If you have an ecommerce business, you might want to consider utilizing influencer marketing to increase brand awareness and advocacy. In fact, experts believe that influencer marketing is the next big trend within the ecommerce marketing space.
Small Business Trends recently caught up with Katie Manley, Rhiona Sullivan and Courtney Sneed of Pepperjam at Influencer Marketing Days in New York City’s Times Square. Pepperjam is a performance marketing agency that provides resources and services for influencers and affiliates and the brands that work with them.
During the conversation, the team shared some thoughts on influencer marketing and how it specifically relates to ecommerce businesses.
The Importance of Influencer Marketing in Ecommerce
Currently, influencers mainly impact the buying process early on, usually during the discovery or brand awareness part of the sales cycle. But even though influencers might not be actually closing tons of sales, creating that awareness and building brand advocates can be a huge part of the marketing process for ecommerce businesses.
Manley said of influencer marketing, “It’s important because it is a huge piece of your ecommerce. It’s a really great way to build brand equity and brand advocacy.”
Since that’s all part of the beginning of the buying cycle, measuring results of influencer campaigns for ecommerce has been more difficult than other strategies like affiliate marketing.
But that all could soon change. The team at Pepperjam is working on a new tech offering that could make it easier for influencers and brands to measure results even when working with influencers that have more of an impact early in the buying process. Even though measuring the impact of affiliates has traditionally been a lot easier, Pepperjam believes that the newer concept of influencer marketing is poised to have a major impact on ecommerce businesses going forward.
Manley said, “That is going to be the sweet spot moving forward for ecommerce.”
This article, “The Power of Influencer Marketing in Ecommerce” was first published on Small Business Trends