Dropshipping brands can promote their products via influencers like e-commerce brands do. Both sell products that influencers can endorse. To a customer, there’s no difference between a dropshipping store and an e-commerce store. While drop shippers don’t store inventory or ship products, customers are none the wiser. As a result, many influencer marketing strategies for e-commerce brands also work for drop shippers.
6 steps to launch an influencer campaign for your dropshipping brand
1. Identify a goal and KPIs
What do you want to accomplish with an influencer campaign? Maybe you’d like to drive sales for a specific product, for example. If so, your goal might be to increase product sales by 5-10% during the campaign.
How will you measure it? You could monitor conversions or use promo codes to help quantify the change in sales. You can also use tools like Tracking Links, available in IZEA Flex, our influencer marketing platform, to generate unique links for your creators. Tracking Links is our full-featured enterprise link shortener that helps track products purchased and revenue generated, among other metrics.
2. Consider what kind of campaign you’d like to run
Before you look for influencers, you need to think through your campaign.
Pick a product
To start, which of your dropshipped products do you want to promote? Integrating your Shopify to IZEA Flex allows you to track sales of each product you promote with influencer marketing.
Research content types
If you dropship iPhone accessories, product reviews might be a practical choice. Review your previous campaigns and see what your competitors do to help narrow down a content type. Sponsored shoppable posts also work well because they allow social media users to add your products directly to their cart and purchase seamlessly.
Make a plan
Start sketching out campaign details so you’ll have plans ready when contacting an influencer. You should have the following set:
- Content type
- Deadlines
- Approval process
- Publish date
- Influencer compensation
You should have an influencer contract ready to go, which outlines the campaign, compensation, and other essential aspects like content ownership and moral clauses. In Flex, you can send offers directly to creators. Marketers can customize standard terms across their marketing organization, reducing the time spent drafting new contracts for each creator collaboration.
3. Find influencers and connect with them
As with any influencer marketing campaign, you must find the right creator to partner with. You can find an experienced influencer in your product niche to help. Begin your search by reviewing current customers. Is there a loyal customer that could easily transition to an influencer?
You can also search social channels or use IZEA’s Marketplace to find ideal creators.
Consider Amazon influencers
If you dropship via Amazon, consider working with an Amazon influencer. Make a short list of influencers you’d like to work with and reach out to your top two or three.
4. Collaborate and provide inspiration
With influencers on board, start collaborating. Talk about the campaign and provide your overall vision via a campaign brief, but let the influencer take the lead on the creative.
It’s a good idea to provide influencers with campaign examples you like. Need a few ideas? Here are three types of influencer campaigns that are popular with the dropshipping model.
Amazon Live videos
If you’re working with an Amazon influencer, review videos from Amazon Live and provide links to those you like. This video focuses on Amazon products used daily around the home, for example.
Product reviews
Ask an influencer to review your product. Reviews can take many forms, from written Instagram posts with a product picture to a YouTube review, like this one that reviews an air fryer.
Unboxing videos
Unboxing videos are popular and effective for drop shippers. Look at this iPhone charger unboxing that could be replicated for any product.
5. Consider a promo code
Many e-commerce stores use promo codes to monitor sales from influencer referrals. If you plan to use a promo code, you must set it up beforehand. Consider giving different promo codes to each influencer to track your ROI better.
6. Launch the campaign and review your metrics
Review the influencer’s content and give the go-ahead for publication. During the campaign, watch the comments and make sure they’re handled promptly.
Share the influencer’s content on your brand’s social channels, too.
Once complete, review your metrics. Pay attention to the KPIs you identified early on and look for ways to improve your next campaign. If you plan to work with the influencer in the future, share the metrics and brainstorm ways to elevate your results next time.
With an influencer’s endorsement, your dropshipping brand can reach a new audience, increase brand awareness, and drive sales through an authentic marketing tactic. Focus on finding the right influencer and creating a campaign that resonates with your target audience. With the suggestions above, you’re ready to launch a campaign that could have a bold impact on your brand.
Influencers:
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Marketers:
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IZEA MANAGED SERVICES
Strategy and execution from the company that launched the industry.
IZEA MANAGED SERVICES
Strategy and execution from the company that launched the industry.
IZEA MANAGED SERVICES
Strategy and execution from the company that launched the industry.
IZEA MANAGED SERVICES
Strategy and execution from the company that launched the industry.
