We just surveyed 500 Millennial women about how they shop for fashion, online and in-store. In particular, we wanted to understand how they used social media and online influencers to discover and buy fashion. The standout finding for us is that a slight majority (52%) of Millennials said they trust influencers less than they used to.

We plan a more detailed survey to better understand this growing trust gap, but based on our experience working with influencers and shoppers over the past few years, we can offer some preliminary thoughts and observations on why this is happening and what marketers can do.

Why are Millennials trusting online influencers less?

First, to keep things in perspective, we should note that influencers are still very much on an upswing, growing in popularity and gaining more influence over how we shop and buy. More people are turning to them for advice, ideas, and recommendations — in fact, our same survey found that Millennials now rely on influencers more than ever before for fashion shopping ideas and inspiration, with 41% of them saying influencers are their primary source of fashion picks.

But as the influencer landscape evolves and matures, we can note some changes in how people relate to influencers on social media and how this might impact trust.

Trust and investment in influencers has been growing rapidly and it’s possible that we’ve hit a peak

Especially among younger demographics, trust in online influencers has been increasingly steadily for years now.

70% of YouTube users say they trust the recommendations of their favorite YouTubers above those of celebrities, and Twitter found that their users trust online influencers almost as much as they trust their friends.

So it’s not all that surprising that we’d eventually reach a peak in how much people are trusting these influencers. Whether we’ve reached that peak now is difficult to say, but to say we’ve reached a saturation point in the how much we pay attention to social media influencers doesn’t sound like a stretch to me.

Blurring lines between sponsorships and authentic recommendations

As the influencer landscape has become increasingly commercialized in recent years, a steadily increasing share of the influencer posts that people see on social media and blogs are sponsored. While the FTC publishes guidelines for disclosure on such posts, these guidelines are far from perfect and they are sometimes ignored or implemented incorrectly, adding to the confusion.

Fortunately, the major social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and other networks are starting to implement native features that make these disclosures easier to implement and more clear to consumers.

While these features will help, for some time there will still be plenty of gray area between what’s paid for and what’s an authentic recommendation, to detriment of trust people have in what influencers say.

Traditional trust indicators are less reliable than they used to be

There was a time when you could infer a social media influencer’s popularity (and to a lesser extent, their authority and trust) through quantifiable trust indicators, such as their number of followers, or how many likes their posts are receiving.

In today’s maturing influencer industry, however, there’s more manipulation and attempts to inflate statistics through automated bots and other services. This no doubt has crept into the consciousness of Millennials and other consumers, who are running into “popular” influencers who don’t actually post authentic, meaningful content.

As “what you see is what you get” trust indicators decline in reliability, naturally users will become increasingly skeptical and cautious in how they grant their trust in online influencers.

Influencers are simply becoming bigger, more similar to celebrities and traditional media brands

A few years ago, when people followed their favorite fashion blogger on Instagram, they may have enjoyed an intimate, authentic connection with that influencer. Today, that same blogger might have millions of follows and have a staff of 20 people managing their posts.

As influencers continue to rise in popularity, many are beginning to feel more like traditional celebrities or brands, and some of that authentic connection with their audiences will naturally erode as a result.

What can marketers do about the growing trust gap with influencers?

The good news for marketers is that despite these challenges the influencer industry as a whole is healthy and growing at a rapid clip. Influencers still represent an increasingly attractive channel through which brands can build mindshare — they just must be aware of the changing dynamics and adapt accordingly. Here are some basic guidelines to identifying influencers with real, authentic relationships with their fans.

Focus on micro-influencers

In contrast to mainstream influencers with millions of followers, micro-influencers are those with 10,000 to 100,000 total followers. The smaller fan bases of these micro-influencers can actually be an advantage to marketers, since studies have shown that these smaller influencers on average elicit more engagement and enjoy greater trust with their fans.

