Seasonality campaigns are a powerful way to drive conversions for your e-commerce business. And organising an influencer summer campaign can be helpful to uplift your revenue during the slightly slower summer days as consumers spend more time outside than online shopping.
The reason seasonality campaigns are so important for your e-commerce brand is to drive conversions from the more upper funnel traffic you generated in previous months. Converting your prospective customers into paying customers can increase your cash flow which can be powerful to utilise in additional inventory purchases for the upcoming BFCM season.
Below are the most important reasons prospective buyers convert which we all incorporate into our seasonality campaigns:
The most obvious one linked to a seasonality campaign is the offer. Unless you are a very well known brand or building a luxury brand a good offer is an important way to convert your prospective customers which you have nurtured with your top of funnel marketing campaigns.
In other words, give your customers a reason to buy. Highlight your offer in a banner on top of the website and communicate your special offer through your marketing channels. One of the most powerful ways to spread the word about your promotion is you guessed it through influencers.
Consumers follow the content of influencers to be educated on special deals and offers and partnering with influencers can significantly boost your conversions during your seasonality campaign.
In this article we will explain in detail how we set up and executed a summer seasonality campaign by partnering with influencers for one of our clients. The best part is we will share all the templates we used to contact, negotiate and onboard the influencers for free.
Boost your sales by highlighting that your seasonality promotion is ending. This is typically why we see conversions spike towards the end of the campaign. By strategically communicating the message that your promotion is ending through the influencers you partner with you can increase conversions. More on this including the templates to implement this later.
This is probably one of the most important benefits of working with influencers - social proof. Especially if people don’t know your brand yet it is often difficult to convert customers with a normal meta or google ad. Influencers are the perfect way to build trust and reduce the perceived risk for a potential customer. Your customers trust the influencer and if the influencer endorses your product they trust your brand.
Before we dive into this case study, let's explain the context of our client in order to get a better understanding of how we organized this summer campaign. Client and campaign details:
We helped the client to expand to the US by partnering with relevant influencers. The client created a brand new Shopify store for the US and didn’t have any other marketing activities in the US besides our influencer campaign making it a perfect case to showcase the results of working with influencers in an isolated environment.
What is important to note is that we started our influencer program 5 months before the summer campaign started. Within these 5 months we worked with 30 new influencers per month. Below are the steps we took to manage the process. If you want to skip directly to the summer campaign skip this part and click on “summer campaign”.
To find relevant influencers we used Influencer Hero’s search & discovery tools. The first thing we did is we looked if our client had any influencers in the US which already followed them on Instagram.
These are typically easy to partner with as they already know the brand. Through Influencer Hero you can also identify influencers which previously purchased from you or which have signed up on your newsletter. As our client just entered the US we couldn’t use these features yet but we were able to find some influencers which already followed our Instagram.
With this information we created two campaigns for influencers which already knew us by following our IG and another campaign with new influencer outreach. For the 2nd new influencer campaign we used the following filters:
There are 5 key metrics every marketer should analyze when partnering with influencers. We determined this by analyzing over 10K commercial influencer posts.
Read our full research report on influencer marketing ROI here.
After identifying the right influencers we automated the outreach by using Influencer Hero’s drip campaigns. This allowed us to quickly contact a lot of influencers.
As we started with an affiliate and gifting campaign we had to reach out to more influencers as the drop of is higher compared to when offering a fixed fee. The typical onboarding rate for affiliate & gifting campaigns is around 10%. This means we had to reach out to around 300 new influencers every month to onboard 30.
After contacting the influencers we had to negotiate and onboard the influencers to our gifting campaign. Leveraging Influencer Hero’s CRM enabled us to effectively manage the campaign as well as create affiliate links and personalized discount codes through which we could track the results of the influencers.
The last part of key to building a performance driven influencer campaign. You need to know where your sales are coming from. This was also essential when organising the summer campaign. As we had knew how much the influencers sold in their initial post we could offer tailored offers for our summer campaign which allowed us to maximise ROI.
In order to build a performance driven influencer campaign it is crucial to understand the underlying numbers. If you don’t know which influencers are selling products and which don’t you are shooting in the dark.
We constantly stress the importance of the 80/20 principle in influencer marketing. The majority of the performance typically comes from a smaller group of influencers. It is your objective to identify these influencers and build a long term relationship with these influencers.
