Community commerce, or content commerce, refers to entertaining content on platforms like TikTok, that also happens to feature products and connects viewers to brands. Thousands of brands are already benefiting from community commerce and there’s plenty of room for yours to join that list.

TikTokkers spend about 3% of their month on TikTok(!), giving ample time to spontaneously discover new brands. And they’re not just discovering brands, they’re buying from them too.

Last year, consumers spent $6.2 billion on TikTok and it recently became only the 5th app to ever gross $10 billion revenue. So if you haven’t jumped on the community commerce trend, here’s an overview of what it is, and why you should incorporate it into your marketing strategy. 

Chapters:

1. What is community commerce? 
2. How to get started with community commerce
3. Community commerce strategies 
4. Community commerce examples
5. Win community commerce with social commerce

What is community commerce? 

Community commerce is a type of word-of-mouth marketing driven by creators, characterized by entertaining, compelling content that features products or brands. Also referred to as content commerce, community commerce is embodied by the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag, which has 7.5 million posts and literally billions of views at the time of writing.

A shopping journey that might have taken 19 days before now takes 19 seconds

Ajay Salpekar, Head of Beauty & Personal Care, TikTok Shop

It works like this. You open up TikTok and stumble upon something on your For You page, and you’re inspired by it. You realize this cool new product exists. So you buy it right there in the app. A shopping journey that might have taken 19 days before now takes 19 seconds! Hear Ajay Salpekar, Head of Beauty & Personal Care at TikTok Shop expand on this below.

Shopping has always been a social- and community-driven event. But it’s shifted from shopping with a handful of friends at the local mall to TikTok and other social media platforms with virtual communities, composed of billions of members. 

Now creators — anyone with a phone and TikTok account! — are posting about your brand, adding hashtags, and tagging your products. And the key part is shoppers are discovering these products. 79% of users have discovered new brands through TikTok.

Through community commerce, you have a unique opportunity to build deeper connections with consumers by leveraging creators and their communities. You have a shot at authentically reaching a vast network of users looking for new things or discovering things they didn’t even know existed.

The rise of community commerce is rooted in the acceleration and widespread adoption of social commerce — the buying and selling of products on social media and everywhere social reaches. Social media has disrupted the purchase journey, which is now led by spontaneous discovery and inspiration, and no longer follows the traditional path.

How to get started with community commerce

During the recent Bazaarvoice Summit, Ajay Salpekar (reminder: Head of Beauty and Personal Care at TikTok Shop) talked about content commerce in the age of TikTok, where he outlined his recommendations for brands looking to join the community — whether enterprise level or a smaller team. Here’s his five main priorities for brands that see success:

1. Be willing to experiment. In Ajay’s own words, when it comes to nailing shoppable content, “brands who have a learning mindset or a learner’s mindset tend to do better a lot faster.” By that he means you need to actually be open to testing and implementing new features and journey paths, and have an analytical mindset that can guide you on what’s working and what isn’t
2. Relinquish control. One of the hardest aspects of getting started with community commerce is taking a step back and allowing creators to create in your name. Let creators create — they’re the experts after all! Besides, 67% of TikTokkers say they feel closer to brands that post humanized, unpolished content
3. Partner up with a mix of creators. Creator content is the lifeblood of community commerce but every creator will suit different needs. The mega and celeb creators will have a massive reach for building brand awareness, but tend to see lower engagement. Whereas micro-influencers are fantastic at building authentic, relatable content for their niche audiences. To catch that full myriad of shoppers, work with a good mix of both
4. Develop a holistic content plan. For the brand stewards out there, don’t stick to one content type. Build out your content supply chain with a mix of in-house, agency, and branded content. Don’t just assume one type will work best, use all of the above. And coming back to point #1 above, down the line you can use analytics to decide where to lean into more
5. Don’t work in silos. The final point Ajay makes is an important one — media is still a brand’s greatest amplifier. Community commerce hasn’t changed that. The expertise of agency, brand, marketing, and e-commerce teams all apply but most teams still work in silos. In reality, brands see the most success in the content commerce world when they all partner together for shoppable content

Community commerce strategies 

Social media continues to be a source of inspiration, where consumers learn about new products. The social media community drives product awareness, purchase consideration, and conversion. And it doesn’t just apply to younger generations like Gen Z either! A common misconception, as research shows.

So, it’s no longer enough for brands to simply have a social media presence. You need to engage with consumers, tell a story, and establish your brand as likable. That’s where community commerce comes in. Here’s how.

1. Put authenticity on display 

Community commerce works best when brands and consumers share a sense of belonging and emotional connection. By blending community, entertainment, shopping, and brand messaging, you can inspire authentic but unique product discovery and influence purchases. 

Authenticity is crucial in community commerce. Even the cool kids with sleek branding need to jump down a level or two. On Instagram, you may add highly stylized photos to attract attention, but that doesn’t work on TikTok.

Community commerce is about being real. It’s a chance for your brand to be its authentic self — whether that’s silly, playful, or vulnerable. 

2. Entertainment drives action 

On platforms like TikTok, users don’t want to be advertised to. Instead, they’re looking for unique experiences that are fun and entertaining! Whether it’s a game, funny dance, or a quirky contest or challenge, let your creativity run wild and jump on the latest trends.

Consumers want to discover new content that comes to life — and they don’t care if that content also contains products or showcases brands. That’s the beauty of community commerce content.

Remember when Ocean Spray, the 90-year-old brand, got a big boost after a viral TikTok video a few years back? It showed a man lip-syncing the Fleetwood Mac song “Dreams,” while riding a longboard and swigging the brand’s cranberry juice. 

The more entertaining you are, the more authentic you are. Low-cost airline are well known for this and have amassed a massive following on TikTok with their funny vids.

@ryanair Is your friendship worth €8 #pascal #nicolascage #ryanair ♬ original sound – ghoulia

Their content gets people talking. And more buzz means higher awareness and product discovery, which translates to purchases and consumer engagement. 

3. Tap into creator- and user-generated content  

We’re in a a creator economy. With TikTok’s reach growing, the best way to reach these consumers is by partnering with creators and influencers who are already on the platform. Working with creators (NB: a mix of different types!) will drive awareness of your brand and help you come across as more relatable.

Let your everyday fans be your creators, too. Encouraging user-generated content (UGC), such as videos of consumers using your products, heightens the authenticity factor. Most consumers appreciate the chance to get creative and engage with their favorite brands.

Over half (53%) of shoppers identify themselves as UGC creators, according to our research, and 70% are happy to share their social content with brands when asked.

This approach will help you build new communities. Just encourage everyone to use hashtags related to your brand and product sector, like #beauty or #fashion. Community commerce content is quick to create. TikTok was designed to make content creation easy and expensive, and videos can be uploaded within minutes.

4. Make your content shoppable 

All of the above is pretty superfluous if users can’t purchase directly through the app. Remember, as consumers are watching funny dance or outlandish challenge videos, they’re discovering new products and being inspired to purchase. 54% of TikTok users have purchased a brand after seeing it on the platform. That’s the spirit of community commerce and why #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has billions of views. But they can’t do that if your content isn’t shoppable!

TikTok Shop, for example, lets brands link their Shopify product catalogs, which will show up in the Shopping tab on your profile. Other e-commerce platforms, like Square and OpenCart, will be on board soon. You can also add product links to videos that feature your items. 

And link-in-bio solutions such as Like2Buy make all of your TikToks (and Instagrams!) shoppable without leaving the app.

5. Amplify your message beyond social

Social media shouldn’t be restricted to social! Towards the end of his Summit presentation, Ajay went on to explain that brands that do really well with media on TikTok are the ones that partner deeply with creators, and then very quickly turn on the taps for their media spend to amplify the messages that work well for the brand.

That means syndicating your creator content to everywhere else your shoppers are. Think product pages, emails, paid ads, and even in-store! Getting your content in front of shoppers everywhere they are means purchases can happen anywhere, anytime, instantly. Your bottom line will thank you for it.

Community commerce examples 

Brands are tapping into community commerce, energizing their customers, and driving sales in the process. Here’s three examples of community commerce in action.

Benefit Cosmetics

Benefit Cosmetics is a global beauty brand that decided to partner with TikTok Shop for their launch of Fan Fest Mascara, which was their biggest launch of the year. It was an exclusive launch with TikTok Shop, and they were the first brand to go live for 24 hours.

@gabriella__andrea @Benefit Cosmetics Fan Fest Mascara 9/10 • @Charlotte Tilbury magic cream & setting spray @loréal paris usa lumi glotion @Estée Lauder double wear foundation @tarte cosmetics sculpt tape & pressed powder deep tan (its broken lol) @e.l.f. Cosmetics @elfcosmetics monochromatic blush stick & lip stain @Milani berry amore blush & lip oil @maccosmetics @maccosmeticsusa stufio fix pressed powder @Laura Mercier loose setting powder @NYX Professional Makeup brow pencil @L.A. Girl Cosmetics lip liner @Too Faced an ancient highlight, bronze, blush palette im obsessed with! @Gisou hair oil @Gucci bloom perfume • #grwm #trending #gucci #guccibloom #makeuphacks #benefit #benefitcosmetics #fanfest #fanfestmascara #benefitfanfestmascara #benefitfanfest ♬ hits different speed up – elly

Since launch, they’ve had over 500 videos made featuring Fan Fest, with upwards of 63 million views. But more importantly, sales of the Fan Fest Mascara even outpaced their own e-commerce site with 48,000 units sold.

Maybelline 

In an effort to boost its brand image and emotional connection with Gen Z shoppers, Maybelline worked with TikTok beauty creator @jessica.eid_ and others to promote its Lash Sensational Sky HIgh Mascara and other products. The overall campaign brought in:

• 20 million impressions
• 553,000 engagements
• 20% increase in sales

Not only that, but the mascara went viral, with a 49% increase in sales during the week of the promotion and a 190% increase month-over-month. The mascara also sold out on Ulta Beauty’s website four times over. 

American Eagle

Apparel brand American Eagle partnered with TikTok star Addison Rae on the #InMyAEJeans back-to-school branded hashtag challenge in 2020. The campaign asked TikTok users to make a video with American Eagle’s song while wearing their favorite jeans from the brand.

Using the hashtag #InMyAEJeans for a chance to be featured in a duet with Rae. After the campaign, American Eagle had:

• 432,000 TikTokkers making 800,000 videos
• 7 billion views for the campaign

In another campaign, American Eagle’s Aerie line saw its OFFLINE crossover leggings sell out multiple times after TikTok influencer @hannahschlenker posted a video about them to her more than 800,000 followers. The video went viral, attracting nearly 900,000 likes. 

Win community commerce with social commerce 

Social media offers the potential to reach billions of people and an infinite number of communities. Engaging these consumers depends on creating fun, entertaining content that shows off your products in an authentic, meaningful way. 

Brands are already demonstrating the benefits of community commerce on TikTok. These strategies can help you kickstart your own community commerce strategy — so that you can foster emotional connections with shoppers that inspire them to get to know your brand and make a purchase or two.

And that’s only the beginning. Want to turn social content into shoppable experiences that drive sales wherever shoppers are? Read The ultimate guide to social commerce conversion to discover how.

FEATURED RESOURCE

Masterclass: Content commerce in the age of TikTok

Watch here

The creator economy market size is already valued over $100 billion and predicted to reach half a trillion dollars by 2027. This shows how shopping is evolving, what people think about authentic voices, and how the people that most influence shoppers’ lives has changed. 

Let’s take a look at what the creator economy is, why creator content is valuable, how brands can leverage the creator economy, and the current and upcoming trends we’re seeing in the market.

Chapters:

1. What is the creator economy?
2. Benefits of the creator economy
3. Creator economy trends
4. How brands can succeed in the creator economy
5. Getting started in the creator economy

What is the creator economy?

