Your fool-proof guide to getting the right peopletalking about your brand.

T H E I N F L U E N C EUnder

T H E P O W E R O F A C O N V E R S A T I O N

Enter the rise of the Internet and new media — from social media sites to blogs to online review sites, etc.

With all of this came the ability for all of us to easily, freely and publicly broadcast and engage on an

However, research shows consumers still value first-hand recommendations from their peers more than

any form of marketing. That means the conversations in-the-know influencers are having every day

make the biggest impact. And great news: Influencers provide a way for brands to measure WOM impact in a digital age. In turn, brands have a huge opportunity to leverage the power of influencers'

conversations to maximize sales impact both on and off the sales floor.

2

Word of mouth (WOM) marketing has always mattered more when

influencers are the ones doing the talking. Of course, once upon a time

the word “influencers" brought to mind only celebrity endorsements,

like Michael Jordan for Gatorade.

unprecedented scale. Marketing became less of a one-way conversation and more of an every-which-way cacophony.

Consumers and advocates around the globe are now becoming more visible in their conversations about brands and

their products to other consumers. Clearly the definition of influencers has changed.

W H A T T H E S T U D I E S R E V E A L

3

Consider the stats. According to the November 2014 Return on WOM study by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA):

So, what does this mean for your brand? You can earn significant ROI by engaging with influencers who interact

with consumers that place a high value on credible, trusted opinions.

WOM has been shown to drive 13% of consumer sales.

Also 80% of your WOM comes from the top 20% of your brand’s influencers—and their commitment to

your brand deserves special recognition and treatment.

That's about $6 trillion annually. And it bolsters paid media by 15 percent. Some two-thirds of

offline sales are accounted for by WOM — the other one-third by online social media.

Find out who you should be talking to—and who will do the most talking for your brand. 1

The key is distinguishing between casual fans and influential brand advocates

who can make a big impact on moving the ROI needle. Having thousands of

followers on Twitter or Likes on Facebook implies potential reach, but what

matters most is the impact influencers have on conversations about your

brand and, ultimately, sales.

Influencers are the people who, through either firsthand experience, industry experience or at retail, are recognized

for their product expertise and know-how. They're passionate and vocal about their brand loyalties and purchasing

behaviors, and motivated to spread the word.

Now, you just need to connect with the people having those influential conversations wherever they're taking

place—be it on the sales floor, in the field, or at the dinner table.

91%of brand mentions come from people with fewer than 500

followers on their social network.

4

Engage and educate those influencers.2

You've found your top influencers. Now what?

83%of WOM involves personal

experience, which is more credible

and leads to more sales.

To maximize this impact, you must deliver targeted content and

campaigns to dedicated retail associates and top influencers

who can both speak knowledgeably about product features and

drum up enthusiasm by expressing their personal preference

for the brand.

Your top influencers are already hungry to learn more about your products.

Reward that passion with insider knowledge and information that speaks to their goals and priorities. Then reinforce the

message by getting your product into their hands to create first-hand experiences that impact recommendations and

influence purchase decisions.

5

Reward their expertise and make it easy for them to talk about your products. 3

Help your influencers reach brand ambassador status. Consumers like to feel like they're engaging with a brand directly — like they’re part of its culture and like the brand values their opinion and expertise. Top influencers are often willing to co-brand themselves with their favorite brands if they feel their connection is real and valued. Articulate why you care, and back up your commitment with perks, exclusive events, and special offers—your audience will listen and “pay it forward” by sharing what you have to offer with friends and family.

So, how do you actually go about maximizing the impact of that “talk?”

6

of marketers are scheduled

to increase their influencer

marketing budgets over the

next 12 months.

59%of marketers reported receiving

better quality customers from

influencer marketing. 51%

Measure the success of your new influencers.

