Welcome to Boostly Podcast Season 8 Episode 35. This is a recap of my interview with Harry Hugo and The Hotel Man where we talked about influencer marketing.
Here's the audio for this episode:
Here's the video for this episode:
Timestamp
00:20 About influencer marketing
02:40 About Harry Hugo of Goat Agency
07:50 Harry's advice to small business owners
10:40 How to start the conversation with influencers
14:40 About Manny, The Hotel Man
17:20 The moment Manny noticed his guests
18:40 The moment Manny realized this could be a marketing strategy
21:00 Manny's advice to get started
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Audio – Boostly Podcast
Transcript from the Episode
I think influencer marketing has a pretty bad reputation of the last couple of years. Being somebody that has been in the hospitality industry, and somebody who has been in the influencer industry. So for those who may not know, this 2017, my wife started up a blog called To Travel in Tots. And we were traveling all over the world. And we were blogging about it. And we grew up a pretty big following of engaged followers. And we, as we were traveling, we were reaching out to potential hotels or accommodation, places that that may want it to work together. So we've witnessed it on both sides.
I've been to big blogging conferences, influencer conferences have been, you know, to these events. And, you know, I've worked we have worked with companies from the blogging sphere. And, you know, obviously, from the hospitality side, I have worked with influencers as well, so I can see it from both sides. And it's, I believe, it's one of the most unused marketing tactics out there. I want to speak to somebody who is in the world of hospitality and is working with influencers, to bring in a lot of his bookings and inquiries. And I also wanted to speak to somebody who is the founder and the CO owner of an influencer agency. So we've literally got two sides here.
Now, the goal for this episode, but I want everybody to come away with is to know exactly the different types of influences because influencer marketing has been around for, you know, a lot of years now. And it has grown massively from the Kim Kardashian of the world who's got, you know, 50 million people all the way down to nano influencers, which is less than 1000 followers on the page. But they've got such an engaged local community.
About Harry Hugo of Goat Agency and their influencers
Goat Agency kind of always rebuffed what they are and they truly believe that anybody who is talking about those things is normally trying to sell one of those things in particular because that's what their businesses. If someone's saying none of them is the way to get to audiences and their definitions meaning people that have less than 1000 followers and sort of the everyday person there's a good chance that that person that's telling you to do that and they think that's the way is or has a business that is a nano influencer selling business.
It just doesn't really ring true because there are so many different ways you can do influencer marketing and as with all advertising, there are so many different ways you can skin the cat. Harry also don't believe that it's the only thing that works and the entire marketing mix which he thinks a lot of influencer marketing agencies or people that work in influencer or even social do try and make you believe is that it's the only thing in marketing that works right now and that's just not true.
An influencer is a great way to generate ROI. It's a great thing to work in conjunction with other forms of media and marketing channels. You can use influencer content creators, Facebook paid content you can use influence content to do influencer pay plans and you can use it for billboards and TV. The opportunity when using influencer content, you can use it for reviews and things like that.
So defining them down to certain definitions and kind of ring-fencing them into those four categories. Isn't that vertical that they're influencing or creating content and even got the ability to become a mega influencer? Are they there for mega influencer or micro-influencer within that community? Are they micro-influencer within the standings of the entire world?
It's mad that people forget how marketing works, when a new marketing channel arises like you wouldn't advertise female handbags on Smashwords just wouldn't do it. It's not where the audiences Yes, of course, there are females, which exposed sports, but there's not the major demographic, it's the same for other things. No, think about who your audience is. And when a new channel comes through, there's a short term memory loss as to how to do marketing, we kind of default right away back to try and find as big a number as we possibly can. that's never been the way that advertising marketing works.
