Just like consumer habits, customer expectations regarding retailers’ communication have changed. Now, influence and social networks have taken an important place in the daily lives of the French and should not be ignored in the marketing strategy of brands and retailers.
The gradual disappearance of third-party cookies threatens to complicate companies’ marketing strategies. Indeed, without this valuable tool, it becomes increasingly difficult to track users and understand their interests. This is why many retailers are beginning to change their approach. Some are turning to retail media, others to influence. The latter represents a powerful lever to boost the visibility and sales of brands.
But what is the cost? It is complicated to find clear and global pricing for several reasons. The first is that the opacity of negotiations between brands and influence agencies who, for reasons of business confidentiality, do not really communicate on the sums paid or pocketed. The second is due to the fact that prices can vary according to different criteria such as the impact of the influencer, the format of the post or video, the duration of the operation, etc.
Sortlist’s blog is written by a collective of independent experts on the competitive landscape of marketing agencies. Based on several surveys conducted among Instagram influencers by Sortlist, the average price of a sponsored post is around 1,300 euros. For a content creator with between 10,000 and 50,000 followers, a brand can pay between 100 and 500 euros per post, while for “mega-influencers” (more than a million followers), the sum generally exceeds 10,000 euros.
The power of social media
For Lidl, social networks represent a source of connection with customers. “This echoes our values, comments Mattias Boccardo, digital manager of Lidl France, namely proximity and transparency in our speeches.” If the German discount brand is betting on partnerships with influencers, it is with the aim of showcasing its products in the daily lives of its potential customers. “When this promotion is well done, the exposure of the message and its impact are much greater than in the case of traditional advertising”says Mattias Boccardo.
This recipe seems to be bearing fruit for Lidl, which has 596,000 subscribers on Instagram. For comparison, Carrefour has 784,000 and E.Leclerc 153,000. In addition, the brand generates indirect marketing content, with a number of influencers doing Lidl “hauls” (presentations of purchased products), without being paid or even contacted by the distributor.We are proud of them, they are trusted communication vectors for our consumers”boasts the digital manager.
NAMELY
Social networks are involved in more than 45 % to the purchasing decision-making of the French
Lidl poster 596 000 followers on instagram
1 300 euros : this is the average price of a sponsored Instagram post
While social networks can serve as a guarantee in the eyes of the consumer, they sometimes take on a completely different role. Indeed, many brands use digital channels to immerse their customers in their world, as well as to make their values known. This is the case, for example, of Nestlé uses gamification to raise awareness among its customers about the issues of protecting biodiversity and responsible agriculture. Thus, in November 2022, the agri-food company set up a partnership with the famous brick game by launching the “Minecraft Farmtopia” server. It was set to restart at the end of 2023 for a second edition, aimed at supporting regenerative agriculture in Colombia. Thus, players can discover the world of coffee, from more responsible sourcing to composting. During the first season, gamers financed a planting of 22 km of hedges between December 2022 and February 2023 at partner farmers in Hauts-de-France. This time, Nestlé provided 20,000 coffee trees that are more resistant to climate change to renew the farms or plantations of Colombian coffee growers. But making your offer and your DNA known is not the prerogative of social networks or digital marketing. Indeed, physical advertising is also undergoing a major transformation, as demonstrated by the latest marketing campaign for Ouigo, the SNCF group’s low-cost airline. To counter preconceived ideas about entry-level travel, the Rosa Paris agency is launching Ouigorafi. With its title reminiscent of “Gorafi”, known for its fake news inspired by current events, the concept behind this ad, which takes the form of a newspaper, is to re-establish the truth by highlighting five preconceived ideas about Ouigo. These fake articles were distributed in the form of a special special issue, slipped into the June 24, 2024 edition of Le Figaro on the occasion of a media partnership with the newspaper.
New modes of consumption
Another impact of social networks on the retail world: the emergence of new ways of buying, such as live shopping, an emerging trend that could become established in the years to come. The reason? For Hugues Morel-Lab, founder of Poppinlive, one of the three French live shopping applications, it is the arrival of members of Generation Z among the working population that is shaking up the lines of e-commerce. Indeed, young people born between 1997 and 2010 will represent 26% of the population in 2030, but do not yet have means of consumption adapted to their internet habits.This is what live shopping is: giving the possibility to buy through a mix of social networks and customer experience”comments the founder. In addition to offering an experience based on exchange, the interest of live shopping for customers is that they will have, behind their screen, a content creator who can give them information on a product or service. “A kind of remote sales consultant.” Usually it’s someone they follow, someone they trust.
If live shopping is taking its first steps in France, It represents 30% of e-commerce in China, or more than 500 billion dollars per year. The country has even moved up a gear with social shopping. Indeed, it occupies a very important place there, mainly with livestreams. Similar to live shopping, these only go through social networks. They can generate millions of dollars in sales per session. It should be noted that China has its own social networks, with different codes. Red is its version of Instagram and has 300 million active users each month. On this application, 60% of people look for information about products, or even the products themselves to buy them.
Just like Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, Red used to generate traffic for marketplaces thanks to content that was very focused on consumption. This is why both applications launched their own e-commerce platform in 2020, accessible directly from a video or a live. Since then, when consumers watch a live on an e-commerce platform, they increasingly get into the habit of going to Red to check the product reviews and buy it directly via the application. Thus, The Chinese Instagram marketplace saw its GMV increase 4.8 times and its orders also made a spectacular leap (x 3.8). Faced with these more than encouraging results, many international brands are getting into the game. This is the case, for example, of Christie’s, which quadrupled its audience by holding a live auction on Red.
According to Hugues Morel-Lab, social networks already contribute to over 45% of the purchasing decisions of French consumers aged 15-25. A figure that could continue to grow, pushing French retailers to take inspiration from the Chinese market, placing social and influence at the heart of their marketing strategy.
In video, Cultura encourages its customers to be creative
Studies carried out by Cultura show that 75% of French people consider cultural and artistic activities as essential to their well-being, but 58% do not dare to get started for fear of failure. In 2023, the brand has therefore decided to deploy a new campaign called “Les Createrviews”. The aim is to encourage its customers to get started with cultural and artistic activities without any complexes. To do this, the campaign focuses on uninhibited interviews with artists who try disciplines they do not master. The idea is to show that artistic practice can be fun and accessible to everyone.
With the St John’s Isoskèle agency, the brand is rolling out a series of videos featuring renowned artists such as Oxmo Puccino, Bilal Hassani, Grand Corps Malade and Marc Lavoine, who try their hand at kalimba, origami, clay, etc. Broadcast on social networks, they have accumulated 21 million views across the entire series with 53 million impressions in total. The agency and Cultura target the audience of their videos by specific affinities for the artists, reinforcing engagement by offering relevant and inspiring content, adapted to the tastes and interests of the audience. Conversely, the campaign also targets affinities with the practice tested by the artist, thus increasing impact and engagement. Finally, as for the economic model, the artists appearing in the videos are not paid and willingly take part in the exercise, taking advantage of the opportunity to promote their latest news.
Source: www.ecommercemag.fr
