It’s 2026…and Somehow Influencer Marketing is Still the Wild West

Way back in 2016, Tap Influence determined that influencer marketing drove 11x the ROI of every other form of digital marketing. Fast forward to 2024, and it propelled social media to become the world’s largest advertising channel, eclipsing more traditional channels like TV and billboards.

Beyond the intrinsic value they provide, influencers are a powerful tool to spread your message in an authentic way that resonates with your potential customers.

Many brands have dabbled in the influencer industry. But just as many don’t know how to work with influencers, where to start, or still aren’t doing it right.

Are you working with influencers yet? Do you want to?

The influencer industry is not new yet it still feels like the Wild West. There are no standards in terms of experiences or rates, which means way too much time and planning goes into each individual campaign. Do you constantly feel like you’re reinventing the wheel? So do we and it’s exhausting. It’s time to establish some consistency and guidelines that create a foundation for success for both parties. Every partnership should be a screaming success, not a crapshoot. Campaigns should run like clockwork, not feel like you’re starting from the drawing board.

From logistics and itineraries to contract negotiations and deliverables, we’re is here to shed some light on the ever-allusive influencer market and be your strategic campaign partner for success. Are you ready to maximize your potential and start making influencer marketing work for you?

We’ll share exactly what it takes to run a successful influencer campaign, how to coordinate an amazing trip and the do’s and don’ts of working with social media personalities. Throw everything you think you know about influencer marketing out the window because this is the no holds barred honest truth right from the horse’s mouth.

Ready? Let’s do this.

Step 1. Change Your Mindset about Influencers.

Influencers are not traditional journalists or bloggers. The most successful brands don’t even think of them as social media personalities. Each influencer is an independent brand agency and media mogul. The best are triple and even quadruple threats – savvy business people who can produce content, distribute it and manage creative campaigns. We know what you’re thinking: but couldn’t anyone post on Instagram? Take a look at your own feed; are you the one producing content that converts? Unlikely. Each influencer is a photographer, writer, stylist, model, graphic designer, social media guru, and wears a million other hats. It’s hard work, and yes, it is work.

Step 2. Recognize the Benefits of Working with Influencers.

For the most part, influencers are at the top/middle of the sales funnel. It’s a branding and awareness play. They usually can’t compete with publishers on reach so don’t try to quantify them based on CPM or follower numbers alone. Similarly, don’t expect them to drive massive amounts of sales. The value they add is engagement with loyal, trusting audiences hungry for their expert recommendations. Are their followers going to go right out and plan a trip tomorrow?

Probably not. But there are metrics like saves and shares that are valuable indicators of potential bookings down the line. Embrace the mindset that an endorsement from an influencer is much more authentic and effective testimonial than a promotional message directly from the source.

Step 3. Develop an influencer Strategy for your Brand.

Some influencers are also bloggers, while others are only Instagrammers. Some are vloggers and produce kick-ass video, while others are professional photographers and drone pilots. Still others are killer storytellers with captions that draw people to compelling iPhone photos. The lesson is: not influencers were created equal.

Which ones provide the best value for you depends partially on what type of content you’re looking to create, but also on your broader marketing strategy. What niche and demographics are you looking to target? Once you know this, only then you can begin to determine who the right person to spread that message is.

Are you only looking to market to your local area or are you looking to tap into a new region? Are you looking to attract luxury clientele or budget travelers? Family or adventure? There are influencers with every demographic and psychographic, it simply depends on what story you want to tell.

Need help identifying key influencers to partner with? Contact us for recommendations.

Step 4. Learn How to Find and Vet Quality Influencers.

Now that you’ve identified who you’re looking for, how do you find them? You can try searching directly on Instagram or filtering by category and location on influence.co, but it’s much easier to ask for recommendations. We have a network of highly reputable influencers across every niche and demographic and can match the best people to your project.

Looking to run a campaign with best-in-class influencers? Let’s talk.

