Influencer Marketing Tips
I used to lead Influencer Marketing for 40+ Brands. I grew the channel from 0% to over 5% of company wide profit. Here are 5 influencer marketing tips for eCom Brand Owners, based on my experience:
Crafting the Right Offer: Our influencers have said they prefer cash, free products, and commission (in that order). In return, we typically ask for a grid post and/or multiple stories on Instagram. There can be some bartering here, so understand what you’re willing to offer to make it work for both parties. Hint: Free product + really deep commissions (think 25%+) tends to stand out if you’re not willing to pay cash.
How to Find Influencers: There are some creator discovery tools out there, but I love Facebook’s Creator Marketplace since your DMs get placed in a priority inbox. Be careful just looking at follower count. Make sure you consider an influencer’s engagement rate as well (we typically look for 1%+ and use a Chrome plug-in called Updog to verify). Hint: Your Instagram DMs are also a great place to source authentic creators!
How Many Influencers You Need: At OpenStore, 10% of our influencers drive 80% of our revenue. I recommend experimenting with lots of creators to figure out which ones are working, and then doubling (or tripling!) down on those that work. Not all of your top performers will be obvious at first, so test as many as you’re comfortable with.
Measurement & Attribution: There’s a lot of discussion on what is the right primary KPI (ROAS, CPM) for influencer marketing. I’d recommend ROAS but also consider brand awareness and the value of UGC created. Use custom discount codes and UTMs for attribution (you can also consider a post-purchase survey).
How to Utilize UGC: The content from influencers is a gold mine. Use it for owned social media, paid ads (including whitelisting), and your storefronts (great social proof!). Don’t forget about usage rights! We use Archive to collect our UGC.
