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This article is an insightful exploration of influencer marketing in the ecommerce space.
We’ll use our experience as an influencer platform to share insider tips and compelling case studies to illustrate the tangible impact of authentic influencer collaborations.
Be prepared for in-depth analyses of strategies, types of influencers, channels, and a 7-step plan to kickstart your ecommerce influencer marketing campaign.
Let’s dive in.
Why Use Influencer Marketing for Ecommerce?
Best Types of Influencers for Ecommerce
Best Influencer Marketing Strategies for Ecommerce
Best Influencer Marketing Channels for Ecommerce
Setting Up an Ecommerce Influencer Campaign
Common Influencer Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
The world of ecommerce is highly competitive, but leveraging influencer marketing can help you get a competitive edge.
Think about it: your ideal customer is already scrolling through social media platforms, engaging with content that resonates.
By partnering with the right social media influencers, you can tap directly into your target audience and provide seamless shopping experiences right where they spend their time.
Insider tip: We advise our platform’s clients to focus beyond the massive audience some influencers bring; even nano or micro-influencers, with their dedicated followings and high engagement rates, can drive significant traffic to your online business.
As such, influencer marketing is a powerful tool for amplifying your brand’s voice and converting engaged viewers into loyal customers.
With each influencer content piece, you’re weaving your products into the daily narrative of potential customers, making your brand a part of their story.
In essence, influencer marketing in the ecommerce sphere is about authenticity and relevance, turning passive browsers into active buyers.
That’s why 89% of marketers say influencer marketing brings them more ROI than other tactics, and brands like Moonboon drove $1,000,000 in sales with a 6.5x ROI.
It is even expected that the influencer marketing industry will surpass $16 billion in e-commerce valuation this year.
A few years ago, cold-press juicer company Hurom faced a difficult problem: it couldn’t escape its discount-based model of acquiring new customers.
When they came to us at inBeat, we helped them find the best nano and micro-influencers to promote their cold-press juicers.
These content creators also changed Hurom’s image from an always-on-discount brand to an upscale brand that makes health easy.
Results: 180-degree image change; 65% reduction in costs per acquisition; 2.5x higher return on ad spend.
Here’s one of their influencers right here:
That brings us to the next point: what are the best types of influencers you can use in ecommerce?
Influencers are typically classed by their number of followers from nano to celebrities.
We’ll tell you what you can expect from each such type of content creator and their best uses for your ecommerce brand.
Advice: Make sure you decide on the budget you want to spend on the influencer before getting started.
What they are: At inBeat, we consider nano influencers the grassroots of influencer marketing.
They typically boast a follower count of 1,000 to 10,000. We love these creators for their high authenticity scores and deep connections with their audience, which happens because they seem more like everyday consumers than distant celebrities.
Best uses for ecommerce brands: We recommend nano influencers for ecommerce brands that want to generate authentic user-generated content, foster customer loyalty, and increase ecommerce sales.
They’re ideal for influencer seeding, where you can supply them with products to review and share with their niche audiences.
Their recommendations can resonate deeply, akin to word-of-mouth referrals.
What they are: With followers between 10,000 and 100,000, micro-influencers strike the perfect balance between reach and engagement.
They typically focus on specific niches, making their content and followers highly relevant to particular interests or industries.
Best uses for ecommerce brands: Micro-influencers excel in creating compelling content that resonates with niche audiences, making them perfect for targeted influencer marketing campaigns.
Their engaged audience is more likely to convert into your customer base, especially when they share discount codes or product reviews that highlight the unique value of your offerings.
What they are: Macro influencers are the heavyweights of the influencer world, with a follower count ranging from 100,000 to 1 million.
These influencers have a broader customer base and can lend significant visibility to your brand.
Best uses for ecommerce brands: Leveraging macro influencers is an effective strategy for reaching a massive audience quickly.
They’re particularly useful for launching new products or driving broad awareness campaigns.
Their posts can significantly boost your online presence, and with the right influencer marketing tools, you can track campaign performance meticulously.
Prose is another of inBeat Agency’s clients.
Prose needs a consistent influx of substantial content to sustain its media-buying budget.
By adopting a scalable influencer recruitment strategy, they successfully generate 50 unique content assets on a monthly basis.
Below, you can see content creator Lauren @whatlolalikes with 353,000 followers at the time of this writing in a paid partnership with Prose to promote their giveaway:
And frankly, partnering with such a macro-influencer is one of their best choices for driving broad awareness to a wider audience.
