engaged audience. So what that means is that when they put a post out and they do a recommendation, their audience are much more likely to act than if it is somebody that's got millions upon millions upon millions of followers. So let's just break down what we're talking about here. So there's been a lot of members of the boostly academy and people you know, I watch and follow who have started to talk about that they've worked with an influencer over the course of maybe the past year. Sarah Peabody, based out but west of the world. She recently put a post up in the hospitality community saying that she worked with an influencer and was a little bit stuck on what to do now. So what I want to do in this podcast episode is number one, let you know exactly what you should be doing when an influencer or somebody comes and stays at your property that you've got an agreement with and how to make sure that they are put to best use when on your property and even posting as well. So let's just go through the process. You could be right now on Instagram and you could be on Instagram on your phone and you could come across an account, somebody that's got between say 10 and 20,000 followers who fits your ideal guest down to a T. So say that you are a family friendly business. You actively encourage families to come and stay with you. This person, you just think, wow, this would be an ideal person to come and stay at our property. Now you would reach out to said influencer and you would have a conversation with them. Now you may already follow them. You know, you may have already liked and commented on a couple of their posts. You may have even already messaged them in the past. But now it's come to the stage where it's, you want to have some form of working agreement because this is what it is. And you would reach out to them and you would say to said influencer, let's just call this influencer Becky. So, hey Becky, you know, I've been following you for a while now. I think you've got a fantastic Instagram account. You've got such a lovely followers. I would love to have a conversation with you about you and your family coming to stay with us at a time that suits you and us. And you know, basically the agreement would be that you would come and stay with us for free. In exchange, you would talk about us on social media. You will do a blog post, maybe a YouTube video, whatever that may may be, and you will come to that agreement. So some agreements are just a couple of posts on Instagram, a couple of stories on Instagram. Some agreements may be that there's a blog post and a YouTube video as well. It really does depend on, on the agreement that you and the influencer and the person in question comes up with. Now, sometimes it may be free, sometimes you will offer to pay for them as well. It literally just depends on, number one, how big their audience is and number two, are they used to it? I always find that a good way to find out the barometer on if they are used to working with brands or not is when you ask for a media pack or, or a media kit. If they say yes, then this is something that they are used to, they are used to the process and they may be looking for some form of fee. If they come back to you and say, listen, I haven't got a media kit, then more often than not, then there will be no charge. Now it doesn't matter if there's a charge or not. You know, at the end of the day you're still going to get quality work. And you can tell if you're going to get quality work because you can just look at the feed. And at the end of the day, if you've been working with, if you've been following, sorry, the influencer, Becky for an extended period of time, you will know how good their work is. Now, what are you looking for? You are looking for somebody that is, number one, engaged. Number two, somebody that interacts with the followers, doesn't just post and ghost, as we say. You are looking for somebody that is, you know, is creative. So you're looking at somebody that's good photography, maybe does good videos, and again is, then it's really useful on the platform that you are chatting to them on. If they've got between 10 and 20,000 followers, and as long as they haven't done anything shady, as in buying followers, then that will mean that they are pretty good at what they do. If they've done it all organically and done it all correctly, then that means that they're pretty good at what they do. So if you decide to work with Becky and Becky's got 10 to 20,000 followers and say that you come to an agreement and say that you're going to offer them a two or three night stay so they can come and her family can come and check out your place and check out the area and know say that it's, there's no charge so she doesn't charge you and you know you're just doing basically a free stay for a shout out. Now this is the, this is the part of the relationship that can go either, either way. Now number one, people hosts feel like they can't communicate with, with the influencer beforehand. I totally disagree. What I would be doing, I would be getting their WhatsApp number, I'd be getting a text number and I would be just keeping in contact right up to this day. So I would be number one treating her just like any other guest. So but I would be keeping in contact just to say hey, so just let you know when you arrive, I'm going to be your point of contact. Becky, any questions, please let me know. And again, if you want to meet and greet, you know when they arrive, perfect. If not, if you're just going to get send instructions via WhatsApp, that's absolutely fine as well. But what I would be looking to do, I would be looking to take full advantage of having somebody with, with influence staying on your property. I would be looking and I would be reaching out to your local network. So days out, restaurants, anything that you name it, anything in your local area, call