This topic has been sitting on my content calendar for weeks. I kept looking at it and putting it off… until this week. We did an August recap over on instagram and one of the responses stopped me in my tracks. Someone replied “You have a few influencers that seem FAKE!!! On what they promote and say” and told us we should “only work with XYZ.”
I’ll be honest, my first reaction was to be offended. But then I sat with it and thought, you know what? This is actually a good chance to let you in on how it works. To be real with you about how we approach partnerships and collabs, and what it looks like from the brand side.
How It Started vs. How It’s Going
When we started Allie + Bess, it was COVID. Influencers were excited to support small businesses. It was a movement. Everyone was just trying to survive, and women showed up for us when we were brand new, with no budget and nothing to offer besides product. We’ll forever be grateful for those early days.
Fast forward to 2025, and the game has completely changed. Influencer marketing doesn’t look like it did then. Consumer behavior doesn’t look like it did then. Even some of the biggest names we know don’t pull the same numbers they used to. What does work? Women who are actually invested in their communities; who show up, talk to their audience, and share more than just an aesthetic.
Can One Influencer Make a Brand?
Short answer: no. It’s not impossible, but it’s extremely rare. You can’t build or scale a brand off one person’s platform. Even when influencers don’t convert directly to sales, they can still bring brand awareness and that matters. The truth is, in today’s economy, it can take 15–45 days for a new customer to convert. It’s a long game.
Our Approach (and Why We Don’t Pay Flat Fees)
Here’s me being fully transparent: we don’t pay flat fees. A few years ago, we did. We spent $10k on a collab with a major influencer, she had over a million followers. And she didn’t generate a single sale. Not one. No follow-up, no accountability, nothing. And that $10k loss? It could have sunk us.
That day Bess and I promised ourselves: never again. We know who we are. We believe in our product. Our partnerships have to start organically.
So here’s what that looks like: Lexi, who runs influencer relations, does the research and outreach. We offer gifting, with zero expectations. If someone falls in love with A+B and shares, amazing. If not, that’s okay too.
What do influencers get out of it? High commissions through LTK and ShopMy if they can sell to their audience. We have some women who make thousands a month with us because their followers trust them. That’s a win-win.
We also bucket our influencer relationships into categories:
- Sales drivers (they move product)
- Brand awareness (they put us in front of new audiences)
- UGC creators (they give us content we can reuse, which is huge for a small team)
The Millennial vs. Gen Z Conversation
And while we’re here, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: millennials vs. Gen Z influencers (or as many of them call themselves now, content creators).
This year, we’ve spent a lot of time tightening up our branding and defining our voice. Part of that has meant expanding who we collaborate with, reaching new audiences while staying true to who we are. I know some of our longtime followers have probably wondered why we’re working with certain people, so let me explain.
Not everyone is going to connect with Gen Z content. Sometimes it feels too polished, curated, or even a little unapproachable. But the truth is, social media is constantly evolving. If we want to keep growing, we have to be open to meeting people where they are.
And honestly? Some of the Gen Z creators posting that “cool and serious” content are also the kindest, funniest, most genuine people I know. You can’t always judge a book by its cover.
On the flip side, we millennials? We love to talk, to overshare, to tell the story. Neither style is better or worse, they’re just different. And that’s the beauty of it. There’s no single “right” way to do social media. Both voices have value, and both deserve space.
The Bottom Line
Partnerships for us have never been about chasing clout or buying fake numbers. They’ve always been about building genuine relationships, staying true to our brand, and connecting with women who truly love what we create. That’s what works. That’s what lasts.
So when you see us working with someone, know this: it’s never random, and it’s definitely not fake. It’s intentional. It’s real.
We don’t expect every single influencer we partner with to resonate with everyone, and that’s okay. The goal is to offer a mix of voices and styles so that hopefully, you connect with someone, even if another person doesn’t feel like “your vibe.” What matters is that someone else may see themselves in her.
At the end of the day, this brand has always been built on kindness and community. That will never change.
--- Allie