If I were you, the very first thing I’d do is decide if my number one goal is brand awareness or direct sales. That one decision changes everything about your influencer marketing strategy. Nadia Bubennikova made a great point on the 2X eCommerce Podcast that brand awareness is the most common goal for ecommerce brands, where you work with a lot of influencers to get the word out. But if you need to drive sales right now, you’ll approach things very differently.
So in week one, after you’ve picked your main goal, I’d start building a small, targeted list. Forget celebrities. I’d focus entirely on micro-influencers who have a genuinely engaged audience that fits my brand. Nisarg Shah talks about this on an episode of Ecommerce Coffee Break, and it’s smart advice. You can get better reach and it’s way more affordable. I’d spend that first week hunting for people who feel like a natural fit, looking at their content quality and how they interact with their followers. Alexandra Jimenez on eCommerce MasterPlan shared some solid tips on identifying and targeting the right people, and it's about so much more than follower count.
In the first month, I'd move from list-building to outreach and product seeding. This is where you actually start building influencer relationships. The key is to make it seamless. You’re not just sending a product, you’re starting a partnership. I’d ignore the idea of quick, one-off posts. The real value comes from finding creators who genuinely love what you sell and want to work with you long-term. This is where tools can help manage the workflow, as Etienne Mérineau described in his eCommerce Fastlane interview, but the relationship itself is what matters.
The biggest trap you have to avoid is not having a clear brief or agreement. Caroline Balinska has talked about how crucial it is to craft compelling briefs and negotiate partnerships where everyone wins. You don’t want to send out a bunch of free product only to get ghosted or receive content that completely misses the mark. Be specific about what you’re looking for, what the deliverables are, and how you plan to measure success. As Keirsun Scott mentioned on Ecommerce Conversations, tracking the effectiveness and connecting it to revenue is what proves the value of the whole effort.