How To Send Shopify Products To Influencers

The preparation required to keep track of products sent out to the likes of online content creators is one of the most time-consuming aspects of maintaining an influencer marketing strategy.

However, this is especially true for businesses that are just getting started with influencer marketing, as new teams on the block will likely complete the process manually.

Sure, it'll get the job done, but there's a much easier way for stores on Shopify to manage multiple collaborations with online influencers.

So, for today’s guide, we are going to outline how ecommerce stores can begin to simplify and automate the process of sending and tracking Shopify products to content creators.

As a result, stores on Shopify will be able to reclaim more time back for themselves, allowing teams to focus on more pressing tasks that require attention.

Why Brands Send Shopify Products 📦

In 2022, influencer marketing is one of the most valuable and successful strategies of money-making that a brand could choose to implement. Therefore, merchants often send products to online influencers as a means of driving growth to their business.

As a result, sending Shopify products to the likes of online influencers and content creators can be a fantastic method to not only raise brand awareness but strengthen customer relationships and introduce new products to the market.

However, it is important as a merchant to be clear on your goals when implementing an influencer marketing strategy alongside how your store will measure ROI before any Shopify products are sent.

So, to get things started here's a quick rundown of some of the common types of influencer gifting campaigns:

Influencer Gifting Campaigns

N0.1: Paid Campaigns

Brands offer products to influencers so that their store's products can be promoted across the creator's social media page(s) and/ or blog site in exchange for a payment.

N0.2: Product Seeding

Brands often send influencers free products so creators can test out an item for themselves. Then if the influencer enjoys using the product, the brand can choose to invite the individual to participate in a paid campaign.

If a brand's budget is modest, the team might choose to send their products to influencers with no expectations, hoping that the creator will enjoy the item and share it with their followers without payment.

N0.3: Product Gifting

Last but not least, brands often send products to their loyal; customers, ambassadors and fans as an incentive to stay engaged with the business.

How to Send Shopify Products 📮

Sending products to the right influencers is a significant investment and a logistical nightmare if done manually.

However, if you follow these four best practices, we can guarantee that it won't be:

N0.1: Standardise and Automate Communication

It takes effort to create the appropriate message that will hook an influencer into the idea of working with your business, not to mention proactively following up and responding quickly to enquiries.

However, by creating and sharing templated messages across your team, stores on Shopify can eliminate communication chaos and avoid messages being lost in the back and forth of email messages.

To avoid this, simply create templated messages to save your team time in the future.

Nonetheless, messages for transactional communications, such as outreach and follow-up emails, should be written in advance.

Templatizing Outreach Messages

Reach out to a new influencer who's unfamiliar with your company with a templated message.

A template can also be used for businesses to get in touch with; a brand supporter, advocate or consumer.

Templates are also a great way for merchants to resume a dialogue with an influencer with whom they've previously collaborated.

Templatizing Follow-Up Messages

Asking the creator to select a product.

Following up after receiving no response.

Confirming receipt of the complimentary item.

Affiliates and influencers appreciate small gestures so, take the time to do a little digging and find out more about the individual at hand before approaching them with a proposal.

N0.2: Compelling Commission Proposals 💰

Setting expectations with creators and keeping them enthused about your; brand, mission and promotion require a complete and compelling campaign proposal.

Therefore, if you’re running a paid campaign, we’d recommend using a campaign proposal to confirm interest and set expectations.

Then, once the selected content creators have agreed to the terms, it's time to start sending out your store’s Shopify products.

This information should pique an influencer's interest in the campaign, increasing the likelihood of their participation.

Nonetheless, it’s important to note that retailers can't expect influencers to provide content in exchange for free products as businesses tend to have less influence over the outcome when free products are sent.

Be Clear, Concise & Upfront

When creating compelling commission proposals, it’s important to be clear, concise and upfront about:

The goals of your brand’s campaign.

The incentives involved.

What is needed from the influencer to complete the collaboration.

Information about your brand and why creators should work with you.

Creating a Compelling Application Page

Creating a specific campaign landing page is a unique way for brands to send proposals to online influencers.

With a campaign landing page, content creators can easily check out the campaign and see whether it's something they'd be interested in working on thanks to this dedicated location for campaign details.

See, the landing page functions as a typical honey pot for influencers, encouraging them to consider collaborating with a business.

N0.3: Defining Collaboration Terms

If you're thinking of running a paid campaign, be sure that the terms for the influencer collaboration are written down and agreed upon before the creator begins to share promotional content.

Standard terms ensure that the influencer and brand are on the same page and that nothing could be lost in translation.

Therefore, we’d recommend writing down your expectations alongside what you'd be willing to give the content creator in return. As a result, these standardised words can be given to anyone interested in participating in your campaign.

When defining collaboration terms with online influencers, be sure to specify:

The type of content that you’re asking for.

The number of posts you’d require.

Platform-specific requirements.

The necessary focus points.

Forwarding or posting deadlines.

The value of the gifts/ products involved.

The terms of commission.

Additional perks.

If you're utilising an influencer marketing platform, we’d suggest making a template containing these terms so that the guidelines of collaboration can be sent to influencers of interest.

Furthermore, if you're seeding Shopify products, our advice would be to hold off on sending precise partnership conditions until confirmation of participation has been received.

Separately, if you're using an influencer marketing platform, why not develop a template of collaboration terms that can be shared once an ideal influencer has been located for a speedy outreach strategy?

N0.4: Streamlined Product Tracking 👣

Manually tracking products and orders sent to influencers can be difficult and it's probably not the best idea if you’re looking to scale your business.

So, when you're ready to level up, it'll be worth the effort of investing in a platform that offers both trackable distribution options and real-time statistics to keep your campaign on track.

Shopify has plenty of apps, such as the Parcel Panel Order Tracking and Order Status Tracker which enables merchants on the platform to; track shipments, view orders and gain insights on deliveries.

Don’t forget, if you’re using an influencer marketing platform, be sure to look out for a Shopify integration so that it is easy to choose products from your online store and send them to the newest influencers as soon as they agree to collaborate.

Then, once Shopify is connected, you will be able to track orders and receive notifications within Shopify.

So, rather than guessing what an influencer wants, try sending them a gift card or a discount code and invite them to shop your site.

With no work on your part, Shopify products can be sent out alongside customer orders.

Influencer Marketing Platforms with Shopify Integrations

When it comes to searching for the best influencer marketing platforms for your business to utilise, we’d recommend choosing at least one that has advanced Shopify integrations in place.

This way, product orders and store inventory can be easily tracked and shipped.

So, what are your thoughts on our guide to sending Shopify products to influencers? Reach out and let us know.

If you’re actively looking to work with a Shopify agency designer or developer to assist you with your business, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch to get started!