How to Leverage Social Influencers to Pump Up Your eCommerce Sales

It’s safe to say that most businesses and brands now understand the power of influencers. And a lot of them are shifting their marketing strategies from traditional methods to influencer marketing.

Over the last few years, there has been a sudden increase in the use of influencer marketing and it has definitely gained great popularity. In fact, it is projected that spending on influencer marketing will be between $5 billion and $10 billion by 2020. Also, the number of searches for the term “influencer marketing” increased to 71.7% from 2017 to 2018.

Influencers help brands to create high-quality, valuable, and relevant content. Which can help your brand generate more traffic. It also can also help you increase your engagement rate, establish relationships with your target audience, and improve your brand’s credibility.

One of the best things about influencer-generated content is that it doesn’t look too promotional. Which can help you attract your target audience and win their trust.

But how exactly can you collaborate with influencers to generate more sales for your business? This post will talk about four super effective ways to leverage influencers to boost your sales.

Let’s get started.

1. Leverage Influencers to Organize Contests and Giveaways

You can leverage social influencers to organize contests and giveaways and boost sales for your ecommerce store. People love to win free stuff on the internet. So, you can ask a relevant social influencer from your niche to organize a giveaway on your behalf or to promote your contest.

Through this tactic, influencers can successfully get the attention of your target audience. This will also help you increase brand awareness. Come up with rules that are simple to follow while aligning with the social platform’s contest guidelines.

Also, don’t forget to offer a prize that is valuable to the audience. Otherwise, the contest or giveaway might not appeal to them. Make sure you clearly mention the eligibility criteria in the post itself.

For example, Rookie Humans, a playful and amazing crib sheet company, collaborated with Alexis Kaiser to organize a giveaway. Alexis announced $100 to the winner of the giveaway.

To enter the competition, the participants had to follow the company’s Instagram page and the influencer. They also needed to like the post and tag three of their friends. At the end of the post, she also made sure to inform participants when the winner will be announced.

Image Source - Instagram

It’s crucial that you work with a relevant influencer for these tactics to work. However, did you know that four out of 10 brands still find it difficult to identify and connect with relevant influencers? You should use the right influencer discovery tools to make this job a whole lot easier.

2. Ask Influencers to Create Instagram Stories

What can be better than sharing stories with your target audience and building relationships? People love stories, as it helps them to connect with the brand immediately.

Obviously, this means businesses and brands should adapt storytelling tactics into their marketing strategies. When it comes to sharing stories, Instagram Stories makes for an excellent channel.

Due to Instagram Stories, there has been an increase of 7-10 minutes in the time spent by an average Instagram user daily. As of January 2019, there are  500 million daily active users of the feature.

Image source - Statista

Instagram is a new and effective channel for storytelling. It is very attractive and engaging because it is a visual platform. So, businesses need to leverage the power of Instagram Stories in their marketing strategies.

When done correctly, Instagram Stories can not only increase the engagement rate and brand awareness but also will help you generate more sales.

For example, Betsey Johnson collaborated with influencers to promote her brand and content for Mother’s day. All of the influencers were popular fashion bloggers like Ashley and Tricia. They talked about their favorite Betsey Johnson products that they would like to give their mothers.

Image Source - Instagram

3. Get Influencers to Create Testimonial Videos

Testimonial videos from social influencers is another effective way to boost sales for your ecommerce business. 72% of people don’t take any sort of action until they have read online testimonials and feedback. A positive testimonial can drive high-quality traffic to your website and generate more sales.

You can ask your influencer to create a testimonial video because their audience trusts them and their opinions. Your potential customers will believe the influencer’s experience, which could influence their decisions. So when they see that their favorite influencer loves your product, they might also want to try it.

For example, Huda Beauty, the makeup brand, recognizes the power of testimonials. That’s why they collaborated with many beauty influencers to collect testimonials.

One such influencer was Chell Hendrix, who tried the brand’s Faux Filter foundation in GingerBread 430. The video shows the dramatic transformation in an engaging manner. To date, the video has been viewed by more than 831K viewers.

Image Source - YouTube

4. Ask Influencers to Take Over

An influencer takeover refers to influencers taking over your social media handle for a certain period of time and posting content on your behalf. Influencers usually have a huge following, which they could direct to your brand’s page. So, this strategy increases your brand’s visibility and you might gain new followers and customers.

Also, this is a great way to interact with your followers and increase your engagement rate. There are two ways to implement this strategy. You can give full access to your social media accounts to your influencer and they can post the content. Or you can ask your influencers to create the content for you and you can post it on their behalf.

For example, My Modern Met collaborated with artist, Yellena James, and announced a takeover on Instagram. In the post, Yellena shared some details about the takeover like when it was going to happen and what will she would talk about.

Image Source - Instagram

Final Thoughts

Businesses are now moving towards influencer marketing instead of or in addition to traditional marketing. If you are not yet using influencer marketing, then you need to rethink your priorities.

Influencers can not only help you stand out from your competitors but can also help you generate more sales. And more sales will translate into more revenue, so you can see your business flourish.

Collaborate with influencers who are experts in your niche and have them create relevant content for your target audience. You can ask influencers to post testimonial videos for your brand. Some brands even get influencers to take over their social media handles. Also, your influencers can organize or promote giveaways and contests to raise awareness about your brand.

Which strategy would you prefer for your business? Do you know of any other ways to leverage social influencers to boost your sales? If so, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.