The bigger the group of performing influencers the bigger your business
We followed this same approach for our summer campaign. By working with around 150 influencers prior to the summer campaign we had a small group of influencers which we knew could sell a lot of products. We invited these influencers to be part of our summer campaign leading to higher ROI.
Now that we explained what had to happen prior to organising the summer campaign let's get to it and see how we helped our client to boost sales.
As we now had the data of around 150 influencers we knew exactly which once performed and which didn’t. This invited all the influencers which were able to sell products and closed packages of multiple posts to reduce cost and maximise ROI.
Read in detail how to reduce cost & maximise ROI with high performing influencers here.
What is important to note is that around 30% of the sales are not being tracked when using affiliate links and discount codes. Common reason why attribution gets lost is for example because the influencers also tag your Instagram page the customer might access your website through the link in bio in your IG. If they also don’t use the personalized discount code of the influencer tracking gets lost.
Make sure to count for these “lost” sales in order to fully understand what budgets you can allocate to maximise ROI. Simply divide the tracked sales by 70% to get the actual sales.
For example if an influencer told $2000 worth of (tracked) products the actual sales are calculated by dividing $2000 by 70%.
The first step to organise the summer campaign is to invite the influencers. As mentioned we did this with influencers which we already worked with.
Below is the template we used to invite influencers which performed well and where we were able to offer a fixed payment next to the other offerings.
To access all summer campaign templates click here.
SUBJECT: {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }} – ENTER YOUR BRAND NAME Summer Campaign Invitation
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
I hope you are doing great!
Our Summer Sale for selected partners is just around the corner, and we would love to count you in!
It’s for invited partners only, not publicly accessible, and we would love to offer you the following:
$XY fixed payment
XY% affiliate commission on each referral, traceable through your own dashboard
Exclusive and limited XY% discount code to share with your followers
Our summer best-seller: ENTER PRODUCT NAME + BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Would you be interested in joining us? We would love to celebrate Summer with you!
Can we count you in and send you the ENTER PRODUCT?
Best,
NAME
When formulated the emails make sure to stack up the offerings. Keep in mind that you need to convince the influencer to partner with you. Make the offering look as attractive as possible. Other general rules for all influencer communication is:
Once you invited your influencers to your seasonality campaigns there are 3 options:
Below are the templates for each of these situations.
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
It’s fantastic to have you on board for our Summer Sale Campaign! We’re excited to be working with you again:)
Please find your personal discount code and affiliate link to include in your content below:
( {{discount_code_perc}} ) Summer Code : {{discount_code}}
Link ({{commission_perc}} commission ) : {{custom_link}}
The ENTER PRODUCT is on its way and should arrive shortly! I hope you love it!
Remember that our sale is kicking off on STARTING DATE, so feel free to post at your earliest convenience!
Looking forward to seeing your amazing posts :)
Best,
NAME
When the influencer is asking for a bigger budget, be transparent and explain that you have a limited budget but still try to convince the influencer to participate in your campaign by highlighting the benefits. We recommend increasing the affiliate commission in case past performance data doesn’t allow for higher fixed payments.
The benefit of working with affiliate commissions is that you hedge your downside. While increasing the commission reduces your ROI it is often better than not having the influencer participate at all.
Below is the template when you need to negotiate.
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
Thank you so much for your response! We totally understand that our offer is lower than your expectations.
However, we hope you understand that as a small business, we are constrained by a limited budget.
Because we value your work, we would like to increase your affiliate commission to INCREASED AFFILIATE COMMISSION PERCENTAGE, in addition to the PRODUCT NAME. With the exclusive Summer Sale, we anticipate that your affiliate earnings will significantly increase.
We would love to work with you again on this campaign!
Looking forward to your reply.
Best,
NAME
In case the influencer doesn’t reply, don't give up! Always send follow ups. Remember you are competing for the influencers attention with thousands of fans and other brands. Chances are that the influencer simply didn’t see your email. With Influencer Hero you can use automated follow up sequences to maximise your reply rate. In fact using follow ups will naturally double your reply rate and are the easiest way to optimise your outreach.
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Now that we have on boarded our influencers to our campaign we need to make sure that the campaign goes smoothly on launch day.
