Follower counts are a vanity metric. Here's what we vet instead

Every brief we receive mentions follower count, usually as a minimum threshold. We understand why: it is the only number visible from outside. It is also, on its own, close to useless as a predictor of whether a campaign will produce bookings.

We have watched a creator with a hundred and fifty thousand followers fill a retreat that a creator with one and a half million could not move. The gap was not luck. It was everything the profile page does not show you.

1. Saves per thousand followers

Our single most reliable signal. Saves indicate intent rather than approval, and normalising by audience size lets you compare a small account against a large one honestly. A creator with a high save rate and a modest following is worth more to a hotel than the reverse, almost every time.

2. Sends

Shares to a specific person, usually in a private message. Travel is planned in groups, and a send is somebody proposing a trip to the person they would take it with. It is the closest thing to a booking conversation happening in public view.

3. Watch-through on longer pieces

Anyone can win the first two seconds. We look at retention deep into longer content, because that is where the property actually gets communicated. An audience that watches four minutes of a stay review is an audience that is genuinely considering it.

4. Audience geography, against the brief

A creator with an overwhelmingly North American audience is a poor match for a property whose flights only make sense from within Europe. This sounds obvious and it is one of the most common mismatches we are asked to fix after the fact.

5. Comment quality

We read them. Not the volume, the substance. Comments asking where something is, what it cost, whether it is worth it in low season, indicate an audience treating the creator as a source rather than as entertainment. Rows of emoji indicate an audience that likes looking at things.

You want a creator whose audience asks practical questions. That is an audience mid-decision.

6. Consistency of aesthetic

Partly a craft judgement, partly commercial. A creator with a coherent visual language produces content that will sit comfortably in your brand's own feed, which matters enormously if you intend to license and reuse it. Inconsistency is fine for entertainment and expensive for asset libraries.

7. How they handle a paid post

We look at previous partnerships and ask a simple question: does the sponsored content look like their organic content, or does it look like an advert wearing their clothes? Creators who cannot integrate a brand without changing register will produce work that underperforms, no matter how large the audience.

What this means if you are briefing us

Tell us the outcome rather than the audience size. Fill November. Launch the new suites. Reach couples in their thirties within a three-hour flight. Given that, we will find you creators you have never heard of who will out-perform the names on your shortlist, and we will show you the numbers behind why.