In fact, using this simple and free ROI calculator shows us Prose’s success potential for this collaboration:
What they are: Celebrity influencers are at the pinnacle, often boasting millions of followers.
They include renowned public figures, actors, musicians, and athletes. Their massive audience and wide appeal can bring unparalleled visibility to your brand.
Best uses for ecommerce brands: Celebrity influencers are ideal for creating buzz and lending social proof to your products or eCommerce business.
Their endorsements can catapult your brand into the spotlight, driving both short-term spikes in traffic and long-term brand recognition.
While not cost-effective, the right celebrity partnership can transform your brand’s image and appeal.
There are virtually infinite strategies you can use in an influencer marketing campaign. You should pick the most lucrative ones for ecommerce.
Below, we’ll discuss the strategies we’ve seen as most productive from our experience.
This strategy involves creating content that naturally incorporates your products or services, crafted by influencers to fit their unique style and tone.
It’s all about authentic storytelling that aligns with the influencer’s existing content, ensuring your brand’s message resonates with their followers.
From blog posts to social media posts, the content should offer value and seamless experiences highlighting your brand’s offerings.
By highlighting your product’s unique features and advantages through designs and laptop mockups, you can demonstrate its value and relevance to the influencer’s followers.
Why it works: Sponsored content seamlessly integrates your products into the influencer’s narrative, making the promotion more organic and less intrusive.
This strategy leverages the influencer’s creativity and understanding of what resonates with their audience, ensuring your product is presented in the most appealing way.
Best use scenarios: We typically leverage this tactic for launching new products or highlighting specific features of your offerings.
Use analytics tools to measure the campaign performance and adjust future campaigns for even better results.
Deux par Deux leveraged influencer marketing for their collection release, resulting in a notable 30% increase in their Instagram followers.
This strategic approach generated over 200 unique content assets, significantly enriching their online presence.
The campaign also attracted 500+ unique clients, underscoring the efficacy of influencer marketing in expanding their direct-to-consumer segment, which now represents 20% of their business.
Results: +200 unique assets; +500 clients; +10,000 social media follower growth
Here, influencers share personalized affiliate links or promotional codes with their followers, offering them exclusive discounts or benefits.
You should create short and easy-to-remember codes, or alternatively, create scannable QR codes that contain the discount code.
This strategy not only incentivizes purchases but also allows you to track the effectiveness of individual influencer campaigns by using these unique codes or links.
It’s a direct way to drive sales while providing measurable ROI on your influencer marketing efforts.
Pro tip: Featuring your modern logo design for your influencers’ followers and raising brand recognition becomes effortless with the help of a reliable logo maker.
Why it works: Affiliate links and discount codes provide a direct incentive for potential customers to make a purchase, allowing you to track the effectiveness of your influencer campaigns.
Following an influencer also adds an exclusive benefit, creating a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Best use scenarios: This strategy is best utilized when the influencer has built strong trust with their followers.
It can boost customer satisfaction by offering value through discounts while driving sales.
Here’s another neat example from Deux Par Deux.
Pro tip: You can also notice the array of hashtags for easier product discovery.
Engage your target audience by partnering with influencers to host contests or giveaways.
This strategy involves influencers promoting a contest where participants have the chance to win your products or services.
It’s a dynamic way to boost engagement, increase brand visibility, and enhance the online presence of your eCommerce brand.
Contests can range from simple social media engagement challenges to more involved content creation efforts.
Choose an offer that is appropriate for your specific objectives:
Why it works: Contests and giveaways can rapidly increase engagement and attract new followers to both your brand and the influencer’s channel.
They create excitement and a sense of community, encouraging user-generated content that amplifies your campaign’s reach.
Best use scenarios: We recommend this tactic for boosting engagement during product launches or special events.
Use social listening tools to monitor the buzz and gather insights to optimize your influencer marketing strategy.
This strategy involves sharing influencer-generated content directly on your brand’s social media channels or website.
It’s a reciprocal approach that diversifies your content and leverages the influencer’s credibility and following.
By showcasing influencer content, you highlight the strong relationships with influencers you’ve built and reinforce the authenticity of your brand through their endorsement.
Why it works: Featuring influencer content on your channels diversifies your content and leverages the influencer’s credibility to enhance your brand’s authenticity.
It shows a strong influencer partnership, further solidifying your brand’s commitment to quality and collaboration.
