Jeremy Moran
Influencer marketing has become an extremely effective way for e-commerce brands to quickly build awareness, trust, and sales. Implementing a smart influencer marketing strategy delivers an impressive ROI if done right. Here are some best practices for dropshipping stores looking to scale through influencer collaborations:
identify your niche
First, get very clear on your brand’s niche, target demographic, products, and messaging. This ensures you narrow down the influencers that closely align with your business. Finding influencers in your specific niche to authentically use and promote your products is key to success. Massive broad reach is less highly targeted influence.
Review engagement metrics
When evaluating potential influencers, prioritize engagement metrics like likes, comments, and video views rather than just followers. Highly engaged followers signal an influencer’s true influence capacity, even if total followers are comparatively low. Quality engagement indicates a loyal, receptive audience.
Check previous brand partners
Vet influencers by looking at the brands they have partnered with in the past. Do they collaborate with direct competitors frequently? Or are they selective in choosing products that make sense for their audience? Be cautious partnering with influencers who promote competing brands interchangeably.
Set clear expectations
Leave no room for miscommunication by outlining contractual expectations, obligations, timelines, and compensation upfront in a detailed media kit. Specify content deliverables like posts, stories, reels, and videos required for payment. Detail usage rights for both parties as well. Clear expectations prevent misunderstandings.
Send free products
Provide influencers free samples of your products to organically showcase and interact with during unboxings or reviews. Recipients feel more incentivized to post great content after receiving high-quality free merchandise rather than monetary payment alone. Free products build relationships. While providing product info and branding assets, don’t micromanage influencers.
Offer exclusive discounts
Create special promo codes or discounts exclusive to an influencer’s audience. This incentivizes followers to purchase through the influencer’s unique link. Smart influencers will ensure discounts maximize their earnings potential too. Exclusive deals excite audiences.
Pay for High-Quality Exposure
Be prepared to pay more for influencers that deliver premium content showcasing products seamlessly blended into lifestyle stories versus quickly dedicated ads 8 dropshipping influencers to watch in 2023. Higher production value demands compensation but drives more sales quality over quantity.
Share user-generated content
Repost quality photos, videos, and reviews from real customers tagged with your products or branded hashtags. User-generated content builds authenticity and resonates more than polished promotions. Credit and thank contributors.
Rely on nano and micro-influencers
While celebrity influencers drive awareness, nano, and micro-influencers with smaller, highly engaged niche followings often deliver the best conversion value per dollar. Their specialization followers are more likely purchasers. Executed strategically, influencer marketing is a highly profitable channel for dropshipping stores hungry for growth and increased conversions.
Track performance
Use trackable links, promo codes, and UTM parameters to monitor sales, clicks, and conversions driven by each influencer. This allows you to calculate true ROI and refine partnerships over time. Continuously optimize based on hard data.
Maintain compliance
Follow FTC guidelines requiring influencers to disclose paid promotions through clear and conspicuous hashtags like #ad, #sponsored, or #paidpartnership. Don’t rely on influencers to self-police – ensure compliance contractually. Transparency builds trust. One-off influencer posts have limited impact. Seek out influencers excited to develop an ongoing relationship with your brand. Multi-post partnerships over months or years expand reach and reinforce messaging.
Reward Top Performers
Identify influencer partners who drive consistent stellar results and offer rewards like increased payment, free products, or exclusive content access. Incentivize your top evangelists. Contests and giveaways incentivize followers to like, share, comment, and follow. Require users to tag friends for more exposure. Offering free product drives awareness rapidly.
Listen to feedback
Solicit influencers’ honest opinions on your products and campaigns. Their insights content lead to product and marketing improvements. Value their perspective. Strategic influencer programs amplify a dropshipping brand exponentially carefully tracking performance, optimizing partnerships, providing incentives, and developing long-term relationships, a trustworthy marketing engine to sustain scale.