The creator economy refers to the highly valued market of content creators — every day social media users who make content on social platforms. Really it’s any monetized form of content creation.

When we talk about the creator economy, we’re talking about a system of people who create content that’s shared and consumed by their peers, their friends, and in the media space. It used to be you’d only find a very small community that was engaged in a niche topic. But now that niche content finds a bigger community through these networks.

This is really changing how we think about what content is, and how you get your message to audiences that were never before possible. Some stats to put the creator economy into perspective:

• There’s over 200 million global content creators — these creators are typically operating on at least two platforms
• 44% of advertisers plan to increase spending with creators in 2024
• Brands are anticipating increasing creator content budgets by 25% in 2024
• 39% of consumers watch more creator content now than the year prior

This shows how quickly the creator economy is being legitimized. For example look no further than Addison Rae, one of the most popular influencers out there, who just starred in a Super Bowl commercial. It’s a huge opportunity for your brand to work with creators!

Benefits of the creator economy

The digital space is competitive and it’s getting harder to reach audiences purely with digital ad spend. Working with creators gives you an opportunity to connect with consumers, with more relevant and cost-effective content.

Hear Bazaarvoice’s own Global Head of Community Growth & Engagement, Terry Hurlbutt, outline some of these opportunities below in this short clip from her Bazaarvoice Summit presentation on creator economy trends and social shopping strategies.

Expanding on from Terry’s expertise, let’s look into other benefits of the creator economy.

Boost authenticity

Creators build their brand(s) on making genuine connections with their audiences. They’re bringing their followers into their success, pitfalls, and even their stories of vulnerability in their daily lives. And that builds real connection. A connection strong enough that when they do offer a product, even in a paid partnership, their audiences are still really interested in learning more about the product their favorite creators share with them.

100% of shoppers we surveyed have purchased products based on a creator’s recommendations, which circles back to that trust that the creator has built with their audience. If you follow someone who posts daily and you enjoy their content, you’re more inclined to go and get a product they enjoy.

So there’s a real authenticity (and sales!) boost when you partner with creators.

More relevant content

By its nature, the creator economy makes content more relevant to shoppers. What’s so helpful here is that this user-generated content, content created by creators, helps consumers see how products look in a “real world” setting versus branded content, which still has a place but doesn’t necessarily show you that same real-world experience. 

We tend to see higher engagement when visual UGC is integrated with branded content. According to our research, the majority of shoppers want to see both branded photos (83%) and shopper photos (76%) to make a confident purchase on product pages.

There’s also the amazing opportunity for creator content to help you increase your audience engagement and reach. Shoppers are more likely to follow their favorite brands. And so the more creator content you have in your social mix, that’s more likely to pay off because they’re already following you on social. 

Keep up with content demands

We need a lot of content.

Everyone working in the creator economy realm and social sphere knows how much time and effort is spent really trying to beat those pesky algorithms and stand out in a crowded social marketplace.

Over 500 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every minute, 34 million videos uploaded a day on TikTok, and on Instagram there’s over 66,000 photos uploaded per minute. By comparison, those couple of pieces of branded content you upload per week aren’t even a drop in the ocean.

Rather than increasing investment to produce more content in-house, partner with creators who can pack your content supply chain with a steady flow of authentic content for you. Tapping into existing communities of creators like the Influenster community ensures your brand benefits from an always-on source of fresh content.

Creator economy trends

The creator economy will continue to evolve, such is the nature of working in the social. It’s important to in the loop. With that, as experts in the creator partnerships space, these are the latest creator economy trends we’re most excited about!

Brand storytelling 

Do you ever find yourself a little worried sometimes because social media algorithms are just too good? Let’s say you’re a parent so you check out an account talking about parenting hacks. The next thing you know your whole Explore page is full up of parenting hacks and ideas.

Your Reels are full of tips and tricks for parenting, cooking, and staying organized in the midst of child-rearing. Whether it’s through memes or people sharing their tough moments of the day, they really resonate with you. You feel grateful for that connection. They make a significant impact on your life, and you’re deeply thankful for them.

This is brand storytelling in action. These trends that speak directly to your audience’s personal experiences and connect them to your brand. The power of social media and the creator economy recognizes the diverse voices and perspectives that contribute to your sense of community.

Video content

First it killed the radio star, now video is coming for your static images. 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands this year. What video does that static images can’t is really show shoppers your products actually in use. Whether it’s how to build something, how a jacket looks in motion, how to assemble something, etc. Video provides a whole new avenue.

Let your analytics decide for you whether static images or video works best, but between IG Reels and TikTok’s boom, video is a trend that can’t be ignored for much longer. TikTok shops intend to grow the business 10x this year, hoping to get to about $17.5 billion revenue, so video provides commerce opportunities also.

Livestream shopping

Another potentially lucrative angle for the creator economy is livestream shopping. Still in its infancy, it’s one of the most closely followed industry trends. Already big in China and other parts of Asia, livestream shopping has been gradually making its way stateside and consumers are taking note.

Livestream shopping provides brands with a new, engaging way to get products in front of shoppers — who can purchase them instantly! 

How brands can succeed in the creator economy

Do you want to work with creators but you’re not sure where to start? Or maybe you’re experienced with influencer outreach and need a refresher? Here’s the best practices to follow.

Work with the right creator(s)

Not every creator will be the right fit for your brand. When you’re choosing creators to work with, influence (reach, engagement, brand values, and audience relationships) is more important than just their number of followers — 72% of consumers don’t actually care about follower counts and smaller audiences tend to see higher engagement anyway.

There’s a lot of different creators out there who may have smaller follower counts, but who will align more closely with your brand, and would make more impact. The priority should be finding creators who align with your brand values and style, and letting them go and create.

@bazaarvoiceofficial PSA: leverage the Creator Economy! Let creators create in their own authentic style #socialmediaweek #smw #smm  #creatoreconomy @adweek ♬ Taste It – TELL YOUR STORY music by Ikson

Lean into the expertise of your creators. You’re partnering with them because they know exactly the best way to connect with their audiences. And because they put out content every day, they have their finger on the pulse of what works best.

When you reach out to them, just be very honest and clear about what you’re looking for and what your expectations are. Working with high-quality, brand-safe creators is really important. Tools like Bazaarvoice affable.ai can help you find, identify, reach out to, and manage relationships and campaigns with these creators on a long-term basis.

Pick the right platform

TikTok is an entertainment platform first and a social platform second. So be entertaining. Brands can reach new audiences by engaging with this form of entertainment. A good example is Prose. The hair care brand went outside of their traditional creator demographic and partnered with a comedic TikTok influencer to endorse them, and they reached a whole new audience through this.

And large gaming communities already exist, which provide a natural platform for digital expansion.

For example, clothing giant Gucci teamed up with Rook Vanguard, a creator for online game platform Roblox. Together, they built the Gucci Garden Experience which allowed users to explore various boutiques of virtual items.

Use your everyday creators

Regular people are creating every day. If you have a phone and an Instagram account, you’re a part of the creator economy. Which is why at Bazaarvoice, we always advise that the most effective change you can make is using this user-generated content from everyday people.

Not only is UGC considered more trustworthy and influential, it also supports stronger brand storytelling as we mentioned earlier. Something a lot of brands struggle with on social media. Storytelling with UGC naturally leads to the community because you’re highlighting end users, and oftentimes those who were not paid, but just simply love your products.

And UGC doesn’t just tell a story, it drives sales too. 54% of shoppers say they’d be more likely to buy a product on social media if they could click the post and get product info right on the platform. Before, if you scrolled past a t-shirt you liked on Instagram, you’d then have to Google the brand and try and find the t-shirt manually. Now though, with an effective social commerce solution, shoppers can go directly from app to checkout. No fuss!

Sharing community content helps grow your social media presence and builds positive relationships with your customers. Leading to better advocacy, repeat customers, and increased sales. Creator-generated content is out there, you just need to go out and find it.

Have a budget

When you’re just starting out with creator outreach, budget can be as big or small as you want. It just depends on what you’re ready to do from an investment standpoint. If you’re treating it more like a pilot, maybe try to look for five, six creators and learn from that.

But there’s no benchmark answer. It depends on where you are in your creator marketing cycle and also just what your overall marketing budget for the year is. But 75% of brands and retailers spend over 60% of their budget on branded content — free up some space and costs with UGC creators.

Sample your products

If you want everyday shoppers posting content about your brand (reminder: you do!) you need to get your products in their hands. Product sampling is how you do it. A hyper-targeted product sampling campaign ensures you:

• Launch products with a bang by collecting reviews and imagery from your community pre-launch
• Give life core products by generating fresh reviews
• Learn valuable customer feedback to improve messaging and identify new market opportunities

Getting started in the creator economy

In the consumer-to-consumer era we’re living in, it’s creators who are your new storefront. They’re not only creating original content, but they’re influencing other shoppers. Consumers no longer rely on content or marketing from brands, they rely on authentic UGC created by their fellow shoppers. That’s what’s going to influence them to make a purchase, not you.

The creator economy is not a passing trend, it’s essential for the success of your business.

The first step to getting started with the creator economy is to leverage UGC, and those who are creating it. But not all content is created equally. You’ll want to make sure you find the right creator(s) for your brand and team up with a platform that can combine the power of creators with social commerce solutions.

LEARN MORE

From pixels to profits: Creator trends and social shopping strategies

Watch here

Showcase your products in action with creator videos, showing real-life use cases and seamlessly fitting into student lifestyles. Ultimately positioning your brand as the back to school hero they’ve been searching for.

Chapters: 

1. Unlocking the impact of social media videos this back to school shopping season
2. 10 creator-led, video campaign strategies
3. Easily find creators with AI tools

Unlocking the impact of social media videos this back to school shopping season

Back to school shoppers will be hitting the stores soon, but what’s becoming the go-to for finding cool stuff? Social media platforms! It’s like the new Google, helping shoppers discover products and making it easy to buy them immediately.

A survey in November 2023 found that over 67% of folks aged 16 to 24 in the USA stumbled upon a product or service through a social media video that randomly popped up on their feed. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

And when it comes to back to school shopping, social media is where it’s at. Over 62% of shoppers turn to platforms like Instagram and TikTok to snag those sweet deals (compared to 56% last year).

More so, going by the Bazaarvoice data, over half of consumers, at least 57%, have hit the “buy now” button after watching a product video on social media.

So, what’s driving it? It’s all about showing real people using the product, giving tutorials, or doing live demos. And, of course, content creators play a big role too! Seeing an influencer rave about a product or watching a brand video can seal the deal.

Let’s dive into some brands that have nailed it with their awesome video strategies blending the latest trends. 

10 creator-led, video campaign strategies 

1. Leveraging product placement in a school supply haul video on YouTube

In 2023, Casetify partnered with influencer Zhirelle for a shopping haul video, hitting Target for her school supplies. Zhirelle meticulously breaks down each stationery item she snagged, elaborating on why she chose it and how it’s been a game-changer for her. 

Seamlessly, Zhirelle incorporates product placement, highlighting Casetify’s durable phone cases tailored for students, all while emphasizing their support for art students and creators by showcasing their designs. This strategic move not only amplifies Casetify’s product visibility but also serves as a savvy incentive for the content creator.

Why it works:

• You get access to a wider audience than it might reach through your marketing channels
• Integrating your product into the video can capture the audience’s attention and potentially increase engagement for your brand
• It makes it easy for shoppers to purchase the product directly after watching the haul, as the video description often includes affiliate links or discount codes

2. Authenticity in action with behind-the-scenes videos on Instagram and YouTube

With behind-the-scenes videos considered highly engaging, American Eagle teamed up with influencers Maddie & Kenzie to craft a genuine narrative for their campaign. The goal? Connect with their customer community personally and inspire students to rock AE jeans in their everyday looks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by American Eagle (@americaneagle)

The sisters got hands-on, trying out samples and putting their spin on the pieces. They shared feedback with the AE team, highlighting which outfits resonated most with their vibe. And it wasn’t all about pushing products — behind-the-scenes videos offered a peek into the real story behind the polished content, giving viewers a glimpse of the genuine effort that goes into it all. 