Best use scenarios: This strategy is effective for cross-promotional efforts, where both your brand and the influencer benefit from the shared audience.
It can lead to a broader customer base and deeper relationships with influencers.
Brand ambassadors are influencers who have a long-term partnership with your brand and consistently promote your products or services across their channels. This ongoing relationship means they become synonymous with your brand, embodying its values and message. Building a strong connection with your audience through brand ambassadors can significantly elevate your brand's visibility. To take it a step further, you might transform your brand with a rebranding agency that ensures your message aligns perfectly with the image you want to project.
Brand ambassador programs are integral to building a sustainable and positive image for your brand, fostering customer loyalty, and creating a continuous stream of influencer content.
Why it works: Brand ambassadors embody your brand, offering consistent and ongoing promotion.
This long-term relationship builds a strong association between the influencer and your brand, lending significant credibility and a sense of loyalty among followers.
Best use scenarios: We recommend this strategy for establishing a sustained brand presence within your target demographic.
It is ideal for brands looking to cultivate deep loyalty and an engaged community around their products.
Nutpods, a rapidly expanding plant-based company in the U.S., provides a diverse selection of dairy-free creamers.
The brand recently achieved significant success through influencer marketing, creating a network of affiliates and ambassadors to boost sales and brand visibility.
Their #nutpodsquad initiative proved exceptionally effective, contributing to one-third of all customer acquisitions on their website and elevating the brand to the leading position among non-dairy creamers on Amazon.
Notice the neat hashtags in the post below:
User-generated content campaigns encourage your customer base and followers of influencers to create and share their own content related to your brand.
This could involve using your products, sharing their experiences, or participating in brand-related challenges.
UGC campaigns are powerful for generating authentic content that offers social proof, enhancing the trustworthiness and appeal of your brand.
Why it works: UGC campaigns encourage the creation of authentic content by your customer base, facilitated by influencers. This tactic increases engagement and provides social proof, as potential customers see real people enjoying your products.
Best use scenarios: Great for fostering a community around your brand and enhancing customer loyalty.
UGC campaigns are especially effective when combined with contests or giveaways, incentivizing participation with rewards.
Using the product reviews strategy, you ask an influencer to discuss and show your product on their social media account.
You can provide them with a script or ask them to be honest.
Product review is the content that examines customer experience of a product, what kind of impression it leaves on them, and as a result, the lasting feeling they have about the product brand.
Best use scenarios: This is particularly effective for special events, product launches, or behind-the-scenes looks.
It’s a way to provide your audience with unique, compelling content while benefiting from the influencer’s creativity and audience insights.
Product seeding involves sending free products to influencers without a guaranteed promotion in return, aiming to foster organic interest and coverage.
It’s a subtle approach that allows influencers to experience your product firsthand and share their genuine opinions with their followers.
Also, consider treating them to custom company gifts rather than regular products. Personalizing the product you send to influencers makes them feel special and creates a unique connection between the brand and the influencer.
Why it works: This method capitalizes on influencers’ natural affinity and authenticity with products they genuinely enjoy.
Influencers organically incorporating your products into their content can lead to more authentic endorsements, building trust and interest among their audience.
Best use scenarios: Product seeding is most effective when targeting influencers likely to be genuine fans of your products or those whose audience closely aligns with your target market.
It’s particularly useful for new product launches or expanding into new markets, where authentic, word-of-mouth promotion can significantly impact awareness and interest.
Now that you know the best types of influencers and strategies, let’s review the best channels you can use in your influencer marketing campaign.
Why it works: Pinterest is a goldmine for eCommerce brands due to its visually driven content and a user base keen on discovering new products, ideas, and inspiration.
It’s particularly effective for driving traffic to your website, given its layout that encourages pinning and re-pinning of eye-catching images linked to your product pages.
Best use scenarios: Ideal for lifestyle, fashion, home decor, and DIY products, Pinterest allows for the creation of themed boards where influencers can seamlessly integrate your products.
Utilize Pinterest for long-term influencer partnerships, where influencers continuously curate content around your products, enhancing your brand’s visual appeal and discoverability.
Here’s a solid example from Pinterest influencer Barb Davis:
Why it works: Instagram’s vast and diverse user base, combined with its highly visual nature, makes it a prime platform for influencer marketing.
Features like Stories, IGTV, and Reels offer multiple formats for creative product showcases and storytelling, maximizing engagement and reach.
