How to pitch to hotels for a hotel collaboration

Pitching to hotels as a blogger, influencer or content creator is a fine art and it requires a fair amount of self-knowledge, a lot of research, stepping out of your comfort zone, a business mindset, negotiation skills and a whole lot of rejections.

I’ve been on both sides, I’ve been the one pitching for hotel collaborations as well as the person sorting through those pitches and approving or rejecting the collaborations on the hotel side. This puts me in an unparalleled position where I can give you unique insights on how both parties and both industries work.

For the purpose of this article I’ll focus on travel bloggers, influencers and content creators but similar principles apply to everyone else who wants to get free hotel stays.

How to pitch to hotels as a blogger, influencer or content creator

Before becoming a content creator and travel blogger, I worked in design and marketing, specializing in the hospitality and travel sector. This means I’ve been sorting through pitches before I even wrote my first one. I’d say that gives me an unfair advantage and I’m here to share my knowledge and expertise with you.

Now, keep in mind that this blog is just an intro to pitching to hotels and the topic is just too broad to cover in one article. So broad in fact, that I wrote an entire e-book bout it!

In the Hotel Collaborations Guide e-book will give you all the knowledge you need to land complimentary hotel stays. From defining the value you can give to hotels to finding the right properties and the right contact. I’ll walk you through what you need to set up before you start pitching as well as how to stand out, land hotel collaborations, wow your clients and nurture relationships that lead to more collaborations.

If you are serious about working with hotels I highly recommend you get it.

1. Define your value proposition

There is something we need to get clear on right away, you don’t get something for nothing. This means that while you won’t have to pay for your hotel stays, you will need to provide value in a different way.

Hotel collaborations are often based on a non-monetary exchange, however, they are all but free! A hotel is a business and not a charity, they do not hand out free stays if they don’t get anything in return.

When you know your worth and the value you bring to the hotel, it will be much easier for you to shift to a mindset of being of service.

When you pitch hotels with a convincing value proposition and an honest desire of being of service, you will lock in more and better collaborations.

It might be tempting to slide into a hotel’s DM and offer them a post on your feed. You might even spice it up and let them know how much your 237 followers would love said post. After all, isn’t this how this influencer thing works? Yeah, I wish!

If you’d like to work with hotels, then you need to offer them something that they need and can benefit from. What is it that you can do for them and how will this benefit them? If you’d like to work with hotels, then you need to offer them something that they need and can benefit from.

And while most will instantly think of influencers and content creators, there are many other services you can offer to a hotel in exchange for a complimentary stay, like photos, videos, design, modeling, consulting, an extra set of hands for whatever their needs might be. It usually comes down to trading time and skills for their services.

2. Get clear on your goals

It is important to understand what options there are when it comes to hotel collaborations. This will help you decide what kind of collaborations you might want to accept and which ones you will want to decline, as well as help you negotiate better terms.

Do you just want a free room? Comped meals? Do you want to get paid for your services? Do you think they should cover your travel costs? How long should the stay be? What other services should be included? What are you prepared to offer in return?

A lot of this decision making process comes down to personal preferences as well as experience and confidence.

3. Get your foundations sorted

There is quite a bit of work that you need to put in before you can even start thinking about reaching out to a hotel. Depending on what skills, value or services you want to offer, you will need to look at your portfolio, media kit, references, website or social media profile and more.

Now, getting some of these things sorted is hard when you’re just starting out. If you only have 1000 followers, how do you make your media kit appealing to brands? And if you never did a photoshoot at a hotel, what do you put into your portfolio?

If you’re just starting out, you can do two things:

• Try to make do with what you have (but you gotta have something) and get creative in how you present it.
• Start by working towards creating what you need for an impressive portfolio, references or media kit.

On top of that you’ll need to ensure you’re pitching from a professional looking email so steer away from that embarrassing sweetcheeks_1991@gmail.com address you created in middle school and get yourself a new one.

In my Hotel Collab E-book I walk you through all the prep work and all the assets you will need to secure hotel collaborations, including super actionable tips for landing your very first hotel collaboration when you’re just starting out and don’t have the impressive numbers and references yet.

4. Make sure it’s a fit

The first thing you need to do is identify the hotels you want to pitch to and work with. But with over 700K hotels worldwide you might need to narrow this list down first. While you obviously want to ensure you pitch to hotels that you love, you also need to think what value can you bring to them and make sure it’s actually a fit for them too. Oh and don’t forget about your audience, they need to get something out of it too!

If there’s a discord in values, styles, audience etc., then there’s no point in trying to force this collaboration. If you’re a budget travel blogger who runs around in torn shirts, then a lux hotel will have no interest in working with you and your audience won’t care about the hotel either. But if you are passionate about sustainability, then that eco resort in the middle of nowhere is probably a good fit.

5. Find the right contact

If you only take one thing away from this article let it be this – ALWAYS pitch to the decision maker!

The number one mistake people make when pitching hotels is sending the wrong pitch to the wrong person. That guy at the reception? He’s probably too busy to care about your followers or photography skills. That girl managing the hotel’s instagram account? Alright, she might care, but sending pitches through DMs is just highly unprofessional.

The best way of heightening your chances for a hotel collaboration is to talk to the person in charge. And you’ll rarely find their email address plastered on the hotel’s website.

Getting the right contact will require some digging and ingenuity. If you’re unsure where to start, make sure to grab my ebook where I walk you through a bunch of surefire ways of getting that email address!

6. Put your best foot forward

You have a small window to impress the person on the other side so make sure you’re presenting the best version of yourself, and most importantly, a version that is relevant to them. This goes for the pitch, your media kit and any other document you might be sending.

