An Experticity How-To Guide

Growing your brand with influential experts

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no. 34The Experticity Resource Library

Getting Fitness Experts Talking About Your Brand

We know your experts. Do you?Whether it’s the feeling of accomplishment after achieving their goals or helping others reach theirs, fitness enthusiasts are all about leading healthier, more active lifestyles. You won’t ever find them with more than a moment’s downtime, especially when it comes to researching the latest nutrition trends or best workout gear. And you can bet each fitness class and personal training session is filled with recommendations and advice on where to start, what to do and what to buy. They’re fitness experts, and if you build a relationship of trust with them they can be a powerful voice for improving your brand 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 products and 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 posts to match.

6. Case studies See experts in action.

Getting Fitness Experts Talking About Your Brand

1. Meet your matchFor Mackenzie McCleery, sitting still is not an option. As a new mom, personal trainer and wellness coach, she strives to lead by example and live a healthy, active lifestyle. Whether running half-marathons in a canyon or teaching group fitness classes, she’s all about setting goals and smashing through them.

She’s been a personal trainer for six and a half years, and also provides nutrition advice to her clients. Her favorite advice for anyone looking to begin a healthier

lifestyle is to start small. “I tell them to forget everything they’ve read and everything they’ve heard and go back to the basics,” she says. “Start small, start today.” To ensure her advice is always spot on, she’s constantly researching the latest trends, reading medical journals and working on her re-certifications. “I think that’s also what makes me an expert. I’m always looking for the newest trend so when people ask me about it I can give a professional opinion.”

Her expert recommendations aren’t limited to her clients, either. Friends and family find everyday conversations with her inspiring and helpful. “Once people find out what I do for a living, everyone’s asking my opinion on everything,” she says.

Foster trustThe world is full of influencers, but instead of tallying followers our experts are leading passion-filled lives. They’re not social media stars, they’re everyday people you know and trust: your child’s coach, your colleague, your neighbor who always seems to be going for a run. When these experts give their opinion on a brand or product, you know it’s authentic and not just another paid promotion. Experticity lets you discover these authentic experts and connect with them. This is the first step toward building a trustworthy relationship that benefits you both.

Insights

Experts like Mackenzie have

17xmore buying

conversations a week than the average consumer

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

82%

Getting Fitness Experts Talking About Your Brand

2. Hear what they have to sayExperts love sharing insights on products and technologies. So before your brand crafts an engagement strategy, make time to survey these potential advocates. Ask thoughtful questions and truly 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, too.

Find out what these experts are seeing and thinking, and how they perceive the latest trends. Are they recommending you at the track already? Why or why not? Experts can provide valuable input on product features, materials and uses long before you’re even ready for market. Your consumers trust experts. You should, too.

Insights

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

4xmore likely to recommend a brand

87%more than their peers

Proven to sell

Getting Fitness Experts Talking About Your Brand

3. Help them talk the talkIdentify your brand’s most influential experts, then offer them regular insider access to engaging content and products that keep them coming back for more. Whether it’s a discount on a pair of running shoes or an exclusive sneak peek at your newest wicking technology, nothing inspires passionate fitness experts more than being the first to know about it. It all adds up to a loyal, lasting connection — and experts who can’t stop talking about your products.

Quick Tip:

Keep them on the cutting edge.Mackenzie is constantly asked for recommendations on everything from her favorite jogging stroller to what heart rate monitor works best. Want a place in that conversation? Connect with experts like Mackenzie authentically and give them first-hand access to your products and people. Educate them on what sets your brand and products apart, and let them dive deep into your technologies, product lines and even brand culture through interactive and video content.

Getting Fitness Experts Talking About Your Brand

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

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

Insights

2/3rds of social buying conversations happen offline83%

of WOM recommendations are tied to personal experience

with a product/brand 5xAn offline buying recommendation is

more likely to drive a purchase

Getting Fitness Experts Talking About Your Brand

5. Gather and share inspiring content

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 running shoe or authentic UGC posted to social that features your brand while they work up a sweat, these passionate storytellers can drive engagement. Our experts can also craft honest, credible reviews for your online sales channel to provide recommendations on why they trust your brand to keep them safe and help them be the fastest rider on the track.

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

5 Dcoachkenzfitness

206

I love my job so much I feel like I never work a day in my life.

SHOW MORE

Taylor Jenni Raymond

Getting Fitness Experts Talking About Your Brand

6. Case studies

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

Reebok partnered with Experticity to launch back into the running category with the Floatride, propelled by the credibility of running experts. Prior to the shoe launching, our experts had countless conversations, generated 1.57 million social impressions, and wrote more than 500 product reviews to drive conversion. At launch, the Floatride won Best Debut from Runner’s Magazine and is now the No. 4 best-selling shoe on Reebok.com.

Jaybird partnered with Experticity to engage with more than 24,000 influential experts. The results were clear: The likelihood of experts recommending Jaybird products grew from 22% to 85%.

Find out what experts can do for youExperticity is the world’s largest network of trusted experts whose passion, experience and knowledge makes them powerful brand advocates. Join the 500+ brands who already use Experticity solutions and connect with experts who authentically build brand awareness and help you sell more.

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