Best use scenarios: We recommend Instagram to clients interested in high-quality product showcases, behind-the-scenes content, and engaging story-driven campaigns.
Instagram is versatile, supporting everything from casual product mentions in posts to elaborate influencer-generated content and immersive takeovers.
Why it works: With its extensive demographic reach, Facebook allows eCommerce brands to target specific audience segments through detailed targeting options.
Facebook influencers can leverage their personal profiles and public pages to share in-depth content, reviews, and live videos, fostering community and interaction.
Best use scenarios: Use Facebook for more detailed and narrative-driven influencer content, such as live unboxing videos, detailed product reviews, and community Q&As.
It’s particularly effective for reaching niche audiences and baby boomers who are highly active on the platform.
Why it works: YouTube’s platform is ideal for in-depth content, such as tutorials, reviews, and vlogs, allowing influencers to showcase your products in detailed videos.
Its global reach and the longevity of video content make it a powerful channel for lasting impact and searchability.
Best use scenarios: Best for products that benefit from demonstrations or detailed reviews, such as tech gadgets, beauty products, and DIY tools.
Collaborate with influencers for product unboxing videos, tutorials, and comprehensive reviews that provide valuable insights to potential customers.
Why it works: Amazon is a retail giant and a burgeoning influencer marketing hub with its Amazon Influencer Program.
Influencers can curate their favorite products in a personalized storefront and direct their followers to purchase directly on Amazon, which is a trusted platform for many shoppers.
Best use scenarios: Leverage Amazon influencer marketing campaigns focused on product listings and reviews, particularly if you’re already selling on the platform.
Influencer recommendations can effectively boost product visibility and credibility, directly impacting sales within the Amazon ecosystem.
Why it works: TikTok’s explosive growth and highly engaged, mostly younger audience make it a hotbed for viral content.
Its short-form video format encourages creativity and spontaneity, allowing for authentic and entertaining influencer collaborations that can quickly gain traction.
Best use scenarios: Ideal for brands targeting Gen Z and millennials with products that shine in creative, visually appealing content.
Utilize TikTok for challenges, trending dances, and branded hashtag campaigns that highlight your brand’s fun and innovative aspects.
Hiya Health offers an interesting example, posting this UGC testimonial video on its TikTok profile:
While it doesn’t use any challenge or trend, this video leverages TikTok users’ preference for raw, impactful content.
An ecommerce influencer campaign has to be very intentional.
We always advise our influencer platform’s clients to focus on the steps below, but only after they decide on their strategy and channels.
Identifying the right influencers is foundational to your campaign’s success.
This involves searching for influencers who align with your brand values, have a relevant audience, and can sway their followers’ purchasing decisions.
Remember: Do the influencer discovery step after outlining your creative strategy, not the other way around.
Tools and strategies: Utilize platforms like inBeat for influencer discovery, which allows you to filter influencers based on niche, follower count, and engagement rate.
This ensures you’re connecting with relevant influencers who truly resonate with your ideal customer profile and genuinely influence your target demographic.
You can also consider:
Once you have a list of potential influencers, the next step is to vet them to ensure authenticity and alignment thoroughly.
This includes analyzing their content quality, audience engagement, and the authenticity of their followers.
Tools and strategies:
Your partnership begins with reaching out to influencers.
This step involves initiating contact, expressing interest in collaboration, and discussing potential partnership opportunities.
We know that outreach is hard since we’ve been working with influencers for years.
Here’s what we advise our clients:
Related: Top 9 Influencer Outreach Tools to Try in 2024
For inspiration, use this template:
- “Hey Jessica,
We adore your content on [insert the name of the social media platform]. Especially the video called [pick a specific video and show them you actually took a look at their feed] and how you talk about [the topic of that video].
We love your mission of empowering your audience to succeed in [creator’s niche] as that’s very similar to our mission. We’re a [talk about your brand here] and would love to work with you!
We think your audience will benefit from our product because of [insert reasons] and would love to sponsor your content.
Please let us know if you’d be interested in learning more!”
Formalizing your partnership with an influencer involves creating an agreement that outlines the campaign objectives, deliverables, timelines, and compensation.
This step ensures both parties have clear expectations and a mutual understanding of the campaign’s goals.
Insider tip: We always make it a point to craft an influencer contract, so grab our free template.
Otherwise, consider using contract management tools to streamline the agreement process.
With everything in place, it’s time to launch your influencer campaign.
This involves influencers creating and sharing the agreed-upon content with their audience to drive engagement and conversions for your brand.
