Growing your brand with influential experts

Transcription

1 The Experticity Resource Library no. 38 An Experticity How-To Guide Growing your brand with influential experts Run version 01

2 We know your experts. Do you? Few sports are as diverse as running. There are marathoners and trail runners, sprinters and ultra-runners, competitive and casual runners, and there s even the wish-they-liked-running runners. And in the top tier of each subset of runner lies the passionate ones who can tell you exactly which shoe to wear for an over-pronator, which sports bra provides the best support, and which water bottle is easiest to take on longer runs. They re what we like to call experts, and building a relationship of trust with them is worth it: they can be a powerful voice for improving your brand s awareness and growth. What s Inside 1. Meet your match Your brand already has advocates and experts. Let s talk to them. 2. Hear what they have to say Find out what this important community has to say about your products and brand. 3. Help them talk the talk Connect with your experts so they can make informed recommendations. 4. Don t forget walking the walk The more experience they have with your products, the more they can say about them. 5. Gather and share inspiring content Lucky for you, experts have big, inspiring lives and the social posts to match. 6. Case studies See these experts in action.

3 1. Meet your match Foster trust Some people have a natural talent in their field, and then there are others who just need to work really hard. Rena Chesser, as her track coach informed her, was the latter. Rena s been a competitive track athlete since she was 14, and despite being initially horrible at the insanely difficult 3,000-meter steeplechase (her words, not ours), she couldn t shake how much she loved it. After some intensive training, Rena became an All-American collegiate athlete, and came tantalizingly close to the Olympic trials in both 2008 and 2012 (like.02-off-the-mark close). In 2016, she made it to the finals of the trials, clocking in a PR of 9:40. Rena knows what it takes to work hard and trains others to run their best. So whether you ve just bought your first pair of running shoes or you re working on shaving off a tenth of a second, Rena s passion and expertise will help fuel your running goals. Influencers are everywhere you look and we don t mean the paid kind. We mean the experts you interact with every day: your friend who runs sprint intervals, your colleague who has at least five Ragnar stickers on his car, even your child s basketball coach. They re people you know who can give you the best advice when it comes to when you have a running question. When these experts give their opinion, you know it s authentic and not just another paid promotion. Experticity connects your brand directly to these authentic experts, and it s the first step toward building a trustworthy and mutually beneficial relationship. Insights Experts like Rena have 12x more buying conversations a week than the average consumer 82 % of people who receive a recommendation from a passionate expert or someone who works in the industry are highly likely to follow it

4 2. Hear what they have to say Experts are opinionated. They want to share their insights on your products and technologies. They love providing feedback, and you ll love getting first-hand information from the people who use your products every day. So before crafting an engagement strategy, don t forget these potential advocates. Ask thoughtful questions and really listen to what they have to say. Not only will you build brand affinity with a loyal crowd, you ll gain valuable insights you can use to improve both your product and marketing strategies. If you do this, you ll find out what these experts are seeing and thinking, and how they perceive the latest trends. Are they already recommending you? Why or why not? If you re looking for valuable insight on your product s features, materials and uses before its ready for market, these experts can provide feedback that you can trust. Your consumers trust experts. You should, too. Insights Even after just one online session with a brand on Experticity, influential experts are: 4x more likely to recommend a brand 87 Proven to sell % more than their peers

5 3. Help them talk the talk Identify your brand s most influential experts, then offer them regular insider access to engaging content and products that keep them coming back for more. Whether it s a discount on a new line of socks or an exclusive sneak peek at your shoe s patented tread technology, nothing inspires passionate running experts more than being the first to be in the know. It adds up to a loyal, lasting connection and experts who can t stop talking about your products. Quick Tip: Keep them on the cutting edge. What does Rena find herself recommending most often? What should I eat, she says with a laugh. I get that question more than anything! She s also asked for running gear recommendations, and while she considers herself to be low-maintenance for her own shoes, she knows exactly what to recommend if someone has pronation issues, or pain in legs and feet. Want a place in that conversation? Connect with experts like Rena authentically and give them first-hand access to your products and people. Educate them on what sets your brand and products apart, and let them dive deep into your technologies, product lines and even brand culture.

6 4. Don t forget walking the walk The most trusted recommendations come from people who ve had first-hand experience with a product even better if those people happen to be influential experts. Experticity can help you get more of your products into the hands of the very experts who are most trusted for their advice on what to buy. In the process, you ll be giving them much more to say about what you sell. Seeding products to top experts either free or at a deep discount and then getting their authentic feedback is a great way to build both word-ofmouth credibility and excitement around new products. Insights 83 % of WOM recommendations are tied to personal experience with a product/brand 2/3 rds of social buying conversations happen offline An offline buying recommendation is 5xmore likely to drive a purchase

7 5. Gather and share inspiring content renachessner 5 D 232 SHOW MORE Stand back and let influential experts do what they do best: inspire others to love your brand. Whether it s word-of-mouth recommendations for your new running socks or authentic UGC posted to social that features your brand front and center, these passionate storytellers can drive engagement. They can also craft honest, credible reviews for your online sales channel to provide recommendations on why they use your water bottle every single time they run. For example: Skullcandy invited experts in the Experticity network to field-test new products and provide honest reviews. Sure enough, 82% of the experts who participated in a product pre-launch shared reviews on the Skullcandy website. Taylor Jenni Raymond

8 6. Case studies Reebok partnered with Experticity to launch back into the running category with the Floatride, propelled by the credibility of running experts. Prior to the shoe launching, our experts had countless conversations, generated 1.57 million social impressions, and wrote more than 500 product reviews to drive conversion. At launch, the Floatride won Best Debut from Runner s Magazine and is now the No. 4 best-selling shoe on Reebok.com. Jaybird partnered with Experticity to engage with more than 24,000 influential experts. The results were clear: The likelihood of experts recommending Jaybird products grew from 22% to 85%. The North Face surveyed industry experts on the styles and features they d like to see in future product lines. Their product team has now received 275 valuable expert insights.

9 Find out what experts can do for you Experticity is the world s largest network of trusted experts whose passion, experience and knowledge makes them powerful brand advocates. Join the 500+ brands who already use Experticity solutions and connect with experts who authentically build brand awareness to help you sell more. business.experticity.com/learn-more/