Influencer marketing may appear to be exclusive to the
biggest brands, but the truth is that it may help you develop your eCommerce
business quickly.
Connecting with the proper influencer can help you get more
authority, traffic, and conversions on your website. And, as a result of a
recent discussion in one of our private Facebook groups, I\’ve chosen to outline
the fundamentals of influencer marketing so you can use it in your own
business. Influencer marketing is for you if you want more online traffic and
sales for your company.
Sources of Traffic
If you\’re reading this, I\’m guessing you already have or are
planning to open a store. You\’ll employ a variety of traffic sources to bring
users to your site:
Search
Organic search on Google or Bing is the most common. Someone
will use a search engine to look for your product. Because they\’re seeking for
a certain product, this audience has a strong desire to buy.
PLAs
Google product listing advertising – are another option.
Because they are utilizing search terms that are related to your goods, this
audience has a strong desire to buy.
The second option is Facebook ads; because they aren\’t
specifically looking for your products, they don\’t have as much purchase
intent, making it more difficult to convert leads from this source.
Influencers
Last but not least, there are influencers who may or may not
have malicious intent. You\’re practically certain to get a sale if they have a
buying-intent audience and the traffic comes from an influencer.
What is the definition of an
influencer?
The first three methods for bringing visitors to your drop
shipping store may be familiar to you. Influencer traffic, on the other hand,
comes from anyone with a following. Influencers can be brands, but they\’re more
often known for their personalities. People trust people more than brands, thus
this makes them more effective.
Consider what would happen if Michael Jordan had an
Instagram account. His followers respect and trust his judgment. They would
connect with him as a person rather than a brand. \”Hey folks, I just
introduced this new sneaker,\” he would say. People will go out and buy it.
\”Spalding just made this new basketball,\” he would
say. They\’re going to buy it because they believe in him. He doesn\’t have a
formal social media presence, but if he did, this post would be an excellent
example of Corvette promotion:
This works for any professional athlete; for example, if a
pro golfer said, \”Hey, I just bought this driver,\” this would work.
People will go to golfgalaxy.com to try to buy the driver after they hit the
ball.
Influencers don\’t usually run advertisements; instead, they
prefer to promote their brands in a more organic or natural way.
If you\’re selling BBQ or grilling equipment, for example, a
perfect influencer would be a fantastic cook. Perhaps someone who consistently
wins BBQ tournaments.
Where Do Influencers Publish?
Influencers provide content on a variety of platforms,
depending on how they grew their following. Some of the most popular platforms
for influencers include:
·
Instagram
·
Facebook
·
Youtube
·
Snapchat
·
Blogs
·
Podcasts
·
ETC
Keep these three ideas in mind when looking for influencers:
·
Instagram is a great platform to promote
lifestyle products such as fitness, fashion, and makeup.
·
Youtube is fantastic for technological products
that require high-quality pictures.
·
Snapchat is a great way to connect out to
younger people.
Influencer marketing posts come in a
variety of shapes and sizes
When it comes to influencer marketing, you\’ll find that they
can promote your brand in one of two ways. Either they\’ll write a nice review
for your product and interact with it, or they\’ll incorporate your stuff into
the content they make. Both methods are advantageous, although there are some
significant distinctions between them.
Reviews
To locate influencers like this, seek for people who write
reviews for similar products to yours.
If you own a store that sells rolling flipcharts or
whiteboards, for example, you can locate people who review different flipcharts
on their channels.
These are the influencers who have the most potential for
your drop shipping business because they have audiences with the highest propensity
to buy. Because the material is oriented on looking at products in your niche,
viewers will be familiar with the products and are more likely to become
customers.
If you sell stand up paddleboards, for example, and someone
searches for \”best stand up paddle board\” on YouTube, the top ranked
video will appear first.
You might contact the creator of the film and request that
they include a link to your store in the description.
Alternatively, you might have them make a video with one of
your greatest stand up paddle boards, indicating that they purchased it from
your shop. This is how you combine intent with persuasion.
