Why Influencer Marketing Works for D2C Brands & How To Improve Your Bottom Line With Influencers

If your direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand is considering influencer marketing to tap into new audiences and drive traffic, you’re in the right place. Consumers gravitating toward more personalized shopping experiences opened opportunities for D2C brands to operate without relying on big box retailers. But not every boutique e-commerce store or mid-level consumer goods company has the resources to create marketing campaigns that reach the right online audiences. Thankfully, influencer agencies do, and these campaigns can help any D2C brand’s bottom line.

Which brands benefit from influencer marketing?

It doesn’t matter which industry you’re in—nearly any D2C company can use influencers to improve its presence on social channels and build a larger following of qualified leads. While there are other strategies that can work  for direct-to-consumer brands, influencer marketing works better than most traditional advertising methods because these personalities deliver the emotional connections, credibility, and trust that individual consumers crave. According to our influencer marketing stats, more than 60% of Millennials and Gen Z consumers trust influencers’ recommendations, which goes a long way to building your brand’s community, authority, and revenue.

Why D2C brands need influencer marketing

Hiring an agency for influencer marketing might not seem DIY enough for a D2C brand that built itself from the ground up, but it’s a safe bet you didn’t do all that work to keep your product hidden. D2C companies facing tough competition should use influencer marketing to bridge the gap to new audiences and offer uncontrived content from trusted personalities.

Having a brand ambassador vouch for your product or service is essential, but it’s also a huge undertaking without help from an agency for influencer marketing. It’s this firm’s job to know how and where to find solid influencers and how to structure their deals, allowing D2C brands to stress less while still reaping these benefits: 

Free your internal resources

A D2C marketing team may not have the resources to come up with slam-dunk ad campaigns time and again, and when you’ve partnered with content creators, you won’t have to. Influencers can breathe new life into existing products using captivating visuals and new storylines. Plus, they’re experts at supporting product launches with engaging, original content. When your social content is covered, your team can focus on other profitable tasks, like designing the Next Big Thing.

Reach a relevant audience

Direct-to-consumer influencer marketing works because the partnerships are relevant to the brand’s niche and the content is spot-on for that audience. Locating the right collaborator isn’t easy, but an influencer marketing agency can help vet candidates and connect D2C brands with the best personalities to tout their products. The resulting posts can build your engagement rates and help your products resonate with a larger audience of potential customers.

Increase sales and loyalty

When social users see an influencer supporting a product, their followers quickly become interested. It might take only one follow-up post or mention to get people to visit the e-commerce shop, especially when the influencer offers a promo code for a slight discount. This engagement gives a D2c brand a quick sales boost, and each additional post encourages follow-up orders. Having the same beauty regimen or running shoe preference as an influencer makes people feel connected to the personality, and in turn, they’re loyal to the product or brand.

Curb your social media learning curve

D2C brands are experts on products and services, but that doesn’t mean they understand how to highlight these items to a social media audience. When companies can rely on influencer marketing, they won’t need to become savvy social users. These collaborators know their audiences well and follow social trends to offer relevant content. Micro and macro influencers also have the chops to create original content for all marketing channels to drive engagement and help D2C brands succeed.

Educate customers about your brand

If your D2C brand wants to inform people about the latest products, you’ll need more than blatant sales pitches and static guides. This is where an influencer can help. Let these creators educate their audience about your products, offering useful hacks and everyday tips—and watch their followers lean in to listen. A D2C seller can also lean on an influencer marketing personality to communicate brand information, like the company’s core mission or sustainability, to connect with audience members who value those efforts, without feeling preachy.

Fully-managed marketing campaigns

Though hiring an influencer marketing agency and contracting with collaborators may feel like you’re relinquishing your social feeds, it is far from that. These aren’t run-of-the-mill efforts—they are managed investments to help D2C brands reach their goals using key performance indicators. The right agency partner will measure influencer marketing success carefully, recommend updates to the strategy, and communicate wins. This helps D2C brands make the most of their marketing budget while benefiting from powerful influencer content.

Whether you’re considering hiring a micro influencer to reach a specific audience without a big price tag or a macro influencer for a product launch or rebrand, contact Joybyte for help getting started. We’re happy to offer many agency services for growing brands and established e-commerce companies.