How to use social media ‘influencers’ to boost sales

By partnering with influential brand advocates, marketers can boost their traditional tactics and get people talking about—and buying—their products and services.

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For the most part, social media and “influencer” marketing are largely considered awareness-raising tactics, so effectiveness is usually measured using three main metrics: reach, impressions and engagement.

However, from awareness to familiarity and consideration, consumers at different stages of the purchase journey regularly interact with “influencer” content. Therefore, by working with social media stars, brands are able to influence consumer decision-making and ultimately shorten the sales cycle.

Related: 7 Steps to Get Influencers to Share Your Content

In traditional marketing, brands blast consumers with sales pitches and promotional messages to drive conversions. Today’s decision journey is a highly consumer-driven process where empowered customers use internet and social media to actively seek information helpful to them.

According to McKinsey, two thirds of consumer touch points with brands during the consideration phase, where people add or subtract products based on their evaluations, are customer-centric activities such as online reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations.

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