What Happened
Social influencer marketplace FameBit has partnered up with ecommerce platform Shopify to make it easier for the 31,000 social media stars in Famebit’s network to set up their own digital storefronts. This will allow social influencers to sell their own merchandise directly to fans or form partnerships with existing brands to co-create branded products. Besides access to Shopify VIP, an exclusive service that provides infrastructure and customer management support for online stores, Shopify will also offer some ecommerce tools, such as embeddable buy buttons, to help them cross-promote their online stores across various digital channels.
What Brands Need To Do
This deal highlights the growing importance of influencer marketing in ecommerce as it turns more influencers into online retailers with a built-in audience. As more and more brands seek partnerships with social influencers in order to reach younger generations that are shunning traditional media channels, this FameBit-Shopify deal spells new opportunities for brands to collaborate with the next generation of celebrities.
For more information on why brands should leverage partnerships with social influencers and content creators to reach new audiences, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.
Source: Marketing Dive
