Influencer Marketing: A Game Changer for D2C Brands?

In recent times, influencer marketing has proven conducive to D2C products and services. Let’s look at the influencer marketing concept and how it can help market brands like yours.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is promoting your brand, product or service by partnering with influencers on social media. In the online world, influencers could be:

• Celebrities: Movie stars, famous singers, sports personalities, etc.
• influencers: These are popular on YouTube and Instagram and enjoy a massive following because of their content
• influencers:  Significant people in your industry, such as bloggers, journalists who specialize in your field or business leaders

Using influencer marketing to promote your D2C products or services helps you reach a wide base of potential customers which your business can leverage. Celebrities often advertise different products for pay, but other influencers usually endorse or review a product after using it themselves. Their recommendations are considered authentic, and so consumers place greater trust in the words of social and industry influencers rather than celebrities.

Why is influencer marketing so effective for D2C brands?

Influencer marketing is so effective because it enhances the word of mouth of a product.

The reviews given by social and industry influencers have the same effect as that of a family member or friend. Consumers find influencers relatable and place much more trust in their word than in an advertisement or a celebrity endorsement. Hearing an authentic user experience from an influencer makes your consumer 30% more likely to make a purchase.

7 benefits of influencer marketing

1. Increase brand awareness and reach: D2C marketing is purposive and effective on the right audience. Influencer marketing helps you find high potential customers you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get.
2. Build credibility and trust: Partnering with an influencer brings your brand into the good books of several potential customers.
3. Enrich your content strategy: Influencer marketing is an excellent addition to your content strategy and adds a new facet to your online marketing efforts.
4. Win-win long-term partnerships: Influencers are constantly looking for sponsorships; partnering with them is a win-win situation for your product and the influencer.
5. Boost SEO, ROI, and bottom line: Influencer marketing is a reliable method of boosting your online marketing efforts for better SEO, ROI, and bottom line.
6. Drive purchase decisions: Influencers drive purchase decisions for many social media users, and their endorsement can make a difference to the purchase decision.
7. Increase sales: Influencer marketing can increase your sales by helping your product reach thousands of potential consumers.

How do influencers boost your ROI?

Influencers help boost the ROI of your marketing investments. For every $1 invested in influencer marketing, your business can generate up to $6.5. This amounts to an ROI of 650%. Compared to other forms of D2C marketing, the ROI of influencer marketing is 11 times higher. Various online surveys by leading analytical firms have concluded that most social media users prefer to spend on a product that an influencer has endorsed.

How do you measure influencer ROI?

One of the most significant challenges in influencer marketing is measuring the ROI from influencers accurately. Recommended below are four methods to measure the exact impact of influencer marketing on your product or service:

Goal Setting

When engaging in a new marketing venture, it’s essential to set a goal. Define what you’re trying to achieve before partnering with an influencer. Make sure to keep your goals realistic and measurable.

Hashtags

Create a hashtag that you can track. Ask the influencer to use the hashtag in all their posts about your product and let them encourage their followers to do the same. On platforms like Instagram, you can find out how many people are using a hashtag and, therefore, are engaging with your product.

Promo codes

Promo codes are a super-effective way of measuring the impact of influencer marketing. Provide a promo code to your influencer and ask them to put it in their online content (videos, images, etc.) Whichever user engages with the content will use this promo code on your website to avail a discount or unique service. Whenever a user uses the exclusive promo code, you will know that they have come from influencer marketing.

Tracking pixels

Influencers can put tracking pixels on their website or social media page. Using tracking pixels, you can find out how many new customers have landed on your website after engaging with the influencer’s content.

Using influencer marketing for your D2C products and services is all about choosing the right influencers followed by your target audience. It’s essential to set goals and create an influencer marketing strategy to leverage your social media campaign.

In the end, influencer marketing is sure to return more than its cost – as long as you plan well, understand its potential and create an effective digital marketing strategy to support influencer marketing.