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Beyond Influencer Marketing: Building Real Ambassador Programs

How to start, optimize, and leverage an influencer marketing program in 2025

In partnership with

Hey everyone,

Welcome back for another bite to chew on.

So I (Ron) just wrapped up a panel with some of the biggest names in influencer marketing and creator partnerships and I wanted to share some of the insights we uncovered in today’s edition. 

Everything in DTC evolves rapidly, especially on the marketing side. 

Influencer is no exception.

Back in the day, the playbook was fairly straightforward – find creators with decent followings, send them products, and ask them to post about your brand. And honestly, it worked for a while.

But the ecosystem has grown incredibly sophisticated. Between TikTok Shop (RIP?), Instagram's (new) affiliate programs, and YouTube (long form, Shorts, Shopping), brands and creators are navigating an entirely new world of possibilities and challenges. 

The old strategies aren't enough anymore, and most importantly, the relationship between brands and creators has fundamentally changed.

That's what we're going to dig into today – how to build real partnerships in this new landscape, based on what we've learned scaling Obvi and insights from some of the sharpest minds in the space.

On the Menu

  • Platform perspective: Solving the cold start (from Ian Sells)

  • Strategy view: Where this is all heading (from Jordan West)

  • Brand reality: What actually works (from Ron)

  • Bonus: Where do we go from here? (the TikTok ban)

BTW - If you missed the panel, we will share the recording and presentation deck at the end of the newsletter → 

UGC and Micro-influencer posts in one seamless project

Content from real people = instant credibility ✅

Consumers today crave real connections and they’re guarded about who they trust–highly-polished, branded content simply doesn’t cut it anymore.

Take a page out of the book of Banza, Topicals, Imperfect Foods, and MeUndies and partner with minisocial for their large-scale micro influencer campaigns, which is the key to unlocking consistent engagement on Instagram and TikTok. Stop wasting your time emailing or messaging dozens of creators every day partner with minisocial, a fully-managed platform trusted by over 1,000 consumer brands!

The Platform Perspective: Solving the Cold Start

Ian from JoinBrands dropped some serious knowledge about why most brands struggle with influencer marketing from day one. He started with the infamous "cold start challenge" – no reputation, no following, no sales velocity, yet trying to work with top creators.

Here's what's actually happening behind the scenes: Your potential customers aren't just scrolling social media looking to buy. They're searching.

Ian shared some mind-blowing stats – there are now 6X more searches for leggings and 2.4X more searches for makeup on TikTok versus Google. 🤯

But without consistent content, you're invisible to the discovery engine. This is where most brands hit a wall – they get stuck in the cycle of manual outreach, sending samples, and hoping creators follow through.

Ian's solution to both the cold start issue and evolving consumer search behaviors? Stop trying to do everything manually.

 "When you're trying to scale this stuff up and you find what's working, it's really hard to just outreach to everybody and send out samples…they don't really respond or they take your sample and they never talk to you or create the content."

Instead, systematize the process:

  • Use platforms where creators come to you (rather than mass outreach)

  • Have creators purchase products upfront (with reimbursement tied to content delivery)

  • Get content rights automatically through platform contracts

  • Deploy content across multiple platforms simultaneously

  • Build up a library of content the algorithm can learn from

This creates what Ian calls a "groundswell" - enough initial content and momentum that you can then use to attract bigger creators and build more significant partnerships. 

The key is volume and consistency. Single viral hits don't build sustainable growth.

This is why platforms have become so crucial. 

As Ian put it: "With platforms like JoinBrands, within minutes you're going to have hundreds of creators applying and checking out that campaign. They have a reason to finish the job because they don't get reimbursed for that product until they've completed it."

The Strategy View: Where This is All Heading

Jordan from Social Commerce Club brought insights from managing some of the biggest creator networks in the space. 

Here's what's wild – one of their top creator networks has done $50 million collectively in sales on TikTok shop in just the past 6 months.

But it's not just about sales. Jordan emphasized something crucial – we're seeing the emergence of "creator-led growth." Think product-led growth, but with creators driving innovation in how products are positioned and sold.

"Creators will come up with all these incredibly unique ways to sell the product," Jordan explained. "Different catchphrases, different use cases. If you're obsessive about locking down your brand, social commerce probably isn't right for you."

