It’s not a fluke. There’s a reason for the explosion of popularity in influencer marketing. As Forbes reports, customers acquired through word-of-mouth have a 37 percent higher retention rate.
Here’s a case study from my searsStyle days.
Background
In the spring of 2016, we collaborated with social media influencer Monique Frausto of Curves and Chaos to promote the launch of our new women’s plus line, Simply Emma.
A superfan
Janeane, the blogger behind Designing From My Closet, saw Monique’s post. Not only did she purchase the Simply Emma lace top, she shared it with the world.
And she continued to let the world know about it by consistently posting pictures of herself wearing the top and utilizing our #searsStyle hashtag as well as tagging us in it.
That’s ROI well beyond the purchase price of the top! Several of her friends commented on the top in her original post. To date, she’s posted the top with the #searsStyle hashtag 6 times, generating 359 likes and 33 comments.
The power of influencer marketing
Our collaboration with Monique got our top in front of countless new eyeballs, which is extremely valuable in itself.
“Dollars always follow eyeballs. If eyeballs are going to live online that’s where all the dollars will go,” says Karen Robinovitz, who works with digital talent including Aimee Song, Chriselle Lim and Julia Engel.
While Janeane’s zealousness was really just the icing on the cake we paid for, it’s also amazing to witness from a qualitative standpoint.
As a social media strategist, I like to look beyond numbers at the stories behind our products. Seeing someone love our clothing enough to want to spread the word about it demonstrates that the brand radiated as much as the product. This is a great performance indicator.
Monique’s post delivered reach, engagement and an official conversion in the form of Janeane. Janeane, in turn, delivered reach and engagement with the possibility of additional conversions.
The internet is a place for obtaining information. Social media is a place for sharing it.
To leverage the power of influencer marketing is to harness the energy of blogger superstardom. Estée Lauder’s decision to shift the majority of their spend from traditional to digital media and Smashbox’s departure from traditional media in 2014 are showing of the way the wind is blowing in marketing trends.
The numbers are there.
- Rachel Parcell of Pink Peonies reportedly drove $1 million in sales to nordstrom.com during the holiday season in 2014.
- In June 2016, Arielle Charnas of Something Navy drove $17,565 in sales within 24 hours of Snapchatting a Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell Bio-Repair Gel Mask. Her Snapchat of Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effet Faux drove $13,500 in sales a month later.
- Last spring, Lord & Taylor had 50 fashion bloggers post pictures of themselves wearing the same dress on Instagram. The dress sold out promptly.
- Twitter reports that 40% of users say a tweet from an influencer drove them to make a purchase.
Tips for choosing influencers
While we’ve established that influencers have a strong track record for ROI, the upfront cost can be pricey. It’s important to make sure you’re doing your homework and curating the right partnerships.
- Look at engagement rates. An influencer with a smaller following but higher engagement rate may drive more sales for your product and overall engagement for your brand.
- Consider qualitative data such as comments. You want to partner with influencers who exhibit a strong rapport with their audience by thanking them for compliments and answering their questions.
- Examine the different types of content that they post to determine whether their overall vibes align with your brand’s manifesto and values. Before you start to look through influencers, think of three words that define the people you want to work with. Ex: aspirational, fun, classic.
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