Within the influencer marketing world, measuring success is an ever-moving target. As the industry has matured, evolved, and grown over the years, ROI is no longer a ‘nice to have,’ but rather a necessity.

Therefore, brands and marketers alike are tasked with leveling up their influencer programs while redefining what success looks like, both internally and externally. Tracking ‘harder’ metrics through clicks and conversions has started to become mandatory across programs. Below are a few ways to track conversions successfully: 

  • Tracking Links: Links are a great way to track traffic driven by influencers to a brand’s  website or e-commerce site. These links can be generated and shared across many social channels, through both long-form content (blogs, static posts) and short-form content (Stories). By providing creators with a unique link, brands can analyze who is driving the most activity. 
  • Coupon Codes: Similarly to tracking links, coupon codes are a strong strategy when looking to drive traffic via influencers. Coupon codes can also be generated on an individual basis, to better understand the number of conversions and dollar value  each influencer has driven for specific  brand initiatives.

 

7 Conversion Strategy Best Practices

Whether it’s tracking links or promo codes, when applying conversion strategies to your influencer program, there are a handful of best practices to consider when ensuring your marketing initiatives reach the right audiences and consumers: 

1) Focus on Influencers Who Drive Results: With both links and codes, you’ll have insights into who is driving what behavior within your programs. To optimize across initiatives, we suggest that you continually analyze performance data to ensure your brand is working with influencers who are resonating with your audience, and driving results as such.  

2) Partner with Creators Long-Term: For those creators who are providing your brand with substantial traffic from their content, you’ll want to nurture those relationships, and ensure that partnerships with them are mutually beneficial. In an ever-saturated marketplace, influencers are seeking out longer-term relationships with brands that align with their personal brand and persona.

On average, consumers need to ‘hear’ a message 5-7 times before taking action, such as purchasing an item that’s been in their cart. By collaborating with creators on a consistent basis, their audience becomes more familiar with your brand when they’re exposed to it more than once, making it a win-win situation.

3) Leverage Advocates and Loyalists: Activating across the spectrum of influence is another great way to ensure your brand is reaching the full potential of net-new consumers. While micro- and macro-influencers are great for reach and content creation, loyalists and advocates are strong in other areas.

With a smaller reach, advocates and loyalists are activated with a different goal in mind when compared to the ‘traditional’ content creators. While they may not be creating the quality content that others are, this tier of influencer may already be talking with their audiences about your brand and products. Additionally, a surprise and delight play goes a long way with these individuals, where free product or discount codes may motivate these individuals to get out to try and buy your products.  

4) Create Content on Channels that Attract Consumers: In addition to activating the right type of influencers, brands also want to ensure that they’re activating influencers on the appropriate channels – ensuring that content is landing where it matters most.

By leveraging discovery tools as opposed to scrolling through endless feeds, brands and influencers can intercept consumers when and where they’re ready to take action. 

5) Ask Influencers to Create a Product Review: With influencers often being gifted products directly from brands, asking for a product review is an easy, low-hanging opportunity to bolster social proof around that particular item.

On average, brands see a 128% lift in conversions when shoppers see customer reviews and photos on their sites (BazaarVoice). Brands are then able to take these reviews and syndicate them across third party e-commerce channels, to ensure maximum reach across social channels. 

6) Showcase IGC Across Channels: Supporting product reviews, showcasing IGC across owned brand channels is an excellent way to provide consumers with ideas around how to use and style products.

7) Use Affiliate Marketing Strategies: As we always want influencer partnerships to be a mutually beneficial two-way street, leveling up your influencer programs by implementing affiliate strategies will entice influencers to create high-quality content, given the increased compensation models.

 

Across all types of activations, there are a variety of different strategies and tactics to drive conversions and sales from your influencer programs.

Not sure where to start? We’d love to help. Contact us today to schedule a demo.