Why it works: 

• The raw, unedited moments during attire trials reveal the genuine person behind the scenes, making recommendations believable
• Witnessing the effort behind the scenes fosters community, trust, engagement, and inspiration
• You can offer unscripted, diverse content across multiple platforms

3. Integrate back to school videos with the latest TikTok trends

TikTok’s “For You” page has changed the game regarding shopping on social media. Whether serving up outfit inspiration with Get Ready With Me (GRWM) videos or showing off styling tips and room decor, content creators are shaping what’s hot and what’s not.

You’ve got to jump on those trends like the 2024 ins and outs list or dive into the silent reviews trend on TikTok. And for clothing, footwear, and makeup brands, it’s like hitting the jackpot! You can get your products reviewed while riding the wave of the latest viral trends on TikTok and Instagram. It’s not just about copying and pasting. You must seamlessly blend these trends into your back to school content in a fresh, creative, and relevant way.

Why it works: 

• Keeps your content relevant
• These viral trends are relatable to students, sparking major enthusiasm for your brand or message.
• Increases brand visibility and awareness

4. Embracing rawness with unpolished video content for YouTube Shorts and TikTok 

Jansport, the famous backpack brand, decided to switch things up for their back to school sales. Instead of heavily curated photos and images, they used raw, unedited, quick videos. 

They jumped on this viral trend of less polished content. With icons like thrift queen Emma Rogue, indie band DWLLRS, skater Eunice Chang, and gamer girl Krystalogy, they grabbed their iPhones and filmed videos all about school life and friendship.

It’s not just about what happens in the classroom — it’s about those moments outside, hanging around in cafes, stores, or skateboarding with friends. Jansport’s “Always with you” campaign perfectly captures how their backpacks are there for all those lifelong moments.

Why it works: 

• Unfiltered moments capture the essence of reality
• They could cut through the noise with the unscripted look, raw videos away from the polished veneer of traditional content 
• Featuring real people in real-life situations made them stand out as the target audience could relate to it

5. How-to and tutorial videos on prepping for back to school shopping

Sadie Aldis, a content creator with over a million YouTube subscribers, teamed up with Amazon last year to bring some serious value, especially during this crazy back to school shopping season. Her how-to and tutorial videos speak directly to students’ needs and interests.

Her 26-minute video covers everything from organizing school files to jazzing up your school bag, setting goals, and even keeping your skin game on point for prepping for back to school. 

But Sadie’s video isn’t just about giving tips — it’s about building a community of people looking for organization hacks, DIY projects for spicing up your school supplies, and even some fashion inspiration to make you stand out in the halls.

Tutorial videos like Sadie’s are a powerful way to showcase your products in the most natural way possible. It’s all about weaving them into a bigger story — giving viewers valuable content while subtly showing off some excellent products.

Why it works: 

• Increases the likelihood of getting into the DMs of your potential customers as how-to or tutorial videos have a high chance of shareability
• The informative and valuable content not only reaches the established follower base but has the potential to go viral as viewers share it with their friends, family, and followers, who may also find the content valuable
• In-depth product demonstrations, reviews and tutorials keep viewers engaged

6. Let your employees be the face of your video content on social media

Do you know what’s hot in the creator marketing world? Putting your employees at the front and centre to discuss your brand and products. In 2023, the footwear brand Foot Locker hopped on that trend by rolling out its “It’s Sneaker Season” campaign right at the heart of the back to school shopping season.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Foot Locker (@footlocker)

The video starred their staff — the Foot Locker Stripers — alongside sneaker shoppers, especially Gen Zers, hitting the store for fresh kicks. It was like the ultimate sneak peek into sneaker heaven, as you could see them smell those sneakers in all the videos. 

Why it works: 

• Highlighting employees as influencers adds credibility to the social video, as they possess specific knowledge or skills related to the topic
• Employees act as nano-influencers within the company, well-versed in the products and features
• Through their social media networks of friends, family, and acquaintances, it’s easy to broaden the reach of the videos. People tend to be more engaged with content shared by individuals they know, resulting in more likes, comments, and shares, ultimately boosting overall engagement

7. “Shop with me” is the new “GRWM”

Check out The Wads, a mom influencer promoting Target with her “Shop with me” video on YouTube. So, she heads over to Target to scope out all the back to school gear for 2023. And she picks up so much cool stuff that’ll have the kids going wild. She even swings by the office supplies and dollar spot sections.

If you’re unfamiliar, “Shop with me” videos are like a twist on haul videos. YouTube creators bring their cameras along on a shopping trip and then dish out all the deets on their finds when they get home. This trend has blown up big time! In the past few years, watch time has shot up over 10 times on mobile alone. It’s like everyone’s hooked on watching other people shop.

Why it works: 

• It gives audiences a chance to experience their products in a fun, familiar way, leading to higher engagement than traditional ads
• Viewers see how products look and function in real-life settings 

8. Product giveaway videos featuring YouTube content creators

Everyone’s on the hunt for discounts and killer deals when it comes to back to school shopping and sales. Teaming up with content creators to shout out those value-packed deals feels way more authentic than just pushing ads in people’s faces. It’s like getting a friend’s recommendation — it hits home with viewers and increases the chances of turning them into customers.

Princess Polly, an Australian online fashion boutique, partnered with influencer Paige Kaiser to hype up their back to school giveaway — $1000 cash, a $2000 wardrobe, and a $500 UberEats voucher. They partnered with Paige with some gift products to feature in her videos while spreading the word about their giveaway to connect with their target audience.

Why it works: 

• Giveaways incentivize viewers to watch the entire video
• Amplifies the reach and impact
• It creates more UGC as viewers can share content in comments or social media posts 

9. Shoppable livestream events

As part of their One Walmart initiative to make shopping seamless, retail giant Walmart teamed up with suppliers Skin U by Neutrogena and consumer health brand Kenvue for a livestream event on Talk Shop Live. This social selling network helped promote Walmart’s back to school in-store and online shopping campaign.

During the event, beauty influencer Mei Mei and a Neutrogena R&D scientist shared tips and tricks for healthy skincare routines, boosting shoppers’ confidence for the new school year. 

Why it works:   

• Shoppable videos provide an interactive experience, enabling viewers to click or tap on the video, seamlessly directing them to purchase pages
• Witnessing others use and endorse products makes them more appealing to viewers, creating a sense of social proof
• Allows viewers to transition from discovery to purchase within seconds of finding a product they like, ultimately shortening the marketing cycle
• You obtain  valuable first-party data insights on which products garner the most interest and clicks, allowing for future influencer partnerships and product development based on that information

10. TikTok Shop

Social media is exploding as a product discovery hub, and TikTok’s shoppable videos, “TikTok Shop”, take it to the next level. It seamlessly blends e-commerce with engaging content, allowing viewers to instantly discover and purchase products within the app. 

Shoppable videos integrate clickable hotspots, such as product tags or links, directly into the short-form video. These hotspots can reveal product details and reviews or whisk viewers to the purchase page.

Partnering with content creators who resonate with your target audience unlocks a powerful marketing strategy. Their voices and personalities build trust and excitement around your products, driving viewers to explore and purchase effortlessly.

Why it works: 

• Removes the friction of leaving the video to find and purchase a product — significantly boosts conversion rates
• Seamless buying journey, keeping viewers engaged throughout the entire process
• Valuable data on viewer behavior and product interest

Easily find creators with AI tools

For businesses like yours operating within tight marketing budgets this back to school shopping season, finding the perfect content creators for these videos can be a game-changer. Are you curious to know more? There’s a simple solution waiting for you!

If only things were that easy…

The fact is, understanding usage rights is a must for every brand that wants to collaborate with influencers and other creators. Nearly 80% of people tag brands in their social media posts at least sometimes, creating lots of opportunities to leverage user-generated content (UGC) and influencer content. 

In this guide, you’ll learn how to repurpose creator content without landing in hot legal waters — or getting (gasp!) “canceled” by a creator.

Chapters:

1. What are usage rights?
2. Why do usage rights matter
3. Types of licensing agreements for usage rights
4. Best practices for securing usage rights
5. Streamline creator partnerships with Bazaarvoice 

What are usage rights?

Usage rights determine how someone — a business or individual — is allowed to use a piece of content they didn’t create or own the rights to. 

When you partner with an influencer or UGC creator, you need a usage rights agreement (often called a licensing agreement) that will define where and how you’ll use the content. The agreement also defines how long you’re allowed to use the content. Some agreements grant usage rights “in perpetuity” (meaning forever), while others set a limitation.

For example, an influencer could grant usage rights to their video review of your product in perpetuity on all digital platforms and also allow you to repurpose the video material for other types of content.

Why do usage rights matter

Agreeing on usage rights is important to set expectations for your influencer collaborations. It puts everyone on the same page regarding your partnership and lowers the risk of legal issues as a result of copyright infringement.

If someone sues you for copyright infringement, you could be on the hook for financial damages. What’s more, you’d have to shelve any marketing campaigns that use the content, adding to the cost. 

In addition to lawsuits, your brand could suffer reputational damage — and reputation is everything. Many content creators have loyal followings who might no longer buy your products if the creator goes public with their bad experience. People are drawn to controversy. Coming back from a scandal can take you years and cost plenty of dollars.

Be aware that you also need a licensing agreement for any other copyrighted material a creator uses in their content, like music. Failing to do so could lead to expensive lawsuits.

Just recently, Sony Music Entertainment sued beauty brand OFRA for not getting permission to use copyrighted music when collaborating with influencers. In Sony’s view, the popular music added to the impact of the influencer videos, so OFRA was supposed to compensate them for their use. A similar lawsuit took place between UMG Recordings and Vital Pharmaceuticals.

You might wonder why brands are liable for copyright violations committed by influencers they partner with. After all, you didn’t do anything wrong. Well, the reason is that it’s the brand’s responsibility to verify that the sponsored content doesn’t infringe on copyrighted materials.

So, your usage rights agreements should make it clear that creators aren’t allowed to use content they don’t own.

Types of licensing agreements for usage rights

When you partner with a creator or influencer, or source UGC from social, you’ll establish usage rights using a license agreement.

Creative Commons

A Creative Commons license allows you to use a piece of content as long as you give credit to the copyright owner. There’s seven kinds of Creative Commons licenses, some more restrictive than others:

• CC BY: Allows commercial reuse, distribution, adaptation, and remixing across formats and mediums with attribution to the original creator
• CC BY-SA: Same conditions as the CC BY license, but you must also license the modified content you created under the same conditions
• CC BY-NC: Same conditions as CC BY, except it doesn’t allow for commercial use
• CC BY-NC-SA: You must give credit to the original creator and use the same license for the modified content. Commercial use isn’t allowed
• CC BY-ND: You’re not allowed to adapt the content, but you can share and copy it across formats and mediums with attribution. Commercial use is permitted
• CC BY-NC-ND: The content can be shared only in its original format, with attribution, and for non-commercial purposes

Remember that once a creator applies a Creative Commons license to their work, they can’t revoke it.

Royalty-free

Under a royalty-free licensing agreement, the creator gives you permission to use their content for a one-time payment. You won’t need to pay royalties every time you use the image or video, and the license is granted for an unlimited time period.

This is a common license on stock photo websites, where you can purchase a piece of content and then reuse it as many times as you want. Typically, you don’t have to credit the creator, and you’re allowed to change the content to suit your needs.

Keep in mind that a royalty-free license doesn’t grant you exclusive rights to the content. Other brands can purchase the same image or video and use it in their campaigns.

Rights-managed

In terms of reuse, a rights-managed license is more limited than a royalty-free one. It permits you to use the content in a single project, but it doesn’t cover additional usage in other campaigns. 

