The influencer economy certainly shows no signs of slowing down. Tech giants—most notably Instagram—have created vast ecosystems for influencers and micro-influencers. Influencers today can build deep, genuine relationships with their audiences while advocating for certain products and services that speak to their community.
But having said this, one of the tech industry’s most powerful juggernauts has recently stepped in. It has created a new service that will arm influencers with an opportunity to connect with their audiences in a new and interesting way.
That company is Amazon. And the new initiative that it has launched is called The Drop.
The Drop: What You Need to Know
The Drop is a new fashion and clothing service that sells designs from influencers around the world. Influencers—typically those with followings of one million or more—take the lead and design their collections with the help of fashion industry professionals. Once the design is complete, the collection goes on sale on The Drop.
However, there are some restrictions in these sales—namely the fact that there is a limited supply of each influencer’s collection and that each influencer’s collection is only on sale for a maximum of 30 hours. Also, followers won’t precisely know when a particular influencer’s collection will drop, so they have to stay alert and move quickly when it does.
Ultimately, the idea behind The Drop is that influencers, working with Amazon’s design team, can drive a campaign in the fashion design space. The arrangement is a win-win for everyone involved. For influencers, a partnership with Amazon lets them create a new product that they can offer to their audiences. For Amazon, The Drop creates an opportunity to leverage the built-in social capital of the influencer to promote Amazon. And for audiences, The Drop presents an opportunity to purchase new, exciting apparel from some of their favorite influencers.
The Drop is a game-changing opportunity for influencers because of one word: freedom. In most influencer partnerships, brands simply provide products or services that the influencer promotes to their audience. The Drop is significantly different in that the influencer has more control over the ultimate product. From start to finish, the influencer’s voice and vision are incorporated into their collection. Whether the influencer wants to highlight a trend in his or her city or a trend that has some personal connection to them, they have few (if any) restrictions in doing so.
Influencers who want to join The Drop need to complete a quick questionnaire. The questionnaire asks for basic information (like their Instagram handle, blog URL, and YouTube channel) and more details about their vision (like the pieces that they would like to design). Once an influencer completes the survey, an Amazon representative will contact the influencer if Amazon wants to proceed. Alternatively, influencers can have their fans nominate them for a potential partnership with The Drop. All fans have to do is simply complete this form here.
The Drop is available to customers from around the world. Prime members receive free shipping on all orders and non-Prime members may qualify for free shipping on certain eligible orders. Because of the sheer size and scale of Amazon, influencers from around the world don’t need to worry about shipping or returns. Rather, by partnering with The Drop, these influencers can focus on the design of their collection and interacting with their fans. In other words, The Drop gives influencers the ability to focus on the things they love rather than the procedural elements that they often want to delegate.
A New Way to Connect with Audiences
Leveraging the power of Amazon, influencers have a great opportunity to build even closer relationships with their followers. The Drop offers an excellent opportunity for influencers to create new, fun, and exciting products for their passionate fans. As just one example, Sierra Furtado (@sierrafurtado), an influencer with over 1.7 million Instagram followers, recently launched a collection called “Hey Babe” on The Drop. This is just one example, but the fact remains that influencers with significant followings have already expressed interest.
In a world where attention and influence can quickly disappear, The Drop presents influencers with a new way to continue building their influence. Whether you are an influencer, public relations professional, or social media professional, you will definitely want to pay attention.
