Influencer Marketing In E-Commerce: What It Is And How To Find Influencers For Your Brand

If you run an e-commerce business, you’re constantly looking for ways to get people to talk about and buy from your brand.

Whether you’re just starting out or running your first Super Bowl ad, there’s one way to make sure people are talking about your e-commerce brand: influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing can help you spread the word about your e-commerce brand and promote your product. In this article, you’ll learn:

• What influencer marketing is

• Why an e-commerce business should hire influencers

• How to create an influencer marketing strategy

• How to find influencers for your brand 

  
  

What Is Influencer Marketing?

To learn what influencer marketing in ecommerce is, you first need to know what an influencer, also known as a content creator or brand ambassador, is. If you don’t know what an influencer is, check out our last blog post, then come back to this article.

Influencer marketing is exactly what it sounds like: working with influencers to promote your product or overall brand on social media. With influencer marketing, these content creators endorse, mention or use products on a post and share it with their followers. This industry is extremely valuable, with a forecasted value of $56 billion in 2029. 

Social media influencers can be paid per post or over a period of time. Some will even accept payment in the form of free products from your e-commerce brand. 

Influencers can vary in audience size, engagement, content and platforms. Social media influencers can have as low as 1,000 followers to over one million per platform. Nano influencers, who range from 1,000 to 5,000 followers, typically have the most engagement per follower compared to all other types of influencers.

Not all content creators are the same. Influencer content varies, with content ranging from fashion to fitness and personal development. Most influencers choose to post on Instagram, with Facebook and TikTok following closely behind. Influencers also post on the following social media and marketing channels:

• YouTube

• X (formerly Twitter)

• Twitch

• Snapchat

  
  

Influencer marketing appeals to all age groups, with 49% of participants in one study stating that they choose products recommended by influencers. 

However, these brand ambassadors appeal even more so to Gen Z consumers, with almost 90% of this age group stating that they are more willing to buy from brands that partner with influencers. Therefore, e-commerce businesses that hire influencers can appeal to Gen Z consumers and spread the word about their brand. 

Why Should An E-Commerce Business Hire Influencers? 

Influencer marketing in e-commerce can bring many benefits to your brand.

Direct Access to E-Commerce Brand

Social media influencers can link directly to an e-commerce brand’s website through buttons on their posts. For example, on Instagram, influencers can include shopping tags on their posts that link directly to your website, making it easier for consumers to find your products and make a purchase. 

Create Positive Experiences Surrounding Your Brand

Businesses with physical stores can rely on foot traffic and word-of-mouth from those seeing and shopping at their store to increase brand awareness. But when you’re an e-commerce business, you can’t rely on the physical foot traffic and the positive experiences that come from shopping in a store. 

Influencers can make up for this by getting people to associate your brand with their content, creating a more enjoyable shopping experience. 

Increase Brand Awareness and Visibility 

When partnering with influencers, brands spread their message to the creator’s followers, who may not have heard of the brand before. Through this partnership, brands increase the amount of consumers who have heard of their brand and increase brand awareness as a result. 

Increase Trust

Consumers tend to trust influencers more than brands, with 69% of respondents in one study stating that they are willing to trust a recommendation from a friend, family member or influencer over a brand. Therefore, partnering with influencers allows e-commerce brands to increase consumer trust in the brand or product, which is important when consumers cannot test products from an e-commerce brand, unlike products from a physical store. 

Target the Correct Audience

As an e-commerce brand, you can target your audience anywhere at any time. However, you need to make sure that you are targeting the correct audience. With over 50 million influencers working in social media marketing today, you can find an influencer that ensures that your message reaches the right consumer, no matter their interest.

How Do You Create An Influencer Marketing Strategy?

Finding the right influencer for your influencer marketing campaign may sound hard. Luckily, it can be broken down into a few simple steps to create a successful influencer marketing strategy. Follow these tips to ensure that your e-commerce influencer campaign runs smoothly and succeeds. 

Set SMART Goals

When creating any campaign, SMART goals can guide you in the right direction and ensure that your brand is achieving what it wants. SMART stands for:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Realistic

• Measurable

• Timely

  
  

Choose a Platform

Even though the majority of consumers use social media, not every consumer uses every single platform. Therefore, make sure you know what social media channel your audience is most active on so that they see the content your influencer partner posts.

Determine Influencer Characteristics

Once you know what social media platform you want to post on, you can narrow your search for influencers even more by determining what kind of content creator you want to partner with. Whether it’s a fitness influencer who uses humor to appeal to her audience, or a serious arts and crafts influencer passionate about his trade, make sure that the personality of your ideal influencer aligns with your brand and what your target audience wants.

How Can Your Brand Use Influencer Marketing In The E-Commerce Industry?

Now that you know more about influencers, you may be wondering how to find influencers for your business. When searching for content creators for your e-commerce brand, you need to make sure you’re finding the right influencer for your target audience, which may not be the flashiest or most expensive influencer. 

Instead, look for nano influencers. Nano influencers may not have large followings, but they resonate with audiences the most and bring the highest engagement for brands. Nano influencers also appeal to audiences with more niche interests, ensuring that brands can target their marketing to the correct audience. 

No matter the size of your marketing budget, connectU is an influencer marketing tool that can help your e-commerce brand find nano influencers that appeal to your target audience to promote your product. If your business is located in a college town or your target audience consists of college students, we can help. 

If your e-commerce business is ready to create influencer marketing campaigns, connectU is here for you. Sign up here and get started today!