Influenster Solution Demonstrates Impact of Peer-to-Peer Recommendations in Driving Sales Conversion

In Study Conducted by IRI, Sales Lift Beats Benchmarks for Digital Campaigns

Influenster, the leading product discovery and reviews platform, featuring 35 million+ reviews written by 5 million+ members, shared the results of third-party research fielded by IRI, demonstrating the value of peer-to-peer recommendations in driving conversion. The research, conducted on behalf of a well-known global color cosmetics brand, reveals how ratings, reviews and user-generated content can drive an increase in incremental sales and highlights the importance of ratings and reviews in the purchasing decisions of everyday consumers. As many brands struggle with measuring the impact of influence in a marketing landscape, where trust in traditional advertising and even big-name social influencers continues to decline, these findings are an important proof-point demonstrating the enduring power of word-of-mouth.

The Influenster campaign included: hyper-targeted sampling to 2,000 females (aged 18-30, with 1,000+ social media followers and living in brand key markets, Dallas and San Francisco); dedicated email communication to recipients; and inspirational branded content to Influenster fans and followers. Recipients were encouraged to share their honest opinions on the products sampled, whether via reviews or social media content. Product reviews generated by the campaign, written on Influenster, were also syndicated to brand and retail sites. Post-campaign, the brand lift study conducted by IRI revealed that, in the two key test markets:

• The Influenster campaign drove a 44% higher sales lift for the featured products vs. the IRI benchmark for average digital campaigns in Beauty
• The Influenster campaign drove a 69% higher sales lift for the product categories [in which the sampled products compete] vs. the IRI benchmark for average digital campaigns in Beauty, demonstrating a positive halo effect

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“These results are particularly exciting, given the lack of an industry standard to measure the power of influence. As an innovator in the space and the largest micro-influencer network in the world, Influenster is proud to pioneer research that proves activating your key consumer base at scale has significant brand-building and sales potential,” says Laura Brinker, SVP Marketing, Influenster.

Additional results of the campaign include:

• Social posts: 360 Facebook posts, 430 Instagram posts, 420 Instagram stories, 320 Snapchat stories, 950 Twitter posts
• Product reviews: 1,200+ product reviews on Influenster (syndicated to brand and retail sites, tool)
• Impressions: 15.7 million total impressions (+ impressions from reviews on Brand.com/partner retailers)
• Purchase interest: 73% of campaign participants, amongst those who answered a post-campaign survey, said they were very or somewhat likely to purchase something from the brand in the next six months

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“The online shopping experience is quickly evolving, impacted by numerous influences, including recommendations, customer reviews and photos, before making a purchase,” says Nishat Mehta, president of the IRI Media Center of Excellence. “Helping to improve this experience is why we wanted to team up with Influenster to pinpoint exactly what is most important to consumers in their buying decisions.”

“It’s heartening to see these results because they demonstrate the opportunity for brands to engage the highly-empowered consumers who come to Influenster to share their product feedback and experiences,” says Elizabeth Scherle, co-founder and president, Influenster. “Through the strength of our community, we can create a groundswell of consumer buzz and reviews, which this study proves more effective than typical digital campaigns in driving both product and sub-category sales.”

She adds, “Outside of our brand campaigns, our 5 million members leave 1 million organic, unsolicited reviews every month, and we enable brands to syndicate this content to their brand and retailer sites through our ReviewSource service or populate targeted digital and social media units with UGC – both also proven to drive conversion.”

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