Influencer Marketing – Travel and Sales Advantage

Influencer Marketing – Travel and Sales Advantage

Influencer Marketing

Once there was Bob Hope selling Chevrolets, now there are pretty girls posing on white sandy beaches. Both worked and continue to work because of the hard-wiring in our brains that make us prone to follow those we see as our betters in some way.

A modern version of how to sell an experience in a world filled with static that is nothing like the old media landscape dominated by a handful of channels that had complete control of the conversation:

In a world full of static and distractions, where your timeline only holds an image/idea for a few seconds and keeps us on an ADD treadmill, flash sells, and sex is the flashiest of flash, regardless what our rational mind may tell us. Our monkey brain has its priorities, and it comes out to play when ‘triggered’ by the right stimuli. What was the priority for mankind for 100,000 years? Survival and procreation. What did this mean? Find calories and protein and secure a mate. That’s how we get to the Instagram culture and why we see certain content rise to the top. Einstein and Gandhi may have changed the world, but you won’t find them in the top 10 list of Instagram influencers, except maybe as memes.

You can blame our monkey brain for the fact that we want to follow a leader, but follow the leader we do. When did this start and what are the implications of appeasing the monkey brain?

These days, if you go to Instagram or Facebook, you’ll find many marketing efforts, some earnest and endearing, some crude. Some that follow the Gary Vee formula of give, give, give, then ask, and others crudely demanding our attention. Recently I came across a couple of elegant and honest attempts.

Another take on the subject

HuffPo article

Let’s say you are a small tour operator, one that specializes in a youthful and adventurous package in a sea of generic offerings. In the old days you’d take out a paper ad in your target markets, maybe go on the radio, maybe save or borrow for a TV spot. There were only a few channels available to the marketer. Boy, how that has changed!  Music, film, and news industries have already felt the pain of losing control of those channels.

The Method

Tour operator, One Life Adventures, decides to advertise by asking influencers to take a trip. I don’t know this for a fact, but it would even be worth it for them to do this free of charge for the guests.social media marketing - influencers and profits - how to sell better

They contact men and women who have a following and propose they come along for free or for a reduced price (I have no idea about the actual arrangements – this is purely conjecture).

social media marketing - influencers and profits - how to sell smarter

 

social media marketing - influencers and profits - how to sell smarter

How has this campaign shaped up for One Life?  Let’s find out – I contacted them for more information on working together to create some stunning promo materials.

 

 

 

Now, let’s say you are an LA couture fashion brand, building a following. Here is Stello following the new media approach to creating B2B and B2C markets:

social media marketing - influencers and profits - how to sell better

social media marketing - influencers and profits - how to sell better

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, finding influencers involved in fashion, modeling, and acting, an easy thing to do in LA, is the way. Stello connects with Emma Herman, who features Stello gowns in her IG photos.

social media marketing - influencers and profits - how to sell smarter

Lovely photos, by the way! Who can ignore this sort of subtle marketing message?  Men and women both are stopped in their tracks, but for different reasons, of course.

How has this brand fared in the marketplace?  How did this campaign perform? I haven’t contacted them yet, but that is high on my list of things to do. That list is pretty full, though, so I’m seeking collaborators as well! ))  If you are a brand involved in fashion, tourism, adventure, or the film industry, and in need of new marketing channels, contact me to see if we can collaborate for mutual benefit and brand development!

 

 

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