On the plus side, a rights-managed license can give you exclusive rights to the content so you can be sure your competitors won’t use it (and you rake in brand authenticity points).

Best practices for securing usage rights

Follow these best practices to get your creator partnerships off on the right foot and avoid litigation. Happy legal team = happy life. 

1. Do your research

Not all types of content have the same usage rights, which is why you should first research where the content came from. 

Note: This applies only if you want to use existing content, not when you’re collaborating with an influencer who has yet to create content for your brand. In this case, jump down to step two, “Get the creator’s permission.”

Let’s say you found an image that would work perfectly on your website’s product page. But there’s no attribution, so you have no idea where the image came from. To find out, try doing a reverse Google Image search, which will pull up all the websites featuring the same image.

If the image came from a stock photo library like Shutterstock, then it’ll be easy to determine usage rights. On Shutterstock, for example, there are “Standard” and “Enhanced” licenses that depend on your subscription type. Each license specifies how you’re allowed to use the content.

What about videos on Instagram or TikTok that you want to reuse? The first step is to double-check if the account owner actually created the video and didn’t just repost it from somewhere else. Then, contact the creator to get their written permission.

2. Get the creator’s permission

If you’re partnering with an influencer who will produce UGC for your brand, you’ll also need a contract to establish usage rights.

Written permission can be in the form of a formal licensing agreement that describes where and how you’ll use the content. You might also specify compensation and how long you intend to use it.

If you just want to share a creator’s content to your profile, then a simple message asking their permission could suffice (the kids call it sliding into their DMs). However, make sure to clear this with your legal team first, especially if you’re not sure if the creator has used someone else’s copyrighted material in their content, like music.

Remember to archive these communications in case any legal issues arise. The more receipts you have, the better.

3. Be ready to negotiate

Some creators are happy to share their content for free. Others want to be compensated for their time and effort, so you might need to negotiate their rates.

Compensation depends on many factors. If someone grants you an exclusive, perpetual license to their content, then they might ask for a much higher fee. Consider limiting the duration of the license to six months or a year to get a lower rate.

The scope of usage also influences compensation. If you only plan to repurpose a creator’s video on your website, it could give you some room to negotiate their fee.

Be upfront with any compensation limitations. For example, some brands prefer to pay first-time collaborators in merchandise. Mentioning this at the very end of your negotiation could frustrate the creator and put them off from working with you.

4. Use digital asset management software

As your influencer marketing partnerships grow, you’ll need an easy way to manage your digital assets and ensure you aren’t violating their usage rights.  

With digital asset management software, you can track usage rights for all of your assets in one place. It will prevent you (and anyone else on your team) from using content with an expired license.

Streamline creator partnerships with Bazaarvoice 

Strategic partnerships with the right creators will put your brand in front of the right audiences. But finding the right creator, securing usage rights, and ensuring they produce on-brand content is a lot to juggle at once. Bazaarvoice’s Creator Partnerships does the heavy lifting for you with our community of trusted creators.

You just need to set content goals and define your audience and messaging. Then, a Bazaarvoice Strategist will take over to find the right creator and negotiate the terms. Any content they create can be repurposed on your other channels so you can make the most out of the partnership and bask in the benefits of influencer marketing.

That’s mainly because the right influencer marketing platform saves time, reduces overhead costs, provides you with metrics extending beyond just brand awareness, and streamlines your end-to-end campaigns. Emerging AI functions can also keep you from drowning in a sea of tedious manual outreach.

But with so many platforms available, choosing the right one can seem pretty daunting. Here’s everything you need to know about finding the perfect solution for your brand’s unique needs.

Chapters: 

1. What is an influencer marketing platform?
2. Key features of a great influencer marketing platform 
3. How to pick the right influencer marketing platform 
4. The best influencer marketing platforms to get you started
5. Scale your campaigns with influencer marketing platforms‍

What is an influencer marketing platform?

An influencer marketing platform is automated software that helps you find relevant influencers, facilitates campaign management, and provides analytics to measure campaign performance.

Considering the sheer volume of influencers and content generated on social media, finding, filtering, and connecting with influencers of your choice can be a challenge. Not to mention managing them and evaluating their performance. 

Influencer marketing platforms are a powerful tool to streamline this process. They’re a centralized hub for everything influencer marketing-related to help you run a data-driven campaign effectively and efficiently. 

Key features of a great influencer marketing platform 

A specialized influencer marketing platform addresses solves for the above pain points head-on, ensuring you spend less time on execution and measurement and more time on overall brand strategy.

‍1. Find on-brand real creators in less time 

Influencer marketing platforms provide a range of filters such as age, gender, location, language, interest, and follower range. These options allow you to select creators that best suit your preference. 

For example, you’re a vegan makeup brand looking for a niche beauty creator whose content resonates with your target audience. All you need to do is apply filters and generate a list of influencers that fit your requirements within seconds. 

Some platforms may claim to have a massive database. But here’s a piece of advice: for many traditional influencer marketing approaches, a large database can pose problems. Their search functionality is often limited, clunky, not intuitive, and ineffective. Therefore, the database’s size isn’t crucial. What matters most is the ability to search and discover the best fit.

Some platforms let you dig deeper by showing you a content creator’s brand affinity, the growth in their follower count over the years, and the number of paid and organic posts they have shared. These filters are pivotal in selecting the right influencer for your campaign.

2. Global reach

Gone are the days when influencer marketing was confined to regional boundaries. Today, influencer marketing platforms provide access to a global community of content creators. It enables you to engage influencers beyond your regional confines, facilitating international campaigns tailored for targeted audiences concentrated in specific regions.

Consider this scenario: If you’re a US-based brand seeking content creators in Dubai, utilizing the location filter on these platforms allows you to swiftly compile a list of those based in Dubai. This effortless global outreach helps you reach a wider audience.  

3. Spot fake followers

How can you identify those who have authentic, loyal, engaged followers from those who have mainly fake or ghost followers? Influencer platforms have a vetting process, employing advanced algorithms to identify and filter out suspicious accounts.  

They can spot fake influencers by analyzing their follower growth, engagement timeline, and fake or ghost follower profiles in their follower list. You can also evaluate on your own if you see rapid spikes or irregular patterns in follower acquisition over the months.

4. Streamlined campaign management

After helping you finalize the list of influencers, an influencer marketing platform works as a centralized communication hub connecting brands, influencers, and other stakeholders. You can consolidate all your influencer management needs into a one-stop solution:

• Easily distribute campaign briefs and track all conversations with individual influencers in one place, saving time and resources
• Save time using recommended email templates and automate email scheduling and other repetitive tasks, such as sending reminders and managing contracts
• Manage product gifting by integrating the platform with your e-commerce stores on Shopify, Magento, and more. Easily create gift/sample orders and manage payments from one dashboard without creating a spreadsheet to track your product deliveries

5. Real-time monitoring of content 

Influencer marketing platforms can actively monitor influencer content across various social media platforms in real time — eliminating the need to manually scour through individual influencer profiles on different channels to keep track of content. 

Imagine eliminating the need to constantly hop between platforms, piecing together the puzzle of influencer activity. Instead, you gain access to a comprehensive view of influencer content across social media channels with a single click. Platforms can scan for mentions of your brand or campaign hashtags, providing instant insights into how your campaign performs and how influencers represent your brand.

The significant impact of real-time monitoring is that you can tweak your strategy midway through the campaign, allowing for better campaign targeting and messaging.

6. Track and monitor sales

To monitor conversions driven by creators, influencer marketing platforms incorporate a built-in feature that generates distinct custom codes and links (affiliate links) for each influencer engaged in a campaign. These links are used to identify the traffic and sales generated from each influencer’s audience.

You can also create custom promo codes unique to each influencer, allowing seamless sales tracking attributed to their promotional efforts.

7. Evaluate overall campaign performance 

Utilize sophisticated metrics such as earned media value (EMV), estimated reach, impressions, sentiment analysis, and others to evaluate the effectiveness of your campaign, as influencer marketing platforms come with these in-built features. 

You get access to downloadable reports for in-depth analysis of campaign performance. You can leverage the data to evaluate consumer feedback and make informed, data-driven decisions for upcoming campaigns. 

8. Manage creators’ payment effectively and securely

Eliminate manual invoices, multiple spreadsheets, and chasing payments — influencer marketing platforms do everything. Payments are automatically triggered on campaign completion or have flexible payment options as performance-based incentives. Plus, you can easily set up recurring payments for ongoing collaborations. 

Since many platforms facilitate global influencer collaborations, they have features boasting global payment capabilities and secure payment gateways. Transparent transaction records are also provided, allowing for easy payment tracking.

This transparency fosters trust and confidence between the brand and influencer, potentially paving the way for long-term partnerships.

How to pick the right influencer marketing platform

With so many influencer marketing platforms out there, each offering unique features and functionalities, it can be tricky knowing which is right for your needs. What key questions should you ask before choosing an influencer marketing platform?

Evaluate platform features

Strength of influencer search engine. Evaluate the platform in helping you identify influencers that resonate with your target audience:

• How many influencers does the platform have in its database? 
• Are the influencer profiles vetted? 
• What social media channels does the platform cover?
• Is the platform easy to use?
• What type of features does the platform provide?

Ability to vet content creators and their audience. Focus on in-depth insights about influencers so you can make informed decisions and grow your roster of influencers accordingly. Check if the platform can help you find the following information about influencers:

• Does the platform provide data like audience location, age, interests, etc., to match with the potential customers? 
• Do I get an influencer’s follower breakdown on each social channel? 
• Can I check the creator’s influence across all social media channels?
• Does the engine have measures to identify influencers with inflated follower counts or inauthentic engagement?
• Can I get detailed performance metrics for potential influencers (engagement rates, reach, audience demographics)?
• Can I track the influencer’s follower growth and engagement timeline over the last few months?

Ease of influencer relationship management. Ask about built-in features in the CRM to easily connect with shortlisted content creators and how it can help manage a large number of content creators in one go or if you plan to run multiple campaigns simultaneously with different sets of content creators:

• Does the platform offer built-in messaging tools for seamless communication with creators?
• Can I share campaign briefs, assets, and content guidelines with creators within the platform?
• Can I send personalized messages or broadcast messages to groups of creators?
• Can I create and manage contracts directly within the platform, including standard terms and custom clauses?
• Does the CRM integrate with other marketing or social media management tools you use?
• Does it offer robust security measures to protect your brand data and influencer information?
• Does the platform provide training resources or tutorials on using the CRM effectively?
• Does the provider offer dedicated customer support to assist you with questions or issues?

Content approval and monitoring. Content tracking in an influencer marketing campaign is crucial for measuring success and optimizing future efforts. Ideally, find a platform that reduces lengthy email chains and minimizes the risk of miscommunication:

• Does the tool give you access to send campaign briefs? 
• Can I evaluate the mail open rate? 
• Does it allow influencers to submit draft content for review? 

Product gifting management. Product gifting is one of the activities that can consume a lot of your time if not automated: 

• Do I get to integrate my e-commerce store like Shopify to send influencers products of their choice? 
• Can I send gifts to influencers without hopping between platforms for timely product delivery?

Affiliate program management. An affiliate influencer program is one where you pay the creators based on their performance in sales, leads, conversions, engagement, or reach. When running such a campaign, there are capabilities that you must check for in a platform:

• Does it create unique affiliate links for individual creators?
• Is the tool equipped to track sales through affiliate links?
• Can it be integrated with an e-commerce platform to track purchases?
• Does it streamline the process of attributing sales to the influencers?
• Is the process to automate the payment in-built? 

Analytics to measure ROI. Lastly, you must be able to evaluate the impact of the campaigning and prove the ROI in terms of revenue generated:

• Can I measure the impact using KPIs like reach, engagement, conversions, leads, or more?
• Does it track the content creator’s performance and the campaign performance?
• Can I analyze audience sentiments (positive or negative) toward my campaign? 
• Does the tool give a wide dashboard view and downloadable reports in Excel or PowerPoint formats to share with the team? 

