How to Use Influencer and Advocate Marketers at the Top of Your Sales Funnel

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Finding savvy players in the influencer and advocate space to join your team can help boost your conversion rate to drive more sales. 
These players benefit you by being involved on multiple levels, including at the top of your sales funnel. Who doesn’t want that?
Brian Littleton has been working in affiliate marketing for years and has honed in strategies to get the most out of your influencer marketing efforts, while the influencers get the most out of the content they’re creating. He encourages the use of niche audiences and remind us that if any strategy is not bringing in conversions it’s not worth keeping around.
ShareASale.com, Inc. is a network for affiliate marketing that serves the merchant and the affiliate by creating platforms and tools to promote and share sales.

In This Episode

• How influencers can continually bring in sales for your brand
• How to communicate your needs clearly to your influencers
• Why it’s important to track actual (not estimated) conversions and sales
• How to engage with your consumer across the entire customer journey
• Why influencers are beginning to ask for more money for their content

Quotes From This Episode

“Profit is key in the affiliate channels.” —@brianlittleton
“It’s one thing to know what you want to write about. It’s another thing to figure out how to actually convince a shopper to click over and to purchase something.” —@brianlittleton
“Obviously, there are concerns at the end of that funnel with coupon loyalty and reward programs that people are a part of. Our technology is able to separate those two things out and make sure a retailer is paying a top of funnel person appropriately for what’s really happening at the end.” —@brianlittleton
“The top of the funnel is really benefitted by the person at the end helping out with their last second conversion or the coupon instead of them clashing together.” —@brianlittleton

“You’ve got to put stuff out there. You’ve got to communicate with your affiliates. You’ve got to give them ideas. You have to tell them when your company is having their hot times. They’re not just going to sit around waiting every day to figure out what the best way is to promote you. You’re going to have to teach them and show them.” —@brianlittleton

“That human element is extremely important.” —@brianlittleton
“I’m a big believer that if it doesn’t work out in terms of actual sales at the end of the day it’s not going to last a long time.” —@brianlittleton

Resources

• In the News: 5 Things CEOs Don’t Get About Influencer Marketing
• Brian Littleton on Twitter: @brianlittleton
• ShareASale.com
• Fanatics
• Major League Baseball League
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• AdWords

Would You Rather

Would you rather have to sit all day or stand all day?
I would go with sit all day. I like to be able to sit and focus. I’ve got four monitors at my desk. So, standing, I’m not sure they would all be visible. I like to really like to focus in.
Would you rather be 4’5″ or 7’7″?
I would rather be 7’7″ yes. I’ve always wanted to be able to dunk a basketball. I think it would be a lot easier there and I would accomplish one of my life goals.
Would you rather be stuck in a house with someone you hate or be stuck in a house all alone?
I would rather be stuck in a house all alone, I think. I guess it would depend. Do I have any entertainment? Is there a television?