Article · Creators
The mistakes to avoid in travel UGC
The costliest mistakes are not technical ones. They sit at three moments: a message the hotelier cannot say yes to, a shoot made for your own account rather than for the property, and a deal that was never written down. Here are the eight that come up most, and what to do instead.
The four that get your message ignored
A hotelier almost never says no. They simply do not reply. And in most cases the cause is not the quality of your work: it is that the message gives them nothing to decide on.
1. Promising exposure.
Look at their account before you write that line. The property you are pitching almost always has more followers than you do, sometimes on an entirely different scale. You are not bringing them an audience: you are bringing them files they have neither the time nor the gear to shoot. That is already a lot, and it has the merit of being true.
2. Asking for the most expensive dates of the year.
A week in August on the coast, a bank holiday weekend, peak season: you are asking for the room they would have sold at full price. Given away, it costs them nothing as long as it would have stayed empty, and costs them a real sale otherwise. Propose November, a Tuesday, and the same message becomes acceptable.
3. Putting no numbers on anything.
How many videos, delivered when, usable where and for how long. Without those four answers, a hotelier who would have said yes has to do your job for you first. They do not reply, and you think they turned you down.
4. Talking about yourself instead of the place.
“I’m a creator, travel is my world, my style is clean” talks about you to someone who never asked. And that message could have gone out to the other three hundred properties on your list: the hotelier can tell straight away. Write two sentences that could only have been written about their house, what films well there, at what hour, and what you would do with it. Follower count is the purest form of this mistake: a sentence about you, when they are waiting for one about their place.
The two that spoil the shoot
The stay is agreed, and this is often where the collab is lost. Not in the negotiation: in what you bring back.
5. Shooting your own reel rather than the footage the hotel needs.
Many creators bring back their own edit, with their signature and their face in it. The property needs usable shots: the room made up, the pool without guests, breakfast, vertical framing with headroom for text. Ask before you go what is missing from their image bank.
6. Delivering an edit over music they are not allowed to use.
Instagram’s music library covers personal use. A professional account only has access to a reduced catalogue, and a trending sound cannot be reused in an ad. Your video is then beautiful and unusable: the property can neither post it from its account nor boost it. Always deliver a version without music alongside yours.
The two you pay for later
These do not show on delivery day. They come back months later, when it is too late to negotiate.
7. Signing away rights with no term and no territory.
“We will be able to use your videos” means, absent any detail, everywhere and forever. The same file can resurface in a paid ad two years on, with no further payment. Write down three things: which media, which territory, for how long.
8. Settling for a deal made in direct messages.
A “yes, with pleasure” is not a contract. It does not say what happens if the result does not suit, if the stay is cancelled, or if the property runs the videos beyond what was agreed. A simple recap email, read by both sides before the stay, is enough to make the terms enforceable.
Answers
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common mistake?
Putting no numbers on anything. It is also the easiest to fix: four more lines in the message, and the reply rate changes.
Can you use a trending sound in a delivered video?
In your own post, yes. Not in a file handed to a property, which will run it from a professional account and may want to boost it. Deliver a version without music and they will add their own.
Should you turn down a collab with no contract?
Not necessarily, but accept nothing that is not written down somewhere. An email recapping deliverables, dates, uses and term does the job, even without a formal document.
Is a stay received in exchange for videos taxable income?
Payment in kind is still payment. The applicable regime depends on your status: look into it before your first collab rather than after your fifth.
Read next
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- VenuesUGC for a hotel, a villa or an AirbnbWhat you receive, what it costs, and what the contract sets out.
- VenuesFour ways to get videos for your hotelAgency, freelance, in-house or collab: what each one costs and what it delivers.
- CreatorsHow do you contact a hotel for a collab?Finding the right person, writing a message that gets answered, and the trap of a deal made in DMs.
- CreatorsHow much should you charge for a UGC video?The published ranges, why they contradict each other, and how to calculate your rate instead of copying one.
- CreatorsUsage rights: what are you really licensing?What each use covers, what it is worth, and the three clauses never to sign.
- CreatorsWhat gear do you need to film a hotel?A phone is enough. What actually matters: light, stability, sound and editing.
When the frame is set in advance
On Séjournée the property publishes its offer with its dates, its deliverables and the uses it asks for. You apply to a frame that is already written, and the contract is signed online before the stay. Half of these mistakes then have nowhere left to happen. The creator account is free and commission-free.
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