If an influencer approaches you directly with a potential partnership, consider their offer. Look at their follower and engagement numbers. Click into a few of their followers to see if their audience looks legitimate and interested in traveling. If they’re a blogger, check their stats. Traffic is more of a vanity number; better performance indicators are KPIs like domain authority and engagement through comments and shares. Most importantly, assess if their audience and messaging align with yours. Are they the right person to tell your story? A city girl might not be the best fit for an outdoor destination. A luxury blogger probably doesn’t belong at a hostel, unless they propose a really unique angle or tie-in, which may provide the opportunity to reach an entirely new audience.

Step 5. Recognize an Influencer’s Value and Compensate Them Appropriately.

Everyone wants to feel valued and there’s a general sense of brands taking advantage of influencers to create content for little to no money. Working with influencers is completely different than working with a journalist who may or may not get a story published. Influencer trips are not FAM trips. Influencer trips have very clear, mutually agreed upon deliverables. You’re paying for a guaranteed amount of exposure to their audience (although not always measured in CPMs or CPAs). Think of it more as an ad or content buy versus editorial or earned media. While influencer marketing is providing a positive brand lift, it’s paid promotion, not PR.

If you’re proactively reaching out to influencers, you should have a budget to offer beyond simply covering travel expenses. Professional photography and videography is expensive to produce and a highly in-demand skill. You wouldn’t ask your lawyer, plumber, or accountant to work for free or for a trade. Influencers are professional content creators and hours and hours go into planning and styling each shoot.

There is no straightforward formula for determining what you should pay as influencers set their own rates just like any other creative professional. In terms of reach, $100 per 10K followers is somewhat standard, although that’s dwindled a bit as the influencer market got more competitive and engagement decreased with algorithm changes. Some brands prefer to pay a day rate for content creation (like $250-500/day) instead of piecemeal per content.

Is it ever okay to offer a trade or comp?

You can always offer it, but don’t be surprised if the influencer counters back with their rates. It’s more enticing if your destination sells itself and is somewhere people are dying to go anyway. In this instance, remember that the payment is the free travel so treat it as such and make the trip an enjoyable experience (closer to a vacation, and less of a work trip). New influencers who have less experience working with brands are more likely to accept trades as a way to gain exposure. If an influencer approaches you with a trade proposal, absolutely consider it.

Whenever you’re considering a trade, make sure the value the potential influencer’s content aligns with the cost of the experience you have to offer. It would be a pretty straightforward one for one trade if your hotel rooms cost $150-200 a night for an influencer with 20-25K followers to do one post. If a smaller influencer with 10K followers wants a room for two nights, you might ask them to do two posts, or a post plus a blog or something else. If an influencer with 50k followers wants to stay for a few nights, consider providing them the comped room and something else, like a spa and dining package, to make the offer value closer to $500.

If you’re offering a completely comped trip valued at a few thousand dollars with flights, accommodations, meals, and activities, determine the ARV of the experience and create a desirable package to pitch each influencer based on their audience size. This could include daily IG stories, a designated number of posts, blogs, account takeovers, etc. The same deliverables should not be used for an influencer with 10K and 100K as obviously one has a much more valuable audience than the other. While they both may accept the same terms proposed if they were unaware of the other, it’d leave a bad taste in their mouth if they feel they’re being undervalued.

Step 6. Embrace Authenticity.

I get it; it’s scary to give up complete control of your message. But no one knows what resonates with his or her audience better than the influencer themselves. That said, you can (and should) provide key messaging and relevant hashtags for each campaign. Examples of things to share: you’re a great family, adventure, winter, couple’s, whatever destination and highlights of the must-see places. Beyond that, let them share the gems they uncover. Remember, just because it’s sponsored content, it’s not an ad and promotion should sound natural. Loosen the reigns and let influencers be creative. It’s okay to request to see and approve posts for accuracy before they go live, but make sure you’re not changing their voice much. If you’ve properly vetted your influencers, they’ll communicate your message effectively.