Research and compare platforms

Tailor your selection process by identifying influencer marketing platforms that align with your specific needs. Begin by shortlisting a handful of platforms for a thorough evaluation. Delve into G2 reviews and case studies, extracting valuable insights into how diverse brands have successfully leveraged each platform.

Make the most of free trials and demos to experience the platforms firsthand. This hands-on approach allows you to gauge user-friendliness and assess whether the features meet your requirements.

Additionally, pay close attention to the platform’s customer support options. Understanding their onboarding process and the assistance provided can be crucial to your decision-making process. 

Prioritize user interface

Opt for a platform featuring an intuitive interface that is effortlessly navigable for you and your team. Evaluate whether the platform extends mobile access, enabling convenient management while on the move.

Verify that the platform offers ample training resources and provides continuous support, ensuring you can optimize its full potential over time.

Transparency and security 

Choose a platform that prioritizes data security and complies with relevant privacy regulations. Verify that the platform provides clear, precise data on campaign performance and influencer activity to ensure transparency. Scrutinize the platform’s contractual terms.

Future scalability 

A platform that provides flexibility to adjust to evolving campaign needs and strategies, allowing for the addition of more influencers as per your campaign requirements, can make your influencer marketing game stronger and adaptable.

The best influencer marketing platforms to get you started 

Upfluence

‍

Upfluence is an influencer marketing platform headquartered in New York. The platform enables you to discover influencers, manage campaigns, carry out payments, send products, and analyze campaigns with the platform. You can connect the software with other tools like CMS, mailing software, and more. 

GRIN

‍

GRIN is a creator management platform that helps manage influencer campaigns, customer advocacy, branded content, athlete marketing, affiliate marketing, etc. It allows you to find influencers, handle payments, send products to creators, and analyze their performance as an influencer marketing platform.

Aspire (formerly AspireIQ)

Aspire is one of the leading influencer marketing platforms headquartered in San Francisco. The platform features all the functions of an influencer marketing platform, like finding influencers, communicating with them, managing relationships, creating content, and measuring the ROI. The platform has created numerous content resources for customers and a course for influencers and brands.

Bazaarvoice affable.ai

Bazaarvoice affable.ai is redefining influencer marketing with an AI-driven platform that scales creator marketing efforts, saving up to 80% of the time spent on campaign management. This all-in-one solution empowers brands, retailers, and agencies to seamlessly source, manage, track, and measure creator and ambassador programs, using groundbreaking Generative AI-powered search, stands out.

PSA: The platform also integrates with the Bazaarvoice Social Commerce solution, enabling brands to maximize the ROI of creator marketing by strategically repurposing influential content across marketing, e-commerce, and retail channels. 

Scale your campaigns with influencer marketing platforms‍

You now have the answer to what an influencer marketing platform is. You are ready to go platform shopping and create world-class campaigns to persuade your audience.

If you’re still confused, though, we can help you out. Get a product tour with Bazaarvoice affable.ai to clearly see how a creator marketing platform works.

LEARN MORE

Masterclass: How to update your influencer marketing program for 2024

Watch here

In essence, influencer marketing is about collaborating with the right individuals who can build awareness of your brand with their audience. It’s important for your brand equity to get these partnerships up and running well from the get-go.

By clearly outlining expectations, brand standards, campaign details, and more before a partnership kicks off, you can attract the best influencers to your project and help them create better, more powerful content.

What is an influencer brief?

An influencer brief is a document that outlines your influencer marketing campaign goals, guidelines, and content deliverables with any influencers you plan to collaborate with. It tells your creators what you need and expect from that in order to have a successful partnership that meets your objectives.

Your brand should have an in-house influencer brief template (accessible to anyone who communicates with creators) that contains basic information like brand guidelines, contact deets, and core values, etc, but that can also be customized to suit each influencer campaign.

Why should I partner with influencers?

The right influencers can help you create a goldmine of user-generated content (UGC) — reviews, photos, and videos created by customers rather than brands.

UGC is the key to earning customer trust and loyalty. 84% of millennials say UGC affects their purchasing decisions, while almost half of Gen Z customers say social media is their top inspiration for buying a product — even more so than recommendations from family and friends.

The six elements of a strong influencer brief

A strong influencer brief helps ensure you and the creators you partner with are on the same page. It’s one thing to say you want winning content — it’s another to show an influencer what winning content actually looks like.

It can also help you attract the right partners to your project. 

Influencers — especially the good ones — are picky. They want to work with brands and retailers that align with their mission and audience. According to a recent Bazaarvoice influencer survey, 62% of content creators said they’ve turned down potential brand partnerships and 35% declined because the brief they received was unclear or not a good fit.

Digital creator Marina Mitrakos says strong influencer briefs are critical to affirming a good fit between brands and creators (and their audiences).

“It helps me decide, ‘Is this something that fits with who I am and my audience? Or is this something that feels off and I can’t produce for?’” Marina said. “Influencer briefs help set clear expectations and ensure both sides of the partnership that the project will work out.”

Creating an influencer brief will also save you time and money. No more going back and forth with creators on revisions or retakes. No more off-brand content that makes you scratch your head and ask, “Where did they get that idea?” No more confusion from partners about what to include in a post.

Here’s six elements to include in an influencer brief to attract the right influencers and create effective content together. 

1. Your brand story

Building brand awareness and maintaining brand loyalty isn’t easy. It’s difficult enough to do this with brand-generated content. But influencer-created content? Even trickier! 

The key to helping influencers create content that generates brand loyalty? Storytelling. After all, research has shown that the human brain is wired for stories. 

A brief that outlines the story you want influencers to tell will help them craft content that goes beyond the product specs. This section gives creators the info they need to paint a bigger picture of your brand. 

• What makes your company unique? 
• Is there a compelling origin story? 
• What’s your brand’s “why”? 

Explain those answers here — so influencers can tell their audience great stories about your brand. This is the kind of information that helps followers more easily connect emotionally with your products.

2. Campaign summary

Influencers will have immediate questions: What do they need to do? What are your goals? 

Answer those questions in your campaign summary. Include an overview of the campaign, deliverables, and overall objectives. With influencer briefs, clarity is the name of the game. Consider starting with a one-sentence, high-level description of the campaign. For example: 

This is our holiday influencer campaign, where you and your followers can get to know our brand and seasonal products better through fun and creative videos.

After the 30,000-foot overview, dive into the logistical details. For example: 

• How many posts does the influencer need to create? 
• What hashtags should they use?
• What products should they promote? 
• What’s the theme of the campaign? 
• What do you hope the campaign will do? (Increase brand awareness, sell more of a specific product, drive X amount of additional UGC like social imagery or product reviews from the influencer’s audience)

When brands and creators disconnect on campaign fundamentals like these, it can lead to confusion, frustration, and ineffective content. That’s the exact opposite of what you want. 

3. Product usage

This section is the instruction manual part of your influencer brief. After reading, an influencer should know exactly how your product works and how to use it. This part of your brief should also outline expectations for how they showcase the product. Should the content show the product in action or do you want an unboxing video? 

For example, say you’re a pet care company. Maybe you want a cute video of a dog wagging its tail and sniffing the box as its human opens it. So much excitement! 

Or maybe you want to show the durability of your new chew-proof dog toy and suggest the influencer record them playing tug-of-war with their pup. 

In this section, you’ll also want to outline how to overcome hesitations users have about the product. What are some common questions that consumers ask about the item? How could an influencer’s content answer those questions? 

For instance, maybe the same pet care company has a product that allows pet owners to give their pups peanut butter as a treat. Great news for dogs — but pet owners might worry it’s hard to clean. An influencer brief could suggest a video showing the creator taking the toy apart and easily wiping off the mess. With influencer marketing, the possibilities are endless.

4. Brand guidelines 

Every piece of content an influencer creates should strengthen your brand and align with your voice or standards. If you have brand guidelines, send them over. If you don’t, here’s a few suggestions to set influencers up for success:

• Words your brand likes to use (and ones you never use)
• Specific colors you want your photos and videos to include
• Existing product descriptions, so the influencer doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel to describe how the item works

These are all helpful tidbits to tell influencers before they create UGC for your brand. Your influencer brief should include details about messaging, tone, content must-dos, etc.

Think of your brand guidelines as guardrails — not total roadblocks. (Remember, allow some space for the influencer to be creative. That’s why you’ve hired them!) Instead, these guidelines are helpful barriers that keep collaborators’ content from straying off course.

5. Content inspiration 

Sometimes, lists of do’s and don’ts can only go so far. Creatives need to see in-the-wild examples of what you have in mind. This is where content inspiration like mood boards come into play. 

If you’ve worked with creators before, this piece of your influencer brief can include links to past work that generated great results. 

However, if you’re new to influencer partnerships, don’t fret. Create a folder or mood board that includes examples of effective work. For example, link to your favorite posts on the company’s Instagram page or in-house videos that were popular on TikTok.

Bonus: Create an “anti” mood board. Can you find examples of content that absolutely doesn’t work for your brand? Seeing “what not to do” can help guide influencers and keep them from creating misaligned content. 

Finally, are there other brands or retailers whose work you want to emulate? These don’t have to be direct competitors. Often, they’re companies in another industry whose content you enjoy. 

Maybe their campaigns always include humor. Or the lighting in their photography and videos always makes the product look amazing. Include all that inspiration here — but be sure to also explain how your campaign will differ.

6. Payment terms 

Many influencers expect to be paid for their brand partnerships. This area of your influencer brief should include: 

• Terms and conditions (for example, do they need to sign an NDA? Is there a cancellation clause?)
• Compensation type (flat rate, commissions, affiliate income)
• Payment method
• Payment dates

While the main goal of an influencer brief is to drive on-brand, impactful content, this section also helps prevent headaches and awkwardness — for all parties. 

You don’t have to talk exact numbers at this stage, but clearly explain the terms of the collaboration up front so you don’t get into messy payment or legal disputes down the road.

Common questions about influencer partnerships

The world of influencer campaigns is still relatively new in the grand scheme of marketing. Understandably, many brands and retailers have questions about how to hire collaborators, when and how to use an influencer brief, and best practices for effective collaboration.

Here are some FAQs we get at Bazaarvoice — with answers to make your journey smoother.

When should I use an influencer brief? 

Any time you partner with an influencer for a campaign, you want to use an influencer brief. It helps produce better content and ensures everyone knows what they’re getting into before the project begins. 

How much should I include in my brief? 

If you’re unsure about what to include or leave out, err on the side of more detail. 

Remember, you’ve enlisted a creator to get the word out about your brand or company. The more they know, the more effective their content will be. 

Alternatively, the less they know — well, the less likely they’ll be able to deliver on expectations. A strong influencer brief can save you from wasted time, wasted money, and the stress and frustration of not getting what you asked for.

How do I know if I’ve chosen the right influencer? 

Unfortunately, it’s hard to be 100% sure without a crystal ball. But there are some best practices to follow. Before you even reach out to a potential collaborator, you want to make sure they’re a good fit for your brand or product. Sift through influencers’ content before contacting them. 

• What kind of content do they usually post?
• Are their feeds video-heavy or photo-heavy? 
• What value do they provide their audience? 
• What’s their skill set? (Injecting humor into content? Explaining complicated concepts in simple terms? Connecting on a personal level with followers?) 

It’s also helpful to clearly establish your own goals before contacting influencers. What kind of audience do you want to reach? For example, Kraft Heinz partnered with the Influenster community to identify key consumers, then matched them with products they would likely enjoy. Thanks to this targeted strategy, Kraft gained 20,000 new reviews and 39 million impressions.

Determining your audience in advance will also prevent bad-fit rejections. According to our influencer research, 49% of creators have turned down a brand partnership because it didn’t align with their values. And sometimes the potential collaboration just doesn’t make sense — like asking an influencer to promote a product they wouldn’t use in their real life.

