Collaborating with Travel Influencers

Let me ask you - When you see Virat Kohli in an ad, do you even remember what brand he's promoting? This is exactly what brands are worried about! Virat has literally worked with brands from every industry. To name some – PUMA Group, AUDI AG, Myntra, Vedant Fashions Limited - Manyavar-Mohey, Essilor Group, Blue Star Limited, WROGN, O'cean Beverages, etc. When someone is everywhere, they stop making an impact. The audience sees the star, but the brand gets lost in the noise. In marketing, we call it ‘influencer fatigue.’ But I call it the ‘wallpaper effect’ - you see it so often, you stop noticing it. Till now we’ve done 100s of influencer marketing campaigns, here are 5 principles I've seen consistently work: 1. Authenticity > reach Choose someone who genuinely uses products in your category, not just someone with a massive following. 2. Long-term partnerships > one single ad Build deeper relationships that allow true brand understanding, not just quick endorsements. 3. Creative freedom is crucial Let influencers speak in their voice. Templates and rigid scripts scream "paid promotion." 4. Category exclusivity matters Work with influencers who aren't promoting multiple brands in your space. 5. Add the influencer’s story to make it relatable - Noise did it well by adding Virat’s cheat day angle to the campaign. They personified their watch as a partner who always keeps an eye on Virat’s diet and stops him from eating his favourite Ram ke Chole Bhature. In the end, find the right fit and let authentic stories shine through - your campaign will definitely work! What's the most memorable influencer campaign you've seen lately? #ViratKohli #InfluencerMarketing

Most people don't understand how the 2nd order effects of content distribution - via canonicals and internal linking - can be exponentially more impactful for organic than the root article itself. And it’s kneepcapping their ROI analysis on why great content matters. Take this example, because Red Ventures are pros at this: BestColleges wrote this piece on "What A Kamala Harris Presidency Could Mean for College Students" https://lnkd.in/dm8P6JMQ Do they want to win for that search term? Maybe. But they aren't in the display advertising game, and display ads are all any visitor landing on that page is worth. So why publish the piece? Bait. BestColleges syndicated the piece, and over 400 news outlets picked up the story. Sites like.... *Aol - https://lnkd.in/dF5MrZS5 *Charlotte Observer - https://lnkd.in/d-85PejF *NBC Local - https://lnkd.in/dERu8tVr *and many more... Each of these is driving juice back to BC, which in turn is helping them win out where it matters. This isn't new - NerdWallet, Zillow and others have honed this strategy for over a decade, helping them win out for the most competitive terms on the internet. Is BestColleges getting the best of these news outlets? No - they are providing a free story for whoever wants it, and *should* get the credit. Syndication can be a superpower. But great content takes time to show its true value, and no one wants to get rich slowly.

From a Meta Verified feed to Custom Stickers and Collaborative Carousel Posts, Instagram has been actively testing various new features and tools across different user experiences within the app. My personal favorite among these is Collaborative Carousel Posts, allowing users to invite others to submit their photos and/or videos for inclusion in a carousel post, subject to their approval. One of the most significant opportunities with this feature is collaboration and co-creation. For instance, brands can use this to crowdsource user-generated content from their fans, potentially leading to Instagram expanding the feature to something akin to TikTok's Branded Mission product, where brands can incentivize people to create content and reward them in exchange for its usage. This feature also provides creators and brands with another avenue for expanding their partnerships. Brands can invite their creator partners to submit their sponsored content, such as content from live experiences or trips they've undertaken together. This makes repurposing content easier and introduces a novel way to package creator-generated content. To learn more about the impact of Collaborative Carousel Posts and these other features on Meta, creators, and brands, read the latest edition of the newsletter, along with other updates in the creator economy. #creatoreconomy #influencermarketing #socialmedia #instagram