Ultimately, you want to be able to correlate data with sales. Match up your data with marketing and business KPIs that make sense for your organization. These should be metrics related to brand presence and consumer sentiment. You could even create a metric that quantifies the level of influence a campaign had in influencing a marketing decision by tracking increased sell-through or engagement rates following the launchof a campaign.

It's also important to frame your marketing KPIs within the context of your company's sales and revenue objectives. Beyond conversion, you want to increase your customer loyalty for repeat purchases to create customer advocates whose WOM recommendations influence others.

So. Are your efforts working?

4

7

S O U N D S G R E A T ! N O W, S H O W M E A N E X A M P L E .

This all sounds good on paper, but what does an impactful influencer strategy look like in action?

It's about connecting with the people more directly involved near or at the point of sale—the retail sales associates, industry pros, and everyday passionate users who people turn to for advice on what to buy.

8

Despite Lululemon's recent see-through pants mishap, the brand is still a great example of how to create an impactful

influencer marketing program. In fact, their success in spite of the PR disaster is proof of their long-term value.

Lululemon approaches local athletes, fitness instructors, and enthusiasts who influence active people with an offer to

be the “face" of the brand in the community. In return, the company provides these influencers—the same people who

were already respected and looked to for credible advice—with free gear to wear while participating in local events.

Though they aren't paid, ambassadors are featured prominently on bulletin boards in the stores, lending the company

credibility as a part of the “community." Even better, these same ambassadors hold classes at the store level, placing

the consumer and the advocate together closest to the point of sale.

Lululemon's success has not gone unnoticed. In a March 2015 poll by online promotions firm Tomoson, marketers

rated influencer marketing as the fastest-growing online customer acquisition tactic—ahead of organic and paid

search, email, digital advertising, affiliate marketing, and other efforts. In fact, businesses are earning $6.50

for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.

C A S E I N P O I N T

The strategy has paid off. By eschewing traditional marketing strategies—and their typical hefty costs—Lululemon

has created a new community of brand fans who see, want, and ask for recommendations about the gear sported

by their respected trainers and instructors. It's a win-win scenario for both the Lululemon consumer and brand.

9

C A S E I N P O I N TLeading lifestyle camera brand GoPro found a way to turn retail associates into brand advocates online in

order to influence purchasing decisions offline. they knew a dedicated program was needed to create rich, in

depth content designed specifically to have a better product recommendation at the point of sale. So an

online education platform was developed in different languages to deliver the needed resources and support

24/7 to all associates. Resources included custom-designed, video-based product education, quizzes, and

progress tracking.

"Retail employees share their impressions with hundreds of customers every year," said GoPro's Senior Global

Training Manager. “If we can arm one employee with pertinent product knowledge, they'll pass it along to

their customer base. Over time, the value of reaching a sales associate becomes invaluable."

GoPro created a brand certificiation program. Employees must achieve a minimum score on the quiz at the end

of each module to proceed to the next level. After completion, employees earn product discounts and rewards

that offer them GoPro items at a fraction of retail cost. This gives those with the biggest influential impact on

in-store customer sales the product knowledge and experience they need to become experts.

The results: More than 122,000 individuals have become GoPro advocates, starting by spending an average

5-10 minutes engaged with the brand’s product education. More importantly, these individuals are having 40+

buying conversations a week — which adds up to at least 5 million offline word-of-mouth conversations about

what to buy. GoPro’s new online network of category influencers has also allowed the brand to track key

performance metrics and feedback that help them constantly improve.

1 0

1 1

It's all about the numbers. Is there a return on investment? The numbers don't lie. And the numbers clearly show that influencer marketing really does work.

Experticity

engages with category influencers, giving marketers a way to move previous grassroots

efforts into a digital channel capable of measuring influence. This provides a way for

brands to engage, target and cultivate their best advocates—the ones having influential

conversations about brands and products every day. In turn, the impact of these

potential advocates will amplify the effect of the brand's marketing

efforts—both online and offline.

T H E T A K E A W A Y

BROUGHT TO YOU BY