It seems like there’s a subscription box for everything these days. There’s a box for Japanese sweets, one for those who love books, one for cosmetics (which started the trend) and even one for those with an entrepreneurial bent of mind!
A subscription box gives its consumers steady access to content and products (we all love to receive a package that we aren’t expecting). It also helps sellers know in advance just how much to order and produce. In a particularly volatile retail environment, subscription boxes are a win-win solution and assurance we all need.
Along with the rise of the subscription box trend, there’s another reason why this model of sales has gained the kind of prominence it has- the Instagram influencer. Unboxing videos were immensely popular on YouTube even before Instagram existed, but with a rise in the influencer culture, unboxing pictures and videos are virtually everywhere.
Influencer marketing is a more active way of promoting your own subscription service because it allows you to tap into the community, and the trust, that the influencer has already established. The likelihood of someone looking at their recommendation and choosing to buy is very high.
Of course, influencers know this, which is why marketing through them is usually expensive. However, if your return on investment is also high, you should consider this option.
How To Use Influencer Marketing For Subscription Box
When you set out to use influencer marketing, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Defining your goals: You need to know what you’d like to achieve through this exercise. You also need to set measurable goals. For example, if you want 1000 subscriptions with one marketing campaign that runs for a month, you cannot go with an influencer who has less than 10,000 followers. This is because even the most ardent followers may not eventually convert.
- Find your influencers: Not all influencers will be ideal for your product. What’s more, many of them only take up engagements in their area of expertise, and rightly so. Make a list of influencers who can actually promote your product and take a look at past history. See how many interactions their posts get, what kind of offers they make, etc. Tailor your campaign accordingly.
- Offer special incentives: Almost no influencer campaign is complete without offering a special discount for that audience alone. People like to feel special and offering limited deals and discounts is a great way to show them they matter. Also, when you promote through this channel, you want to get maximum bang for your buck. So, sell the recurring subscriptions more actively. Incentivize 3-month and 6-month subscriptions over shorter durations.
- Stand out from the crowd: Of all the subscription boxes available out there, why should anyone choose yours? You need to put your brand’s USP front and center, and sometimes that means creating unique content. For example, you can ask each influencer to do an unboxing video, you can ship surprise goodies with each box and ask people to share on social media, and so on. For a subscription box, packaging matters more than ever. Many subscription services use different packaging each month to keep the excitement going. What’s more, your social media feed also looks good this way!
Packaging Matters
Well before you start your influencer campaign, you need to make key packaging decisions.
- Will you be collaborating with the influencer for designing the box and its contents? If so, the influencer’s name and branding may need to appear on the box.
- If you have subscription orders, you already know how much you plan to sell in a given month. Use this information to design and place orders for your packaging well in advance for better deals.
- Less is more. You can even consider ordering a few different packages for each target group to keep the interest high. You can also host contests like, “guess which packaging you will receive this month.” All of these are ways to engage your customers better.
Of course, for this level of flexibility in packaging options, you need a service provider who is in tune with your marketing goals. With Arka’s packaging solutions, you can customize, design and print as many or as few packages as you need. You can also have them shipped to you in record time, reorder an older product with ease and know that when it comes to your subscription box, packaging will never be a problem. You can also check Arka's high-quality custom shipper boxes and custom mailer boxes that help improve sales significantly!
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