Surprising Insights on How Online Influencers Drive Retail Sales
For retailers, driving sales proves to be an ongoing battle — one they face day in and day out — regardless of what's going on in the surrounding marketplace, be it an onslaught of record-breaking snowstorms or a full-on economic downturn. Moreover, with the competitive landscape heating up and consumers becoming more discerning than ever before on issues ranging from quality to price to convenience, retailers now face an ever-growing hurdle when they look to generate sales.
At Influence Central, we work with a wide range of retailers — from OshKosh B'gosh to Kohl's to Land's End to Sam's Club — and have seen firsthand the challenges faced by retailers as they look to move consumers along the path to purchase, particularly how they transition consumers from that first sense of awareness into securing purchases.
The Power of Online Influence
I believe in the power of influencer marketing and hold strong to the idea that authentic first-person recommendations can — and do — change consumer behavior. I've seen that online influencers have the power to increase conversion rates, dynamically lift brand recognition and raise awareness for new product launches.
Today's online influencers emerge in many different venues. Many host personal blogs, on topics ranging from parenting to lifestyle to organic and "green" issues, while others focus on specialty topics, including fashion, food, beauty, travel, home décor and fitness. We've also seen the rise of influencers who tell stories through photos and images on platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest. I've coined them "visual influencers." Moreover, these influencers all may be active on a plurality of social media platforms as well as in an offline capacity within their communities.
Key Learnings From Retail-Based Influencer Campaigns
Our recent retail-based work has dramatically demonstrated the power of influencer marketing. Here are three key ways we've seen online influencers impact the consumer purchasing journey and create sales lift:
Driving brick-and-mortar sales: Retailers often look for ways to break through the clutter during key shopping events such as Black Friday, identifying ways they can reach consumers amidst the sea of options they now enjoy. For one retailer, we created a unique online coupon that was distributed solely through our mom influencers around the start of the holiday shopping season. These moms bought clothing in-store and shared storytelling and photos around the experience — as well as the coupon — with their communities. Not only did the program exceed sales expectations, but it generated significant online engagement and showcased how influencers can impact the path to purchase.
Launching new products: New product launches have the potential to generate consumer excitement, but often it can be a challenge to connect emergent products with the right target audience. We worked with a national retailer to highlight the introduction of a new product line created by a top designer. Through a combination of online and offline events, our online influencers, who mirrored the new line's target audience, generated awareness and conversation about the launch. More importantly, their posts, photos and social media activity focused on driving consumers to shop the collection, both online and in-store.
Generating sales at the point of purchase: We recently conducted research among more than 500 women consumers to see how e-commerce reviews influence the consumer path to purchase. In fact, after reading an online review and deciding to make a purchase, 77 percent of consumers reported buying the product online, while 23 percent purchased it offline. Our program for a consumer household brand centered on mom influencers who received products and wrote e-commerce reviews at the point of purchase — for both online and offline retailers. Overall, the program generated more than 1,700 reviews, significantly increasing the products' exposure at the point of sale.
Changing Consumer Behavior Through Advocacy
The key to mobilizing influencers to drive retail sales centers on advocacy — and it goes well beyond the standard social media activity of "likes" and "follows." To help move the purchasing needle, retailers need to identify brand advocates — i.e., influencers who are passionate about you, who fit your target demographic and who eagerly seek out two-way engagement. Moreover, on all of our programs we work to identify a moment in time that offers up a sense of urgency or a framework for influencer storytelling. In this way, influencers can provide authentic, first-person recommendations that shape consumer behavior and profoundly impact retailers' bottom lines.
Stacy DeBroff is the founder and CEO of Influence Central, a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. Stacy can be reached at stacy@influence-central.com.