The key shift Jordan highlighted? Aligned incentives. 

The old model of sending products and hoping for posts is obsolete. What works now is creating systems where everyone wins → 

  • Creators get paid when they drive sales

  • Brands get authentic content 

  • Platforms facilitate the connection

  • Customers get trusted recommendations

This is reshaping how we think about influencer marketing ROI. 

It's not just about reach or engagement anymore. Jordan's team is tracking what they call the "halo effect" – how creator content drives sales across channels, including Amazon and retail. 

The Brand Reality: What Actually Works

Now for the rubber-meets-road part. 

At Obvi, we've spent years testing different approaches to creator partnerships. Here's what actually worked for us in 2024 and how we’re structuring our program this year.

First, compensation has to make sense for everyone. We use what we call our 25/25 model:

  • 25% off for customers using creator codes

  • 25% commission on all sales through creator links

  • Monthly product sends instead of one-time packages

  • Options for whitelisting and ad usage

Yes, that's aggressive. But compare it to your Meta CAC. What do you pay Facebook to get sales for you? We're often happy with 2X ROAS on Meta ad spend – why should creator partnerships be so much lower?

Second, systems matter more than individual wins. We use a CRM to track relationships, but the tool isn’t as important as the process.

What's crucial is having:

  1. Clear follow-up protocols

  2. Content approval workflows

  3. Payment tracking

  4. Performance monitoring

Every creator gets our comprehensive guide covering our brand story, product details, and content guidelines. This isn't about control – it's about empowering creators to succeed quickly.

The biggest lesson we've learned? Working with micro (10k-100k followers) and nano (1k-10k followers) influencers often beats macro influencers. 

As Jordan mentioned, The founder of Jolie said something that really hit home: "I'd much rather trust somebody who has one follower they can sell to - because that one follower follows everything they do - than somebody who has tens of thousands of followers but nobody is really influenced."

Now, here are the major pitfalls we've learned to avoid:

  1. Relationships matter more than reach. 

At first, we obsessed over follower counts and immediate ROI. Now we know it's about finding creators who genuinely connect with our brand. Some of our best-performing ambassadors started as customers who were already posting about us.

  1. Don't overwhelm creators with options. 

When we started, we tried to push our entire product line. Big mistake. It's better to start focused and let creators discover more products over time. 

Remember – they need to genuinely understand and love what they're promoting.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The landscape is evolving fast. Jordan emphasized that social commerce isn't slowing down – it's expanding. 

Instagram is rolling out affiliate capabilities, YouTube is testing shopping features, and while there's major uncertainty around TikTok Shop, the core model of creator-driven commerce.

Speaking of TikTok – let's address the elephant in the room. 🐘

Jordan shared an interesting insider perspective from his connections at TikTok head office. While the media narrative has been doom and gloom, the reality might be less dramatic. No platform can easily replace TikTok's scale (we're talking about a company that got a $300B offer).

But…smart brands are planning for multiple scenarios. 

If changes do come, Jordan predicts creators will migrate to YouTube Shorts, Reels, and interestingly, Snapchat. Why Snapchat? Simple – young users don't want to be where their parents are (sorry Instagram and Facebook).

The key takeaway here is that the specific platforms might change, but creator-driven commerce isn't going anywhere.

Ian predicts we'll see even more integration between creator content and shopping experiences. The lines between content, commerce, and community are blurring.

At Obvi, we're betting on relationship-driven growth. The future isn't about finding one viral creator or focusing on a single platform – it's about building a network of authentic ambassadors who can grow with your brand wherever your customers are.

Sum It Up

Here’s what the playbook for creator partnerships in 2025 looks like:

Platform View (Ian):

  • Content volume and consistency matter more than viral hits

  • Search behavior is shifting from Google to social

  • Rights management and reusability are crucial

Strategy View (Jordan):

  • Creator-led growth is the new frontier

  • Aligned incentives beat one-off partnerships

  • Track the halo effect across all channels

Brand Reality (From Our Experience):

  • Systematic approach beats random outreach

  • Nano/micro often outperform macro

  • Relationships matter more than ever

Want the inside track? The brands winning at this right now aren't the ones throwing the most money around. 

They're the ones building real systems and relationships.

PS: As promised, here are the Webinar assets so you can check everything out yourself:

All the best,

Ron & Ash