Social media influencers have been put to public shame. Now every social media influencer should want to learn “how-to avoid” being rejected publicly.
We warned social media influencers to clean up their act, long before it came to this. Last year MC even detailed just “Why Brands Should Avoid Social Media Influencers”…Social Media is not the largest influencer platform to reach consumers looking to buy online.
How-to Avoid Social Media Influencer Shame
Recently, The White Moose Café in Dublin had their own run-in with an social media influencer. The luxury hotel was contacted by social media influencer “Elle Darby”…According to reports Darby requested that The White Moose Hotel in Dublin provide her with a five-night stay in return for free social media publicity.
Is this a win-win??
When presented that way, it could be hard to see the value benefit. The problem with this collaboration, we discussed in our already mentioned article, “An social media influencer (not a traditional celebrity) with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers are simply not exactly influencing immense online revenue for luxury brands.”
Darby failed to present a solution to The White Moose Café in Dublin, for how her social media exposure could drive more business and online hotel bookings.
Instead she focused on her personal social media exposure reach. Simply highlighting her number of followers and fans. Yet, nothing conclusive enough to add value for how the collaboration would be a financial win-win benefit.
Darby wrote in an email to the luxury hotel: “As I was searching for places to stay, I came across your stunning hotel and would love to feature you in my YouTube videos/dedicated Instagram stories/posts to bring traffic to your hotel and recommend others to book up in return for free accommodation.”
Attempting to give credibility Darby added:
“Last year I worked with Universal Orlando in Florida and it’s been amazing for them!”
It would be better to do a case study presentation. Showing how working with Universal Orlando in Florida drove their online bookings.
The White Moose Café in Dublin, responded publicly by posting an anonymized email from Darby first. Which her identity was easily exposed later.
Owner Paul Stenson wrote on Facebook: “Dear Social Influencer (I know your name but apparently it’s not important to use names),”
“Thank you for your email looking for free accommodation in return for exposure. It takes a lot of balls to send an email like that, if not much self-respect and dignity.”
“If I let you stay here in return for a feature in a video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you? Who is going to pay the housekeepers who clean your room?”
This caused an outrage among Darby’s followers, as well as fellow bloggers and social media influencers. As a result abusive comments were sent to the luxury hotel’s Facebook page and also negative reviews online.
Things got so bad that Darby even released an YouTube video Statement:
The luxury hotel also banned all bloggers.
This situation turned very ugly and all played out in the public eye. Not a good look for all parties involved.
Luxury hotels can certainly still benefit from working with social media influencers. It’s just really important to understand which types of collaborations will bring value to a partnership. Making services exchange a win-win solution.
It can’t be all about the number of fans and followers. The value is in the content creativity and educating consumers on features and benefits.
Social media influencers or bloggers who pitch from “content creativity” add tremendous value to a luxury brand’s bottom line.
It’s still important to note that luxury brands who partner with related niche sites, can increase revenue earnings through online mobile search reach. An credibility advantage that social media influencer research exposure can’t capture.
Hence that it might also be a good idea in 2018, for social media influencers to partner with niche sites. This could produce powerful content creativity for online mobile search exposure to increase online revenue and social media exposure engagement. Offering a true win-win for luxury brands.
Good luck!