• by Holly Pavlika , Columnist, June 6, 2017

Influencers create content that gives context and meaning to products they are passionate about. Useful, engaging content that shows how a brand fits into an average person’s life has proved a valuable solution for brands looking to build trust and relevancy. 

We sought to gain insights into influencer content’s ability to connect consumers to a brand/product through relevant stories, creating a personal experience with the content and brand. This style of content builds an authentic relationship with the consumer, making the process seem less transactional and more enjoyable and inspirational overall. When tying an offer to unique content that builds a relationship, the purchase decision becomes less of a risk for a consumer. Not only does the content provide recipe inspiration, it makes a coupon less transactional.

Would this prove a winning solution for brands? Many firms have requested unique promotion offers in influencer campaigns so we looked to study the impact of an offer tied to influencer content.

We took a deep dive into studying redemptions and sales for a national rice brand and a frozen foods brand across major retailers. Of note, promotional tie-ins require an observational study versus the average benchmark. The studies employed unique digital rebates, integrated with major digital coupon platforms so that all exposure could be attributed to actual redemptions. 

For Brand A, a frozen meal, the offer, in coordination with influencer content, was successful in driving redemptions, resulting in a lift in promotional sales for the client. The brand saw a 34% increase in offer redemptions and a lift in promotional sales of 23% from a 2015 benchmark, providing definitive proof that influencer campaigns are valuable for driving redemptions and sales. 

For Brand B, a rice product, the brand historically generated a redemption rate of 15% through standard digital channels. Using influencer content as a comparative study to promote this offer, the brand reported a 44.8% offer redemption rate, exceeding performance expectations and its historical average. 

The influencer marketing industry has boomed over the past few years as marketers have searched to cut through the noise to reach shoppers who have become desensitized to traditional media and moved to more trusted digital and social strategies. As this study shows, influencers and their content can provide unique solutions that can successfully connect customers to brands by using authentic, engaging content that contributes to both online and brick-and-mortar sales.