August 1, 2024Comment

Is Influencer Marketing a Smart Move for Your Ecommerce Business?

Every industry has key people inside it with strong influence over a specific audience. We could all name celebrities, thought leaders, and pop culture icons that we look to for inspiration.

Now, imagine if your ecommerce business had one of these influential people speak on your behalf to your target audience. What would it be like for a person like this to champion your brand? It could be a game changer.

There were days when celebrity athlete endorsements ruled the marketing game. Think of Wheaties or Air Jordans: Who knew that a celebrity’s image on a cereal box or holding a pair of shoes could have such an impact?

What does this kind of influencer marketing look like in today’s ecommerce world? What’s the modern equivalent of a Wheaties cereal box?

Ecommerce Influencer Marketing

These days, there are effective ways to reap the benefits of influencer marketing without spending millions on celebrities.

In the world of social media, there are plenty of influencers and micro-influencers that can help you grow as a brand. We’ve compiled some valuable things to consider as you start your journey in ecommerce influencer marketing.

What to Look for in an Influencer for Your Ecommerce Marketing Campaign

1. Audience Demographic

Make sure the influencer you’re considering partnering with has influence over your target audience demographic.

This can be difficult to gauge accurately, but look at the demographics of their social following in depth (age, location, interests) and consider other products they’re supporting (and how successfully). This can help you determine if they’d be a good fit.

2. Reach

It’s not all about the audience demographic or size. You also need to make sure the influencer’s audience is engaged.

You can find a potential partner with millions of followers with next to no engagement. Spending your money on a campaign here is a waste. It’s often better to find smaller influencers with highly engaged and passionate audiences to partner with.

3. Reputation

If you successfully run a campaign with an influencer, their reputation becomes linked to your brand. And this can be dangerous.

Consider if an influencer’s reputation could be polarizing to your brand in any way before deciding to start working together.

Of course, there’s always a risk of linking your brand to someone else. You never know what skeletons may lie in the closet. But do your best to vet potential influencers before signing on with them — a personal reputation issue can easily translate into a brand issue for you.

4. Authenticity

The ideal scenario would be for an influencer to talk about your product for free just because they love it. This is the ultimate in authenticity.

Even though it may not look quite like that, it’s still important to find influencers that fit your brand or product well so their endorsement’s believable.

If your influencer campaigns don’t come across as authentic, it’ll be a waste of time and money (and can even work against your brand).

How to Get Influencers on Board

1. Send Them Products

This is such a simple thing, but for some micro-influencers, your product alone will be enough to get them on board to support your brand.

For larger influencers, there may be other follow-ups needed to move forward, but getting an influencer to first try (and like) your product is a necessary first step.

2. Offer Them Payment

Offer compensation for talking about your brand. Platform and influence are valuable, and offering compensation lets them know that you recognize the value of their endorsement.

Whether compensation comes in the form of an affiliate program or standard paid endorsements, the point is to make the partnership attractive by thanking them financially for what they’re providing for you and your brand.

How to Work With Your Influencer

Once you get an influencer on board, there are plenty of ways they can spread the word about your brand. It could be social media posts, written reviews on your website, blog articles, video testimonials on YouTube, podcast shout-outs, etc. The sky’s the limit! Choose channels of communication that make sense for your brand and your influencer.

And make sure to keep sending them products! Giving them first dibs at what you have to offer will keep them interested and talking about your brand.