How L.L.Bean drove a 675% increase in ROI through influencer campaigns with Aspire
Founded in 1911, L.L.Bean was built on a shared joy of the outdoors. Today, they sell reliable outdoor wear made in Maine, with a focus on product quality and longevity. From Bean Boots and the Boat and Tote® bag to coats, sweaters, and flannels, the brand offers over 120,000 items for outdoor adventurers.
L.L.Bean needed to build strong relationships with content creators at scale
L.L.Bean’s organic social team relied on influencer marketing since 2008 but faced hurdles as they scaled their online presence. Their team was small — just two people — and their program’s success depended heavily on manual outreach via Instagram and email.
The organic social team wanted to show their influencers they were equally invested in the partnership. However, with up to 200 creator relationships to manage, the team spent countless hours ensuring a personal touch for each.
Between navigating countless pitches for new influencers and supporting the years-long partnerships they had already built, there was too much for two people to manage. L.L.Bean recognized the need to build more efficient processes for discovering and managing content creators. This ultimately led them to partner with Aspire.
“A brand our size gets hundreds of DMs and applicants for influencer campaigns. Manual processes aren’t enough to find the right fit based on reach and target demographics.”
Aspire offers L.L.Bean an end-to-end solution to automate manual processes without losing their personal touch
By partnering with Aspire, L.L.Bean gained access to a tool that managed every step of the influencer marketing process:
- Communicating with content creators
- Sourcing and contracting content creation
- Reviewing and approving content
- Invoicing and payment
Aspire’s influencer search engine helps L.L.Bean filter through the noise to find the perfect new creators for their campaigns. Now, Sunny Millett, L.L.Bean’s Senior Social Media Planner, can use advanced filters to identify the influencers who best fit what she’s looking for. Once potential influencers are identified, Sunny uses Aspire to simplify outreach with email and DM templates to pitch a partnership.
When the organic social team matches with the perfect influencer, Aspire allows them to track the influencer's success across the entire marketing funnel. The different analytics dashboards show exactly how each of L.L.Bean's partners is driving demand with their influencer-generated content (IGC). Now, Sunny can easily monitor performance by campaign, season, or year, giving her a clear vision of the ROI for her program.
Having an easy platform to manage influencers helps Sunny nurture long-term relationships with a personal touch — boosting L.L.Bean’s reputation as a brand and collaborative partner.
“Influencer marketing has become such a powerful channel for us. Aspire allows us to show up as a good partner, which is crucial for the program's success.”
L.L.Bean’s automated influencer campaigns save 80 hours per week
Partnering with Aspire helped L.L.Bean streamline their influencer program, allowing Sunny and her team to manage their workload while still building personal relationships with their content creators.
Rather than managing hundreds of relationships, Sunny’s team found the right blend of macro-, mid-, and micro-influencers for the best results. The brand’s “Spring Home” campaign reflected their ideal balance, using a strategic mix of mostly macro-influencers and smaller creators. Sunny used Aspire to monitor each influencer's success, leading to a campaign ROI of 180%.
The year-over-year results from 2023 show the program’s impressive growth:
- 675% ROI from attributed influencer demand
- 156% increase in collaborations with macro-influencers
- Up to 80 hours saved weekly
With new features on the way to enable more specific for L.L.Bean’s influencer discovery and management, Aspire continues to stand out as a strong multi-year partner for the beloved brand.
“Aspire is a vital tool for us to build and sustain relationships with larger creators. Its role in helping our small team streamline the work reinforces influencer marketing as a focal point for our marketing strategy.”