Imagine someone looking for the \”best stand up paddle
board 2018\” and coming across a top paddle boarder who is using your
paddle board and mentioning your store. The audience of that influencer is very
likely to convert, which means more revenue for you.
Use of the Product
People who have their own brands do something similar: they
send their goods to an influencer in the hopes that they will utilize it in a
video.
This is an excellent example of a low-buying-intent
audience; the influencer is only using the product since it was delivered to
them. These items may or may not be linked to the normal stuff they produce.
Working with influencers like this can sometimes yield incredible outcomes.
In the case of the BBQ niche, a company with which I\’m
friends sent influencers a package of BBQ items such as grill gloves and
spatulas. They were featured in an increasing number of videos over a short
period of time. This resulted in increased traffic and sales.
How do you acquire influencers to
promote your business?
It may sound fantastic to have people with significant
social followings using your product in their daily content, but what will inspire
influencers to collaborate with you?
The following are the most popular methods for enlisting the
help of influencers:
Affiliates & Commissions
The most usual contract with influencers is to pay them a
5-10% commission on all purchases they generate. They\’ll make movies or other
content about your stuff in exchange, and they\’ll continuously mention your
company.
This is a good strategy for someone who has never promoted
somebody else.
Because their audience hasn\’t seen any promotions up to that
time, your product will stand out. If your brand is a good fit for the
influencer, their conversion rate should be high, and they should be able to
profit handsomely from the purchases.
Deal with No Obligation
This is where you pay for a post or a mention, whether it\’s
recurring or one-time. This is less effective because influencers already do
this for a variety of other firms, making you just one of many brands they
promote.
Equity
This may be frightening, but if you can find the right
influencer, it may be the greatest alternative.
For example, if you owned a grill company and discovered a
Youtube channel with two guys who grilled every day and had ten million
subscribers and a million views on each of their videos… You\’d most likely
give them equity and have a long-term partnership with them.
You must be very careful not to attract folks who will just
mention your stuff a couple of times before disappearing.
This type of arrangement is best kept for someone who is a
thought leader in their field.
\”Why would they work with me instead of opening their
own store?\” you might think. \”Why would they want to promote my
stuff?\” or \”Why would they want to promote my stuff?\”
They most likely have no idea how to start an eCommerce
business. The influencer avoids all of the work that comes with owning an
eCommerce firm by using equity. Instead, all they have to do is mention your
product in their descriptions and include a link to it.
For example, comedian Joe Rogan is an ownership partner in
the Onnit brand. He doesn\’t spend much time in their office and isn\’t active in
their operations, but he mentions them on every podcast he does. Onnit even
made him a part of their April Fools hoax in 2015:
Discounts & Free Products
This strategy works better for influencers who have a modest
following. They aren\’t used to being compensated or given stock in exchange for
promoting a company.
To entice people to advertise it, you may generally give
them a minor product for free or a large discount on larger ones. Be warned: you\’ll
most certainly lose money on the product itself, but it will drive attention to
your website.
What Are The Best Places To Look For
Influencers?
Look for leaders who are individuals rather than brands.
Then, using social media, reach out to them to see what kind of agreement you
can strike with them. Encourage them to mention your products in their videos,
postings, and blogs.
More people will be talking about you if you implement
influencer marketing. This increases the number of links to your site and the
number of people who are talking about you. It also encourages Google to give
you greater authority, resulting in a significant increase in organic traffic.
All of the influencer posts will appear when consumers search for your company
or items on Google.
This boosts your organic traffic, conversion rate, and brand
awareness.
If you\’re just getting started, I\’d recommend delaying
influencer marketing until your business is set up and you\’re getting
consistent traffic from Google PLAs. After you\’ve made sure your site is up and
running and profitable, you can move on to influencer marketing.
But once you\’re up and going, this is something I strongly
advise you to focus on in 2018. It\’s an excellent method for increasing
authority, traffic, and conversions.
You may greatly develop your business in a short period of
time through influencer marketing.