Brands are increasingly using social media influencers to drive awareness for their products and services. Whether the brand is new or well-established, having an influencer promote it increases visibility within a target audience and provides third party validation. When done strategically, however, it can also boost sales.

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the average business earns more than $5 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing. When it comes to driving sales, Affable notes “influencer marketing is a notch above paid ads.” With all of this buzz around social media influencer marketing, it’s clear this marketing approach isn't going anywhere. That said, some standard influencer awareness tactics are dated. Here are a few ways to move beyond awareness and use influencer marketing to drive conversions.

Influencer Content As Ad Units

Help combat “banner blindness” by including an influencer in your static or video paid advertising creative. Users have become accustomed to ignoring banner ads, especially from brands with which they’re not familiar.. Brands can work with influencers to create content to use as ad assets both on and off of social media platforms. Adding a recognizable face, like that of an influencer, is more likely to grab the attention of the target audience and increase the likelihood of engagement.

2CGM developed and executed a social media influencer marketing campaign to promote a direct to download documentary. The influencer campaign drove 11x the conversions of the traditional paid media campaign.

Dark Posts

Brands can use influencer content to create “dark posts” on social media platforms like Instagram. They can serve this content to their target audience without having the influencer actually post it. Depending on the influencer and the deal structure, this approach can be more cost-efficient than an in-feed post. Dark posts can feature an influencer’s name, image, and likeness while also driving users directly to a landing page.

To drive ticket sales for a California attraction, 2CGM ran an influencer campaign where influencers posted to their Instagram and their content was repurposed for a dark post. The dark post reached five times more potential customers, and drove three times more clicks than the influencer’s link in bio.

Promo Codes

Providing an influencer with a custom promo code and CTA can meaningfully drive conversions. Incorporating a deadline adds an incentive (checking out the product at a reduced rate) and a sense of urgency (using the code before it expires).

2CGM recently partnered with an influencer, for a total budget of $1,000, to promote a New York attraction. That influencer’s promo code generated almost $8,000 in ticket sales in just one week.

In conclusion

Tapping influencers to create content they know will resonate with their community in a meaningful way is a great way to genuinely reach a brand’s target consumer and boost awareness. At AGM, we take it to the next step, and strategically deploy that content to convert followers to consumers.