Think of it this way — with fewer fans, micro-influencers can listen to and interact directly with more of them and therefore have a deeper and more authentic connection with them. When they mention your brand to their followers, they may be able to position it in a way to provide greater impact.

Audit influencers carefully

As mentioned above, influencers come in all shapes and sizes, and some aren’t exactly what they appear to be. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy these days for influencers to manipulate their perceived size and influencer by “buying” followers.

As a marketer, you should conduct a careful audit of each influencer you’re considering partnering with to avoid the fakes.

Unlike other forms of online marketing, influencer marketing is more difficult to “scale.” You must invest the necessary time to know the influencers you’re working with. Certain influencer marketing platforms can help by providing you access to algorithms (such as Dealspotr’s Influence Score) which filter out false patterns and give you a more realistic score of an influencer’s true reach.

Look for compliance with FTC guidelines

When evaluating an influencer, you should do a scan of their prior sponsored posts. Have the clearly marked their posts as sponsored? Proper adherence to the FTC’s guidelines is a must, or else the influencer might have already eroded trust with their fans.

Create longer term partnerships with influencers

While the norm in the influencer marketing industry these days is to compensate influencers with some form of up-front payment in exchange for a mention or a review, these one-time setups often don’t align well with the interests of brands since the influencers lack an incentive to promote you over the long-term.

The most successful influencer relationships extend beyond a single post, and often involve a long-term ambassadorship where the influencer will continue to mention a brand over an extended period of time. Establishing these longer term relationships is an effective way to maximize trust and authenticity when working with influencers.

Craft creative partnerships that involve more than monetary compensation

While influencers love receiving cash payments, many are often willing to promote brands in exchange for free products, publicity, travel opportunities and other perks. Often, engaging an influencer in a more collaborative partnership can foster a greater sense of mutual investment and can lead to more authentic, more effective promotions. This is a generalization, but in our experience, influencers who are more open to creative partnerships with non-monetary compensation are more likely to have a better connection with their fans. The more an influencer is doing what they do out of their passion for their topic and a love of their followers, and the less they are doing it for money, the better the chance they’ll have a true connection with their fans and thus greater trust.

In summary

Influencer marketing will only continue to increase in importance as a marketing channel for brands. Consumer attention is still shifting away from traditional forms towards digital, mobile, and social, and in this world influencers reign supreme. By investing in relationships with trusted influencers, brands can navigate this increasingly complex landscape and increase mindshare by partnering with the leading voices on social media and the web.

Millennials Are Losing Trust in Online Influencers. Here’s What Marketers Can Do. was originally published in Dealspotr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This post originally appeared on the Dealspotr blog.

Crocs, the slip-on plastic clogs that took the world by storm in the early 2000s, are back. That’s right, consumers are putting comfort above style and that’s a huge win for this particular shoe brand.

As Crocs continue to grow in popularity, so will their price tag, making it the perfect time to find deals.

Through these trusted guidelines, we’ll show you how to get your hands (and feet) on a Crocs promo code.

Start at the Source: The Crocs Coupon Code Page

Albeit, the site promo codes are rarely as deeply discounted as ones found on coupon / promo code sites, it’s still helpful to look. They’re guaranteed to work and it’s an easy hop over to the website.

Check out the Crocs coupon page to see the current promotions.

They don’t make it super easy to find their promo code page, so Googling “crocs promo code page” and finding it in the search results is the easiest.

Get Social and Follow @Crocs for Discounts

Crocs will often post about deals on their social media accounts, so it just makes sense to follow them and stay attuned to updates.

Even if there isn’t a deal posted on a given day, you’ll be following Crocs’ pages which have hilarious, self-aware jokes like the one below on Twitter:

When they do post promo codes, you’ll be the first to know! For example, they recently posted a 30% off site-wide announcements on social media.

Following the account on Twitter, means you’ll be the first to hear about new deals. It’s not like you’re checking the website daily to find the latest on their deals, so social media is the most efficient way to stay updated!