“I remember when I was asked to partner with a baby toy company,” said Marina Mitrakos. “If they did some more research on me, they’d realize that I don’t have a child or younger siblings, and I’m not expecting soon. So if I said yes to the collaboration, I’d be putting out content that doesn’t make sense.”

Oops! 

Don’t make the same mistake. Do the up-front research to ensure a partnership is aligned before diving into campaign details. It might save you from a little embarrassment.

An influencer brief: Your ticket to authentic, effective content

Influencer collaborations certainly have a lot of moving pieces. But that doesn’t mean the process has to be disorganized or confusing — for either party. 

A strong influencer brief is your key to more effective partnerships. This document streamlines workflow, clearly outlines expectations and standards, eliminates confusion, and helps your brand get the content it needs. 

While it may take some work up front, creating an influencer brief is well worth the time. By including the six sections outlined above, you’ll be able to set any collaborator up for success. 

If you’re ready to partner with reliable, influential creators to amplify your brand, check out Bazaarvoice Creator Partnerships.

FEATURED MASTERCLASS

How to update your influencer marketing program for 2024

Watch here

Chapters:

1. What is influencer analytics?
2. 7 types of influencer analytics metrics
3. Benefits of using influencer analytics tools
4. The best influencer analytics tools on the market
5. Influencer analytics tools FAQs
6. Getting started with influencer analytics

What is influencer analytics?

Influencer analytics is the process of analyzing performance metrics like audience demographics, engagement rates, reach, impressions, and conversions to evaluate the impact of an influencer. Influencer analysis allows marketers to make data-driven decisions, assess the return on investment (ROI), and make adjustments to achieve better results.

‍Influencer analytics can be carried out using various tools and platforms that provide data and insights, allowing marketers to track and analyze influencers’ performance on social media channels.

Robust influencer analytics tools offer influencer search engine, engagement metrics, audience insights, fraud detection, and more such features to help marketers measure and enhance the success of their influencer campaigns.

7 types of influencer analytics metrics

Having a tool to assist your influencer marketing strategy is all well and good, but it’s a bit pointless if you don’t know the metrics you should be addressing,

1. Reach

The context of reach falls under two categories. First is the number of times social media users view a post or a story on Instagram or Facebook — a higher number indicates higher engagement. You can also gauge reach through the follower base of an influencer.

There’s different types of influencers, ranging from nano to mega, based on their follower count.

2. Impressions

Impressions is a metric highlighting the number of times a particular reel, story or post is displayed on a user’s Instagram feed, indicating the relevance of the content among its followers base.

3. Engagement

Engagement highlights how an influencer’s followers base interacts with the content. It includes clicks, comments, shares, questions and likes. Getting high impressions but low engagement (there’s no comments, likes, or shares) reflects on the influencer’s authenticity. Engagement hints at how people interact with the influencers and want to learn more about the product.

4. Earned media value

Earned media value (EMV) is an overall estimate of the engagement and interaction driven by each post published by an influencer mentioning your product. It measures word-of-mouth generated by the influencer and tells you what kind of content resonates positively well with their audience.

5. Conversions

The consumer journey ends up in a conversion, where the shopper has made their mind to purchase the product. You can track conversions through referral links and customised discount codes. These automated influencer analytics tools help track the interactions done through these links and sales driven by discount codes.

6. Audience demographics

An insight into the influencer’s followers, including their age, gender, location, interests, and other relevant information, helps businesses determine if the audience aligns with their target customers. With such data, you can reach out to influencers who can connect with the brand’s desired customer segment.

7. Competitive Analysis

Metrics like competitive analysis give marketers an edge over their competitors as they can view influencers working with similar brands. You can choose to work or not work with influencers who work with competing companies.

Benefits of using influencer analytics tools

1. Data-driven decision making. Influencer analytics tools remove the guesswork from creator marketing by providing detailed data on influencer profiles. Decisions like which influencers to collaborate with, how to optimize campaigns, and where to allocate the resources for maximum impact become more accurate with data to back them.
2. Recruiting the right creators. Many brands struggle to find relevant influencers to run a campaign. The right analytics tool can easily find the right influencer for you to collab with.
3. Audience Insights. Paint a clear picture of your audience’s interests, sentiments, engagements, and more. Having a clear understanding of your audience helps you create better content that resonates.
4. Evaluate influencer performanceI. Influencer analytics tools allow you to share affiliate links and promo codes that help track creator performance across social media in terms of traffic, leads, and conversions.
5. Budgeting. You save countless man-hours and resources using influencer analytics tools to identify the right influencers aligning with your brand value, preventing you from spending your marketing budget on manual execution.
6. Brand Safety. Ensure brand safety by spotting fake influencers or those using follower bots to show a higher follower count. Tools vet influencers, using several filters, to check negative sentiments found in their posts.

The 9 best influencer analytics tools on the market

Here’s a list of, in our opinion, the best influencer analytics tools on the market.

GRIN

Grin’s creator performance tracks the performance of every post, such as engagement, clicks and conversions. Grin calculates credibility scores based on influencer engagement and other key metrics to confirm a genuine social media account to identify the right talent for a brand. This process helps connect brands with talents having a highly engaged follower base.

Yoloco

Yoloco provides advanced analytical reports by rating the audience base of an influencer. It targets the location of the influencer and its audience. Through their algorithm, they find out the approximate coverage of the post and what the brand’s influencers have already advertised. They have an Instagram analytics app for marketers giving fake or real followers details.

Upfluence

Like other platforms, Upfluence helps you analyse other performance metrics on social media channels by calculating their engagement rates, comments, likes, views, shares and comments. It lets you understand how their engagement has increased or decreased in the last few years.

With their Chrome extension, you can upload a new influencer you might have spotted on social media and easily add them to your list. It also enables you to easily import a list of previous influencers to the platform you have worked with.

Hypeauditor

HypeAuditor conducts influencer analytics for Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch to help you choose the perfect creator. Besides audience demographics like location, age, gender and interest, Hypeauditor uses AI to detect low-quality audiences by analyzing the follower growth and engagement authenticity.

Their influencer marketing analytics tool calculates audience reachability. The engagement analysis checks comments’ authenticity and detects engagement pods. It also looks at suspicious growth patterns and whether influencers use follows/unfollow to grow their audiences.

Keyhole

Keyhole ensures transparency by highlighting fake followers and negative sentiments. It believes in generating credible data and discovering influencers relevant to your industry. Through their tool, you can figure out authentic conversations, engagements and sentiments to find those aligning with your goals.

Their influencer analytics tool unlocks insights about influencers’ social media accounts. You don’t have to take screenshots or update spreadsheets to analyse results. You can easily find out which posts resonate most with your audience and drive impact through data.

Modash

Modash is an influencer analytics tool that helps brands and agencies identify and analyze relevant influencers for their campaigns. With Modash, users can search for influencers based on criteria like audience demographics, engagement rates, and content themes. The platform provides detailed analytics on an influencer’s performance and helps users track the success of their campaigns by monitoring key metrics such as reach, impressions, and engagement.

Some of the platform’s key features include campaign management, audience insights, content management, and competitor analysis. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy for users to navigate and manage their campaigns.

trendHERO

trendHero is another influencer analytics tool helping businesses and agencies find and analyze influencers for their marketing campaigns. trendHero offers a range of features, including influencer comparison, audience insights, data analytics, campaign management, and a customizable dashboard.

The platform’s AI-powered recommendation engine can automatically suggest influencers and content ideas based on a user’s campaign goals and target audience, saving time and effort for users who are new to influencer marketing or looking for fresh ideas.‍

Bazaarvoice affable.ai

Bazaarvoice affable.ai is an all-in-one, AI-powered influencer marketing platform with an in-built technology to vet millions of influencers based on their age, location, gender, language, follower count etc. We use multiple metrics to analyze how influencers can impact your objectives — by spotting fake influencers and those with low-quality audiences.

With Bazaarvoice affable.ai, you’re easily able to find creators, manage your collaborations, track campaign metrics, and measure your performance.

Celisse Ng, Marketing Manager, L’Occitane

Our influencer analytics tools give an estimated engagement, reach and an estimated media value of a content creator by scanning through their posts. You can also check audience interest, influencer’s brand affinity, and the number of branded and non-branded content and get a graphical representation of their followers’ growth.

Influencer analytics tools FAQs

Getting started with influencer analytics

Undoubtedly, identifying the right influencer is the greatest challenge for many brands. Perhaps due to a lack of knowledge about the right influencer analytics tools required to get started.

So, before you strategise for your next influencer marketing campaign, evaluate a tool that will aid your specific needs. Or better yet, try a tool that covers the whole influencer marketing spectrum.

If you’re not sure where to begin, turn to these three influencer marketing case studies to guide your strategy.

FEATURED RESOURCE

Masterclass: How to update your influencer marketing program for 2024

Watch here

Finding these content creators might feel a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack because, let’s face it, they’re everywhere nowadays. And then there’s the challenge of figuring out if they’re legit, if their followers are genuine, and how well they’ll align with your brand values. Not to mention identifying who has the potential to connect with the most significant chunk of your target audience — all crucial factors to consider when you’re looking to find a squad of content creators.

But let’s simplify this whole process of how to find the right content creators, who can weave an outstanding tale around your product or service, all in their authentic storytelling style.

Different methods and tools are available to unearth these influential voices and vet them based on their social presence, audience demographics, brand affinity, and more.

Chapters:

1. What are content creators?
2. Why you need to find content creators for your brand
3. Define your creator marketing goals
4. Where to find content creators
5. How to assess whether a creator is right for you
6. ‍Don’t just find content creators — build long-term collaborations

What are content creators?

Content creators are a small set of individuals who have the potential to let your idea, product or service diffuse through a population. They can make a trend go viral and spark purchase decisions by opening new engagement channels.

Every year, we’re further witnessing this shift toward valuable, authentic content that’s driven by creators. It’s kind of a big deal. The creator economy, valued at $250 billion this year, is expected to almost double, reaching a whopping $480 billion by 2027.

Reason being: research shows that we believe in the recommendations given by our peers before buying a product. For example, 89% of shoppers consult ratings and reviews before making a purchase. Content creators play a similar role because of their objectiveness and authenticity.

Why you need to find content creators for your brand

Content creators are persuasive and organically create word-of-mouth marketing that inspires purchases. They can easily reach out to the most significant number of your interested customers. And here’s the kicker. These content creators are stepping up their game as they emerge as a full-funnel marketing channel. They create a shortcut in the purchase journey that leads shoppers directly to purchase.

What does that mean for you? Your potential customers get to decide on your product in a snap, thanks to the seamless experience of social commerce. 

Define your creator marketing goals

You’re probably wondering where to kick off the journey to find the right content creators to work with. Your broad marketing strategy is the anchor, but it has to trickle down to having well-planned content goals, and good clarity on your target demographics that must match content creators’ follower base. And above all, a budget that gives you enough brand-ready content.   

It all starts with clearly defining your content goals. Content aligning with your objectives is more likely to convey authenticity and build trust, especially when you can pinpoint content creators whose style, voice, and audience align with your goals.

When content creators grasp your content goals, they can craft content that resonates and connects with the specific demographic you’re aiming for. This is because they’ve already built trust with their followers. Also, you can narrow down your options by focusing on content creators with a more specific and engaged audience.

But neglecting to align your target audience with the creator’s content and audience compromises authenticity, and you may not get the desired results. A content goal coupled with a well-defined target audience is particularly crucial if you’re looking to establish a strong brand identity across various channels. 

Determine the content type

Various types of content are like tools in your marketing kit, each serving a specific purpose based on your objectives—be it boosting brand awareness, driving sales, or increasing engagement. The key is to nail down your content goal and then match it with the right content type.

