Our Guide to High-ROI Influencer Marketing
Our proven 6-step framework for finding influencers that drive outsized bookings to your property...
Most hotels struggle with influencer marketing because they lack a proven system for identifying the right partners.
They're throwing money at creators without knowing how to separate the good from the bad, hoping something sticks.
The result is campaigns that generate views, likes and comments but zero actual bookings.
Here's the problem: when properties don't see immediate ROI, they give up entirely.
They write off influencer marketing as a waste of money and move on to their trusted marketing strategies.
But they're abandoning one of the most powerful marketing resources that exists.
Influencer marketing has changed…
Gone are the times when you could trade a free night for a post and watch bookings roll in.
Influencers are plentiful, rates are higher, and most properties don't know how to navigate the sea of potential options to pick the right partners.
The truth is, without a proven system, influencer marketing becomes an expensive guessing game.
But here's what we've learned after running hundreds of influencer campaigns at Onera and our client properties: the right influencers are still a secret weapon.
We have generated 126M+ views for clients and millions in direct bookings with influencers as a crucial piece of our content strategy.
And we want to help you do the same, it just takes a proven strategy…
It starts with understanding why you need influencers.
We've found that the best social media strategy combines high-quality content with strategic influencer partnerships.
Your content builds your brand and showcases your property, while influencers unlock entirely new audiences you can't reach otherwise.
Think about it: the right influencers have built-in trust with their followers.
When they recommend your property, it feels like a friend's suggestion, not a business trying to sell something. That trust transfers directly to bookings.
Plus, they create authentic user-generated content that outperforms overly-polished branded ads almost every time. It connects emotionally and converts viewers into guests.
But you can’t leverage their built-in trust if you partner with influencers who lack trust with their audiences…
Most properties focus on vanity metrics–follower count, likes, comments. But none of that matters if their audience can't or won't book your property.
They end up selecting "look-at-me" influencers who lack genuine trust with their audience.
While their content gets views and engagement, their followers are there to see them and their lifestyle, not take recommendations from them.
They lack the authority it takes to drive real bookings.
There’s one key piece of our influencer strategy that helps us find influencers that have built actual trust and drive bookings:
Building a referral network with the people who have the data–property owners in your area.
They can give you insights that are nearly impossible to find anywhere else.
Property owners can tell you exactly which influencers drove actual bookings to their properties, not just views or engagement.
They know the real ROI because they see it in their reservations.
Another strong referral partner? Other influencers.
They understand the nuances of audience quality and content performance in ways that analytics tools can't capture.
This network becomes your secret weapon for finding proven performers instead of taking expensive gambles on unvetted creators.
But this is just one piece of the puzzle.
Our complete framework wouldn’t fit in our weekly newsletters. So, we’ve made a detailed guide for you to take the first steps to finding high-ROI influencers.
This is the exact 6-step framework we use every week to navigate the sea of influencers and find the right people to partner with.
It includes the specific metrics we track, tools we use, and red flags we avoid, plus real examples from campaigns that have driven thousands in direct bookings.
Download the free guide here →
Inside you'll find:
Our complete 6-step influencer vetting process
Specific engagement rate targets and analytics tools
How to analyze audience geography for maximum ROI
Red flags that signal low-performing partnerships
Bonus tips to maximize campaign results
Influencer marketing isn't dead—it's evolved.
For hospitality brands willing to do the work, it remains one of the most powerful growth tools available when combined with a solid content strategy.
The key is having the right system to identify partners who will actually drive bookings, not just vanity metrics.