in favors and whatnot and just explain that, you know you've got somebody that is coming to come and stay with you, somebody's got a big social media following, they're going to come and talk about the area. It's a great chance to get this name on the map. And what I would be looking to do, I would be looking to plan out for the 48 hours things to do for Becky and for Becky's family. So again, if you've got a days out that you can send them to, fantastic. I'd be putting an agenda because at the end of the day I find that when you do this, the influencer is just really impressed. Like Becky would be super impressed. And again, the more that she can write about, the more positive things that she can write about about the area and about you, the better the end result will be. So again it's up to you on, on how you structure it, who you structure it with and how you arrange the activities. But I would be definitely looking to do that at the end of the day. The more that you can have somebody doing on the property the better. And you know, I've obviously got to throw in the context this is all after Covid and all of the restrictions and the lockdowns are over. I'd be looking to put this into practice now. So for when the lockdown is over then you can be looking to take full Adana Jobis again if you depends on when you're listening to this, depends on what's happening in the future, depends whether you're watching this live or on the replay with me, depends on where you are in the world of taking bookings right now and etc. But if you are in lockdown right now and if you can't take guests right now, this is the perfect time to start doing the research. You can literally start doing the research right now and I will leave you in this episode with hints and tips on how to start your research. So you've got Becky is on the property. Here's where again so many people fall down, this is where so many people stop is that they just leave them to it. I would be actively encouraging and asking for the influencer to be taking certain pictures or how give them certain hints and tips and encouragement of places to maybe post a story of or just give them if you've got a property for example, that's got a stunning view, just say hey just just to let you know the sunset here is fantastic or the sunrise here is fantastic. It'll make a great little Instagram story. Give them hints and tips and adv because they need to know what to talk about. Leave them to their own devices. I don't micromanage them. Leave them to their own devices a certain amount of way but also as well encourage and help and talk to them about things to take pictures of etc. And again, if you want to go and have a one on one chat with them to get some ideas, etc. That's everything that I did when we had influencers come and stay with us. Number one, it was really useful for them to find out more about us. But also as well it's really helpful for me to help to understand more about their background, about how they grew their social media social media to be so big and how they did all the things because at the end of the day I was picking their brains because I was able to apply some of the tactics into the granary as well. So it's really useful and what I would be also looking to do and we're talking more post day now but after they've left and they've gone back. I would 100% keep in touch, you know, if they've agreed to do a blog post, for example, so they'll have to go away, they'll have to edit the pictures, they'll have to put together, you know, put the copy together and post it. I'd be keeping in touch, ask them if they need anything, etc. And this is the final thing. So once the Becky has left, the influencers left, they've put the post up, they've done the stories, they've done their Instagram posts and you know, if they've handy with the videos as well, they've done a YouTube video after they've stayed and they've been. I would definitely keep in touch. And this is one thing that I would always say is that influencers know other influencers and I always end on a little text message. So I'd say, hey Becky, thank you so much for your visit. It was great to get to know you and your family a little bit better. If you know anybody else who would fit our audience that would, you know, be able to have some form of similar agreement, please, you know, set up a group chat, send me their details. I'd be loved to chat because again, if you can find out more people to work with are more in your demographic, your ideal customer avatar, they have, you know, 10, 20, 30, 40,000 followers plus. And again, when it comes to it, at the end of the day, in all the other forms of marketing that there are, from Facebook ads to social media to email marketing and whatnot, this is one of the most, easiest, most cost effective ways to get in front of a really engaged audience. It's so different to say maybe a magazine advertisement. So it's probably the most closest to it. I think the other closest to it would be a journalism coming to, to stay at your property. But if you think about it, with a magazine ad, you maybe pay £500 to be put in front of a real niche group of audience that will be put in front of. With this, it's similar, but every single one of the people reading it, every single one of the people engaging in it is, is, is super engaged, like a mini community. So when the person at the top recommends something, recommends a stay that they've never heard of, then they are more entitled, they are more likely to get in contact with you than any other time in the past. And the final bit of tip that I would give to everybody is that when you work with Becky or the influencer, come up with A special offer. So you'll have a trackable code, you'll have a trackable link in your booking engine that they could put in that when that trackable link gets typed in, that code, the coupon code, the voucher