Influencer Marketing Strategy Guide

The Role of an Influencer Marketing Strategy 📷

With over 3.2 billion active users on social media, it’s clear to see why the obsession for ecommerce stores such as Shopify websites to create a solid influencer marketing strategy isn’t going anywhere.

Even though many individuals primarily use such platforms for; networking, entertainment and news aspects, they also turn to social content for inspiration on what to buy from online businesses through the likes of Instagram influencer marketing.

So, what do tech-savvy consumers do when they’re deciding what and who to buy from online?

They turn to their favourite online personalities such as; marketing influencers, models, content creators and public figures, to see what they’re wearing, where they’re going and what they’re doing.

Consider this, when you’re trying to decide what pair of shoes or which makeup product to buy, are you likely to feel more attracted to an item sitting on a product page or one that you have seen your favourite influencer wearing?

Now, it’s all beginning to make sense why having social media influencer marketing is so important. for your Shopify store right?

Over the last few years, Instagram influencer marketing has positively exploded and according to a study conducted by Sparkler, 31% of people stated that they were influenced by content creators and public figures when deciding what to buy online.

So, naturally, marketers and savvy Shopify stores just like yours are paying very close attention.

A recent survey also showed that 75% of businesses are utilising the power that influential marketing possesses as a marketing tool, with many planning to increase spending in this area over the next 12 months.

So, how can you apply this strategy to your own Shopify site? Let’s take a closer look, but first, we should address the most obvious question of all - what is an influencer marketing strategy?

What Is an Influencer Marketing Strategy?

To get your Shopify store fully acquainted with the likes of influential marketing, you will first need to understand who exactly marketing influencers are and what it is that they do.

In short, marketing influencers are individuals who have built a following through their social media content posted online.

So, an influencer marketing strategy is when brands work with these individuals to increase awareness and drive sales for their product and/ or service(s).

Yes, you've guessed it! This is one of the benefits of influencer marketing for Shopify sites.

However, before you can sit back and count your cash flow, it's important to know that having an influencer marketing strategy involves finding the right marketing influencers for your product and/ or brand, whilst working with them to meet your objectives.

So, how exactly do Shopify stores have the opportunity to execute this?

Well, there are many different ways that companies can choose to operate across every influencer marketing platform and some methods include:

Gifting: Gift influencers either one or more products in return for exposure by content shared on the influencer's account's featuring your business.

Competitions: Run a social media influencer marketing contest or giveaway to gain momentum and exposure for your business through their following.

Sponsored Content: Your Shopify site could also sponsor an influencer’s content in exchange for product promotion and offer a unique discount code that can be used by their followers.

Video Reviews: Ask marketing influencers to review your product or service in a video - with this type of content, authenticity is key.

The Pros and Cons of an Influencer Marketing Strategy

Like everything in life, there will always be pros and cons and this is no exception when it comes to utilising an influencer marketing strategy for your Shopify store.

However, the question that everyone wants to know the answer to above all else is - does it work?

To answer this question in full, we must breakdown the outcome into smaller sections, starting with the key advantages of influencer marketing:

N0.1: Defined Audience

Influencers may not have quite as wide a reach as figures in the public eye, but their following will usually be more defined and engaged, which are great grounds to advertise with, which is one of the benefits of influencer marketing.

Believe it or not, marketing influencers are also more relatable than major celebrities and usually have a niche or specific interest.

For instance, the corners of social media are now home to; gaming bloggers, health and fitness experts, beauty vloggers, fashion fanatics, home décor enthusiasts and travel lovers among others.

So as you can probably tell, those that choose to follow such accounts will have an interest in that specific niche.

Ultimately influencers have made the task for the likes of Shopify stores easier when it comes to reaching a small and engaged audience who could potentially turn into loyal customers.

N0.2: Increased Conversions

While an influencer marketing strategy may not provide an instant impact on Shopify sales, you’re likely to see increased conversions elsewhere.

For instance, this could be in the form of an increased social media following or further subscribers signing up to an email marketing database.

However, if increasing your store's sales is the main goal, you could try to tailor an influencer marketing campaign to help with this as well.

For example, try offering a discount code for followers to utilise as this can be a great way to drive sales to any business, especially on Shopify.

N0.3: Increase Brand Awareness

By making use of ecommerce marketing strategies such as this, you will give your Shopify store instant online exposure.

It’s a relatively quick and easy way to create a bit of a buzz around your brand and its products.

So, if you haven't already gotten acquainted with social media influencer marketing, maybe it's about time?

N0.4: Low-Cost Marketing

For all the benefits of influencer marketing, this method is quite an inexpensive marketing tactic for ecommerce store owners like merchants on Shopify.