Join the Crocs Club for Exclusive Offers

Get in the club. The Crocs Club offers benefits like club exclusive offers and “first look” invitations, which means you’ll be the first to shop the new lines.

Find the link to the Crocs Club by heading over to their homepage, scrolling all the way down to the bottom, and clicking “Crocs Club.”

You’ll be taken to the page below where it describes what you get if you join the club.

Input the email address you use for signing up for brand emails and press the big “Join Now” button.

Once you sign up, you don’t even have to wait for an email. You’ll automatically get a 20% off promo code just for signing up right there on the website.

It’s extremely easy and you’ll get Crocs promo codes and discounts that no one else outside of the club gets!

Find Deeper Discounts on Coupon Sites

When it comes to coupon searching, Google and other search engines are still basically the Wild West. You’ll get useful websites that pop up but you’ll also get websites full of used and broken coupon codes.

This is why using trusted, coupon-specific websites is key. Brad’s Deals is an example of an online coupon website that works for people when they’re trying to find a source for usable coupon codes.

You can find a ton of brands on Brad’s Deals, so to look specifically for Crocs, simply use the search bar. Click on the magnifying glass icon at the top of the page and type in “Crocs.”

A drop-down menu will appear. Click on the “Crocs” link and you’ll be taken to a page full of Crocs coupons.

You’ll notice, however, that a lot of these coupon codes are only good on specific styles of Crocs.

Another useful place to find working Crocs promo codes is Dealspotr. It’s user-friendly, so all you have to do is head to the site and use the search toolbar at the top of the page.

A drop-down menu will show up and you can just click on the Crocs brand name.

Once you’ve clicked on the Crocs brand page, you’ll see a page full of coupons. As you can see in the screenshot below, there are a whopping 205 active coupons you can use at the moment.

The best part is that when you click on one of the coupons, you’ll be taken to the specific coupon page where you’ll find who verified the deal with screenshots and everything.

The helpful coupon community of Dealspotr members does the grunt work for you, so you don’t have to take the coupon code all the way to Crocs checkout to see if it works or not.

Snag Unused Single-Use Codes on Dealspotr

To find single-use promo codes, stay on the Crocs Dealspotr coupon page you were just at. Single-use codes are rare codes that only work once.

Someone might have received a single-use promo code from Crocs that was a reward just for them. If they decided they didn’t need it, they can upload it onto Dealspotr’s Single-Use section for someone else to use.

It’s a community of sharing!

To find the single-use section, scroll down on the Crocs coupon page and look to the left under “Only on Dealspotr.”

Click on the link to single-use codes and find tons of deals.

Uncover Rare 3rd Party Deals

Right under where it said “single-use codes” it says “3rd party deals.” Click on that link and you’ll be greeted with even more fantastic codes that are 3rd party based.

A third-party store is another store that sells Crocs, but is not the original crocs retailer. When the original Crocs store doesn’t have a promo code available, you can check these third party stores for deals, and buy your pair there.

In the Crocs case, you can find coupon codes that will work at Big 5 Sporting Goods, Carter’s, Shoebuy, Belk, and more.

As an example, we chose a third-party coupon code for Carter’s and copied it.

Then we headed over to the official Carter’s website to use the promo codes for some stylish new kicks.

As you can see, no surprise here, the coupon code worked!

The big green “Applied” button is a sight for sore eyes, isn’t it?

Bookmark This Page

We just took you through quite a few steps, so make sure to bookmark Dealspotr’s page of Crocs promo codes so you can visit it again when you need a savings refresh. The goal should always be to never leave a promo code box unfilled!

How to Find a Working Crocs Promo Code, One Extremely Comfortable Step at a Time was originally published in Dealspotr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey, thanks for checking out Dealspotr!

What is Dealspotr?

Think of Dealspotr as the LinkedIn for shopping. We’re a new social network for discovering cool new products at the best possible price.

