An ExpertVoice How-To Guide

Growingyour brandwith influentialexperts

The ExpertVoice Resource Library

Run

Getting Hunting and Fishing Experts Talking About Your Brand

Where the experts areFew sports are as diverse as running. There are marathoners and trail runners, sprintersand ultra-runners,competitive and casual runners, and there’s even the wish-they-liked-running runners. And in the top tier of eachsubset of runner lies the passionate ones who can tell you exactly which shoe to wear for overpronation, 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 productsand 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 poststo match.

6. Case studies See these experts in action.

Getting Run Experts Talking About Your Brand

Getting Hunting and Fishing Experts Talking About Your Brand

1. Meet your matchSome people have a natural talent in their field, and then there are others whoneed 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 initially being “horrible” at the 3,000-meter steeple-chase (her words, not ours), she couldn’t shake how much she loved it. After some intensive trainingand extremely hard work, 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). And in 2016, she did it — she made it to the trial finals — clockinga PR of 9:40.

Foster trustInfluencers 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 several Ragnar stickers on his car, even your child’s basketball coach. They’rethe people you knowand trust, and whowill give you the best advice whenyou have a running question. When these experts share their opinion, you know it’s authentic and not just a paid promotion. ExpertVoice connects your brand directly to these authentic experts, and it’sthe first step toward building a trustworthy and mutually beneficial relationship.

Insights

Experts like Rena have

12x 82%of people who receive a recommendation from a passionate expert or someone who works in the industry are highly likely to follow it

Rena knows what it takes to work hard and uses her experience and knowledge totrain others to run their best. So whether you’ve just bought your first pair of running shoes or you’re working to shave off a tenth of a second, Rena’s passion and expertise can help fuel your running goals.

more buying conversations a week

than the average consumer

Getting Run Experts Talking About Your Brand

Getting Hunting and Fishing Experts Talking About Your Brand

2. Hear what they have to sayExperts 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 savvy 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 discover what these experts are seeing and thinking, and how they perceive the latest trends. Are they already recommending your brand? 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

87%more likely to recommend a brand

Getting Run Experts Talking About Your Brand

4xmore than their peers

Even after just one online session with a brand on ExpertVoice, influential experts are:

Proven to sell

Getting Hunting and Fishing Experts Talking About Your Brand

3. Help them talk the Identify your brand’s most influential experts, then offer them insider access to engaging content and products that keeps 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 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 Tips

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 their legs and feet. Want a place in that conversation? Connect with experts like Rena and give them first-hand access to what sets your brand and products apart.

Getting Run Experts Talking About Your Brand

Getting Hunting and Fishing Experts Talking About Your Brand

4. Don’t forget walking the walkThe most trusted recommendations come from people who’ve hadfirst-hand experience with a product — even better if those people happento be influential experts. ExpertVoice can help you get your products intothe hands of the very experts who are most trusted for their advice on whatto buy. In the process, you’ll be giving them much more to say about whatyou sell.

Seeding products to top experts — either free or at a deep discount — andgetting their authentic feedback is a great way to build both word-of-mouthcredibility and excitement around new products.

Insights

5x

of social buyingconversationshappen offline2/3rds

more likely todrive a purchase

83%of WOM recommendations aretied to personal experience

with a product/brand

An offline buying recommendation is

Getting Run Experts Talking About Your Brand

Getting Hunting and Fishing Experts Talking About Your Brand

5. Gather and share inspiring content

5 Drenachessner

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 featuring your brand, 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 gear on every run.

For example:Skullcandy invited ExpertVoice experts to field-test new products and provide honest reviews. Sure enough, 82% of the experts who participated in the product pre-launch shared reviews on Skullcandy’s website.

Taylor Jenni Raymond

Getting Run Experts Talking About Your Brand

Getting Hunting and Fishing Experts Talking About Your Brand

6. Case studies

Reebok partnered with ExpertVoice to launchback into the running category with theFloatride, propelled by the credibility ofrunning experts. Prior to the shoe launching,our experts had countless conversations,generated 1.57 million social impressions, andwrote more than 500 product reviews to driveconversion. At launch, the Floatride won BestDebut from Runner’s Magazine and is now theNo. 4 best-selling shoe on Reebok.com.

Jaybird partnered with ExpertVoice toengage with more than 24,000 influentialexperts. The results were clear: Thelikelihood of experts recommending Jaybirdproducts grew from 22% to 85%.

The North Face® surveyed industry expertson the styles and features they’d like to see in future product lines. Their product team has received 275+ valuable expert insights.

Getting Run Experts Talking About Your Brand

Find out what experts can do for youExpertVoice is the world’s largest network of trusted experts whosepassion, experience and knowledge make them a trusted source foradvice on what to buy. Join the 500+ brands who partner withExpertVoice to connect with these powerful brand advocates to buildbrand awareness and sell more.

https://www.expertvoice.com/business/