Gone are the days of influencer marketing being synonymous with a chance shoutout from a Kardashian. These days, it’s micro-influencers that can be trusted because of their niche vs. the size of their following. And when it comes to selling on social, trust is everything.
While dedicated agencies and full-time positions exist to facilitate influencer marketing campaigns and interactions, we’d like to share how savvy business owners and social media managers can tap into the power of micro-influencers to generate big results (plus the exact template for reaching out to influencers created by a guy who’s spent over $60,000,000 on influencers).
How to Find Micro-Influencers for Your E-commerce, D-commerce or Retail Business
No matter what your business or vertical your business is, there’s room for tapping micro-influencers to help you achieve your goals.
First, let’s define our terms.
• E-commerce, or electronic commerce, is the buying and selling of goods and services online.
• D-commerce, or digital commerce, is a subset of e-commerce that involves the buying and selling of digital goods and services.
• Retail businesses involve stores and include your traditional brick and mortar locations, where physical goods can be purchased in person.
E-commerce Businesses Can Use Micro-Influencers to Appeal to the Lifestyle of Their Target Audience
When it comes to e-commerce, we’re typically talking about tangible products that involve single transactions. So how can micro-influencers be used to enhance these types of transactions?
1. Product Showcasing and Demonstrations: Influencers can create authentic-feeling content like unboxing videos, product reviews, or tutorials demonstrating the use of the product, providing a real-life perspective to potential customers.
2. Seasonal and Thematic Campaigns: E-comm brands can leverage micro-influencers for seasonal promotions or thematic campaigns. For example, during holiday seasons or special events, influencers can create content that aligns with these themes while highlighting the business's products, for timeliness and seasonal engagement.
3. Exclusive Influencer Collaborations and Limited Edition Releases: E-commerce businesses can engage micro-influencers in the actual creation of exclusive products or limited edition releases. These collaborations can generate buzz as influencers' followers often value exclusive or unique items promoted by someone they trust. It also provides an opportunity for the influencers to co-create or have input on product designs, further personalizing the experience for their audience.
This works well for e-commerce brands because it takes a real person, with a real niche following, and uses their voice and presence to effectively co-sign what you’re selling.
D-commerce Businesses Can Work With Micro-Influencers To Leverage Credibility
D-commerce products are intangible and only available in digital formats. Here’s three ways that brands that deal in digital commerce, with intangible products consumable via digital devices, can use micro-influencers to benefit your brand.
1. Content Integration and Endorsements: An influencer could use a piece of software in a tutorial or include an ebook in a lifestyle blog post, subtly endorsing these digital products to their followers. These kinds of posts can be combined into a series of posts created as a part of a multi-post paid engagement, which invites the audience on the influencers’ journey of using this product.
2. Interactive Challenges and Competitions: D-commerce businesses can partner with micro-influencers to create interactive challenges or competitions that involve the use of their digital products or services. For example, a challenge could involve using a specific software to create something unique, or a competition could be based around a mobile app game. This not only engages the audience but also demonstrates the practical use and fun aspects of the digital product.
3. User Experience and Feedback Sharing: For d-comm, where customization and user experience are crucial, micro-influencers can provide valuable feedback and share their user experience with their audience. Even if it’s not 100% positive feedback, all if it is valuable, if it’s coming from a place of authenticity. This approach not only promotes the product but also offers potential customers insights into the functionality and usability of the digital goods or services.
In the world of digital products, leveraging the credibility and engagement of micro-influencers with their own followers can be a real cheat code for showcasing a digital product in the real world.
Find the Right Influencers to Grow Your Retail Business with a Local Market Strategy
Beyond the table stakes of claiming local listings, updating map details, and submitting to review aggregator sites, looking to real members of specific communities can be a great way to establish and grow a presence as a part of a local marketing strategy for retail businesses.
1. Community Engagement at Local Events: Collaborate with micro-influencers who have a strong local presence. These influencers can help promote and participate in local events sponsored by the retail store, like in-store promotions, community service events, or local festivals. Their involvement can increase foot traffic and build a loyal local customer base.
2. Behind-the-Scenes and Day-in-the-Life Content: Utilize micro-influencers to create behind-the-scenes content that showcases the daily operations of your local retail store. This can include videos or stories about product sourcing, the making of handmade goods, or the daily routines and personal stories of staff members. This approach humanizes the brand and creates a connection with the local community by offering an authentic glimpse into the business, especially if there’s a “fish out of water” element: it can be incredibly endearing to see someone give their all in an environment they don’t typically frequent.
3. Collaborations on Exclusive Local Products: Partner with micro-influencers to co-create or promote exclusive products available only at your store. For instance, a local clothing store could collaborate with an influencer to design a limited clothing line, or a bookstore might have an influencer-curated book section. These collaborations can extend to influencer-led workshops or meet-and-greet events, driving further engagement and sales.
They say the “riches are in the niches” and micro-influencers fill this space in the marketplace perfectly. But how do you reach out and connect with influencers that seem like a good fit for your brand?
How Do I Email Influencers: The Dan Fleyshman Template for Reaching Out and Building Relationships
Dan Fleyshman is one of those people who you’ve probably never heard of, and if you do know him, it’s because he wants you to know. He’s the youngest founder of a publicly traded company in history, is an angel investor in over 43 companies, and has spent over $60,000,000 on influencers, so he’s got a decent track record on this topic. LOL
Here’s some of the biggest tips he advises when it comes to working with influencers:
• Don’t ask influencers for their rates, but instead tell them what you’re willing to pay.
• The sweet spot for most influencers is between $200 - $2,000.
• Most influencers will charge you around the same for one post as they do for three posts.
• Dan never accepts single posts collabs, instead opts for a series of three posts spread out over a week or a month, to have people follow them as part of the journey, and reduces the risk if the first post doesn’t convert well. Also, fans are more likely to believe that they are behind this brand vs. a one-off.
• Don’t always message them on their biggest platform. Message them on other ones, as they are more likely to see it.
So how does outreach look?
For micro-influencers, keep it simple: Slide into their DMs.
You’ve gotta nail the first four words you write, and you have to skip the pleasantries:
“Paid post. Female dress.” Or “$800 Paid Post.”
To stand out in a sea of unread messages all with preview text that says, “Hi there! Hope you’re well…” the first four words need to be crystal clear about what you are giving them financially or physically. Don’t lead with, “Hey, hello, etc.” Just say “Free product,” or “Paid post.”
Then keep your paragraph very short. You can say, “Our dress company has done $X in sales.” or, “We’re just getting started.” Be clear where you are in the stage of your company. If you’re a retail business and can say you’re in X amount of stores, even better.
Crucially, to end each inquiry, Dan advises that you add in an email or phone number to reduce time spent playing “DM Tag” going back and forth in the DMs.
To recap:
How To Write an Email to Influencers: The Exact Email Template to Send to Find the the Right Influencers For Your Brand
