Hi everyone,
I’ve been trying to get more traffic to my Shopify store without putting everything into paid ads. I keep seeing smaller brands work with TikTok and Instagram creators, and some of it feels much more natural than normal ads.
The part I’m stuck on is finding the right people. I don’t want to send products to someone just because their follower count looks good. I’ve seen a few accounts that look big, but the comments feel random, or the content does not really match the product.
Has anyone here tried working with creators for a Shopify store? Did you find them by searching manually, through customers, or with some kind of platform? I’m mainly trying to figure out how to avoid wasting products and time on the wrong people.
A few things that might help you filter:
Look at the comments before the follower count. Emojis and generic “love this!” replies = disengaged audience, or worse, seeded comments. A 5k creator with real questions in the comments (“where’s this from?”, “does it come in X?”) will outperform a 100k account with crickets every time.
Check whether they already post about your category unprompted. Creators who organically talk about the space - not just sponsored stuff - tend to convert better because their audience already trusts them on that topic.
Start with your own customers. This was the biggest unlock for many of our customers. They went through tagged photos and DMs and found a handful of people who’d already bought and posted about the product on their own. Reaching out to them felt natural because they were already fans - no cold pitch, no convincing. Conversion on those collabs was way higher than anyone I found through scraping hashtags.
Be skeptical of platforms that just rank by reach. Some of the tools out there (Aspire, Shopify Collabs, Modash, etc.) are useful for sorting and outreach, but the filters still need a human eye. I’d use them to organize a shortlist, not to pick the creators.
For wasted-product prevention, I recommend you do a short paid test (small flat fee, $50–150 depending on size) with first-time creators instead of just gifting. Sounds counterintuitive, but it filters out people who just want free stuff, and it gives me clearer expectations on deliverables. After one good collab, I switch to gifting + commission.
Best,
Ellie from BOGOS: Free Gift Bundle Upsell team, the most trusted Shopify promotion app
@Rafaell ,
I have found that micro-influencers (5k–50k followers) often perform better than larger creators because their audience tends to be more engaged.
Instead of looking only at follower count, I check:
- Whether their audience matches my target customers.
- If the comments look genuine and not spammy.
- Whether they’ve promoted similar products naturally before.
I also like to start with a small batch of creators rather than sending products to dozens of people. That way, I can see who actually delivers results before investing more.
Sometimes your own customers can be the best creators too they already know and like your brand, so their content usually feels more authentic.
Hello there @Rafaell
We have found the best success when we prioritize engagement and audience match over number of followers. Find creators that regularly post content that is related to your niche and actually have conversations in the comment section. Begin with your current customers that already love your products, they tend to produce more authentic content. First, send a small test batch to a handful of creators, track trafic using unique discount codes or UTM links, and then build out partnerships according to actual results, not just reach.
Hi @Rafaell
I’ve had a similar issue when looking at creators. A profile can look great at first, but once you check the comments and older posts, it is sometimes clear that the audience is not right.
I would not start with follower count! I’d check if the creator already talks about products in your space, how people reply to them, and if the content feels like something your customers would actually watch. Sometimes a smaller creator is a much safer choice because the audience is more focused.
You can search manually, but it does take time. Tools can help narrow things down and manage the campaign side, especially if you plan to test more than one creator. Here we use Upfluence, but I still check each profile myself before sending anything. The match matters more than the number.
Hi @Rafaell .
Your own customers are the best place to start. Check who is already tagging your store or buying from you and reach out to them personally. They already love your product, which makes the content feel real and convert much better.
When looking at any creator, ignore the follower count and look at the comments instead. Real reactions and questions mean real followers. Random one word comments usually mean fake ones.
Also, try Collabs, which is built into Shopify for free. It lets creators apply to work with you, which saves a lot of time finding people manually.
Start with your customers first, though, it costs nothing and works really well!