The ecommerce world is becoming increasingly saturated, forcing brands and retailers to come up with creative ways to stand out.
There’s been a surge in social selling, an uptick in subscription services, and an increase in incredibly targeted email marketing campaigns — but nothing is quite as effective as a recommendation from a trusted source.
In the past, this would come in the form of word-of-mouth marketing, where a friend or family member would recommend a product. The advent of social media has created a new form of word-of-mouth marketing: influencer marketing (or influencer brand partnerships).
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, influencer partnerships have been such a huge success for brands that the market expanded to $16.4 billion in 2022 and $21.2 billion in 2023.
It’s not just big-name influencers like the Kim Kardashians of the world, either.
Research from Statista shows that, in the U.K., Instagram nano-influencers with 1,000 to 5,000 followers enjoy a 4.59% engagement rate, making smaller accounts some of the best partners.
Teaming up with a well-known figure or an industry expert comes with plenty of benefits:
The more people talk about your brand online, the wider your reach will be. Influencer partnerships expose your products and services to a pre-built audience.
Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing today. Salsify’s “2024 Consumer Research” report found that 21% of shoppers recently bought a product because an influencer recommended it. Seventeen percent clicked “buy” because the product was trending on social media.
According to an IZEA Research report, 62% of social media users trust influencers more than celebrities. And in ecommerce today, trust is everything — 34% of shoppers will abandon a sale because they lack trust in the brand, according to Salsify’s research. When a trusted source recommends your offerings, that trust is transferable to your brand as a whole.
The same report by IZEA Research revealed that 60% of social media users have engaged with a sponsored post. Investing in influencer ads can engage shoppers on their favorite social media platforms — and keep them coming back.
Salsify’s consumer research report found that engagement with influencers varies from generation to generation: while only 9% of baby boomers bought a product via social media due to an influencer recommendation, a staggering 32% of Generation Z (Gen Zers) did so. If you’re looking to expand into a younger consumer demographic, influencer brand partnerships can help.
Influencer brand partnerships come in all shapes and sizes — some brands and retailers choose to partner with one big-name celebrity, while others opt for multiple partnerships with smaller, niche accounts. Here are three companies that have found success with their past influencer brand partnerships:
Aerie is renowned for promoting body positivity. Influencer partnerships are such an important part of the brand’s image that it has won awards for them in the past.
Their #AerieReal campaign shows a selection of influencers promoting the brand’s swimwear line through unretouched social media images, meet-and-greets, and in-person talks.
Over the years, the brand has partnered with top accounts in the fashion world, as well as several big names, like Busy Philipps.
The campaigns aim to “keep it real” and onboard influencers like Philipps who are well-known for vocalizing shared values — which has dramatically increased Aerie’s engagement and customer base.
In a 2019 interview for Glamour magazine, Philipps says that the partnership is “much bigger than just getting to appear in some ads — it’s about endorsing the brand’s underlying philosophy of representing women and celebrating their diversity.”
Partnering with influencers who share your values is crucial, and that’s exactly what watch brand MVMT did. The brand partnered with filmmaker, traveler, and adventurer Sam Kolder to create a collection of watches.
As a high-end watchmaker, the brand wanted to reach a new audience of adventurers — Kolder’s partnership helped to infuse a sense of curiosity and wildness into their new line.
Video Source: Sam Kolder
MVMT and Kolder didn’t just create a new collection; they also produced a series of YouTube videos celebrating life and time while exposing the brand to Kolder’s 1.33 million subscribers.
Lowe's 2022 “House of Style” series involved a partnership with a different influencer each month to curate a selection of products. Jenn Im took the helm of the campaign to promote her collections, “Sunlit Sanctuary” and “Artful Modern.”
Image Source: Jenn Im
For the partnership, Im has cherry-picked a number of featured products, created a YouTube video suggesting home decor ideas, and developed Instagram posts to bring the curated collections to her 1.7 million social media followers.
Aerie chose to partner with Philipps because she regularly posts about body positivity. Ideally, the influencers you partner with share your values to further support your brand identity.
According to the "Consumer Culture Report" from 5W Public Relations, an average of 72% of consumers agree that it’s important to them to buy from brands that align with their values. Shining a spotlight on your principles through intentional partnerships will help you reach the right people.
Watch companies are often associated with high-powered business types and the corporate world. When MVMT partnered with Kolder, they had the chance to tap into new audiences that could also make use of their products: travelers and creatives.
If you want to tap into a new audience, try partnering with an influencer who has a following made up of the people you’d like to reach.
The success of the Lowe’s campaign hinged on the fact that Im wasn’t just posting to her social channels. She also curated an entire collection promoted on the website — and created videos showing customers how to style their Lowe’s purchases.
Instead of encouraging partners to pump out social post after social post, consider how you can create additional content that will help your audience. Turn it into an entire omnichannel campaign with multimedia elements for your website and social channels. You can even extend partnerships to include meet-and-greets and in-person talks like Aerie does with its #AerieReal partners.
While influencer partnerships are a good opportunity to promote your products to different audiences and increase your brand reach, the most successful campaigns tend to focus on telling a story instead.
For example, MVMT’s partnership with Kolder celebrated life and time through a series of beautiful videos. Instead of just asking influencers to snap a picture of your product and share it with their audience, think about ways you can weave a story around your brand and your partner’s values.
Influencer partnerships provide a powerful opportunity to promote your products and brand values to new audiences. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg — highlighting how brands and retailers can work closely with relevant figures to increase awareness, boost engagement, and capture more conversions.