Whether it’s an in-depth educational YouTube video or a quick 30-60-second clip for a product mention, ensuring it aligns with the overarching story narrows down your creator search pool. It saves you time and effort and optimizes your search for creators who excel in crafting the precise content you’re after.

Set budget constraints 

Being clear about your content requirements from the get-go is a game-changer. It’s not just about saving time; it’s about budget efficiency. When you know exactly what you need, you can allocate your budget smartly, making sure your investment aligns perfectly with your goals. 

Why does this matter? Well, different content formats come with different production costs and creator fees. By defining your content needs upfront, you can find influencers whose rates match your budget, steering clear of inflated or unrealistic expectations. 

Where to find content creators

Finding the right content creators largely depends on how you plan to execute a marketing campaign. But whatever your strategy, there’s a number of ways to easily find content creators to work with.

How to assess whether a creator is right for you

Once you’ve tracked down where to find your content creators, don’t just go picking anyone based on flashy follower counts or a perfectly curated Instagram grid. You need more than that — you need creative partners who not only resonate with your brand but also amplify your message effectively.

When choosing these partners, you’ll have to drill down on vetting. It’s like your authenticity check. You ensure these creators have real followers and deliver content that hits your brand standards and gets your message across just right. 

Audience profile analysis 

When you vet audience profiles, you’re ensuring that your creator’s content lands well with folks who are genuinely into your offering. Trust is key here. When a creator’s audience already trusts their content, they’ll trust the recommendations and shout-outs they do, making your influencer marketing campaign a success.

But some influencers may resort to purchasing fake followers to appear more influential than they actually are. Plus, a massive follower count doesn’t necessarily mean the influencer hits your target audience or pulls in genuine engagement.

According to our research, mega influencers (1M+ followers) have an engagement rate of 1.6% whereas nano-influencers (1K-10K followers) have an engagement rate of 8.8% — that’s 5x more!

Their social presence 

While clicks, likes, and comments on posts may seem like ideal vanity metrics, the real question is whether creators ignite genuine conversations and interactions. To truly assess this, you need to look deeper into a creator’s content. Start by questioning their passion for the topics they cover – are they genuinely invested or merely chasing trends? Even if trend-chasing is their forte, does it align with your content goals?

Beyond quantitative metrics, focus on qualitative aspects. Assess their transparency and authenticity, especially in brand collaborations where disclosing sponsored content is crucial. Also, consider the consistency of their posting schedule.

Certain platforms (like Bazaarvoice affable.ai) can offer advanced features to evaluate and monitor these nuanced aspects of social presence. These tools efficiently gather engagement data by scrutinizing comments, emojis, user tags, and other data-centric elements, providing a more comprehensive understanding of an influencer’s impact.

L’OCCITANE, a renowned beauty brand, wanted to showcase their special edition Christmas gift sets of body wash and hand creams in Singapore.

To amplify the visibility of these festive offerings, L’OCCITANE strategically partnered with high-performing micro-influencers in the beauty and lifestyle niche. This collaboration aimed not only to attract more customers but also to enhance L’OCCITANE’s presence in the Asia Pacific region.  

Leveraging Bazaarvoice affable.ai, the brand efficiently discerned between authentic and counterfeit influencers, analyzing profile data, sponsored posts, and other metrics. Subsequently, they identified and engaged 53 micro-influencers for the Christmas campaign which led to an earned media value (EMV) of $23,000.

L’OCCITANE’s success in running an effective influencer marketing campaign was attributed to their evaluation of content creators. By ensuring an authentic social presence aligned with their content goals, the brand unlocked the creator economy pathway. 

Brand affinity 

When we dive into creator marketing, brand affinity is about how much the content creator vibes with your brand or product. It’s like their natural connection in a specific niche. So, the key is figuring out if they’re just in it for the paycheck or if they genuinely dig the industry and know their stuff about the product or service you’re pushing.

One easy way to assess a creator’s brand affinity is to check if they’ve previously worked with similar brands. Keep tabs on how the influencer audience interacts with the content featuring your product or expressing interest in learning more. You can easily find all these details using the right influencer marketing platform. 

Glossier, a prominent US beauty brand, has successfully positioned itself in the competitive billion-dollar market, primarily focusing on skincare and makeup products. A significant aspect of Glossier’s innovative approach lies in its extensive use of creator marketing within its e-commerce setup. 

The brand strategically collaborates with influencers who align with its core values, leveraging their reach and influence to convey messages and promote products to dedicated followers. This approach isn’t merely about marketing but involves capturing an engaged audience that resonates with the brand’s identity.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kiki Ransom (@kiki.ransom)

Through her static posts and makeup tutorials, beauty content creator Kiki Ransom consistently showcases her affinity for Glossier products, including the latest additions to the brand’s collections. Her genuine endorsement in her makeup tutorial videos on Instagram amplifies Glossier’s reach and contributes to the brand’s goal of expanding its community.

More so, fostering customer engagement goes beyond influencer partnerships. The brand actively promotes user-generated content, encouraging customers to share their experiences and post pictures with Glossier products. Glossier has recognized the power of genuine connections by facilitating a community-driven approach and transformed satisfied customers into passionate advocates. This community-building strategy helps the brand create a strong and loyal customer base.

Aligned content, styles and values

Picture this: enlisting a tech content creator to endorse a beauty product. It might fly if they’ve been loyal to your product, but can it really capture the essence of style and value that a beauty influencer brings to the table? Likely not. Pinning down the ideal content creator boils down to your preferences in style, diversity, sentiments, and values — all of which need to sync up with your marketing KPIs.

For example, Canon’s collaboration with YouTuber Emma Chamberlain. She shared her journey of using Canon cameras during her early days of content creation. Canon chose Chamberlain wisely, aiming to connect with budding content creators as their target audience.

The strategy works because content creators with aligned values and styles are likely to have followers with similar interests and demographics. It ensures that the content reaches the right target audience, boosting the chances of meaningful engagement and conversion.

Expanding beyond their partnership with Chamberlain, Canon recently teamed up with three other creators — Karl Ndieli, Kirsten Titus, and Alisa Marie — to shed light on how each incorporates Canon products into their respective careers.

‍Don’t just find content creators — build long-term collaborations

If you’re a brand willing to run multiple campaigns, time and time again, then starting from scratch every time is certainly not the answer. In the long run, look for creating a talent pool by building long-term relationships with creators. 

Choosing those who genuinely connect with your brand can result in ongoing collaborations with sustained success. Not only that, it will also reduce the overall cost, time, and energy spent finding the content creators. Sustained collabs also increase the speed of campaign execution and reduces the competition from other brands wanting to work with the same creators. 

Now that you know how to find the right content creators for your brand, it’s time to learn how to reach out and get a “yes” in return.

LEARN MORE

Masterclass: How to find and activate brand-safe creators

Watch here

Instagram’s platform provides the perfect stage for brands to spotlight their products through the lens of trusted influencers. Discover how you can find the perfect cast for your Instagram campaigns to bring big profits from the sea of available talent.

Chapters:

1. How Instagram influencer marketing drives sales
2. How to generate the highest ROI from Instagram influencer marketing
3. Successful Instagram influencer marketing examples
4. Leverage the Influenster app

How Instagram influencer marketing drives sales

Influencers’ grip on the modern shopping culture remains strong and profitable for brands. The global influencer marketing market value tripled since 2019, totaling $21.1 billion as of 2023.

According to a 2023 Sprout Social study, over 80% of social media marketers report that influencer marketing is essential to their strategy and that Instagram is the top influencer marketing platform for 86% of brands.

Influencers are so, well, influential because shoppers want to see content from real people they can trust over self-promotional content from brands. Influencers can range from celebrities with millions of followers to everyday customers with a smaller presence. Either way, consumers are more confident about making purchases when they see how real people experience and enjoy products.

Influencer content provides shoppers with social proof — the persuasive force that is word-of-mouth endorsements. This leads to sales, a lot of which are happening on social media. Our Shopper Experience Index found that 23% of shoppers purchased between one and five products on social platforms in the past year.

In addition to social proof, brands attract more customers and increase their visibility by reaching their influencer partners’ dedicated followings. They’re tapping into a new audience that matches their ideal customer profile.

How to generate the highest ROI from Instagram influencer marketing

There’s hundreds of thousands of Instagram influencers in the U.S. alone. That’s a deep pool of diverse creators in a range of different niches to potentially work with. Follow these best practices to get the most out of your Instagram influencer partners and marketing campaigns. 

Find the right match for your brand

While there’s a lot of influencers out there eager to collaborate, brands have to be discerning when establishing partnerships. To achieve meaningful results, your influencer partners need to be aligned with your brand values and audience interests.

There’s different levels of influencer follower sizes, and bigger doesn’t always mean better. The different influencer categories by audience size include:

• Nano influencers: Under 10,000 followers
• Micro influencers: Between 10,000 and 100,000 followers 
• Major influencers: Between 100,000 and 1,000,000 followers
• Mega influencers: Over 1,000,000 followers

In our survey of over 9,000 global shoppers, 72% said they don’t care how many followers an influencer has. They trust everyday influencers and subject matter experts more than those with massive followings. What matters is that your partners’ audiences are authentic and reflect the qualities of your target demographic. Authentic audiences are made up of real people, not bots or spam accounts, who are engaged with the creator’s content. 

When considering influencers to work with, you also want to evaluate their existing content. Ensure that they post regularly and that their content aligns with your industry and brand personality. It’s a bonus if they’ve already created content about your brand and products. 

Engagement rate is a big factor in selecting influencers to help drive sales. This is where smaller influencers shine. Our same research found that nano influencers earn over five times the engagement rate that mega influencers with over a million followers do.

Negotiate mutually beneficial partnerships

Once you’ve connected with influencer leads, be prepared to set your brand up for success while offering an attractive proposal. Be sure to include important project parameters in a terms-of-agreement document, such as:

• Timeframe: How long will the relationship run for? This could be over the course of a certain amount of Instagram posts, quarterly, or any other duration
• Volume and frequency: Include how much content creation you expect over the contract timeframe
• Usage rights: Clearly communicate how you plan to use, share, or reproduce the influencer’s content and for how long
• Content guidelines: Provide your brand style guide, quality criteria, editorial calendar, products and links to feature, and any other content-specific expectations. Keep in mind these expectations shouldn’t be too restricting or rigid, as creators prefer to have full creative autonomy
• Approval process: Provide instructions for submitting content, including photos, videos, and messaging, ahead of time for approval
• Cancelation clause: Include the option for either party to cancel the engagement before the contract end date with a certain amount of advanced notice

You also need to clearly explain what kind of payment you plan to offer. Many creators already have established rates per post, per hour, or per contract, so it’s up to the brand to approve. Otherwise, brands can offer their own payment details. 

Depending on the creator’s follower size and goals, you may agree to a different type of exchange. That could look like promoting them on any of your relevant channels or having them produce content in exchange for free products. When you’re sending your pitch, tailor your email outreach according to these best practices and templates.

Tailor campaigns to meet marketing goals

Collaborate with influencers on ways you can convert followers into customers to increase sales. Try these approaches to revenue-generating influencer content.

Product-focused user-generated content: Encourage your influencer partners to create authentic user-generated content (UGC) about your products. This can be in the form of product reviews, unboxing videos, product tutorials, product demos, or how products work in everyday scenarios. This is the kind of trusted, relatable content that modern consumers want to see.

Promote special offers and discounts: Work with influencers to share exclusive promo codes that customers can apply to purchases or links to discounted landing pages. These tools also give you a way to track the results of a particular influencer campaign.

Shoppable posts: Enable influencers to tag products directly in their posts using Instagram Shopping features or activate Like2Buy to create an in-app shopping experience. These seamless integrations reduce friction in the customer journey, making it more likely followers will convert into customers.

