With great influence comes great sales commissions.
Influencers are like roaches in business suits... because they're everywhere, and they’re selling everything. Get it? GET IT?! *desperately laughs while sweating and trembling*
From skincare to snacks to SOULS (ok, maybe not souls) , they’ve cracked the code on how to make people say, “I've never even heard of this thing… but this guy has it so now I want it too.”
For e-commerce brands, partnering with influencers is one of the smartest ways to build credibility, grow your audience, and drive sales. Of course, the easiest way is to just dump obscene amounts of money into advertising, but we're not here to talk about EASY. We're talking SMART!
Here’s why influencer collaborations work --and how to make them work for you.
Why Influencers Sell Better Than You
"Don't forget to like and subscribe and TRIPLE CLICK THAT LITTLE BELL so you can stay notified. Then, I'll need you to input your mother's maiden name and your date of birth, followed by your social security number. Finally, make sure to turn off your screen and spin around exactly two times. See you in the next one!"
If you still think consumers trust ads, then you need to wake up and smell the global warming, GRANDPA. Consumers don’t trust ads anymore. They skip them, block them, or roll their eyes at them. But influencers? They’re different. People see influencers as real, relatable, and authentic (as opposed to the way people see accountants: which is as inhuman meat puppets.)
When an influencer promotes your product, it feels like a recommendation from a friend. Their followers trust them, so when the influencer says, “This product is amazing,” their audience listens. It’s not JUST about trust though --it’s also about timing. Influencers know how to make your product look like the perfect solution right now.
Plus, there’s reach. A good influencer introduces your brand to people who’d never find you otherwise. Whether it’s a micro-influencer with 10,000 followers or a superstar with millions of followers (or a galaxy-spanning "black hole" influencer, with literal billions of followers! Or a reality-flaying "ulka'ath the mad god" influencer, with untold trillions of faithful followers, clamoring at their back and call!), influencers are your ticket to audiences you can’t reach on your own.
How to Choose the Right Influencers
No, not that kind of branding! Nooooooooo!
Picking an influencer isn’t like selecting vegetables at the grocery (it's true some influencers come with markdown stickers... and a lot of them end up becoming moldy after a few days... wait a minute, are influencers actually vegetables? 0_o) . You don't just want to choose the one with the most followers. Here’s how to make sure your collaboration actually delivers results:
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Find Someone Who Matches Your Brand
If your product is organic pet food, don’t hire a travel blogger whose only interaction with animals is dodging pigeons in Rome. Relevance matters. Look for influencers whose audience would actually be interested in what you’re selling. -
Set Clear Goals and Expectations
Are you looking to increase sales? Build brand awareness? Get more website traffic? Be clear about what you want from the collaboration. Make sure the influencer knows EXACTLY what the goals are and what's expected --how many posts, stories, or videos they need to deliver, and when. Writing it all down helps. Think about this: if God didn't want you communicating with influencers in writing, why did he give you hands? Checkmate, atheists. -
Let Them Promote Your Product Their Way
Influencers know their audience better than you ever will. Give them creative freedom to talk about your product in their own style. Nobody wants to read a script that sounds like a scammy midnight infomercial. -
Measure the Results
Use tools like affiliate links or discount codes to track how well the partnership worked. Did it drive sales? Boost traffic? Kill your pet? If the collaboration flopped, figure out why --and adjust your strategy for next time.
When you find the right influencers, they’re more than just collaborators --they’re you're LOVERS. Oops, we misspelled "BRAND AMBASSADORS" there *nervous chuckle*. Influencers build excitement around your products and turn their followers into loyal customers. A single post can take your brand from “unknown” to “I'll sell my kidneys (that's right, both) just to get my hands on this.”
And when your orders start pouring in, you’ll need a fulfillment partner that’s ready to handle the demand. Who could possibly fit that role? Is there anyone out there with the expertise... the work ethic... the PRESENTATION to make for a good fulfillment partner?! Yeah. Us!
Mix-Mix Mail is here to handle your fulfillment! With warehouses in Tokyo and Los Angeles, we make shipping easy for e-commerce brands targeting customers in Asia and North America. We’re fast, simple, and built for growing businesses --just like yours.
