//INFLUENCER TIPS FOR INSTAGRAM MARKETING
How this hotel uses Instagram influencers to reach their audience
1 min read
Vila Santa Teresa is located high up on the hills above Rio de Janeiro and is one of the world’s most incredible hotel locations. We spoke to Camille Chungunco, head of sales and marketing about how she has built an entire marketing strategy around influencer marketing through Instagram.
Camille told us “We have always been in a fortunate position as the Monteiro de Carvalho family (owners of Vila Santa Teresa) know a lot of people. These people are often very famous themselves and have their own audience. By having all of these trusted sources recommending our hotel has made it relatively easy to attract people to stay here.
“We’re lucky enough to get three or four requests a day from influencers so we don’t need to even reach out. Brazilians are also among the most connected in the world. They are always on their phones and are crazy about Instagram and Facebook, so this strategy works well for us especially considering we don’t have a very big marketing budget. However, this comes with some downside as most of our influencers are Brazilian but most of our audience are from abroad. This is why ratings in TripAdvisor and Booking.com are also such an important part of the strategy.
“The exchange of free accommodation for free influencer marketing works well for us. A lot of the influencers are bloggers, photographers and models, so they see the benefit of this ‘scene’ and being here to capture and promote it. Once you set up a strategy like this it almost takes care of itself.
“We are currently speaking with an influencer who will be a resident ambassador. She has three high-end clothing brands and will come each month to photograph her range with our backdrop. Normally we only have influencers visit once but with her it makes sense to collaborate together more regularly.
“Rio is one of those “one-off” destinations where global travelers may only come too once in their lives. We want to be a destination where our audience think of staying at our hotel before they even consider Rio. Then it doesn’t really matter where it is in the world. That’s what we aspire to do.”