Harry's advice to small business owners about getting influencers
Don't believe in necessarily the best ones will come to you, and understand exactly what we're trying to achieve. It's niche audiences niche content, niche audiences scale, that's kind of what you should be looking for. So if you're, if you own an Italian restaurant and find the best pasta people who just create content about pasta and pizza and things like that, those are the people that are going to have an audience that cares about the content and the product that you're selling no build things for experience, build things for social media build things to be shared. Because that's where it's all coming from, you know, you look at restaurant restaurants in London are building in especially in the in the girls' toilets are building amazing sort of murals or you know, feature walls, which are great and also lit properly.
Everybody has a different influence. So different people with different content, but everyone has the opportunity to influence someone else. And then hospitality one, one, anything people are looking to, to share experiences that going on, we're living in a society where people love experience, they're buying experience, and their partners are buying experience for their family, their friends above products. And when they have that experience, they need some fuel like that they won't get their money worth and to getting things that they didn't expect. And that didn't expect factor is unbelievably valuable, to the point where you could just never put a price on it. And if that kind of comes back to the taxi and by example where we flew these guys business, guys, over a year ago, and they had 10 million followers each and then and then, you know, we had the most amazing time. Everything was planned for them. But the thing that he didn't expect was to be in a really really nice taxi from one place to another. That's the thing they remember.
How to start the conversation with influencers
If you find the right match from the get go, then that conversation should be easy. They don't feel like they're going with you, with the experience, don't feel like they're excited about it. And they're doing it just for the money, that it's not the collaboration that you want to be really a part of. And sometimes, you know, doesn't matter how much for perfect brand fit, it looks like for the influencer and for the brand influence, just not into that much you can feel it again, that comes back to this amazing human to human touch that we've got with these, these influencers that we have no, we've no other form of digital marketing at scale.
Manny, the Hotel Man
Manny is based in Liverpool and everyone calls him The Hotel Man. He got that name when he used to work at a hotel. He said to the owner one day, that he could probably sell some of these rooms for the owner and this was almost 10 years ago. From there, people just used to say, ask the hotel guy for room, ask the hotel man. And then that's how the hotel man names that.
At the moment, Manny is managing just over 30 properties. He does the management side of things. But then he also got his own properties in the mix as well and run a serviced accommodation. He would go to hotels and ask them if you need a room, just give him a call. He used to work at a certain hotel and they used to purposely overbook, which in the hotel world, it might be a thing.
They do it because they know that not everyone will turn up. From there, he thought why doesn't he just go to these hotels and, ask them, tell them that he has got, rooms available. From there, people choose to give him requests, because they used to come to the hotel man page. Then he will just link up with other hotels.
The moment Manny noticed his guests could be influencers
It must have been in about 2012 in a city center hotel. He met the owner of this hotel when he booked a room there for some family coming from London. And then they ended up just having a conversation at the reception and then a couple of weeks later he bumped into this gentleman again and he basically got Manny to start working at the hotel. About a year into the hotel now he remembered they got a guy from The Inbetweeners. He was doing a club PA and Manny took a picture with him at the hotel and posted it and then got a lot of feedback from it. A lot of people liked it and then think that sort of made me realize that the power of influencers.
After that, Manny started doing some stuff with some local football players, posting a picture with a few of them in the room and then people just grew from there.
The moment Manny having influencers could be a marketing strategy
Manny can't actually remember the fares but he does remember someone approached him that they needed some last-minute accommodation. And it was for some of the Real Housewives of Cheshire.
Basically, he sent them a message and they get back to him and then what he always does fair, so that send them examples of people that have guests that have done before. If you look on Manny's Instagram, he has a guest to guest review section. So one of them's foreign and the other ones are building up and that's of any guests who have tagged him so that just gives them the confidence to know that that is that gives them the confidence to know that they can come and you know, stay with him and it's going to be fine.
Manny's advice to start a conversation with influencers
Instagram. Just message whoever you want, like, everyone is accessible through Instagram. Also look at people who manage like some of these celebrities and some of these social influences. Message some of the agencies, and some of the Facebook pages.
Know more about Harry on his Linkedin and Manny on his Instagram.
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