When it’s the hands of a capable blogger who understands a luxury brand and can communicate its identity in a fascinating, intimate or visually sumptuous manner, then influencer marketing can absolutely thrive.

In fact, the general consensus is that blogs are far more influential in promoting a brand and specific products than social media is, which if you think about it makes a lot of sense, after all, social media is a standalone platform whilst blogs can thrive across search engines, social media and on their own merits.

For a luxury hotel, it can sometimes be tricky to know exactly what the most effective form of luxury marketing can be especially as the product is an experience rather than a physical entity.

As such a luxury travel blogger can be the most vital marketing tool for emoting or visualizing an experience within a review of the business.

However, there’s a variety of right and wrong luxury travel bloggers out there for your business and a number of aspects which you need to consider before choosing the luxury travel blogs which will feature a suitable review of your luxury hotel.

Know Your customer, audience, and needs

At this stage, you’ll hopefully have a good grasp on exactly who your customers are and as a result, you’ll be wanting to communicate directly to these people but also a little beyond them.

There’s never any harm, after all, in marketing to an audience who for whatever reason won’t ever be able to stay at your luxury hotel (which is the basis of one of our luxury marketing essential tips) however, being able to narrow down exactly who you want to influence and how will make it easier to find the right blogger to partner with.

Be specific with how you want to benefit from a blog review:

  • Do you simply want to improve your online presence?
  • Looking specifically for promotion which can boost sales?
  • Need a broader spectrum of feedback to add to your press section?

Figuring out every aspect of the who, the what and the how of finding a travel blogger to review your luxury hotel will help for you to find exactly the right blogger for the job.

Research and engage

This one might seem obvious but the manner with which you research potential blogs can impact the types that you find and also influence your choices.

Don’t just rely on a few Google searches in order to find the best travel bloggers for your brand, instead try searching for them on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram and take note of how people talk about and engage with them.

It might also be an idea to actually follow their social media channels and see how they engage with their readership:

  • Do they have a small pack of loyal, engaged followers or a large crowd of silent admirers?
  • Are they argumentative or hold notably vocal political opinions which could be a problem down the line?
  • Do they love to engage directly with brands?

Reach out to them and talk with them on social media to get a feel of who they are and how they interact with readers.

Find a blogger with shared beliefs

One of the most important aspects to bear in mind when choosing a travel blogger to review your luxury hotel is to ensure that you find blogs which have a belief system in line with your own.

For example, there’s no point in picking a luxury travel blog in which the majority of the posts are profanity-riddled or casually snarky when you’re selling chic, sophisticated and reserved and by the same merit there’s no point in picking a luxury travel blogger obsessed with heritage hotels, legacy, and tradition when you’re selling provocative, cutting edge and progressive.

Be sure to research as much of the blog’s archive as possible in ensuring you understand its overall tone, output, and belief system so that you can make a truly informed and accurate decision.

Judge by content, not by influence

This is an important one to remember as a blog with thousands of followers is useless if it can’t deliver content which both engages its audience and can align itself with your brand identity.

Avoid being impressed by numbers and instead follow the instincts of your brand; a review which manages to accurately reflect the identity of your luxury hotel but only manages to influence a handful of people is still worth immeasurably more than a problematic review which completely fails your brand identity to thousands.

Look for an influencer with great photography skills

Generally, the very best travel blogs are the ones which feature large volumes of photography and as a general rule you should be looking for blogs which either feature amazing photography skills (using anything from 35mm film to DSLR cameras) or which maybe make up for a lack of skill with a high-end camera which can capture colour and detail beautifully.

There’s little point in entrusting a review with a blogger who still relies on their iPhone for pictures; a luxury hotel deserves luxury photography, and sometimes one perfect picture can influence a readership far greater than an entire blog post.