Build Long-Term Relationships and Maximize Your Influencer Strategy
If you're ready to dive into TikTok collabs, there's never been a better time to use influencers to elevate your handmade business. But successful collabs go beyond simply sending products to influencers and hoping for the best. In this post, I'll walk you through the steps to make your collaborations more effective, build long-term relationships, and ensure you're leveraging the full power of influencer marketing.
1. Find the Right Influencers
TikTok makes it incredibly easy to find creators in your niche—whether it's handmade jewelry, eco-friendly skincare, or quirky home decor. The key is to look for influencers who align with your brand values and audience. You don’t need to chase after the biggest accounts; sometimes, micro-influencers (those with smaller but highly engaged followings) are even more effective for driving conversions and building a strong relationship with your brand.
2. Follow-Up is the Secret Sauce
One of the biggest mistakes I see is treating influencer collabs like a one-and-done deal. But the magic lies in the follow-up.
Here's a pro tip: When fulfilling influencer orders, handle the fulfillment yourself instead of going through TikTok. This gives you access to their contact details, such as phone numbers and addresses. With tools like Voila Norbert or GetEmail.io, you can match these details with an email. These paid services are worth the investment to get direct communication with your influencers.
3. Stay Engaged with Creators
Once you have their emails, build a list of your influencers and engage with them regularly. This doesn't mean bombarding them with messages but sending 1-2 fun, friendly emails per month. During key sales seasons like Q4, you may want to send more frequent updates, product drops, or special contests.
We keep it light and fun—sometimes it’s just a simple “hello,” or it could be a "Most Views Challenge," where creators can win prizes based on who gets the highest engagement on their posts. Highlight creators who excel, and share their strategies with others in your influencer group.
4. Get Written Consent for Content Use
This is a must-have in your influencer collaboration process. Whenever a creator submits content, make sure you have express written consent to use their images, videos, or other media on your website, in ads, and across other platforms.
Here’s an example of a clause you can use:
“By submitting content to [Your Brand], I hereby grant [Your Brand] full and irrevocable rights to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, distribute, and display my submitted content, including text, images, and videos, on the website, in advertisements, marketing materials, and across all other platforms owned or operated by [Your Brand], without any compensation to me, and acknowledge that I have full ownership and rights to the content being submitted.”
In my experience, 85% of creators agree to this, and if they don't, we move on to the next creator. It’s important to have this clarity upfront, so you’re legally covered when using influencer content.
5. Nurture Long-Term Relationships
Your influencer strategy should focus on building long-term partnerships with creators, not just one-off promotions. Once you find influencers who are a great fit and have worked well for your brand, nurture the relationship.
Offer them exclusive discounts, let them in on new product launches, and continue to incentivize them with contests or recognition. The same goes for Shopify Collabs—focus on relationship-building to create an army of brand advocates who will keep promoting your products.
Conclusion: The Key is Consistency
Influencer marketing is one of the best ways to expand your handmade business, but it requires consistent engagement and building relationships. By ensuring you have consent to use creator content, maintaining regular communication, and turning one-time collabs into ongoing partnerships, you’ll see your efforts pay off in the long run.
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