Influencers are a powerful force in the marketing world. Not only do they increase brand awareness, but they develop evergreen sales opportunities that can reach millions of online users.
Statistics further highlight the power of influencer marketing. Almost half of all consumers rely on at least one influencer to make purchasing decisions, while 90% of marketers believe its ROI surpasses other marketing channels.
If your brand hasn’t yet explored the possibilities of influencer marketing, you could be missing out on a vital revenue stream.
7 ways to drive sales using influencers
1. Get influencers to review your products
2. Give exclusive discount codes to influencers
3. Run a contest or giveaway with influencers
4. Ask influencers to use your branded hashtag
5. Run a social media takeover with an influencer
6. Have influencers curate gift guides during the holidays
7. Make unboxing videos with influencers
1. Get influencers to review your products
Today’s audiences are skeptical of the claims put forth in branded marketing collateral. They would rather get product recommendations from real people–including influencers.
More than 60% of consumers trust the fidelity of influencer reviews, which is nearly twice the number of people who trust branded content. Plus, many consumers rely heavily on influencers to vet potential brands or new products.
So one of the best ways to drive sales with influencers is to have them review your products.
Influencers can review products in many ways. Video is perhaps the most common format on sites like YouTube or Instagram. However, other content creators highlight your products through media such as podcasts, blog posts, or even interviews.
Foster trust, confidence, and increase potential sales for your brand by encouraging influencers to provide honest evaluations of your product—and not just generic endorsements.
2. Give exclusive discount codes to influencers
One of the simplest ways to get started with influencer marketing is to offer discount codes.
Product discounts encourage consumers to visit your website and evaluate your offerings. They also provide an added layer of cost savings—97% of people look for deals when they shop for new products.
The process of offering a discount through influencers is simple. Once you’ve located an influencer in your niche, supply them with a limited-time discount code to share with their followers. The time limit will add a layer of scarcity to your products and push people to act fast.
You should focus on a specific type of discount to entice viewers to take action.
Some of the most common options include:
- Percent off discounts for encouraging sales
- Shipping discounts for introductory transactions
- Price break discounts for high volume orders
To create discount codes for influencers, you can invite them to join your community in the Shopify Collabs app. Adding a creator to an affiliate tier in the Shopify Collabs app quickly assigns a discount code for influencers to share with their fans and followers.
Here are the steps:
- Click the Affiliate tab
- Choose Tiers
- Click the Tier name
- Click on “Add Affiliate”
Once created, the influencer will receive a notification with the new offer. However, you should also contact them by email or direct message (DM) to confirm.
3. Run a contest or giveaway with influencers
Contests and giveaway campaigns are a tried and true strategy that helps influencers build engagement with their followers. Meanwhile, brands get the opportunity to raise brand awareness and get their products in interested hands.
You can launch a contest and ask influencers to promote it or co-host a giveaway where both the influencer and your brand decide the entry rules and prizes.
Most influencer giveaways require participants to tag a friend and share the post with their followers. These actions help partner brands attract more eyeballs to their products and also gives brands user generated content to share on their branded channels.
4. Ask influencers to use your branded hashtag
Branded hashtags are a no-nonsense way to ensure your brand stays in your target audience's social media feed.
While you can choose a generic branded hashtag, we’d recommend a campaign-specific hashtag for any social media activations.
Canadian clothing brand Kit and Ace has high engagement from their hashtag, #thisiskitandace. This is just one example of campaign specific hashtag success.
5. Run a social media takeover with an influencer
Want to shake up your content and grab some extra attention? A social media takeover can be a great strategy. During a takeover, the influencer makes posts from your account for a specified period of time. Typically, takeovers range from an hour to a full day, but sometimes they can last up to a week.
A takeover gives your audience the opportunity to get into the mind of the influencer and how they connect with your brand.
There are a couple of ways to go about this: you can give them your social media account passwords and let them go for the gold, or you can take a more internally managed approach by having them send you content to post yourself.
6. Have influencers curate gift guides during the holidays
Gift guides, especially those from influencer accounts, can be life-savers for people who tend to procrastinate their holiday shopping, but want quality gifts they can trust. Gift guides are a consolidated place that offer several options, usually listed by category, giving shoppers options for everyone on their list.
You can partner up with an influencer for any special occasion, from traditional holidays like Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa, to other annual celebrations like Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day.
There are a couple of ways you can work with influencers on gift guides.
- Influencers create a gift guide that only features gifts from your store. This works best for merchants who sell a range of products that could truly serve as a one-stop-shop for holiday shoppers.
- Influencers create a gift guide that features multiple brands. This could be a great option if you’re wanting to work with multiple influencers or have a lower budget for the campaign. You can also target specific products to the influencers who would be an ideal fit.
7. Make unboxing videos with influencers
Unboxing experiences are much more than a fad. These videos started on YouTube in the early 2000’s and are bigger than ever with Instagram now housing a bulk of that content. Since we know that consumers trust influencer recommendations, use unboxing content to showcase your products from different angles to help undecided consumers make a purchase.
When creating unboxing videos with influencers, make sure the creators have the tools and skills to show your products in their best light. Influencers should have your product features sent to them and they should be equipped to describe the packaging, design, and other relevant details. It also means ensuring the influencer has the lighting setup and equipment to provide a flattering view of the products.
Put these influencer marketing strategies to work in your business
Now that you have an abundance of marketing tactics to drive sales, it’s time to put them into action using Shopify Collabs. As long as you’re creative and in tune with your influencer’s audience, you’ll be able to improve your brand’s visibility and boost product sales in no time.
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Use influencers to drive sales FAQ
Can influencers drive sales?
Yes, influencers can have a positive impact on sales. Many influencers are talented at promoting products in unique ways that captivate their audience. You can leverage their ideas and audience reach to drive sales for your business.
What are the best influencer marketing tactics to drive sales?
- Product reviews
- Discount codes
- Contests and giveaways
- Use of campaign-specific hashtags
- Social media takeovers
- Holiday gift guides
- Unboxing videos
How do I contact influencers to promote my products?
Check the influencer’s bio to learn how they prefer to communicate, then contact them with a brief offer to collaborate on a product campaign. Rule of thumb: If no contact info is available, direct message them on their most used platform. If you have the details, share what you can early to drive interest and connect their social presence to your campaign.
