The minefield of Influencer marketing
Whether you love it or view it with a mixture of suspicion and disdain, Influencer marketing is only going to play an increasingly important role in how travel brands promote themselves.
In 2024, there were nearly 100,000 Influencers with more than 5,000 followers in the UK alone, and spending by brands on Influencers and content marketing has tripled since 2019 to almost £800m annually - compared to an 80% decline in the 15 years to 2020 in print media spend. ABTA’s latest Holiday Habits report indicates that more consumers look to Influencers for travel inspiration (21%) compared to legacy media like newspapers and magazines (11%) or TV (12%). It’s a tectonic shift in the media landscape that’s reflected in the pivoting of closely-scrutinised marketing budgets to channels which can deliver meaningful - and instant - brand attribution, engagement and sentiment data.
Influencer marketing in travel has matured since the early days of identikit Insta posts that gradually became the subject of derision and accusations of paid-for bias. Creators and brands alike have developed a sophisticated understanding of the power and reach that technology has given them - but concerns persist regarding unethical behaviors, such as the use of fake followers and covert advertising in what remains a largely unregulated space. The ethical framework within which Influencer marketing needs to operate is blurred, and the absence of an independent professional organisation to set and maintain standards to hold practitioners accountable, makes assessing the ethics of influencer marketing practices difficult. In turn, it’s hard for brands to know who to work with, and for consumers to know who to trust.
For a start, consumers can sniff out inauthentic content - particularly the younger generations who have grown up as digital natives. Unfiltered reviews, glimpses behind the scenes and outside of the frame, and content which makes room for both positive and negative aspects of a travel experience are more likely to be received as authentic by the viewer, and so trusted more. But it is content that requires brands to give editorial freedom to the Creator - and for brand owners, the temptation to exert some degree of creative and messaging control can be hard to resist. It is the brand’s responsibility to provide the guardrails for the Creator to work within, according to the unique content style for which their followers admire them. Examples can include full disclosure regarding the nature of the relationship and any element of sponsorship, ensuring imagery is free of manipulation, and tracking content for compliance. Additionally, it’s up to the brand owners to ensure the content itself doesn’t promote unrealistic travel experiences, and in its creation adheres to local laws and customs, and respects the environment and community.
In turn, with that requirement for trust as the basis of collaborations, travel brands have learnt to seek out Creators who can prove their transparency and the authenticity of their engagement. Creators have to demonstrate a clear value proposition grounded in genuine connections with their audiences that are deeper than the carousel of stage-managed ‘Insta-moments’ that characterised the channel’s early years. In turn, this has contributed to a shift towards micro- and nano-Influencers, who serve smaller but highly engaged niche audiences interested in specific travel themes. Proving the adage that size isn’t everything, such Creators can be a cost-effective option for travel marketers seeking authentic connections and a provable return on investment, and a platform which presents both parties as trusted experts and advisors providing customers with practical travel advice to help inform their booking decisions - as well as inspiration grounded in the truth of the experience.
With a formal regulatory framework governing how brands and Creators collaborate and the content created as a result one step behind the evolution of the channel itself, brand owners face a challenge. As the impact, scope, and scale of Influencer Marketing grows, the responsibility to set and maintain standards of ethical practice both in how the content is created as well as how it is then marketed lies with the brand themselves. Get it right and it will further reinforce the reasons why consumers will trust you with their purchasing decision now and in the future.