Make sure to structure your store and social media in line with your seasonality campaign by following the steps below:
And most importantly send out reminders to your influencers. The last thing you want is for all your work to go to waste as the influencer simply forgets about your promotion.
Below are the templates you can use the remind your influencers.
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
I hope you are doing well!
Just a friendly reminder that our Summer Sale starts today and will be running until ENTER END DATE! :)
We’re thrilled to have you on board for this campaign! Your discount code has been set to X% and your followers will be able to access the limited offer through your link and code below:
Link: {{custom_link}}
{{discount_code_perc}} Code: {{discount_code}}
Let me know if you have any questions! Looking forward to your beautiful posts :)
Best,
NAME
In order to get the most out of your seasonality campaign you want to maximise the number of posts you receive from your influencers. The end results directly depends on the following factors:
Once the influencer has posted the first time try to keep them engaged throughout the campaign asking ideally for another post. Use the template below for this.
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
Thank you so much for your amazing post about our Summer Sale! We truly appreciate your support:)
We loved the way you ADD PERSONALISED SENTENCE.
The sale will remain active until ENTER END DATE. It would be fantastic if you could continue to give your followers access to the offer through another post!
Thank you so much again for being part of this!
Best,
NAME
Now that your campaign is closing the end date it is crucial to use this situation to maximise the results. Remember when we talked about urgency and FOMO to drive conversions earlier in this article? This is the situation where you want to use urgency and FOMO to maximise ROI.
We typically recommend to run your campaign for 1-2 weeks to provide sufficient time for your customers to make use of the offer. If the campaign is linked to a gifting occasion (e.g. valentine’s day, BFCM, Mothers day etc.) make sure to start early to ensure that everyone gets their gifts on time.
The major benefit of your campaign closing is that influencer often agree to one final post which you sometimes get outside of your usual package where you can essentially get an additional post for free which increases ROI.
Use the template below to ask for a final post prior to campaign closing.
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
I hope you are having a great week! I just wanted to inform you that our Summer Sale officially ends today. Just in case you wish to give your followers one last chance to access the limited offer, you can use your link and code below :)
Link: {{custom_link}}
{{discount_code_perc}} Code: {{discount_code}}
Let me know if you have any questions.
It was amazing having your support!
Best,
NAME
Once your campaign has ended make sure to thank all your influencers keeping in mind that you want them to participate the next time. Use the template below for campaign closing.
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
Thank you so much for being a part of this year’s Summer Sale Campaign!
It was a great success, and it wouldn’t have been possible without your support. We look forward to partnering with you again soon :)
Your payment will be processed this week. I’ll let you know once it has been done so you can check your account.
Thank you again for being part of the campaign. Looking forward to our next collaboration!
P.S. Your affiliate account will stay active so you continue to earn X% affiliate commission!
Best,
NAME
With Influencer Hero you can process payments automatically through our payment manager saving a lot of time.
After the campaign has ended it is time to analyze the results. For this client the summer campaign ended in $31,990 in sales other important KPIs of the campaign are:
Campaign start date: August 20
Campaign end date: August 31.
As you can see from the chart above sales typically spike when the campaign starts as well as when the campaign ends. The spikes at the end are the results of leveraging urgency and fomo to drive conversions.
Think how influencers share through a video that your sales is ending directly telling them to go to your website to purchase before it expires.
Make sure to align this same approach with your email marketing sending out additional campaigns informing your subscribers that your sale is ending.
Tip: add your influencers to your usual email newsletter which helps as additional reminders for them to post
In our case as influencer marketing was the only marketing channel at that moment we could simply use Shopify analytics to analyze the results of our influencer campaign. If you are running multiple marketing activities at the same time, which every brand should do, analytics becomes more complicated. With Influencer Hero you can analyze all your influencer metrics and analytics from a convenient dashboard.
In conclusion, a well-executed influencer summer campaign can significantly boost your e-commerce sales during slower months. By leveraging social proof, urgency, and compelling offers, you can effectively convert prospective customers and increase revenue. The detailed case study and provided templates demonstrate how to find, reach out to, and manage influencers to maximize ROI. Consistent communication and strategic planning are key to ensuring a successful campaign. Utilize these insights to enhance your seasonal marketing efforts and achieve substantial growth for your brand.
Schedule a Demo with one of our media experts below.
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