Where influencers fit in a retail marketing strategy
Influencer marketing via social media continues to help modern retail business owners find customers in an otherwise faceless crowd. The catch is that customers are more aware of celebrity influencers’ motivations than ever.
Spoiler alert: It’s money.
If customers think the messages are paid for, they’re likely to immediately tune the claims out. This is why successful modern influencer partnerships require a little more nuance and agility.
Below, we’ll take a look at what influencer marketing is, why it still works, and how to adapt it to the modern age of ultra-savvy consumers.
Influencer marketing 101: What is it anyway?
Influencer marketing is the partnership between brands and popular social media influencers to promote specific products or services. So instead of several teaser posts on your official social media pages before a product launch, you might ask an influencer to discuss the launch to build a more community-centric experience.
In a traditional marketing funnel, you might need a dozen touchpoints before your customer base even remembers your name. But in social media hubs, dominated by Gen Z and millennials, you need more than repetition to stand out.
Influencers break through the information clutter, which is why all industries and businesses stand to benefit from their work and followings.
Why influencers are good at driving sales
Customers perceive the best influencers as authentic. They rose to the top of their game by creating valuable content that their followers use to lead better lives. While influencer strategies vary drastically from brand to brand, they drive traffic and sales for a few core reasons.
Keep your brand top of mind
Instead of getting lost in a sea of marketing claims, content creators keep your brand fresh with innovative and engaging content.
The best influencers are serious about their work — and what’s more, they put their own twist on each new promotion and product, increasing brand awareness. Research shows that a one-point gain in metrics like brand awareness directly leads to a 1% increase in sales, which is nothing to sneeze at!
Benefit from an authentic online presence
Influencers cut through marketing jargon and tell it like it is. Even edgier brands will never have the same impact because there’s always an element of consumer distrust. Not all influencers enjoy the same level of authenticity, though — particularly if they’re getting paid thousands of dollars for a single post.
In fact, your customers may relate most to local influencers who live in their area. The best influencer partnerships essentially borrow the influencer’s authenticity, increasing the likelihood that followers will explore the brand’s products or take advantage of a promotion.
Shine the spotlight on special products
Trends drive social media, and influencers can jump the line when they promote special-edition or new products. Simply drumming up enough awareness can be game-changing for retailers, especially if they’ve invested a good chunk of time and money into research and development.
Brands can generate more excitement when they recruit local influencers from the get-go, whether it’s for a single product launch or a brick-and-mortar store grand opening.
For example, local influencers partnered with MingBings to raise awareness when their products launched in Schnucks stores in St. Louis, Missouri. These crunchy Chinese flatbreads make for fast and satisfying meals for busy people, and followers quickly took note.
Leverage higher engagement rates
Influencers typically know their followers on a deeper level than even the best marketers. When followers trust the influencer’s content, this two-way street can lead to better retail sales. However, this isn’t always the case.
Thanks to high-priced endorsement deals, customers are actually less likely to trust a mega-influencer with 3 million followers and more likely to trust a local influencer with 500 followers. People might still follow the celebrity for news and entertainment, but a high follower count doesn’t immediately translate to better sales.
So it wouldn’t be surprising if a post garnered 100 engagements from 10,000 followers vs. 300 engagements from 2,500 followers. When Instagram ranks “shares” higher than any other engagement, you need to inspire audiences with user-generated content.
How to build an influencer marketing strategy
Influencer marketing supports every stage of the funnel, but it takes a lot of planning to get right. If your strategies or brand values don’t align, it can confuse customers and taint your results. We’ll break down the most critical categories, so you can get the most out of your campaign.
Determine what your goals are
Goals inform every aspect of your strategy, which is why they should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. So you might land on a three-week campaign to improve average weekly sales by 30 units and boost brand awareness with your youngest target demographic.
During the campaign, you’ll monitor metrics to assess success. For more comprehensive results, combine your influencer marketing with social media monitoring to see how people discuss your brand across all social media platforms.
Consider what type of campaign you’ll run
Influencer marketing is versatile enough to align with any brand. Here are just a few campaign types and why they connect with your customers:
Recipes: A recipe campaign introduces a brand’s ingredient as a star in a delicious dish, helping customers see the product in a new light.
Event content: Event campaigns spread the word about virtual or in-person events. Whether it's a sneak peek or a recap, local influencers generate and maintain buzz before, during, and after the affair.
Product reviews: Product review campaigns ask influencers to try a product and then write or talk about their experiences. Influencers often highlight benefits that you’ll never be able to fully explain in your marketing.
Taste tests: Similar to product reviews, a taste test asks the influencer to try multiple products and then relay their experiences. This helps you showcase a full line of products and helps the customer understand your brand’s context in the larger market.
Giveaways: Contests and giveaways can be anything from small freebies to grand prizes. This influencer campaign seamlessly promotes the brand as much as it promotes the incentive.
