Working with influencers is a great way to increase brand awareness in your target demographic markets. I spoke to several destination market organizations to share their approach to influencer marketing and give you some tips and tricks.  

Meet the DMOs:  

• Destination DC – Laura Calhoun, Marketing Specialist 
• Visit OKC – Jenna Lovelace, Communications Manager 
• Visit Beaumont – Lauren Monitz, Director of Communications  
• Visit Lake Charles – Kathryn Shea Duncan, Sr. Director of Social Media/Communications 

Goals of Influencer Collaborations 

Most DMOs' main goal of working with a content creator is to raise brand awareness for their destination. “Influencers, writers, media and really any outside travelers’ perspective are important to a destination’s marketing/PR strategy because these individuals bring a level of trust and authenticity to destination promotion,” said Monitz. “Influencers have a built-in audience proactively looking for their recommendations, personal narratives and shared experiences through visually appealing content.” 
 
Another approach is to promote a local event. Duncan shared, “We often collaborate with influencers to drive ticket sales and increase hotel bookings during premier festivals such as the Louisiana Food and Wine Festival.” 

Compensation

A lot of work goes into content creation and creators deserve to be compensated for their efforts. The DMOs we spoke with felt lucky to have a budget to work with influencers. “In addition to fees, we like to offer various forms of compensation to create seamless experiences for influencers,” Duncan said. “That includes working with our partners to provide comped or media rate rooms, complimentary meals and excursions and VIP access to festivals and events.”
If you don’t have any budget to cover an influencer fee, try to work with local partners to comp activities, meals and the accommodation. Most creators are flexible, it’s all about open communication to make sure both parties are happy. 

Identifying & Vetting Influencers  

All of the organizations we spoke with had great tips and different approaches to sourcing and vetting influencers. Duncan shares, “The most important thing to do before beginning a search is to be clear what audience you want to target, what deliverables you want, what results you want/your KPIs and how much you are willing to pay.” 
Monitz says, “When considering influencers to collaborate with, we consider location, we’ve been much more drive-market focused post-COVID, and their niche – is their subject matter expertise a good fit for what we offer and an area we’re looking to promote.” 

“We identify influencers for partnership using organic search tools. On Instagram and TikTok, that includes searching using hashtags, keywords and staying on top of current trends,” Calhoun said. “We also use ‘word of mouth’ to source influencers by reviewing who our trusted collaborators are engaging with online and sometimes even asking other creators for recommendations.”

For tools to use to vet, Calhoun also shared that Destination DC utilizes the free Upfluence Chrome Extension, which retrieves initial engagement and demographic metrics, as well as a vetting guideline sheet to help ensure content creators are aligned with their brand values. Interested influencers are also directed to complete a brief form on their website prior to being considered.

Lovelace said, “We recently acquired MightyScout, an influencer management and content tracking tool, which has reporting options that we didn’t have in the past. MightyScout also provides engagement rate, audience credibility, audience cities, audience gender ratio and age range, which helps us vet influencers.” 

Negotiating Terms & Agreements  

A very crucial part of working with content creators is having a contract that includes terms and agreements that both parties agree to, while also understanding that each partnership is different.

“We try to eliminate any confusion on the front-end and ‘cover all our bases’ in the contract,” shared Lovelace. “Practically, that means asking questions and clarifying expectations with the creator about everything (i.e. transportation, guests on the trip, timeline for posting and payment, etc.).” 
 
“Possibly the most important aspect is the need to define who retains ownership of the content created and how it can be used by both parties,” said Duncan. “It’s very important to specify the duration of content usage rights and any permissions required for future use. We also ensure that we set expectations for a final report summarizing the campaign's impact.” 

Creative Direction & Guidelines

When starting to work with influencers, you’ll want to provide an overview of your organization, brand guidelines and goal of the campaign. Calhoun says, “We provide basic creator guidelines to ensure that our brand style guidelines are met, including how to reference our destination, the appropriate channels to tag and a basic overview of the goal of our campaign. Otherwise, we leave creative freedom up to the content creator as the expert on their audience and style!”

Successful Partnerships  

“A successful partnership with influencers involves more than just metrics; it's about creating meaningful connections and inspiring action,” said Duncan.  

“We find success in content creator campaigns when we expand the content shelf-life outside of one post,” Calhoun said. “Securing organic usage rights to include content on our website or partnering with creators to serve as talent in our advertising videos and images help us make the most out of each hosting opportunity.” 

Conclusion 

“I have seen other DMOs not get into influencer marketing because they are scared and don't know where to start,” Lovelace said. “The best thing you can do is just start! And figure it out as you go. Experience is the best teacher.”

Examples of Influencer Collaborations

Destination DC: 

• Gaycation to DC with Courtney the Explorer 
• Steal my DC itinerary with Tav Reviews Everything 
• DC on a Budget with Your DC Bestie 

Visit OKC:  

• OKC Itinerary with Texas Eats First 
• Must Visit Foodie Restaurants in OKC with My Culinary Adventures 
• Weekend Getaway to OKC with Somewhere in Arkansas 

Visit Beaumont: 

• Mardi Gras Celebration with My Curly Adventures  
• Raos Bakery King Cake with Broadway Husbands 
• Giant Fire Hydrant with Houston Trending Feed 

Visit Lake Charles:

• Exploring Lake Charles with Explore with Westley
• 72 Hours in Louisiana’s Playground with Becky’s Travel List