We’ve learned a thing or two from helping retail brands achieve their goals. If you’re running influencer programs for your retail brand and have 2022 goals in mind, the following strategies will help you get there. The influencer marketing industry has become synonymous with curated, beautiful content that can help support a variety of brands and verticals across many social platforms. Retail brands have seen great success by partnering with creators and we foresee even more success to come. 

One of our predictions for 2022 is that retailers will turn creators into a revenue stream to promote their supplier products as part of shopper marketing budgets. Social commerce and live shopping are on the rise as new features and platforms continue to emerge, empowering creators to drive e-commerce efforts and revenue for brands. Retailers such as Walmart and Saks Fifth Avenue are leveraging Livestream shopping in collaboration with brands and creators. 

In this blog, we’ll outline the 3 key best practices for retail brands and share how Mavrck can help your retail brand achieve the best results with your influencer marketing programs:

 

1. Leverage a variety of social media channels to diversify your influencer approach.

Retail brands have the opportunity to leverage several different social networks that are ripe for content creation and can help the brands achieve a wide variety of goals. Not only does diversifying your social networks allow for different types of content that brands can repurpose, but it also allows them to reach different audiences and demographics.

  • Instagram: Variety of formats for high-quality content featuring retail products: static photos for in-feed posts and Stories, short-form video via Reels/Stories, and long-form video on IGTV. Also use product tags via Instagram Shopping.
  • TikTok: Short-form video content for product reviews. A growing channel for retail content with high visibility and virality opportunities. 
  • YouTube: Long-form video content great for showcasing retail products and reactions. Especially good for product reviews or product testing. 
  • Pinterest: Great for the discovery of retail products and product-specific searching, especially via product tagging features. Highly visual and allows click-through to e-commerce, product locators, or long-form content. 
  • Blog: Long-form content for in-depth product reviews and driving to more content/instore/e-commerce purchases. Added value in SEO and discovery for evergreen content. 

 

2. Create an ambassador program to increase brand loyalty through always-on relationships and consistent brand lift. 

Retail brands can gain traction through an always-on approach with creators, or by launching ambassador programs. We suggest these steps to launch an ambassador program and gain consistent brand lift:

  • Find influencers who are already passionate about your brand through social listening. 
  • Create a test program with many influencers and persona types.
  • Hone in on best performers (based on goals) and create an ambassador program structure with these in mind. 
  • Engage ambassadors for 6-12 months at a time, producing content on a regular basis (usually once or several times per month). 
  • Lastly, measure! 

 

For more information check out our Guide to Creating a Successful Brand Ambassador Program

 

3. Measure the impact of your retail influencer programs to prove ROI.

Most marketing measurement models in practice today are not designed to keep pace with the speed of consumers’ path-to-purchase. That being said, we recommend retail brands use an integrated influencer measurement framework to maximize ROI by increasing return and reducing investment. 

In addition to the standard social metrics that we receive from creators and social networks—such as engagements and engagement rates, clicks and CTRs, CPM, and CPE— marketers can use the following to measure the ROI of influencer marketing efforts: 

  • Online Sales Lift: Measured via cookie-powered conversion tags, UTM links, app install links, tracking pixels, affiliate links, or digital promo codes. 
  • Offline Sales Lift: Determined via a study by a third-party that has access to consumer data or coupon redemption data and compares results between an exposed cohort and a control group. 
  • Brand Lift: Determined via survey polling of an exposed cohort and control group with 3 – 4 questions to collect responses around recall, NPS, sentiment, favorability, and intent. 
  • Channel Lift: Increase conversion rates on owned E-commerce sites, third-party retailers, or other digital experiences 30-50% when influencer images, videos, ratings and reviews are repurposed or syndicated.

 

Employing these strategies will aid in the efficiency and effectiveness of any of your influencer programs. Through diversifying the channels you activate on, creating an ambassador program, and measuring the impact of your programs any big goals your team has set will start to get a bit closer. If you’re looking for an example of how Mavrck has helped other retail brands achieve their goals, check out How Express Ambassadors Drove 168% ROI in Online & In-Store Sales.