H2 is here: time to audit your brand like a cfo would Here's how: the CFO edition. Let��s not sugar-coat it. • If your brand isn’t remembered, it’s not chosen. • If it’s not trusted, it’s not bought. • If it’s not consistent, it’s not credible. • If it’s not tracked, it’s not understood at C-level. And if it’s none of those… you’re burning money. If you’re leading a business (not just a brand team), here’s the brutal truth: Your brand just played H1. Time to check the scoreboard and reset for H2. Ball in the centre. Let’s go. Let’s look how to audit your brand in 4 steps: 1. Identity & Consistency → Ask: • Does your brand look and sound consistent everywhere? • Are you building trust or confusion? → Look at: • Visuals, tone, decks, social, email, signage...does it all feel like one brand? → Metric Check: • Visual consistency rate • Template adoption • Tone alignment across channels 2. Positioning & Differentiation → Ask: • Is your value prop still relevant? • Are you leading with value — or shouting features? → Run: • Messaging audit • 3-word perception survey • Alignment workshop → Metric Check: • Share of Voice (Brand24) • Branded Search (Google Trends) • Consideration tracking (Tracksuit) This is the CFO’s territory: Are you spending to be seen, or to be remembered? 3. Messaging & Resonance → Ask: • Is your story consistent or reinvented every time? • Is everyone telling the same thing? • Are our campaigns sticking? → Look at: • Top/bottom content, sales pitch, internal message match → Metric Check: • Message alignment • Sentiment (Brand24) • Recall (Tracksuit) 4. Internal Branding: External strength starts inside. → Ask: • Does everyone know what we stand for — and why we matter? • Is purpose guiding real decisions? →Look at: • Comms, onboarding, values in action, leadership tone →Metric Check: • Brand clarity pulse • Template use • Training coverage • Leadership alignment Your brand isn’t fluff. It’s a business asset. So TRACK IT. That’s how your CFO sees the value, in margins, shorter sales cycles, reduced churn, stronger pricing, and better talent. The data says: • Strong recall = faster closes (Harvard Business Review) • Consistent brands = 33% higher revenue (Forbes) • Positive sentiment = price advantage (Kantar) • Brands tracked well = outperform peers (Forbes) Sooo the question isn’t: “Do we have a brand?” It’s: Is our brand working as a business tool?

If you follow the money $$, you can see exactly where marketing is heading... Budgets are actively shifting as old playbooks are dying. One chart in the new GTM Report shows it clearly 👇 Marketers are pulling spend from old channels and pouring it into places where people actually pay attention. Buyers are moving faster, attention is harder to earn, and the channels that worked 2 years ago are slowing down. And the biggest jump is coming from something most teams still treat like a side experiment... B2B creators!! 13% of teams call it a core channel, but 42% are actively testing it. That gap tells you everything. Marketers know trust is the new currency. They know distribution matters more than ever. And they know buyers want content that feels human, not corporate. This matches exactly what we're seeing at Creator Match 🧩 as we went from managing $1M in creator spend in 12 months to now crossing that number on a monthly basis, running the largest campaigns in our space for leading B2B/SaaS/AI brands. Budgets are moving into creator led distribution, short form education, founder collabs, and always on programs that feel native to how people learn and make decisions today. Plus, more 3rd party content mentioning your brand directly impacts how you show up in LLMs with AEO/GEO. Here is what the smartest marketing and GTM teams are doing right now: • Treating creators as a real distribution channel, not a one off content play • Anchoring on LinkedIn, then expanding into short form, newsletters, podcasts, and long form explainers • Repurposing creator content into ads (ie influencer whitelisting) and landing pages • Investing in B2B talent who understand workflows, pain points, and real buyer problems (think how Nike signs athletes) • Measuring the full impact, not just impressions Our prediction for 2026 is simple: Creator led GTM becomes a budget line, not an experiment. Teams who lean in early will build an advantage their competitors cannot copy. Marketing is changing fast. But if you follow the money, the path is already clear. 💬 What stat on this image surprises you? Image credit - Kyle Poyar *** 🔔 Follow me AJ Eckstein 🧩 for more content on entrepreneurship, B2B Creator Marketing, and Brand strategies

You don’t need a bigger marketing budget. You need a better distribution strategy. At Confluencr, I’ve seen ₹20,000 budgets outperform ₹2,00,000 ones—because of smart content and sharper storytelling. Here’s a framework we swear by (that’s surprisingly underrated): The “1-3-10” Framework for Influencer Campaigns: 1️⃣ One clear insight – not five USPs. One. 3️⃣ Three pieces of content – shot from different perspectives (testimonials, everyday use, FOMO). 🔟 (Atleast) Ten distribution touchpoints – influencer’s feed, stories, reels, brand repost, ads, collabs, YouTube shorts, WhatsApp, emailers, landing pages. And that’s how we’ve helped D2C brands go from “nobody knows us” to “we’re sold out in 3 days.” Marketing isn’t just about creativity. It’s about the science of structured visibility.