On Dealspotr, you’ll find innovative new startup brands — new companies from sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Amazon Launchpad, or ASOS Marketplace — who promote deals and discount codes on Dealspotr.

Many brands share exclusive deals which you can only find on Dealspotr.

You can easily follow the brands and influencers you like and get a personal feed of deals. You can even chat and interact with other members, like any other social network.

If you’re just looking for a promo code, Dealspotr has 4.5x more working codes than RetailMeNot or Honey. If you hate expired coupon codes, well that’s why we built Dealspotr. You’ll find more working discount codes with us, and often you’ll even find a higher discount on Dealspotr due to our superior coverage.

If you’re into sharing deals, you can become a Deal Editor and earn points and gift cards for finding today’s best deals and helping to curate our database of coupons. Just join as a shopper and start posting deals.

If you’re an e-commerce brand, claim your store page and start promoting your exclusive offers on Dealspotr and through our network of bloggers and influencers. Dealspotr is the most cost-effective and user-friendly way to run influencer marketing campaigns.

Why should I become an Influencer on Dealspotr?

There are many benefits to joining Dealspotr as an influencer.

• Collaborate with awesome, innovative brands that your followers will love
• When you promote any brand on Dealspotr, you get an exclusive ambassador discount code that unlocks a unique discount for your fans (more value for your readers)
• 100% free to use. An always-on resource for collaboration opportunities.
• Get up-front payments and free products for promoting brands. Payments are instant with no wait period.
• Get a free listing in the Dealspotr influencer directory
• Network with other influencers and directly with emerging brands

Collaborate with up-and-coming brands

On Dealspotr, we partner with innovative startup brands that are changing the way we shop and get things done. If you love Kickstarter or Indiegogo, or if you keep up with the latest startups on TechCrunch, you’ll love the brands on Dealspotr.

Connect directly with these brands on Dealspotr (just give them a follow) and you’ll be able to see their latest deals and get notifications when new promotional opportunities arise.

Get exclusive discount codes for your readers

On Dealspotr, every campaign you promote comes with a unique discount code that offers your followers an exclusive deal for the brand you’re promoting.

We even customize your code to your own brand. This way, you’re not only cluing your fans into a great new product or service, you’re offering them a discount they can’t get on other websites.

No monthly fees

There’s no monthly or subscription fee for using Dealspotr. You just register for free, fill out your profile, select which topics you’d like be to listed under, and browse Dealspotr for opportunities you like, or wait for invitations from brands. Only when a brand pays you for a completed promotion does Dealspotr add a 20% service fee. There are no other fees for using our service.

Dealspotr has a constant stream of new brands posting campaigns, so you can always check Dealspotr to find new promotional opportunities.

Instant up-front payments and free products

When you promote brands on Dealspotr, you earn up-front payments instantly. We hold funds from the brand in escrow until you have finalized your promotion and the brand has approved it. Once approved, your funds are released to your account for withdrawal via PayPal.

Get a free listing in the Dealspotr influencer directory

Dealspotr is visited by over 1 million users per month, and we have a highly active network of brands and influencers who participate in our network.

By joining as a influencer and verifying your account, you’ll get a free listing in our highly visible directory of influencers, in the categories of your choice.

Network directly with brands and influencers

Dealspotr is a social network like Instagram or Twitter where you can connect directly with marketers at e-commerce brands and other influencers.

You can find a wealth of helpful information about growing your social media presence on our network and forums. And you can message other members directly for advice or to discuss collaboration opportunities.

How do I get started?

Just register for free as a influencer here. You’ll then complete your profile and connect your social accounts. You’ll be able to start applying for campaigns straight away. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to keep updated with us.

Send us a note at contact@dealspotr.com so say hello or if you need any help.

Dealspotr Brand / Influencer Marketplace — How to join, what are the benefits? was originally published in Dealspotr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Are you on the fence about using digital coupons as a part of your marketing strategy? Have you been burned by running an expensive Groupon campaign that netted you few real customers? Worried that perception of your brand will suffer if you offer too many discounts?

