Finding An Influencer

Wink makes it easier for properties to find, and connect with, influencers, content creators, and bloggers from all over the world.

Before Wink

Here’s what connecting with influencers looked like before the Wink Platform came along:

• A property would spend time trying to find the influencer.
• They would give the influencer a free room night [or similar].
• The property would 🤞🏻 and hope for an uptick in bookings. There would be no way to tell if the influencer post actually converted into any bookings.

After Wink

The Wink Platform simplifies and adds value to the process above:

• A property can search for, and connect with, influencers on Wink.
• An influencer can also search for, and connect with, properties on Wink.
• Both parties can track sales that came through this channel.
• Wink pays out each party.

As the property, you can still choose to negotiate some sort of benefits to the influencer when they visit your premises. However, the future is in partnering with them like you would do an online travel agency. Michael Jordan only really started making money when he received royalties from the release of the Nike Air Jordans. Similarly, our influencers are entitled to a piece of the pie and can earn a passive income for years to come for a single link. That has real value!

How it Works

Wink Network

Before you get started looking for influencers, keep in mind that anyone can sell your generally available inventory. This is inventory that you make available through the Wink Network sales channel. It shows up when affiliates search for inventory to sell in Wink Studio. You can also track any affiliate that sells inventory from Wink Network.

So… if you don’t want to do any leg work, here’s what you do:

1. Create a nice profile for your property on Wink.
2. Make lots of other stuff available that can be used to upsell guests.
3. Configure your Wink Network sales channel to be appealing to affiliates looking for inventory to sell. By default, we think it’s already pretty compelling.

Pro tip

Treat Wink the exact opposite of how you would treat an OTA relationship. We are NOT here to help you sell the last room in the house at a discounted rate. Let affiliates do the story telling for you and give them the inventory they need to create a truly unforgetable adventure for their audience.

To be different and appeal to the new generation of travelers, you need to think of your property landing page on Wink as the digitized version of your property and its surroundings. What can be sold, rented, booked, swapped, shared in your area that you own or that you can facilitate? This is your time to get creative and think outside the box.

Exploring

This section is covered in Extranet > Network.

The page lets you search all the different types of affiliates that are already on the platform and gives you a brief description of them as well as their past performance.

Inviting

If your property is already working with influencers OR want to work with known personalities AND want to be able to track their ROI. Tell them directly to create an account on Wink or reach out to us and we’ll send them an invite.

Going Direct

Sometimes, you want to create a direct relationship with one of our affiliates.

You do this to…

• Offer them exclusive inventory.
• Give them a unique commission.
• Give them a unique member rate.
• Give them a unique promo.

Pro tip

There are no other reasons to create a direct connection than the reasons given above.

Once you’ve create a new, direct, sales channel for them, your inventory will show up in Wink Studio with a Direct ribbon overlaid your inventory.