5 ways to use influencers in retail merchandising
Traditional merchandising remains an effective marketing tactic in the retail industry. In-store window displays, end caps, and color-coordinated shelves can artfully display your products, promote new initiatives, and encourage customers to splurge.
While ecommerce delivers convenience and a wide selection, physical store locations offer customer experiences online shopping can’t match. Consumers crave those personalized interactions, hands-on testing, and a sense of belonging when they visit a store.
You can think of influencer marketing campaigns as an extension of your retail merchandising strategy. By partnering with local influencers, you meet customers in a digital space and drive foot traffic with exciting products and promotions. Here, we’ll explore how influencers introduce brands, show people where to find them, and ultimately drive sales.
1. Promote new or trending items through seeding
Influencer seeding is an exciting way to introduce products to your target audience, and it’s an increasingly necessary tactic for new retail brands to enter the market. Nearly a quarter of shoppers say that they won’t purchase a product if they can’t find a video or image from a customer who already purchased that product.
So put your retail products in influencers' hands by sending them a gift card or a few freebie products. They can highlight them on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok and then point their followers in the right direction to score their own.
Product seeding is one of the most cost-effective and impactful retail tactics. Consider what makes unboxing videos so fun to watch — the influencer’s creativity can go in any given direction.
If you choose to seed, keep in mind that ground rules are important. The influencer should know the campaign duration, number of posts, content type, demographic, and general talking points. However, it’s equally important to give your influencers enough leeway to post unique content that expresses their real opinions of the product’s benefits.
2. Encourage creators to curate themed shopping hauls
Shopping haul videos involve shoppers discussing the retail items they bought and what drove their purchasing decisions. Influencer-curated hauls are a great way to catch the eyes of your customers, showing off the best of your products and collections.
Yoobi, a school supply company, saw success when they launched the Barbie x Yoobi collection. The brand asked local influencers to check out their latest products at Target and show off their Barbie-themed hauls.
Content creators loved posting these sparkly supplies with Barbie’s iconic style! One influencer posted a few highlights of her Sunday, using the Barbie notebook to keep track of her to-do list.
In addition to memorable shopping haul videos, Yoobi connects with customers on a deeper level. For every product a customer buys, the brand donates another essential product to one of millions of students that are in need. This ethical component helps shoppers feel better about their purchases, creating a lasting bond with the brand.
3. Invite influencers to visit your brick-and-mortar location
Influencers sell experiences as much as they sell products. When you partner with local influencers, prospective customers can take a digital tour of your brick-and-mortar location alongside their favorite content creators.
With an in-store promotion or event, influencers can raise enough brand awareness to impact customer behavior. Whether their followers are new moms or trendy Gen Zers, experienced influencers can highlight the best of a brand in just one visit.
Here are a few in-store promotions you might consider:
Free gifts: Small gifts, such as candles or low-cost gift cards, encourage influencers to come to the store and document their experience.
Exclusive events: From cocktail parties to sneak peeks, invites to exclusive events are a fun way to bring influencers and staff together.
Charitable events: For local influencers, giving back to their communities is extremely important to them. Consider special event days where you donate a portion of your profits to local charities.
When decor provider Earth + Home gave a small gift card to local influencers in Lincoln, Nebraska, over the holidays, they met overwhelmingly positive feedback. After seeing the creators explore the store’s collection of lush plants and fabulous decorations, their followers were eager to follow suit.
Once you get customers in your store, they’re hit with the full brand experience. They can chat with team members, try your products, and marvel at the tasteful and colorful displays that your team worked so hard on. With influencer marketing, you can show your audience what makes you different, enticing customers to see for themselves.
4. Encourage sales by creating FOMO around special edition products
Special edition products instantly create a sense of real-time urgency, which can inspire immediate action. FOMO (fear of missing out) doesn’t just increase sales — it creates a fun buzz around your products that the customer remembers long after they leave the register.
But keep in mind that if you’re considering a special edition, originality and value are critical. Veuve Clicquot nailed this aspect when they released a mini-champagne in its own colorful mini-fridge. Dallas buyers flocked to the stores to grab their own before they sold out.
And when Olipop launched a Peaches and Cream flavor to celebrate Barbie’s 65th anniversary, it was clear that the limited-time product wouldn’t stick around for long. The brand had local influencers show themselves navigating to the refrigerated sections of their local retailers to score their own vibrant pink cans.
As with all successful influencer campaigns, the creators were free to take their content in different directions. But, whether they hosted a mini-taste test with friends or paired their drink with mouthwatering snacks, their content encouraged people to rush to their local stores before they missed out.
5. Expand to new markets by partnering with local retail influencers
Local retail influencers are well-known in their hometowns. They amass social media followings by highlighting what makes their city or town so special.
Unlike traditional influencers, who rely on corporate gigs to pay the bills, local influencers are often hobbyists who just want to introduce people to their favorite businesses and brands. In other words, they motivate people to “shop local” and support businesses within their communities.
These creators build audiences of family members, friends, and neighbors who explicitly trust their recommendations and reviews. As a result, local and nano-influencers can net far better returns than macro-influencers.
With local influencers, you can drive sales velocity and brand awareness by working with dozens of creators instead of one or two macro-influencers with limited local reach.
Local influencers often work best for underperforming markets, new markets, and product launches. Whether you have your own brick-and-mortar storefront or space in a big-box store, the right influencers can breathe life into your retail marketing strategy, spicing up your content with fresh voices and new perspectives — and here’s why:
Local influencers understand local shopping patterns. If Midwestern consumers are more likely to head to Target than buy on Amazon, brands need a hyperlocal strategy.
Local influencers generate buzz and curiosity for retail products. With this strategy, it’s less about straight performance metrics and more about getting influencers’ neighbors, colleagues, friends, and families talking about your brand.
Local influencers genuinely love the products they promote. Their in-store shopping creates a kind of positive loop: the products hook the influencers, the influencers hook the followers, and the cycle keeps repeating.
Local influencers often become lifelong customers. When you use the right influencer platform, you can connect with influencers whose values align with your brand’s, fostering long-term relationships.
Local influencers post engaging and interactive content, which is far more effective than billboards or radio ads. Your prospective customers can get their questions answered, not from a brand, but from a content creator they trust. This is remarkably effective with the Gen Z and millennial crowds, who value authenticity.
Take your retail merchandising strategy to the next level with influencer partnerships
Influencer marketing empowers your omnichannel retail strategy, creating a trusted touchpoint for customers before they check out your website, drive to your store, or order your products online. These authentic influencer collaborations complement your current merchandising efforts, inspiring people to engage with your brand and visit your in-store locations.
At Hummingbirds, our influencer platform matches brands and local influencers, streamlining influencer campaigns from start to finish. After using our platform, brands like Olipop and Earth + Home saw significantly higher engagement rates and more foot traffic, thanks to our talented local influencers.
Ready to see how influencer marketing can improve your retail sales? Start driving store traffic with local creators today!