Latest / Social Media Marketing with Fexingo: Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Platform Strategy / Why Social Commerce Brands Prioritize Authentic Creator Partnerships
Transcript
- Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — maybe a new way of thinking about your content calendar or a fresh approach to engaging your audience — there's a small but meaningful way this whole thing keeps going. Luna: We've mentioned it a few times, but it's worth saying plainly: a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. Lucas: No ads, no sponsors, no algorithm chasing. Just people who find value in the show and want it to stay ad-free. That's it. It's not a big ask — it's just the honest economics of a niche podcast. Luna: Yeah. And if that's not your thing, no pressure at all. The episodes aren't going anywhere. But if you've ever wondered how this stays afloat, that's the answer. Lucas: So — speaking of economics and authenticity — let's talk about something I've been watching closely this year. The shift away from polished, scripted influencer campaigns toward raw, long-term creator partnerships. Luna: You mean like Glossier not paying for a single sponsored post in 2025 and instead doubling down on their micro-creator network? Lucas: Exactly that. Glossier has always been the poster child for community-driven marketing, but what they did last year was interesting. They stopped doing one-off paid posts with macro-influencers entirely. Instead, they built a tiered system of about 400 creators — most with followings between 5,000 and 50,000 — and gave them early access to products, revenue sharing on sales, and a private community. Luna: And the results? Because I remember seeing that their engagement rate on those posts was around 4.8 percent, compared to maybe 1.2 percent for their old influencer campaigns. Lucas: Right. And more importantly, the conversion rate on TikTok Shop from those micro-creator posts was nearly triple what they saw from their branded content. The raw, unscripted videos — someone just unboxing a product in their bathroom, no ring light, no script — those drove the highest return on ad spend. Luna: It's the opposite of what a lot of brands were doing even two years ago. Everyone wanted the perfectly lit, five-second hook, fast-cut style. Lucas: And that still works for awareness. But for conversion — especially in social commerce where the purchase happens in-app — trust matters more than production value. A creator who has been posting about skincare for three years has a relationship with their audience. That relationship is the moat. Luna: So what's the economic model here? Flat fee per post? Commission? Some hybrid? Lucas: It's shifting fast. In 2024, about 70 percent of brand-creator deals were flat fee. By the middle of 2026, that number has dropped to maybe 45 percent. More brands are moving to a base fee plus a performance bonus — often a percentage of sales attributed to the creator's affiliate link or promo code. Luna: Which makes sense if you think about it from the brand's side. You're not just paying for a post; you're paying for a distribution channel that you can measure. Lucas: Exactly. And the creators I've talked to actually prefer it — if they believe in the product, they'd rather earn more when they perform well than get a flat rate that caps their upside. Gymshark has been doing this for years with their athlete program. Luna: Gymshark is a great example. They don't even call them influencers — they call them 'family members.' And those creators get a revenue share on everything they sell, plus equity in the company if they hit certain milestones. Lucas: It's a long-term play. The average Gymshark creator stays with the brand for over two years. Compare that to the typical influencer campaign where a creator posts once and never mentions the brand again. The ROI on retention is huge. Luna: But let's talk about the numbers for a second. If you're a mid-size brand with a social commerce budget of, say, $200,000 a quarter, how do you allocate that across creator partnerships? Lucas: I'd look at the data from a study by a company called CreatorIQ. They looked at over 10,000 campaigns and found that creators with 10,000 to 50,000 followers delivered a 60 percent higher engagement rate per post than creators with over a million followers. And their cost per engagement was about 40 percent lower. Luna: So the math is pretty clear. You can either pay one mega-influencer $50,000 for a single post that gets maybe 1 percent engagement, or you can spread that across 20 micro-creators at $2,500 each and get 4 to 5 percent engagement on each. Lucas: And that's just engagement. On TikTok Shop specifically, conversion rates from micro-creators average around 3.5 percent, compared to 1.8 percent for brand's own organic content, according to a TikTok white paper from February. Luna: But there's a catch, right? Managing 20 creators is a lot more work than managing one. Lucas: Absolutely. You need a system. Some brands use platforms like GRIN or Shopify Collabs to automate onboarding, link tracking, and payments. Others assign a community manager whose job is literally to maintain relationships with 30 to 50 creators. It's a people business, not just a media buying one. Luna: And the authenticity piece — you can't script it. If you treat creators like an ad network, the audience can tell. Lucas: That's the biggest pitfall I see. Brands that try to control the message too tightly end up with content that performs worse than their own ads. The whole point is that the creator's voice is different from the brand's voice. Let them use their own language, their own format. Luna: I remember seeing a post from a creator who works with a DTC supplement brand. She just filmed herself mixing the powder into her morning coffee and talking about her sleep. No cuts, no music — just 90 seconds of her in pajamas. It got 200,000 views and drove $12,000 in sales that week. Lucas: That's the gold standard. And it's replicable — not the exact result, but the approach. Find creators who genuinely use your product, give them a revenue share, and let them create in their natural style. The best performing content is almost always the least produced. Luna: So for a brand just starting with creator partnerships, what's the first step? Lucas: Don't start with a campaign. Start with a relationship. Identify 10 to 15 creators who already love your product — or who would genuinely love it if they tried it. Send them the product with no strings attached. See who posts organically. Then reach out and propose a long-term deal. Luna: And measure what matters. Not just likes and comments, but actual sales attributed to each creator. Lucas: Right. Use unique promo codes or affiliate links. Track customer lifetime value from those referrals, not just first purchase. A creator who brings in customers who stick around for six months is worth more than one who drives a spike that fades. Luna: I think the biggest shift I've seen in 2026 is that brands are finally treating creators as partners, not just media placements. Lucas: Exactly. And the brands that do that well — Glossier, Gymshark, even some smaller DTC names like Welly or Cocofloss — they're building moats that are hard to copy. Because it's not about the individual post; it's about the network of relationships. Luna: And that network compounds over time. A creator who's been working with a brand for two years has a much deeper impact than a first-time partner. Lucas: That's the return on relationship. It's harder to measure than return on ad spend, but it's arguably more durable. I think that's where the smart money is going. Luna: So if you're a brand listening, maybe it's time to rethink that one-off influencer budget and start building something longer term. Lucas: It's not about finding the biggest creator. It's about finding the right ones and sticking with them. That's the play.