Almost every startup founder I mentor asks the same question: How do we make influencer marketing actually work? It’s an evolving space, full of buzzwords, constant algorithm shifts, and formats that become stale overnight. Here’s my quick checklist from what’s worked across the brands I’ve led and the startups I’ve advised: 1) Start with the “why.” Are you using influencers to build brand awareness and relevance (long term objectives), amplify a campaign, or drive sales (short term objectives)? Your objective dictates everything from investment levels to creator selection, content strategy, to paid media amplification. 2) Measure what matters. Define which metrics should move as a result of influencer activity. For awareness, track site visits or a surge in brand searches; for relevance, focus on engagement and shift in sentiment; and for sales, look at add to cart or conversions. Brand lift studies are a good start, but don’t stop there. Build a full measurement framework. 3) Build social intelligence to fuel your creator strategy. Don’t just track brand mentions or sentiment on social. Analyze trending conversations, buzzwords, and creator themes. The Vaseline Verified campaign that won a Grand Prix this year is a great example of using social intelligence to spark creative ideas. 4) Avoid format fatigue with social fresh storytelling. GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos owned beauty last year but quickly flatlined as more brands copied them. Experiment with episodic storytelling in social first series instead. Gen Z and Gen Alpha follow creators like they follow shows. Multiple exposures in the same content series with a loyal fan base earn brand recognition quicker than stand alone creator videos. 5) Go broad, not just big. Many nano and micro creators across different niches often outperform a few big names. Diversity drives discovery. 6) Frequency compounds. Working with the same creator across multiple drops builds trust faster than one off shoutouts. 7) Let creators lead. Campaigns that start from creators, not with them, scale better and feel more authentic. #ShotOniPhone is a great example, always fresh, always creator led. 8) 9) 10) Leaving the last three open, what would you add to this checklist?

*IPL teams are not just playing cricket. They’re playing the content game too.* Over the last few years, IPL franchises have started collaborating actively with content creators. Why? Because creators bring relatability, humor, and storytelling — turning fans into loyal followers and helping teams build stronger brand identities. Here’s how different teams are leveraging this shift: Rajasthan Royals They’ve partnered with creators like Taran Singh to produce fresh, behind-the-scenes content that feels more human than highlight reels. Lucknow Super Giants Have worked with Shubham Gaur, blending cricket with culture through humorous sketches and social content. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) One of the earliest to get this right. Danish Sait’s “Mr. Nags” series is now iconic — filled with quirky interviews that fans wait for as eagerly as the matches. Mumbai Indians Collaborated with creators like Karan Sonawane, Sameeksha, Neel, and Funcho — each bringing their unique style to the team’s digital presence. Delhi Capitals Worked with Yuvraj Dua to bring out content that’s fun, young, and engaging. Punjab Kings Along with Saiba Bali shooting a podcast with creators, they’ve roped in stand-up comedians like Piyush Sharma and Jasmeet for fun, player-led reels that bring out the team’s lighter side. These aren’t just content experiments. They’re long-term plays to build culture, community, and stronger fan loyalty. Which team do you think is doing content right?

Plot twist: Your influencer campaigns could be performing 10x better than you think 📊 Most brands are massively underestimating their influencer ROI because they're only looking at discount codes. Real example from our agency:  → Client thought cost per customer: $1,000 (based on discount codes) → Actual cost per customer: $82 (based on pixel data) → That's 92% of customers going untracked! 🤯 The attribution reality: Even our most sophisticated clients with seamless tracking see a minimum 40% "halo effect" of unattributed sales. For luxury/considered purchases? We're talking 100%+ unattributed impact. Why this happens: → People screenshot products and buy later → They share with friends who purchase → They search your brand name directly → They purchase but don't use the code. What to track instead:  ✅ Pixel data and site behavior analysis ✅ Brand lift surveys ✅ Search traffic spikes ✅ Overall sales velocity during campaign periods ✅ Customer journey mapping The takeaway: If you're only measuring discount code redemptions, you're probably missing the majority of your influencer marketing impact. Time to dig deeper into your data. Your CFO will thank you. How are you measuring the true impact of your influencer campaigns? #InfluencerMarketing #MarketingAnalytics #Attribution #ROI #Data #performancemarketing

One of the biggest challenges Marketing Heads face today is this: How do we measure tangible results from influencer marketing campaigns? With budgets tightening and pressure to prove ROI increasing, skepticism around influencer marketing is understandable. But here’s the truth: when done strategically, influencer campaigns can deliver measurable, impactful results—if you track the right metrics. Here’s How to Make It Work: 🎯 Set Clear Objectives: What’s your goal—brand awareness, website traffic, or conversions? Every campaign should begin with a measurable KPI. Example: If it’s awareness, track reach and impressions. For conversions, monitor affiliate codes or landing page visits. 👯 Choose the Right Influencers: Look beyond follower counts. Use tools like Qoruz or HypeAuditor to analyze engagement rates and audience demographics to ensure alignment with your target. 📊 Leverage Analytics: Use platforms like Google Analytics or Instagram Insights to track referral traffic, sales, and other actions driven by influencer posts. 🪧 Run A/B Tests: Compare campaigns with and without influencer support to understand their direct impact. ↗️ Performance-Based Models: Partner with influencers on revenue-sharing deals or performance KPIs, such as clicks or leads, to ensure accountability. If influencer marketing feels intangible, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Connect with me over how you can make Influencer Marketing work for you. Measuring ROI isn’t just possible—it’s essential for long-term success. What’s your biggest challenge in tracking influencer marketing results? Share your insights in the comments—I’d love to discuss actionable solutions with you!