July 2016 issue 01 iNby Influencer Marketing in the Retail Industry: A Guide For Retail Marketers “Partnering with the right influencers makes all the difference when it comes to end results.” Affinio Tableof Contents FOREWORD 1 PART ONE: Why marketers need to 2 understand retail audiences PART TWO: How-to identify the right 7 influencers for a retail audience PART THREE: Understanding and 11 measuring influencer performance CONCLUSION 15 Foreword Connecting with consumers is a challenge for retail marketers - especially if they don’t know their audience on an intimate level. eer to peer influence is more Instead of building strategies and powerful today than top- then finding the audience, we P down communications. More believe in flipping this process. and more consumers are relying The “build it and they will come” on their peer sources for buying model is outdated, yet many decisions. Not only are consumers marketers still use it. Before trusting their peers for purchase marketers can successfully recommendations, they are also strategize and implement an blocking ads making paid efforts influencer marketing initiative, less effective. they must have an intimate understanding of their ideal Building off of this desire for peer audience. to peer communications, retail marketers are embracing In this eBook, powered by Affinio, influencer strategy more than we will take you on a journey ever before. Why wouldn’t they? from the very basics of Some reports show that among the understanding retail audiences, to top industry categories, retailers selecting the right influencers, and are seeing the highest ROI. measuring their success using Affinio’s audience-first approach. While influencer marketing is not This eBook provides step-by-step new, it continues to evolve as examples and insights, pulled strategies and technologies from the Affinio platform, for advance. Influencer marketing, retail marketers to draw upon. when done right, presents a unique opportunity for retail Topics covered in this marketers and brands to connect Foreword with consumers in a meaningful eBook: way. But in today’s oversaturated media environment, connecting PART ONE: Why marketers need with consumers and identifying to understand retail audiences the right influencers is still a flawed system. This means that in PART TWO: How-to identify the retail marketing, engaging right influencers for a retail influencers with high-value audience audiences is more important than ever before. PART THREE: Understanding and measuring influencer That’s why at Affinio, the performance marketing intelligence platform, we believe in taking an audience- first approach. 1 PART ONE: WHY MARKETERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND RETAIL AUDIENCES Consumers today are more they will be rewarded. As empowered, complex, and shared in a Google study, wiser than ever before; but ⅔ of US consumers “understanding consumer the attention they are willing say social media passions will drive to give to brands is minimal. purchasing behaviour.” Here’s the reality: consumers influences their are overwhelmed with shopping behaviours. But the harsh reality is this: media, messages, and choices brands only get one shot with (so many choices!). Simply consumers. If a brand doesn’t type in the words “outdoor overload, they also present a align with the interests and adventure gear” on Google unique opportunity for retail passions of an audience, they and you’ll find hundreds of marketers and brands to will be replaced with the retailers at your disposal — connect with consumers in a next best thing. We told you, all of which are fighting for meaningful way. Thanks to consumers are picky… and that minimal consumer social networks, brands are they’re allowed to be! attention. Consumers are present throughout every Therefore it is more picky, rightfully so. Because touch point of the consumer important than ever for of this information overload, path to purchase. According retail marketers to consumers disregard the to pwc, “⅔ of US consumers understand their audience majority of messages they say social media influences intimately, and the key receive and instead focus their shopping behaviours.” audience segments found only on the brands that within it. speak to their interests and What this tells us is if brands passions. can pinpoint what makes their ideal audience tick, While social networks have and speak to them in a way added to this information that resonates, 2 PART ONE: Connecting with Consumers Using An Audience-First Approach At Affinio, we take a completely different approach to understanding audiences. An audience can no longer be solely broken down into basic demographics for retail marketers to target. For example, let’s say you’re a retail marketer for an outdoor clothing & gear brand. Sure, males aged 25-55 might need outdoor gear; but what products they need and the reasons that they want them are based on their interests, not their gender or age. This is where demographics are limiting. Affinio takes an audience-first approach. The algorithm behind the Affinio platform segments any social audience based on their shared interests and affinities. Instead of relying on what people are saying, Affinio segments audiences into interest-based clusters by looking at who or what people choose to follow. We are able to shed light for the first time on the influences, passions, interests, and ultimately what an audience cares most about. By taking an audience-first approach, retailers are armed with the insights that matter. To By taking an audience-first demonstrate, we’ve analyzed the Twitter audience of an unnamed outdoor clothing & gear brand. approach, retailers are armed with the insights Using this segmentation, we can immediately see the breakout of several interest-based that matter. communities, including surfers and rock climbers. As shared by Douglas Holt in this articleBranding in the Age of Social Media, the brands that succeed are the brands that break through in culture. While both the surfing and rock climbing communities have a shared interest in the outdoor brand we analyzed, they have unique interests and nuances that differentiate them. How a retail marketer targets each community should, in theory, be completely different. Let’s look at these two communities closer to see how they differentiate and what insights retail marketers should pick up on. 3 PART ONE: Affinio Audience Analysis: Surfing Cluster Surfer Interests and Influences Surfer Bio Keywords Surfer Top Used Hashtags Surfer Top Domains Surfer Top Emojis 4 PART ONE: Affinio Audience Analysis: Rock Climbing Cluster Rock Climbing Interests and Influences Rock Climbing Bio Keywords Rock Climbing Top Used Hashtags Rock Climbing Top Domains Rock Climbing Top Emojis 5 PART ONE: As seen from the Affinio example analyses, retailers can take an audience-first approach by identifying the different interest- based communities within their audience. While the surfing and rock climbing communities share a love for the outdoors, they have different needs, wants, and expectations of the retailer selling to them. By being able to identify and understand the interest-based communities within their audiences, retail marketers can adjust their communications strategies for each segment, ensuring they align with the interests and passions of their ideal audience. Like Google shared, “passion drives purchase.” Passion drives purchase. Before retail marketers can successfully strategize and implement an influencer marketing initiative, they must have an intimate understanding of their ideal audience. Remember, audience-first. NEXT PART TWO: How-to identify the right influencers for a retail audience 6 PART TWO: HOW-TO IDENTIFY THE RIGHT INFLUENCERS FOR A RETAIL AUDIENCE Peer to peer influence is concentrate on vanity more powerful today than metrics, such as followers top-down communications. Influencer marketing and engagement. The According to Edelman, 71% lives in the Wild West problem with this of consumers rely on peer where anything goes. information is that it doesn't sources for buying decisions. speak to the purpose of This means that in retail influencer marketing. The marketing, influencer end game isn’t the influencer marketing is more important selection, strategy, and themselves, it’s the audience than ever before. performance measurement. that they have built over time. Not only are people trusting Most of the information their peers for purchase available today on influencer Some solutions will also recommendations, they are marketing centers around provide information about also blocking ads making the influencer themselves. the audiences of the paid efforts less effective. While this can be a great influencers. Most of these While influencer marketing place to start, the whole idea solutions concentrate on the is not new, it continues to behind the strategy is to demographic breakdown of evolve as strategies and partner with trusting sources their audience. This technologies continue to in order to reach their information is meant to help advance. audience. you narrow down your choices to identify the right In this evolution of There are a lot of tools out roster; but is this really the influencer marketing, we still there that offer metrics on best way of going about have not seen a standard influencers to help with your influencer selection? revealed. Marketers need a selection. They tend to standard for influencer 7 PART TWO: Identifying Influencers that Already Resonate with Your Retail Audience At Affinio,