Lately I had the chance to be one of the first guests in the recently opened St. Regis Red Sea Resort in the Saudi Red Sea Destination. It was an absolutely amazing trip staying in this luxury resort on a private island, the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia.
Instead of writing a hotel review blog post here is an insight of what it is like to do a social media campaign as a travel influencer. I put together this case study to show off what a successful influencer campaign looks like and for future clients to figure out what it is like to work with Traveltomtom.
Staying at the St. Regis Red Sea Resort was a social media campaign that I got invited for. No, I did not pay the price of $2,000 USD per night for the overwater villa I stayed at. Overwater villas in Saudi Arabia? Yes, the St. Regis was the first private island resort in Saudi with overwater villas like in Maldives, a truly unique place to stay in Saudi Arabia.
Curious to know how much I got paid for this campaign? Keep reading.
Related: Why TikTok is the Ultimate Destination Marketing Tool incl. insights into my TikTok and Instagram
TikTok posts St. Regis Red Sea Resort
Although TikTok wasn’t even part of the agreement, Traveltomtom obviously created and posted TikTok videos as I personally think it has even more impact than Instagram, especially for reaching potential local Saudi’s.
- Posted videos: 16
- Total views: 4.25 Million
- Average views per video: 270,000
- Best viewed video: 1.6 Million
- Least viewed video: 40,000
- Total comments: 4,100
- Total likes: 114,000
In my TikTok videos I show everything from arrival to check out, I am basically storytelling throughout my stay. You can find anything from room tours, lunch menu, breakfast, welcoming ceremony, arrival, snorkeling tour, tour of the spa facilities, the beach and much more.
This is just a summary of the @traveltomtom TikTok channel.
Because I traveled to St. Regis Red Sea Resort with my girlfriend @jessmelu and she also posted amazing videos on her TikTok Channel.
- Posted videos: 14
- Total views: 3.1 Million
- Average views per video: 220,000
- Best viewed video: 1 Million
- Least viewed video: 8,000
- Total comments: 2,300
- Total likes: 80,000
Jess also posted 14 videos on her TikTok channel @jessmelu about St. Regis Red Sea Resort with a total view count of 3.1 Million.
So in total just on TikTok the St. Regis Red Sea Resort popped up more than 7 million times on someone’s feed on TikTok because of our videos.
Remember: TikTok was not part of our agreement with St. Regis Red Sea.
Instagram posts St. Regis Red Sea Resort
For this case study I will focus on the Instagram feed posts of @traveltomtom and @jessmelu and leave Instagram stories out of it.
Instagram @traveltomtom
Here is the performance of the 3 reels that @traveltomtom posted about St. Regis Red Sea:
- Posted reels: 3
- Total views: 3 Million
- Average views per video: 1 million
- Best viewed video: 1.6 Million
- Least viewed video: 500,000
- Total comments: 1,300
- Total saves: 7,300
- Total likes: 45,000
- Total forwards: 41,000
Instagram @jessmelu
Here is the performance of the 4 reels that @jessmelu posted about St. Regis Red Sea:
- Posted reels: 4
- Total views: 12 Million
- Average views per video: 3 million
- Best viewed video: 8.1 Million
- Least viewed video: 400,000
- Total comments: 5,000
- Total saves: 82,000
- Total likes: 250,000
Instagram stories @traveltomtom
On average the IG stories on @traveltomtom at this time were viewed around 30K per story. Since I posted more than 50 stories, all saved in my highlight, that still counts for more than 1.5 million views.
Growth IG account St. Regis Red Sea
On the day we checked in to the St. Regis the IG account @thestregisredsea had 1,200 followers. As of April 2024 the account already has more than 40,000 followers. The incredible follower growth of the St. Regis Red Sea account started straight after we started posting our IG and TikTok posts and just 2 weeks after check out the account already had more than 30,000 followers.
Barter agreement and remuneration
For all those wondering how much we got paid for this collaboration and to make sure all those stories out there from people just guessing random amounts here is the answer:
We have been paid $0 USD for this campaign!
It was a last minute project initiated by a PR agency from Riyadh that popped up during our trip in Saudi. We agreed to stay at the St. Regis Red Sea on a barter agreement for 3 nights in exchange for social media coverage. We were of course very delighted with the invitation and honored to be one of the first travel influencers ever to stay at the St. Regis Red Sea.
It did cross my mind of course to ask for a fee, but since social media is not my main source it was an easy decision for me to agree with the campaign on a barter agreement and see this more as a unique opportunity to create unique content and staying at a unique place.
Not surprisingly, TikTok wasn’t even part of that agreement. Something that still blows my mind. Based on a previous trip to Saudi I wrote a case study why TikTok is an underrated tourism marketing tool.
I will be an advocate for the power of TikTok destination marketing until the time that clients finally start seeing the potential of TikTok.
Our barter agreement was solely based on our Instagram profiles. As always we totally over delivered and we posted 3x as much as initially agreed on. Of course all with requested tags.
Why over delivering? Why not! I didn’t choose to become a travel content creator, it is what these social media apps have created of me.
Wasn’t the initial intention of having an Instagram account to take your followers with you on your travels? I love the story telling and showing my followers what my life is like traveling full time around the world.
The good, the bad and the ugly of traveling! Of course on this trip it was pretty much only the good… because what else you expect from a brand new luxury resort in Saudi that just opened its doors. Not much that can go wrong!
Interested in working with Traveltomtom after reading the incredible outcome of this social media campaign then contact me via info@traveltomtom.net or reach out to me on Instagram or LinkedIn.
Curious what the life of a full time nomadic traveler looks like? Go check out my 610K Instagram account or 1.2 Million TikTok account both called @traveltomtom. Follow along with daily updates from around the world about the good, the bad and the ugly about traveling.