Weekly Shorts: Five influencer-brand strategies for maximizing sales

The proliferation of platforms and formats like short-videos have changed the influencer marketing game for marketers, brands and creators. In this fast-evolving space, keep up with the big trends and hot topics that matter in Storyboard18’s Weekly Shorts in collaboration with affable.ai, an end-to-end AI-powered influencer marketing platform. Track how creators, communities and brands are engaging with users and disrupting marketing to get a sharp and fast insight into present and future trends.

With the holiday season approaching, you might be wondering how to team up with influencers in creative ways to achieve your marketing goals. The usual approaches like sending gifts to influencers, product seeding, or unboxing are tried-and-true methods. But what's fresh and exciting for this holiday shopping season? Our holiday season 2023 playbook delves deeper into the best strategies to maximize your holiday sales. Here’s five strategies you can follow.

Kick things off by seamlessly featuring your products in influencer videos. Sometimes, less talk and more action pique curiosity about your product. Alternatively, consider letting influencers organize contests, collaborate on gift guides, offer virtual shopping experiences and more.

Integrating your product organically during the random influencer conversation video

Integrating your product organically during a random influencer conversation video is a smart and effective marketing strategy. Instead of forcefully promoting your product, this approach involves incorporating it naturally into the flow of the video content.

The key advantage of this approach is its authenticity. When viewers see a product being used or discussed naturally within the context of a video, it doesn't come across as a blatant advertisement. This makes it more relatable and trustworthy.

An example is of Romana sharing a candid moment where she's doing her makeup while talking about her baby girl and her family. As she applies her foundation, she mentions using the @BPerfect Cosmetics foundation and pairing it with a brush from @Dollbeauty_manchester. She enthusiastically expresses that the combination is a "chef's kiss" and tells viewers that the foundation brush is back in stock. She mentions the @HNB Cosmetics concealer, remarking that it speaks for itself and doesn't need further explanation.

The approach keeps viewers engaged and interested in the content, while authentically mentioning the products - a more impactful strategy than advertising.

Interactive challenges and contests

Engage your audience with interactive challenges or contests related to holiday themes. It helps by encouraging user-generated content and creating a sense of community around your brand. For example, an influencer could ask their followers to share their most creative holiday decorations with a brand's product in them. This approach can encourage engagement and promote user-generated content involving the brand's product.

Recently, Purrfect Little Art, a charming handmade stationery shop, introduced an exciting "Guess the Theme" contest for the holiday season. In this interactive event, participants are invited to test their creative guessing skills by attempting to unravel the mystery behind the upcoming collection's theme. This contest engages the audience and fosters interaction, creating a buzz of excitement around the upcoming collection.

Festive storytelling and behind-the-scenes

Craft relatable holiday stories that incorporate the brand's product, providing a behind-the-scenes look at how your product enhances the influencer's holiday experiences. For instance, an influencer could share the story of how a product made their holiday meal preparation more comfortable or how a product brought joy to their pet.

KitchenAid, a kitchen appliance brand, partnered with food bloggers and influencers to share behind-the-scenes holiday cooking stories. The influencers posted in-depth tutorials and step-by-step videos demonstrating how KitchenAid appliances made their holiday meal preparations easier and more enjoyable, highlighting the benefits and value of their appliances during the holiday shopping season. 4. DIY and holiday hacks

Promoting DIY and holiday hacks that feature your product as a solution to common holiday challenges is a strategic approach. By showcasing creative ways to use your product during the season, you provide value to customers and position your product as an essential tool for holiday activities.

For instance, Yankee Candle, a candle brand popular for its range of scents, partnered with lifestyle influencers to showcase the versatility of its candles in creating DIY holiday decor. The selected influencers created and shared inspiring content featuring Yankee Candle products. They demonstrated creating festive centerpieces, table settings, and decor pieces using the candles.

Virtual events and live demonstrations

Host virtual events or live sessions where influencers showcase the brand's product in real-time, leveraging the trend of virtual gatherings during the holiday sales. For products like makeup, virtual live sessions and try-on tools can enable influencers to demonstrate how to try on or apply each product. These experiences can boost the personal shopping experience, delivering a sense of fun and excitement to the audience.

L'Oreal Paris collaborated with influencers for a promotional campaign showcasing their newly launched virtual makeup try-on tool. With this innovative tool, customers can virtually test various makeup shades and products. As part of the campaign, influencers were invited to experiment with different makeup looks using the tool and share their experiences and results on social media.

This week's Weekly Shorts is written by the editorial desk of affable.ai.