Insider tip: Don’t expect your influencer campaign to run smoothly.
You should coordinate with your influencers to ensure timely and aligned content publication.
For that, use a content calendar to manage and synchronize content releases across different influencers and platforms.
Also, don’t neglect your other marketing channels.
An appealing web design will enhance your chances of being discovered by your PPC marketing.
You should also select an agency specialized in your industry. For example, if your expertise is in hospitality, contact web designers for restaurant.
You should always measure the campaign results against your set key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness.
This involves analyzing social media marketing metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and overall ROI.
Here are some tools for that:
We use analytics tools to monitor campaign performance in real-time and post-campaign.
Tools like Google Analytics and social media platforms’ built-in analytics features provide insights into traffic, conversions, and engagement metrics, helping you gauge the campaign’s success.
Insider tip: You can also use our free in-house calculators to measure:
Maximizing the value of your influencer campaign involves repurposing the created content across your marketing channels.
This can extend the content’s lifespan and reinforce your brand messaging.
With the influencer’s permission, repurpose their content on your brand’s social media channels, website, and other marketing materials.
Pro tip: Ensure the content is adapted and optimized for each platform to maintain its effectiveness and engagement.
As a side note, we’ve seen many ecommerce companies dipping their toes in influencer marketing and failing.
That’s why we advise our clients to avoid the following mistakes:
Ensure the influencer’s target audience is relevant to the product or service that your business is selling.
You can do this manually using the search bar on social media platforms or with software.
In this way you will receive more orders and sales by WhatsApp that you can manage with specialized platforms.
Potential damage: This mismatch can result in low engagement rates and poor campaign performance, as the influencer’s content may not resonate with your ideal customer, leading to wasted resources and efforts.
Influencers can strategically ask questions in their posts.
This can teach any business much about what their target audience likes about their product or service and what needs improvement.
For example, if T-shirts are your business’s main product, an influencer could ask questions like ’How would you style these custom t-shirts?’ or ’On what occasion would you wear them?’.
Incorporating a "sizing guide" on your website can be invaluable for further assisting potential customers in making an informed decision.
This guide could be highlighted during such interactions, ensuring that customers not only get inspired but also make the right decision.
This not only provides insights into how users see your product but also inspires future promotional campaigns.
Moreover, creating quizzes for social media and giving gifts to a few lucky winners will help you establish a friendlier bond with your audience and collect data about them using data collection methods.
So it’s really a win-win situation.
Potential damage: Not leveraging your influencer’s insights can hinder your communication and future product lines.
Not leveraging analytics tools to track campaign performance and measure key performance indicators can leave you in the dark about your campaign’s success and areas for improvement.
Potential damage: Without data-driven insights, it’s challenging to optimize future campaigns, understand your return on investment, and make informed decisions about ongoing influencer partnerships.
Focusing solely on one-off campaigns instead of building long-term influencer partnerships can prevent you from cultivating a consistent and authentic brand presence within your target audience.
Potential damage: Short-term campaigns may provide temporary boosts, but long-term relationships with influencers can lead to sustained brand loyalty, deeper audience engagement, and more impactful influencer marketing efforts over time.
Neglecting niche influencers in favor of broader-reaching influencers can be a missed opportunity to connect with highly engaged, targeted audiences more likely to convert into loyal customers.
With the right influencers not only will you be able to increase your sales and ROI, but also improve your relationships and build new ones with potential customers.
Potential damage: While broader reach can seem appealing, niche influencers often boast higher engagement rates and a more dedicated following within specific segments, leading to more effective and personalized influencer campaigns.
For example, inBeat Agency’s campaign for Soylent used only niche influencers to popularize the company’s product line.
And with just 35+ content assets, our campaigned brought Soylent 5 million impressions.
Of course, the agency only used the highest-performing influencers with the best engagement rates to achieve this feat.
This article explored strategic insights and the inspiring successes of brands that have mastered this domain.
The insider tips and case studies shared underscore the potential of influencer marketing to elevate brand awareness, customer acquisition, and engagement.
As you apply these insights to your strategies, remember that inBeat’s influencer discovery and toolkit can be invaluable resources.
We offer a streamlined approach to identifying the right influencers and measuring the potential impact of your campaigns, ensuring that your influencer marketing efforts are as effective and efficient as possible.
If you want more help choosing the right strategy that will bring you the same results as the brands above, schedule a free call with our Agency.
