Influencer Partnerships for Ecommerce Promotions

Building custom sponsorship/partner deals is one of the highest ROI plays in SaaS. We paid $1,470 for a workshop sponsorship that drove $6,000 in sales. We paid $5,000 for a newsletter promotion series (4 total emails) that drove $22,000. We paid $9,000 for a bundle of videos and social promotions that drove $40,080. This is direct upfront SaaS sales, not LTV. Scaling it can be a trick, but on a pure ROAS aspect, these custom deals are remarkable. They don’t need a media kit (better if they don’t have one). They don’t need to be a brand that does sponsors. You find that great fit audience and partner and try to build a win-win. Over the years I have done this with startup incubators, membership sites, course companies, other SaaS brands, media agencies, eCommerce companies and on and on. Here is what I found that makes these win…. 1) Haggle on the bundling, less on price. So usually it works like this. Our team reaches out to an influencer/partner asking if we can do a sponsorship with them. Maybe the ask is specific, if we know they run an event or a podcast or a big newsletter. Or maybe it’s broad if they have a lot of owned assets and audiences. I typically try and lead with some possible ideas. They come back and usually line up a call. We chat, and things inevitably get to cost. They want $X for Y promotions. From doing a lot of these, I have found it’s better in most cases to negotiate in more deliverables, then press down on price. Say the initial offer was $10k. Teams are typically more excited to execute $15k worth of value for $10k in cost, than they are to deliver the $10k is value for a reduced $7k in cost. So think about what else the partner could include that would drive business for you. 2) Focus on trackability: It can be a custom partner page, or a promo code, but finds ways to get clear visibility on the impact of the initiatives. Also ask that promotional activities are shared with you as they go out for full visibility. Where problems arise is promotions happen, but the teams don’t see any huge spikes the day stuff goes live and limited trackability leaves the team shrugging on if there was any impact. 3) Hype up the partner. It seems maybe counterintuitive. You are paying them! But the best partnership and custom arrangements I do are with teams and influencers I am a fan of. They know my product and they are amazing ambassadors of it. So as they do promotional activities I am also posting about them, hyping them up, and building that relationship capital. Before the ask, during the promotions and after. 4) Organic wins. One thing that always rings true is organic mentions during the flow of a podcast, or naturally mentioning a tool as part of a usecase discussion or how-to, or naturally incorporating in a tool during a speaking gig will always beat out the "sponsored by..." or "Powered by...". Find 10 teams or influencers that would be a great fit and brainstorm some custom deals in 2024.

82% of creators rank PRODUCT QUALITY as their top partnership consideration. Not your follower count, not your brand name, not your budget. Your actual product. Here's what brands are missing: - A product-first mindset: While marketers obsess over campaign briefs and content guidelines, creators are evaluating your actual product first. 80% want to work with products they already use and like. You can't fake this. - An authenticity equation: 76% of creators evaluate partnerships based on brand reputation and values. Your company culture, customer service, and public actions matter more than your budget. - The relationship advantage: 63% of creators look for future partnership potential. One-off campaigns don't build the brand equity you need with their audiences. US influencer marketing hit $5.89B in 2024 - but how much of that is being wasted on transactional, one-off campaigns that creators themselves don't believe in? What this means for your influencer strategy: → Stop treating creators like advertising channels and start treating them like actual partners → Give them full transparency into campaign objectives and mid-flight performance data → Don't change expectations or compensation after agreements are made (creators talk to each other) → Invest in onboarding, training and support - especially for mid-sized creators Your influencer strategy might be broken if you're choosing creators before they've chosen your product. The strongest partnerships happen when creators authentically love what you make - everything else is just paid advertising. Do your own research. Look at your current creator relationships. And if you can see the opportunity with your own eyes...Take the leap. Your next big influencer win might be with the creator who's already using your product.

Unpopular opinion: The affiliate-only influencer model is broken 🚫 I keep seeing brands say: "We only work on affiliate/commission basis with influencers." Here's why that's a recipe for mediocre results: What actually happens with affiliate-only:  → Only creators who can't get paid deals say yes → (And there's usually a reason they can't get paid deals...) → You get deprioritized the moment a paying client comes along → Black Friday? Good luck getting cut-through when everyone's promoting everything → You lose creative control and usage rights → No approval process for content quality The reality check: The creators producing quality content that actually converts? They're getting paid upfront by your competitors. Our approach: Some upfront payment + performance bonus = aligned incentives + quality control + committed creators. Yes, it requires more investment. But you get: ✅ Right of approval on content ✅ Usage rights for paid ads ✅ Priority treatment from creators ✅ Strategic partnership, not transactional relationship Bottom line: If you want premium results, you can't expect them from bargain-basement terms. The best creators know their worth. Do you know yours? What's your experience with affiliate vs. paid influencer partnerships? #InfluencerMarketing #CreatorEconomy #MarketingStrategy #ROI