Skip a long windy introduction and hit them with something they can’t ignore. You get to choose what you want to highlight and it gives you a chance to put your best foot forward by only including your strengths.

7. Make them the center of your pitch

A good pitch is professional, short and to the point. It tells the recipient who you are, what you can do for them and why they should care.

Keep in mind that they care less about you and more about what they get out of it. The pitch should be about the hotel and the benefits they get from you. The information you include about yourself or about your audience is there mainly to support your value proposition and provide context.

Let them know why you love their hotel and how this collaboration will benefit them.

8. Never ever use the word free

I said it before and I’ll say it again – A hotel is a business and not a charity, they do not hand out free stays. I’ll just leave it at that.

9. Keep track of your pitching

The pitching process can quickly get messy if you don’t have a system in place. Before you start pitching, you need a way to keep track of all your contacts, emails sent, when to send reminders, where you stand with the negotiation or deliverables and so much more.

Luckily I’ve got your back here! You can swipe mine below and, if you get a bit crafty, it will allow you to reverse engineer my pitching system 😉

10. Get ready for rejection

A big part of growing is also getting comfortable with rejections. Pitching hotels is basically sales so you need to get used to hearing no. Or even crickets, because a lot of the time you won’t get an answer at all. Don’t take this personally, it rarely is. Hotels get ridiculous amounts of pitches and they simply can not reply to everyone.

Try to learn from the rejections you get and tweak your pitch. Always try to do better next time.

Oh and about those crickets…

11. Follow up

When you’re pitching hotels, you’re sending out emails to some very busy people who get loads of emails. Chances are yours will get buried at the bottom of their inbox, or they might read it but never get around to answering. But that doesn’t mean they’re not interested!

If you haven’t heard back 3-5 working days after sending your email, you should follow up. You’d be surprised how often this will get you an answer!

12. Negotiate the best deal

Negotiation is a fine art of give and take and one you will get better at with experience. It is not uncommon for several emails to be exchanged before agreeing on set deliverables and compensations.

Ask for a little bit more than what you’re prepared to settle for and offer a little bit less than what you’re prepared to give as this leaves some wiggle room for meeting in the middle. Trust me, a brand will never come with their best offer off the bat either!

The idea here is to make sure that both parties are happy with the agreement and no one feels like they’re being taken advantage of. You’re looking for a win-win arrangement.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind you that your services are valuable. Keep that in mind, if not for yourself, do it for all the other bloggers, influencers and content creators out there. When you underprice yourself, you are effectively hurting the entire industry. And when you sell yourself too short too often it will result in a lot of resentment. Definitely draw a line as to what your minimum compensation is and do not go bellow that.

As a rule of thumb, if you think you might be too cheap, you probably are. So know your worth and always think of those coming after you. If you set the bar too low, it tarnishes the whole industry.

Read next: How to start a travel blog

13. Protect yourself and your work with a signed agreement

Contracts or agreements are there to protect both parties and I am still surprised at how often there are no formal agreements or contracts when it comes to hotel collaborations.

It is easy to assume that the hotel should be taking care of it since they’re the bigger institution or providing their services up front and in good faith. And sometimes they will, but in most cases it is on you to do so. You’re a professional after all!

A few things you should really be mindful of are exclusivity, non-compete clauses, licenses and rights. Make it very clear what the deliverables are and if you’re giving them any assets, make sure to clarify how and how long for they can use them.

14. Rock the collaboration

When the agreement is signed and you arrive at the hotel, that’s where the real deal starts (and most guides of this kind stop). So what should you do once you arrive at the hotel? How do you act? Who do you talk to?

I can’t believe I have to put this in here, but just be a decent human being. Just because you have a deal with one person, you are not entitled to any special treatment and the general rules still apply to you.

Be professional. Ask for permission and ask for help if you need it. Your work should not get in the way of others or disrupt the hotel operations. Be kind and respectful of other guests, employees and the property.

Communicate with the staff and keep your contact person in the loop. Say please. Say thank you. And be the best freaking guest they ever had!

15. Underpromise & overdeliver

Often the hotel will overdeliver first. There might be a fruit basket waiting for you in the room, or they might treat you to a special dinner experience. Take a page from their book and do the same.

Overdelivering is common among content creators and if I like a hotel and I feel like they have gone above and beyond, I will always do the same. But it is important that you do this smartly and in a way that does not devalue your work nor the industry.

If the deal was 5 photos and an Instagram post, I would caution against delivering 10 photos and 2 instagram posts. Consider doing a few very thoughtful stories instead and send an additional 1-2 photos max. Or mention them in your blog (and let them know about it).

Or how about you just deliver the best possible quality and a 5-star experience? Just do an amazing job, make it easy for them, be kind and professional, and you will be remembered.

Go pitch

I hope you enjoyed this guide and got a ton of value out of it. I know pitching can seem hard but I promise you that it gets easier over time! Ok, it doesn’t really get easier, but you will get better at it. So just keep at it and don’t give up.

If you’re hungry for more make sure to check out the Hotel Collaborations Guide where you’ll learn the ins and outs of pitching and collaborating with hotels.

In the ebook you’ll learn the exact pitch formula I use, get access to email templates, learn a ton of tricks to make pitching a breeze and know-how to land collaborations, wow your clients and nurture relationships that lead to more collaborations.

Are you serious about your business?

Starting a blog or an online business and choosing a life of travel and exploration can be overwhelming and sometimes it’s hard to keep going. I’ve created some resources to help you along the way and I’m always happy to help so just drop me a comment or get in touch via DM.