Therefore, this makes influential marketing an ideal way for Shopify startups to broaden their reach with limited spending.

N0.5: Easily Measured

One of the best influencer marketing benefits is that it’s incredibly easy to measure the results compared to other ecommerce marketing strategies.

To measure the difference that an influencer marketing strategy has made to your Shopify site, take a look at the ecommerce analytics to check how much traffic has been driven to your business through the influencer’s post.

Additionally, you will also be able to view how many sales have been generated by analysing how many people used the campaign-specific discount code.

So, make sure that you’ve set up the relevant tracking systems so that all results are accurate.

Now, that we’ve covered the pros, it’s only fair that we cover the cons too, so here they are:

N01: Influencer Selections

Choosing the wrong influencer(s) could have a detrimental impact on your influencer marketing strategy, as sceptical consumers could be turned off if they feel that the product and the influencer are mismatched.

By selecting influencers who would be more likely to use your products, their followers will be more likely to engage with your Shopify store.

N0.2: Retain Authenticity

To retain authenticity, whatever you do, don’t force marketing influencers to read from a script.

Allow them to adopt a natural approach so the content feels more aligned with what they would normally post.

N0.3: Avoid The Hard Sell

Just one word of advice, anything that is too overly promotional is bound to be ignored so, we'd recommend leaving this out of your strategy across each influencer marketing platform.

A Guide To Working With Influencers

Here’s how to get started when implementing an influencer marketing strategy into your Shopify store:

Define Your Audience: Your entire campaign will be shaped around this.

Set Clear Objectives: Are you looking to grow brand awareness, increase YouTube subscribers or drive sales for your Shopify site? Your entire influencer marketing strategy will depend on what you’re hoping to achieve.

Be Clear on Spend: Develop a clear social media influencer marketing strategy with a budget.

Plan Ahead: Spend some time researching the influencers you’d like to work with.

Schedule Deadlines: Work out a schedule and set clear terms and timelines in which content should be published.

How to Find Instagram Influencers

Wondering how to find Instagram influencers for your store’s marketing strategy? Take a look at our tips below:

N0.1: Popular Niche

The right marketing influencers for your Shopify website should already be well known within your brand’s niche.

For instance, beauty brands should look for influencers with an interest in that space. Additionally, fashion brands should look for an influencer that reflects their company’s style and so on.

Another approach that you could execute involves searching for the top influencers that rank highly for keywords within your store’s niche.

So, start the process with a simple search on social media using keyword hashtags and you should generate sufficient results with influencers within your brand’s niche.

N0.2: Naturally Love Your Brand

If you want your Instagram influencer marketing method with influencers to have any impact, look for candidates that are a natural fit for your brand.

If it doesn’t make sense that the influencer would be an advocate for your business, followers will be able to see straight through it.

N0.3: Personality and Style Match

To create as natural a fit as possible, search for influencers that suit your brand. Remember, this person will be representing your Shopify store, even if it’s just for one post.

Personality is also important as you want to find someone easy to work with. So, be sure to take a close look at the creative style and quality of the content they produce and ask yourself, is it on par with what you’d expect for your brand?

Even if the influencer has a wide reach, followers will simply scroll past a low-quality piece of content.

N0.4: Key Metrics

Once you’ve created a shortlist of marketing influencers that you could potentially work with, it’s time to look at the numbers.

Look at how many followers/ subscribers they have, the kind of comments they receive and the level of engagement that their posts generate.

Social Platforms

Here’s a quick overview of some of the key social media platforms where influencers could promote your brand:

Instagram: With 1 billion active users, Instagram is primarily used by users aged under 35. It’s well suited for growing brand awareness and is also the most popular platform for brands to implement an influencer marketing strategy with 99.3% of businesses using it for their campaigns.

YouTube: One of the most effective social platforms for social media influencer marketing is YouTube as it helps to build awareness and drive traffic to ecommerce pages.

Many staggering statistics show that online video consumption is at an all-time high, with users watching more than 1 billion hours of video each day on the platform.

Facebook: With more than 2.2 billion users, Facebook can offer a wide reach. Recently, their live videos have become a popular choice for influencer marketing campaigns.

Snapchat: With 75% of Snapchat users being under 34 years old, the application is well suited for brands that are looking to reach a younger audience.

It’s clear to see that a well thought out and executed influencer marketing strategy can go a long way when it comes to increasing brand awareness and driving sales so, hopefully, this article will help you define what's right for your Shopify store.

If you’re actively looking to work with a Shopify agency designer or developer to assist you with your business, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch to get started!