Well, it may be time to stop focusing on what hasn’t worked and start paying attention to what is working when it comes to digital couponing. The fact is, many of today’s hyper-growth brands are using digital coupons as a core part of their growth strategies — Uber, Dropbox, and Blue Apron have all utilized coupons and offers to fuel their rapid growth.

There’s also the simple fact that consumers love coupons. Not only is coupon usage sky-high among US shoppers, couponing is actually on the rise. And couponing is not an activity limited to those on shoestring budgets, high-income households earning over $100k are actually more likely to use coupons than households earning less than $35k. It turns out that savvy, informed shoppers look for coupons and are more likely to purchase from brands that offer them.

So how to avoid the pitfalls and use coupons effectively in today’s rapidly changing landscape? Learn from what some of today’s smartest brands are doing right with digital coupon marketing.

Make your coupons sharable by nature

One of the incredible growth stories of the past few years has been Uber, which has grown from inception to over 1 million daily rides given in the span of six years. A little known fact is that part of Uber’s growth was fueled by the smart use of discount codes. The ride-sharing app’s genius is in making their coupons social and viral from the ground up — every Uber user is given a referral code to refer new riders, and both parties receive a free credit when the new rider signs up. Uber employs the same strategy to sign up new drivers with great success, with a $100 credit given to drivers who referred new drivers.

Other hyper-growth companies such as Dropbox, Airbnb, Evernote and ClassPass have used shareable referral codes to leapfrog their competition. The key is to think of coupons as an integral part of your social marketing strategy rather than thinking of it as an isolated channel for deal seekers.

Use offers as part of your retargeting strategy

Only 2% of customers complete a transaction the first time they visit your website. Retargeting is a powerful way to bring the other 98% back to complete the sale. Because retargeted ads are seen only by those customers who have indicated an interest in buying from your, incorporating a discount within your retargeting ads can be a powerful way to close the sale.

Plated incorporates offers for free meals in its retargeted ads on Facebook. For subscription services requiring more time and thought prior to a final purchasing decision, retargeted ads with discount offers can be highly effective.

Tailor coupons to each customer

You already apply personalization to your site and email campaigns (or if you don’t, this should be a priority for you). Why not take it a step further and include discount offers as a part of your personalized marketing campaigns? 80% of consumers say they want promotions that are tailored to their own personal needs and preferences, which seems obvious, but many brands do not go this extra step. Differentiate from your competition by offering tailored discount opportunities which are likely to delight your customers.

ProFlowers utilizes information about your significant other to customize a discount offer in a highly personalized message. The company could also use information it collects about birthdays, anniversaries, as well as holidays to offer additional targeted coupon offers which are likely to perform well.

Use coupons to address shopping cart abandonment

So you’ve succeeded in getting the customer to your site, and they’ve even added items to their shopping cart. Well, did you know that 68% of shopping carts are abandoned, meaning they were populated with items but the shopper left them without purchasing?

Neiman Marcus does an outstanding job of sending customers a targeted coupon in cases where a shopping cart was abandoned. This is an example of how a targeted use of a coupon can not only drive sales but can provide a great experience for your customers.

In conclusion

So there you have it. You can see that smart brands are taking an old concept in couponing and applying it in creative new ways to drive sales and build engagement with customers. Like these successful brands, you should think of coupons as a natural extension to your overall marketing strategy, and apply them in your efforts to provide more social and personal experiences for your customers.

This article was originally published on the ZipfWorks blog. At ZipfWorks, we’re creating and growing online communities dedicated to shopping. We’re innovating on how consumers find, share, and use coupons in our newest app, Dealspotr, the best place for finding and sharing deals.

4 Ways Smart Brands Are Using Digital Coupons to Fuel Growth in 2016 was originally published in Dealspotr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.