Influencer marketing in alpine tourism

arbara Theiner and Peter Schwazer: The ongoing evolution of the internet is changing interpersonal communication dramatically and therefore also the communication between the guest and a tourism company. The range of channels and possibilities for addressing customers is growing almost exponentially. It is important to note that social media in general is not a short-term fad, but has become an integral part of everyday communication and marketing. Young guest groups and a change in information behavior require new content and new communication channels. With the increasing importance and popularity of influencers, a separate and now indispensable marketing technique has emerged in online marketing. Influencer marketing opens up a wide range of opportunities for tourism companies and tourism organizations to reach their target groups for the purpose of promoting products, services and brands.

A precise knowledge of the target group, an understanding of their inspiration and information behavior as well as the company's target-oriented design of the marketing mix are essential for an efficient use of the tourism marketing budget. The opportunities and challenges of influencer relations, their influence on travel decisions and their measurability play an important role here.

Barbara Theiner and Peter Schwazer: The research project deals in detail with the question of the advantages and disadvantages of influencer marketing for Tyrolean tourism, explicitly for tourism associations and for the hotel industry. The customer perception of influencers serves as the basic starting perspective of the study. The focus is on the acceptance and understanding of the role of influencers among guests. In particular, it was investigated whether and how influencers can influence the (travel) booking decision.

The results of the research contribute to providing comprehensive know-how on the topic of influencer marketing for the Tyrolean tourism industry, creating awareness of new communication channels and opportunities and providing concrete recommendations for action. 27 of the 34 Tyrolean DMOs were surveyed in March-April 2020 and 112 Tyrolean hotels in April-May 2021.

Barbara Theiner and Peter Schwazer: As already researched in other studies, mass media communication no longer reaches customers in times of information overload as it used to. Influencers help to absorb, interpret and pass on brand messages in a targeted manner. This can reduce wastage and increase reach and influence.

Based on the empirical findings, we can clearly show that customers in the observed market area are demonstrably influenced in their decision to book a hotel by influencers if they accept them. The aforementioned acceptance of an influencer essentially depends on their credibility, which in turn depends on their trustworthiness and expertise. The next important factor is authenticity. Influencers are only accepted if they are genuine and authentic. However, it is not only the characteristics of an influencer that influence acceptance among their followers, but also key indicators such as the quality of the information they provide.

The use of influencer marketing is already very pronounced among Tyrolean DMOs. There is a clear trend towards influencer relations - in other words, they are looking for long-term, sustainable cooperation rather than one-off product advertising. The main objectives for collaborations with influencers in the hotel industry are to reach a specific target group for the hotel, avoid wastage and increase brand awareness. Instagram clearly plays the most important role as a platform, followed by Facebook, YouTube and blogs.

One of the biggest challenges for the tourism industry is finding the right influencer. When selecting the right influencer for tourism associations, qualitative indicators such as matching target group, brand fit and authenticity of the influencer play a more important role than quantitative criteria such as reach, frequency of posts or engagement rate.

The empirical results on the opportunities and challenges of influencer marketing in the Tyrolean hotel industry largely coincide with the findings of the Tyrolean tourism associations. Differences can be seen in the still cautious use of influencers in the hotel industry. Although online and social media marketing are the strongest marketing strategies in the Tyrolean hotel industry, influencers are only used sporadically. One reason why influencers are rarely commissioned as brand ambassadors in the Tyrolean hotel industry is a lack of trust in the new marketing discipline due to a lack of knowledge or insufficient information. In addition, the search for suitable influencers makes it difficult to successfully establish this modern form of recommendation marketing.

Barbara Theiner and Peter Schwazer: Targeted training measures and passing on the existing know-how of Tyrolean DMOs to the Tyrolean hotel industry would certainly support the establishment of influencer cooperations as a promising marketing strategy.

In our study, we were able to find relevant KPIs for measuring the performance of influencers in tourism: in addition to the already established key figures such as reach, engagement, click-through rate

• Brand selectivity,
• interaction and comment quality,
• hashtag and tag quality,
• storytelling ratio,
• tourism relevance and
• the personality disclosure

are important for the evaluation of influencers. Based on this extended set of key figures, however, there are differences between the hotel industry and tourism associations with regard to the strategy and selection of suitable influencers.

The hotel industry should focus more on the use of micro and macro influencers, regardless of brand selection, personality disclosure and orientation of the influencer. DMOs, on the other hand, should consider macro and mega influencers and, in particular, relevant travel influencers for advertising activities. Comment and interaction quality as well as tag and hashtag quality with a high storytelling rate are of great importance here.

The secret of effective influencer cooperation in the Tyrolean tourism industry and the associated positive influence on the booking intentions of potential guests is to find a perfect balance between the characteristics of an influencer and the quality of the information provided.

About the project:

The research project was financially supported by the Tourism Research Center Tyrol and was designed to run for two years. The project team consisted of Hubert Siller, Dr. Barbara Theiner and Peter Schwazer.