code or whatever, the various audience will get like a 5% discount, 10% discount. But it's able for you to track the return on the influencer, the ROI that I like to call it, or the return on the influencer because it's really useful for you then to be able to look at your stats and go, okay, so we work with, in 2021 or 2022, we worked with 10 influencers and it brought in X amount of revenue in bookings. But also as well, we're able to grow our followers. And it'll be amazing. You'll be amazed at how many people when you start doing this will say and come and book with you and go, oh, I've discovered you because of X, because of Becky. So that is influencer marketing. That is how to not only have a discussion with an influencer, but how to work with one and the benefits and the powers of it. And again, if you want to go find out more, go back to season eight, go and find the episode on Influencer Market and just type in season eight, boostly influencer marketing into Google and the podcast episode will come up. It is very, very, very, very powerful. And again, for the most part, it doesn't cost a penny. All it costs is a stay. So you may be thinking, okay, so how do I, how can I right now go and find some people to potentially work with? So first things first, I would always start my search on Instagram. It's the best place that I would potentially find somebody to work with. All you need to do, open up the Instagram app in the Instagram app and let me just quickly open up mine now so I can point you on the best place to go and I'll even show you it as well. So all you need to do is in the bottom you'll see that there is the home symbol, you've got the magnifying glass. So type in the magnifying glass and all that you would start to do in the search bar, you, you've got, you've got the little arrows, you've got the person and you've got the hashtag. I would start using the hashtag to work in and around some of your niches, your areas, your locations. You know, if you are looking for family friendly, so maybe do family blogs, family vlogs, family, Instagram, etc. So if I was to type in hashtag right now, so hashtag family, family time or family goals, for example, you will see that there are 8.4 million posts and I would just simply start going through each one and I would just maybe try and see, okay, so who's trying local to me, maybe maybe who is in the same country to me, and you just keep going through that. And I would maybe make a list of 10 to 20 different hashtags. And this is the sort of hashtags that maybe you want to appear for or you know, again, influences in and around your niche, influences in around maybe your area. You know, you can maybe sort of look between one to three hours away from where you live. And again, because you'll be able to attract not only that, that area, but also the staycation market, which is still really, really big and really popular right now. This topic is really not talked about enough and it's one that I'm a massive believer in. And there's a lot of people that I know, Sarah Peeks, for example, of Peaks Retreats, who has done this so well. And that's just one example. It's a fantastic way. And at the end of the day you're making good relationships and good contacts with people that are very good at social media. And at the end of the day, that is not a bad thing. I can see this podcast episode more than any other, having tons of questions. So if you do have a question on this, whether you're watching live or or on the replay, please leave it below in the comments. I will try and get back to them as many as I possibly, possibly can do. All I ask in return is to do me a massive thing. Take a picture of the screen right now. Take a screenshot. If you're watching this on your phone or on your tablet, go and post it on Instagram Stories and tag in Boostly. Go and post it on Instagram itself or Facebook tag in Ostlyuk. Put in Boostly hashtag bookdirect so loads of people can see it and just share it into Facebook groups, please. That is massive. Please go and share it into Facebook groups, hospitality related groups so they can discover more and learn that there's actually somebody out there who is helping them with their bookings this year. So this is the finale of season 10. I just want to thank Hostfully, who are our podcast sponsors? They've been with us now for the last few seasons. Hostfully.com you can get a free digital guidebook by literally going to hostly.com digital guidebooks are so important. I've talked about it so many times and it's going to continue to be important moving into 2021 and beyond. So please do go and check out them. They are fantastic and they sponsor this show and it means a lot. Next week I'm going to be back with season 11 and it's something that I have never done before. It's something that I'm really excited for and it's going to be called Boostly Roundtable. So every week I'm going to invite into my world some experts from this industry and from beyond and we're going to have a roundtable discussion about a chosen topic. So next week, season 11, episode one, we are going to talk about social media. So please make sure that you do check it out. It will be available on Apple podcasts. It will be available on Spotify. The video will be available on YouTube and Facebook and Instagram and everywhere that we normally get it from. And you can always go to boostly.co.uk podcast to check out the full back catalog. There is a lot and lot, a lot of episodes to get caught on. Over 100. Please do go and subscribe and download one of the podcast episodes. It means a lot and it helps the chats, helps us get visible in the chats. But for now, thank you so much for tuning into this episode. I will be back again for next week for season 11, but for now, let's say goodbye to season 10. See you later. Thank you so much for being part of this and I'll still see you very, very soon.