Takeovers: A brand takeover campaign has the influencer take over the company’s branded social media account, usually for a day or two. It’s a fun way to switch up your page content and infuse more originality into the posts.
Affiliate: An affiliate marketing campaign is a two-sided partnership that’s disclosed to your target audience. It typically relies on discount codes to spark sales, and it’s more likely to be perceived as an advertisement rather than a recommendation.
As you measure campaign results, pay attention to your conversion patterns, website traffic, social media mentions, inventory turnover rate, views, and engagement. These are the metrics that help you iterate your campaigns for maximum results.
Choose a platform for your campaign
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are better for influencer campaigns than text-heavy platforms like Facebook or X because they focus on stunning visuals that catch people’s eyes. In addition, because influencers regularly post videos and photos, the special effects available are more advanced.
TikTok vs. Instagram
TikTok and Instagram both have core demographics in the 18–24-year-old range. But Instagram is popular across a wider range of demographics, including Millennial women, who hold the lion’s share of buying power.
For local brands, TikTok is steadily improving its location-based services, though its functionality still lags quite a bit behind Instagram.
Find influencers to partner with
Selecting partners begins with understanding how your brand aligns with each influencer’s background and audience. For example, if you sell humorous, pop-culture t-shirts, you might partner with a young local influencer to promote your latest styles.
As you assess the options, it’s important to find people with clever, high-quality content and an authentic presence. These fundamentals build the foundation for the rest of your efforts.
Consider different tiers of influencers
The different types of influencers, defined by follower counts and audiences, include:
Mega/macro (500,000 to 1,000,000+): Mega-influencers are known all over the world, while macro-influencers are often country-specific. These influencers are ideal for global or massive brands, and prices range from $5,000 to $10,000+ for a single post.
Mid-tier (50,000 to 500,000): Mid-tier influencers have strong follower counts, often because they only speak on a single topic. They’re a great option for medium or large brands that perfectly align with the influencer’s niche. Brands can expect to pay between $500 and $5,000 per post.
Micro/nano (1,000 to 50,000): Micro-influencers and nano-influencers post more as a hobby and usually have niche audiences. Smaller brands operating across regions benefit the most from these influencers and can expect to pay anywhere from $10 to $500 per post.
Local (500 to 5,000): Local influencers have followers in their town, city, or region. They highlight the best brands in their neighborhoods and are attuned to the events and trends of the area. They’re ideal for small or mid-sized local brands who want to reach nearby audiences cost-effectively. Local influencers typically charge $10 to $100 per post or exchange their services for free products.
Decide if you’ll take a DIY approach or pay for support
DIY influencer campaigns take a lot of research, as you’ll need to comb through social media to find the right people. From there, you’ll need to reach out to influencers, structure partnerships, and manage the terms and conditions.
When you invest in an influencer search or management tool, you can cut down on manual labor and avoid the potential nightmare of partnering with the wrong person. If you want to retain control of your retail campaign but don’t have time to oversee it all, you likely need paid support to hit your goals.
When you work with Hummingbirds, you get more than recommendations and small business outreach. Our team sticks with you through every step of your campaign, so you don’t waste your time or money.
Most influencer search platforms work with mid-tier to macro-influencers because brands are often drawn to their high follower counts. At Hummingbirds, we only partner with local influencers due to their high engagement levels and authenticity.
Identify potential influencer partners
When you look for influencer partners for your retail marketing campaign, identify people who would be natural customers for your brand. In fact, one of the residual benefits of an influencer partnership is a long-term customer.
Find people who match your brand and, when necessary, your location. However, make sure you take the time to learn about the influencer’s audience. Just because an influencer lives in Austin doesn’t mean their followers do.
Start building the foundation for a lasting relationship
Influencers are real people with real needs and desires, so it’s important to see them as more than a stepping stone to retail success. Better relationships lead to better collaborations and keep your influencers engaged and excited about your brand.
Following our influencer relationships best practices is a good place to start:
Listen: Your influencers want to feel heard, but more than that, they want you to recognize their expertise. So if they offer suggestions or recommendations, take them seriously.
Step back: Influencers often build their audiences brick by brick, meaning they’re attuned to what their followers want. Giving them creative control allows their personalities and creativity to shine.
Appreciation: Videos, photos, captions — these elements take work, and the right influencers scrutinize every pixel across digital formats to ensure perfection. If you think you’re partnering with influencers solely for follower counts, it’s time to think again.
Connect with influencers and get ready to launch your campaign
Great influencer marketing campaigns begin with solid prep work and the right partners. If you need help, the Hummingbirds platform expertly matches local brands with the right influencers and then oversees the details of each campaign.
Whether you’re just getting started or expanding your efforts, our team eliminates the need to scour social media for trustworthy influencers to raise your brand’s awareness. Instead, we match you with local influencers who are already interested in your brand’s offerings.
Ready to see how local influencer marketing can boost your brand awareness and sales? Book a call with us today.