Collaborative giveaways: Create Instagram collab posts with influencers to host giveaways for your products. You can ask followers to participate by following both your brand and the influencer, tagging friends in the comments, sharing the post, or another call to action. The buzz generated by giveaways and engaging collab posts can significantly increase brand visibility and drive traffic to your product pages.

Share and repurpose influencer content

Amplify the reach and impact of your influencer content by sharing posts as a Story or reposting them to your Feed. This will provide your followers with social proof, and you can tag any posts featuring your products to make them shoppable. 

You can also repurpose your Instagram influencer marketing content outside of the platform on your own product pages or in emails. Enhance your e-commerce product pages with photo and video galleries, including your influencer content, to showcase your products in real life. You could also add relevant influencer content to emails to provide realistic, click-worthy visuals.

Measure performance to optimize your strategy

Evaluate the progress of your overall partnerships and individual campaigns by tracking your results. Find out who your most engaging partners are, what your best-performing content is, what’s generating sales, and the areas of opportunity to focus on. To measure the success of sales-driving campaigns, look at the following metrics:

• Product page link clicks
• Revenue generated per post
• Number of promo codes used
• Number of products tagged

Each of these metrics looks at a different way to view the results of a campaign. By using all four together, you get a holistic view of your campaign’s influence on consumer interest, revenue generated, sales finalized, and how much individual products were promoted.

Successful Instagram influencer marketing examples

Knowing how to create an influencer campaign is a good start, but seeing it in action can help you understand what to expect once your campaigns go live. Use these examples of successful Instagram influencer marketing strategies to prepare yourself and your campaign for success.

L’Occitane en Provence

Their Instagram collab with influencer byemmaleah showcases a successful giveaway campaign. It promoted the release of a limited-time product while garnering over 5,000 likes and over 6,000 comments. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by L'OCCITANE en Provence (@loccitane)

L’Occitane partnered with Bazaarvoice to streamline their influencer marketing program, which resulted in sourcing 53 authentic micro influencers and an earned media value of $23k.

AG1 by Athletic Greens

AG1 partners with a variety of creators who share their brand mission and values, like jiu-jitsu teacher cesagracie. This campaign showcases authentic product placement in a day-in-the-life style video about healthy habits. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by AG1 by Athletic Greens (@drinkag1)

Olive & June

Olive & June collaborates with influencers who have large followings, as well as everyday customers who share great content featuring their products.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Olive & June (@oliveandjune)

This post is a great example of the nail brand sharing a creator’s content, tagging them, and making it shoppable by tagging the featured product.

Leverage the Influenster app

One way to tap into a community of active, authentic consumers ready to create quality content for brands they love is with Influenster. 

Influenster is an online community that connects brands with influencers to get honest reviews and visual content about their products. This eliminates the sourcing and negotiating legwork. You can sit back and wait for the trustworthy content to roll in based on the products you want to promote. Find out more about Influenster and how you can get the most out of it.

LEARN MORE

Masterclass: How to update your influencer marketing program for 2024

Watch here

Every day, hundreds of millions of posts appear on social media. Consumers are often inundated with content from brands, while retailers and brands find themselves shouting into the void. 

To stand out among the marketers jostling to be heard on social media, you must be smart, not loud. The best strategy is leveraging user-generated content (UGC) creators from your ideal customers. This approach will help you go beyond the once-and-done buyers and reach consumers who shop again and again. Let these loyalists become your brand advocates. 

Consumers want to build relationships, connect emotionally, and support the brands they cherish, especially during a tough economy. You just have to guide them. Here are some strategies for targeting and nurturing loyal customers to become your brand advocates. 

What is a brand advocate?

A brand advocate is an individual who shares their positive sentiment and experiences about your brand with their followers and friends.

Brand advocates are true loyalists. They enjoy your products, interact with you on social media, and appreciate opportunities to share feedback with you. It’s more than just whether people are spending money with you — it’s about emotion and identity.

According to Leonie Brown, Qualtrics XM Scientist, “True loyalists understand your product and brand, believe your offering to be good value, and identify with your product on a personal level.” 

Why you need brand advocates

Brand-generated marketing is important in a healthy marketing mix, but it’s impossible to meet consumers’ demands for content with traditional marketing messages alone, especially when your marketing team has a lean budget. Consumers also actually prefer UGC created by their peers. 

Brand advocates, who are real customers and love your brand, are the mouthpiece you didn’t know you needed. Because brand advocates are just regular people and not affiliated with your company, they’re highly influential. 

Consumers trust other consumers more than anyone else. 100% of shoppers say they’ve purchased a product based on a recommendation from another shopper that they saw online, and 78% trust everyday social media users just as much or more than they did a few years ago. 

Most shoppers say they won’t buy anything without consulting UGC first. They especially seek out customer reviews and photos or videos from other shoppers. 

Encourage a peer-to-peer recommendation environment by tapping into your brand advocates. 69% of marketers today are working with smaller creators, like everyday consumers and social media users. Partnering with these creators brings higher engagement, trust, and authenticity than traditional marketing — and, it’s cost-effective, scalable content. 

The creator economy is booming and is currently valued at $16.4 billion. Over half (53%) of shoppers consider themselves to be UGC creators, according to the Bazaarvoice Shopper Experience Index. 17% of these creators actively create UGC, and 36% will do so when asked. 

5 ways to find brand advocates

Both shoppers and marketers are tightening their budgets these days. Activating brand advocates makes other consumers feel more confident shopping with you, and this strategy offers a high return on investment when marketing teams need to do more with less. 

Consumers are leaning more into the expertise of everyday social media users and subject matter experts to discover new products, learn about how something can meet their needs, and purchase with confidence. 

We’ve found that about 1% of your community — your loyalists — can produce about 90% of your content. You just need to target your brand advocates and harness their power. Here’s how to find them. 

1. In-person events

Events like in-store holiday activations, sports-themed contests, or awareness month campaigns are a fun way to engage shoppers in real life. In-person events can help you stand out by offering something unique and memorable. 

In-person events also help you get to know your most loyal shoppers. Pay close attention to those who show up, as well as consumers who make an effort to speak to you, ask questions about your brand or products, and purchase from you. 

Loyalists tend to show up organically to an in-person event. But, you can reward them and make them feel extra special by peeking into your shopper data and personally inviting them to attend. This approach will build and nurture relationships with brand advocates. 

Another way to leverage in-person events is to see who usually attends similar activations. For instance, we spoke to digital creator Marina Mitrakos, whose passion for fashion and beauty led her to create content for brands. One way she’s developed her business is by attending fashion and beauty events and posting about them on social media. 

2. Email list/newsletter

While people enjoy receiving messages from brands in their inboxes, sending a mass blanket email to everyone on your list isn’t the best way to find brand advocates. People stay on email lists for years and never actually interact with brands. 

So, go beyond the people that are simply on your email list. Instead, track engagement on email content, like clicks on coupons, responses to polls and surveys, or email replies. These interactions showcase the consumers who are genuinely interested and invested in your brand. 

Emails are also a great way to ask customers for feedback and collect UGC, ultimately turning them into brand advocates. Our Shopper Experience Index revealed that 43% of consumers prefer brands and retailers to use emails to ask them for their opinions on products they’ve purchased. 

Sending an email after someone purchases from you to say thanks and ask for reviews and other UGC yields big results. We’ve found that review request emails increase review content by 4x to 9x, and sending a follow-up may lead to a 50% increase in review volume — or much more. Clothing brand MeUndies, for example, has seen a 218% increase in review collection since optimizing review request emails.

When requesting UGC, consumers like it when you tell them exactly what kind of content you want. For example, 60% will take a photo if you ask them to. 

Shoppers appreciate it when they feel like brands care about what they have to say and are listening and responding to their needs. They’ll be more than willing to respond to your request, create UGC, and become a brand advocate. 

3. Cause-related marketing campaigns

Cause marketing refers to marketing strategies that strive to increase revenue, while also taking action to improve society in some way. This might involve raising money or awareness for an issue or charitable organization or highlighting your sustainability or corporate responsibility initiatives. 

If your brand values a specific social, environmental, or humanitarian cause, be vocal about it — and take note of who’s interacting with content related to your cause. Consumers want to support and advocate for brands and retailers that also support the issues they care most about. 

For instance, if being eco-friendly matters to your brand, share your sustainability efforts and regularly promote that you’re cutting down on boxes and shipping to target customers who prefer to shop with sustainable brands. These efforts pay off. 

According to a Bazaarvoice survey of the Influenster community, 78% of shoppers said they prioritize using sustainable products across categories, and 77% will pay more for products promoted as “sustainable” or “clean.” 88% will purchase from new brands if they claim to be more sustainable. 

4. Pay attention to your social channels

Who are your most engaged followers? Most shoppers do follow their favorite brands on social media, but you should hone in on the followers who interact with you most. 

Knowing who frequently comments on your social posts, shares your content, enters giveaways, tags other users, and talks about your brand on social is crucial. These social media users make compelling brand advocates!

Social media is an amazing platform for starting conversations and getting noticed. Nearly 60% of shoppers discover new products and services on social media, where they research items and make purchasing decisions. Most shoppers also buy things directly from social media. 

Keeping tabs on who’s talking about you on social media is important, but don’t neglect people who are sliding into your DMs. Direct messages are an excellent place for one-on-one conversations and connections. 

Responding to any DMs, posts, or other customer feedback is crucial for relationship-building. Consumers expect a response from brands when they offer feedback, and responding heightens trust and showcases your authenticity. 

5. Targeted shopper communities

Using a product discovery and reviews platform like the Influenster App, gives you the opportunity to target the largest community of everyday consumers and skilled creators to generate the highest-quality UGC — including reviews, photos, videos, and social content. This, in turn, increases brand awareness, lets you reach new audiences, and helps you convert more customers across brand and retail. 

Influenster matches your product to your ideal audiences based on over 1,000 data points for each of the community’s 8 million global members. You can activate unique segments, such as loyalists and competitive users, members who shop at key retailers, and consumers with specific skincare or dietary needs. 

The ability to hyper-target consumers based on behaviors and other characteristics beyond typical demographics was a key benefit in choosing Influenster

Elizabeth Northrup, Associate Brand Manager at Kraft Heinz

Influenster members are also prolific content creators. Based on Bazaarvoice Sampling Community data from June 2023, here’s a look at what these members bring to the table: 

• 500,000+ new pieces of UGC each month
• 73 million total monthly impressions for Influenster social campaigns
• 34,000+ posts for Influenster social campaigns
• $5.5 million total monthly earned media value for Influenster social campaigns

One of the most effective ways to tap into the Influenster community and reap these benefits is through product sampling. This strategy gets your products into the hands of your ideal customers. In turn, they create authentic content about your brand in the form of social posts, reviews, photos, or videos. 

Beauty giant Rimmel sent its new Wonder Ombre Holographic Eyeliner out to target consumers through sending custom sampling boxes. This helped the brand collect over 1,200 product reviews, which are displayed on Influenster, the brand’s website, and syndicated across its retail partner websites. 

Rimmel’s sampling campaign generated real impact for the brand, including: 

• 44% higher sales lift versus benchmarks for average digital campaigns in the beauty category
• 69% higher sales life versus benchmarks in the product categories of the sampled products
• 73% of samplers said they would likely purchase something from Rimmel in the next 6 months 

Targeting your ideal customers to be brand advocates

One-time or some-time customers are great. But, marketing to all-the-time customers is a winning strategy. These shoppers are your ideal customers, who love your products, your mission, and the experiences you provide, both online and in-person. 

Finding and building relationships with your brand advocates builds trust with other consumers — helping you stand out and helping them feel confident and appreciated.

If you’re struggling to find advocates for your brand or you don’t know where to look, Bazaarvoice affable.ai is an AI-driven influencer marketing platform that lets you easily find your creators, manage collaborations, track your campaigns, and measure your performance.

LEARN MORE

Masterclass: How to find and activate brand-safe creators

Read now