Kathy Lee
7 min read
Emerging brands are not just new and scrappy, but are becoming increasingly sophisticated in getting the word out, tapping into the full marketing funnel and navigating the creator economy.
With the number of social media users projected to top 330 million by 2029, according to Statista, creators make a buck or two on links that pay commissions while brands rake in revenue with a cost-effective, pay-per-sale fee. Done right, it can cost much less than traditional marketing.
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For brands like Aligne that don’t have a six-figure marketing budget and are looking to test ground in a new market, affiliate marketing has proven to be the right bet.
“The U.S. is huge, and you can approach it through these big, flashy campaigns or you can go more micro to start and work with great content creators who have created huge businesses for themselves,” said Ginny Seymour, CEO of the British clothing label.
Arielle Charnas, influencer and founder of Something Navy, a now-defunct clothing brand turned Substack newsletter, visited the New York pop-up store and posted on social, spiking sales 3,000 percent from the year prior in a matter of an hour, according to Seymour. By partnering with creators who have shown an affinity for the brand, Seymour leverages their point-of-view, community and inclination to share styles they selected and enjoy wearing.
With the right partnership, synergy between brand and creator could generate far more benefits beyond sales. It could increase reach — in this case, Charnas’ 1.3 million Instagram followers — and engagement, raise brand profile and provide immediate, crucial data on customers. Wholesale accounts are often slow or just not equipped to provide that kind of data.
Aligne, which entered the U.S. market in August 2023, reached over $1.4 million in sales through affiliate links during its first year, out of $6.5 million in sales for the brand overall.
Seymour allocates more than half her marketing budget to affiliate marketing, and projects that budget will only increase. The U.S. business will account for 70 percent of sales by the end of December.
The creator economy is projected to reach $480 billion by 2027, per Goldman Sachs Research, which includes a range of revenue streams such as affiliate commissions, brand partnerships and sponsored content. Commissions in particular are a measurable form of spending that can be foundational to a business’ growth, particularly for a still-emerging brand.
