As the entire world undergoes a step change to digital, brick-and-mortar retailers are finding themselves reviewing their business models. And what is becoming evident as we bounce back from what has shaken the planet, is that Ecommerce will not retreat and physical retailers will have to continue investing in their online customer journey to not just survive, but to thrive.
Digital trends and insights for retailers
On a recent episode of TRIBE’s Marketers in Pyjamas, Xero’s Chief Customer Officer, Rachael Powell stated: “This is going to be a transformational shift to digital for all businesses”
For many businesses, Ecommerce has acted as a life raft alongside the retirement of face-to-face sales.
According to Boston Consulting Group’s Monica Wegner, "there are a lot of people who have been forced into a new behaviour, and one in three of the consumers we surveyed said that they would continue [to] increase their digital purchasing over the next 12 months."
Following their huge investment in online infrastructure, Accent Group’s CEO, Daniel Agostinelli, said that "in a lot of cases, the basket size, or the size of the purchase, is actually stronger online than it is in stores, which is something very new that we're learning at the moment."
As new purchasing behaviours inform new retail methods, storefronts will scramble to adapt.
What was recently a process of migration to the cloud is now a race to the cloud, with many retailers turning omnichannel or entirely digital in the last few months. And in order to attract new customers—and connect with existing ones—their spend needs to shift to digital marketing and advertising.
Why Brands Are Using Influencer Marketing to Embrace the Shift to Digital
Coming out of COVID-19 alive and kicking is at the forefront of every marketer’s mind. While brands turn to social media as their advertising channel of choice, one crucial element that will maximise their bounce-back is ongoing content creation for this channel.
Due to the effectiveness of user-generated content—which converts nearly 7x better than brand-generated content—no longer is a product on a white background a successful way to drive online sales.
In the presence of cancelled shoots and closed production houses, influencers have stepped in to solve the problem, with influencer marketing enabling brands to source scaled digital content, quickly.
At TRIBE, we’ve seen brands adapt their strategy by tapping into the power of their customers to source on-demand branded content, amplified to the right audience, with the right message. Here, we break down major pieces of advice from leading marketers and our own Customer Success Managers, who help set brands up for success on the platform and have deployed hundreds of campaigns in the past few months.
1. Lock in your digital strategy NOW
The Warehouse Group’s Chief Customer Officer, Jonathan Waecker puts it simply on ‘Marketers in Pyjamas’: “Production companies are figuring out what the rest of us have always known. Content created on an iPhone is good enough for the right audience at the right time.”
And now is the right time.
In the past couple of months, we’ve observed big brands leaning into raw content with low production costs—just like Eva Longoria’s iPhone ad for L’Oreal. Furthermore, it’s cost-effective and it’s fast. Most TRIBE campaigns receive content within 48 hours of submitting a brief with some campaigns wrapping up in just days.
2. Set your campaign up for success
To get the most out of a campaign, you’ve got to clarify your creative direction so that Creatorsare able to better visualise a concept and produce stunning, on-brand content!
Time and time again, the content that brands add to a mood board that is supplied to Creators is the exact type of content they receive; so only feature images that you’d approve if submitted.
3. These are the formats that are working right now
Our Customer Success Managers are on the journey with our brands from sign up to show time and are privy to the kind of social content that works.
“Carousels are a bit of a no brainer. In the same amount of space as a single image, you can show your consumers much more. If it’s done right, it’s far more engaging than posting a single image or video. I’d recommend a stunning image followed by a video and then some behind the scenes photos,” explains Leo.
Founder and CEO of Shuttlerock, Jonny Hendriksen agreed with Leo’s suggestion of using video: “Adding motion to ads in an e-commerce environment enhances performance.”
How we can help the step change to digital
While the surge to digital has seen stores become more accessible, the bar has been raised for quality content in the Ecommerce space.
Since the beginning of lockdown alone, TRIBE has launched over 280 campaigns globally, helping marketers in need of branded content, and fast, connect with creative micro-influencers who can give it to them.
See the type of content produced for Fortnum & Mason, St Tropez, TGI Fridays and more on the TRIBE blog here.
About TRIBE
TRIBE was founded in Australia in 2015 by Jules Lund. We connect brands with creators to generate word of mouth marketing and branded content at scale. The platform has turned traditional Influencer Marketing on its head by delivering branded content to the marketer before they’ve spent a cent. If they like the content, they buy it. If they don’t, they don’t.
The company has expanded into the U.K. (2017) and the U.S. (2019), raising $18M along the way. TRIBE has connected brands like Unilever, Amazon, American Express, Facebook, Mars and Diageo with 80,000+ creators, to create over 950,000 pieces of branded content across 13,000 campaigns.