For most, influencer marketing isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a mandate. As shoppers search for product recommendations, influencers provide heightened awareness, entertainment, authenticity and validation. We all know this.
It’s no surprise that 31% of marketers noted it is a top investment priority for the new year, according to InMarket’s 2026 Predictions Report.
What’s less obvious is the additional benefit influencer marketing potentially has in amplifying your brand’s core message, differentiation and sales, if done correctly.
For retailers, here are five opportunities for enhancing the incremental impact of influencer marketing and connecting it to your overall advertising tactics and consumers’ purchase process:
- Make it shoppable.
As social commerce booms, drive better conversion rates by reducing click tension.Studies have found that 80% of Gen Z and millennials incorporated social media into their shopping journey in 2025. Your influencer ads should be just as easy to shop as other digital marketing experiences.
The two-click rule still applies — don’t lose sales because shoppers had to go on a treasure hunt to find products or use the discount code. Double down on the formats that result in better conversion through the funnel and less bounce. Embed discount codes when shoppers click on the ad or the link in the influencer’s bio to remove extra steps. Streamlining the sales and conversion process keeps shoppers from getting lost in the sauce (as Gen Z would say), ensuring potential sales aren’t lost.
- Find your local niche.
Follower count alone should never be the primary decision-maker when engaging with influencers. Local relevance is a fantastic yet simple way to deepen audience connections — think Texas’ obsession with H-E-B and the Pennsylvania/New Jersey Wawa affinity.Wawa has embraced this strategy on numerous occasions, showing its impact by tapping the notoriety of Pennsylvania icons like Jason and Kylie Kelce for its Hoagie Fest promotion, and Gen-Z influencer Alix Earle, N.J. native and self-proclaimed Wawa super fan, to promote the debut of Wawa Pizza.
H-E-B is another great example of a retailer that delivers on its promise of being hyper-local, with initiatives like “Quest for Texas Best,” offering native Texas brands an opportunity to be added to their shelves. Whether it’s tapping the likeness of local celebrities or uplifting business owners in the community, both examples showcase the impact of embracing local communities to build trust and extend partnerships with tactics like on-site activations and regional campaigns.
- Extend influencer partnerships outside of social.
Investment in top- and bottom-of-the-funnel activities is nearly equal in 2026 for a reason. Adopting a full-funnel approach ensures you break through the clutter and remain top of mind for shoppers. Influencer marketing can’t be an exception.If you’re working with local influencers to increase awareness for new store openings, for example, complement social posts with shoppable CTV ads to reach shoppers while they’re planning their next shopping trip, or leverage companion mobile ad experiences to engage folks when they’re out running errands.
Strategize additional ways to go beyond screens. Whether it’s bringing local influencers on-site to celebrate store openings or having them lend a helping hand for community engagement initiatives, bringing the relationship off the screen can make influencer partnerships feel more authentic within local markets while increasing buzz around campaigns.
- Connect the pieces.
Success today requires a holistic and orchestrated strategy where each marketing activity is connected to the other — connected commerce, if you will. Leverage data and past purchase behavior to target users throughout their fragmented media and shopping journeys to build awareness, consideration and ultimately purchase.Understanding and targeting the platforms’ audience and influencers’ followers on-site and off helps assure you are connecting with the right audiences to drive incremental return on ad spend (iROAS). Sharing that message consistently using both top- and bottom-of-the-funnel advertising initiatives can help drive incremental conversions and success.
- Close the loop on ROI with enhanced measurement.
As marketers, we all love a viral moment. However, in order to showcase the true impact of an influencer campaign, measurement can’t be limited to top-of-the-funnel metrics. Ensure views, likes and clicks are actually leading to incremental visits, purchases and iROAS.
One benefit of extending influencer partnerships across the funnel is that marketers unlock additional insights into performance and impact on the bottom line. For example, you might find that influencer posts showcasing a try-on haul or “Get Ready With Me” video generate more incremental sales on social media, while highlighting influencer promo codes leads to engagement and sales spikes across mobile ad experiences. Getting granular with measurement and insights inspires more effective content.
The rapid evolution of social media marketing certainly isn’t stopping anytime soon. Upleveling measurement can help ensure you glean the insights necessary to not only better understand outcomes, but find high-growth and often overlooked opportunities to get the most out of your social media and influencer marketing efforts.
Don’t get lost in a 10-story-high pile of PR packages or miss out on potential sales because you overcomplicated it.
Become the G.O.A.T. of influencer marketing — look beyond established playbooks and find unique opportunities for consistently reaching the right audiences. Doing so will help cultivate deeper customer relationships while shattering your influencer marketing goals.
Gerry Joyce is the VP, Retail Practice Lead at InMarket, bringing 20+ years of leadership and sales experience across retail and digital media. Since joining InMarket in 2022, Joyce has worked closely with our retail clients, agency partners, sales team, marketing, measurement and product team to develop drive-to-store client-based solutions. These unique offerings reach shoppers prior to an intended store visit, driving stronger return on ad spend. Previously, Joyce led the retail verticals as the VP of National Retail for Gatehouse Media and Gannett. In 2013, he launched a digital shopping platform, Retale, funded by Axel Springer/Bonial, serving as VP of Sales. Here, he played a pivotal role in building the North American sales team, revenue growth and sales strategy. Earlier in his career, Joyce held various leadership positions at Chicago Tribune Media Group, including Advertising Director – National/Major Accounts, where he was responsible for a team of National Account Managers who sold multi-channel solutions to the company’s largest retail accounts.
