Influencer Marketing

In this chapter, we’ll introduce the concept of influencer marketing in social commerce, talk about potential benefits and how to create an effective influencer marketing strategy.

Chapter

Influencer Marketing

Now that we've talked about the best social media platforms around which to build a social commerce strategy, it's time to talk about a tactic that eCommerce can leverage regardless of the platform you're using: influencer marketing.

Working with an influencer can be a great way to kickstart your efforts if you're trying to develop a following for your brand in your market. But the proven impact of influencer marketing invites competition for attention and many attempts to benefit from the boost that influencers can provide in a way that falls flat due to insufficient planning. So — how can your brand leverage influencers in a way that maximizes the returns on your investment?

In this chapter, we'll introduce the definition of influencer marketing — specifically as it relates to social media and social commerce — talk about some of the potential benefits for your brand and how to create an effective influencer marketing strategy for your business.

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Broadly, an influencer is anyone who (typically using a digital channel like social media) has a large audience and the power to sway this audience in a given direction by adding their own opinion or recommendation on a topic, decision, or debate.

An influencer is both popular and persuasive. Influencer marketing involves using these factors to help sell a product or, at the very least, make the influencer's audience more aware of a brand, event, or announcement. Big brands often have celebrities in their TV ads, acting as a recognizable spokesperson for their products. Influencer marketing is a similar idea, leveraged through digital channels — and open to more brands.

Influencer Marketing Is Still a Growing Discipline

Influencer marketing has been around for a while, but its growth shows no signs of stopping. According to data from The Influencer Marketing Hub, the total spend on influencer marketing from brands in 2021 is projected to be around $13.8 billion, an increase of over $4 billion from the year before.

The Benefits of Influencer Marketing for Your eCommerce Business

There are several key reasons why the influencer market continues to grow rapidly:

Influencer Marketing Creates "Organic" Social Proof

Imagine that you're scrolling through social media, and you see an ad for a brand you've never heard of. Unless you're really interested in whatever it's selling, you'll likely scroll by without even noticing.

Now imagine that someone you follow because you like their content or agree with what they say creates a post promoting that same brand. Not only are you more likely to notice it, even though you've never heard of the brand before, but you're also more likely to look closer at it.

This is a powerful form of social proof, and it's one audiences trust 92% more than advertisements or more conventional celebrity endorsements. It also allows brands to get in front of consumers more naturally, especially those using ad-blocking browser extensions.

Influencer Marketing Factors Into Shopping Decisions

Some eCommerce entrepreneurs may think that influencer marketing "isn't worth it." After all, with so many brands vying for a finite pool of influencers, don't the messages get oversaturated and watered down?

Maybe that's true to a degree, but statistics show that it makes a difference when it comes to sales. Consumers who see a trusted influencer promoting a product are 5.2 times more likely to buy than those who don't.

Influencer Marketing Boosts the Effectiveness of Social Commerce

As we've discussed in past chapters, social commerce is a signal that social media platforms know that members of their user base are ready to buy when they see promotional content and are making it easier for brands to capitalize on this.

Because influencer marketing happens on many of those same platforms — Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are three of the largest for influencers — brands can access a population of warmer leads once they've primed them with influencer social proof.

How To Get Started With Influencer Marketing

Here are the steps, tactics, and tips to get the most out of an influencer relationship.

Set a Budget

One of the first decisions you'll want to make is to figure out how much you want to spend per month on influencer marketing. You don't want to commit too much of your budget to this pursuit — make sure your influencer marketing strategy is part of a more holistic approach to marketing so that you don't leverage your entire business on a single tactic.

Your budget will also help you choose the number of influencers you want to use per month and the different platforms. For example, let's say you have a budget of $300 per month. Depending on your brand's target audience, you may choose to pay three $100 advocates to promote on three different channels over one $300 influencer on a single platform.

Find the Right Kind of Influencer for Your Brand

Not all influencers are created equal. For example, "micro-influencers" have fewer than 100,000 follows across their digital profiles. "Mega-influencers" have over one million.

This difference can be important if you're looking to delve into influencer marketing — it's much more cost-effective to find a micro-influencer with an audience that overlaps yours than to try to find one person who can increase your reach the most with a single post.

The current trends in the influencer marketing sphere show that more brands agree with this. In 2019, micro-influencers were used ten times more than mega-influencers.

So, it's more important to understand the makeup and interests of a specific person's audience than the size if you want to get the most impact from your spend. You'll want to develop a list of top candidates so you can see how many — and on which channels — you can use to round out your efforts.

Choose the Best Platform for You

The platform you're using matters, too. Instagram is the most popular platform for influencer marketing, with 89% of brands including it in their influencer marketing strategy. YouTube (which doesn't offer social commerce features but can be a large source of traffic via referral links in video descriptions) and Facebook round out the top three with 70% and 45%, respectively.

Set Up a Clear Method of ROI Tracking

One of the most critical parts of setting up an influencer marketing campaign is to measure the effectiveness. These campaigns can vary widely in their returns, based on the influencers you're using, the methods in which they're promoting your brand and/or products, and the conversion options you set up.

First, what's your goal? Newer brands still trying to establish themselves will often use influencers to build brand awareness rather than drive sales. This is a fine strategy, but if it's the route you take, you'll be judging the effectiveness of your efforts on different metrics. Here's a start to figuring out the ROI on any given influencer campaign:

If the goal is awareness...

    If the goal is sales...

      So, Is Influencer Marketing Worth It?

      The answer: Yes, it certainly can be, but it's not as simple as just finding someone with a large following and asking them to promote your brand. However, when done right, influencer marketing can increase brand awareness among consumers in your target audience and be a maximizing factor as part of a larger social commerce strategy.

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