How to Start with Shopify Collabs: A Beginner’s Step-by-Step Guide

Why follow a step-by-step approach?

Beginning with Shopify Collabs is easier when you break the process into clear actions. This reduces mistakes, ensures proper tracking, and helps you learn fast by testing small. The steps below are written for merchants new to creator and affiliate marketing, but creators can adapt many steps when applying to or managing partnerships.

Before you begin: prerequisites

Make sure you have these basics in place:

• An active Shopify store with product listings and clear product pages (images, descriptions, prices).
• Basic brand assets: logos, product images, and a brief brand guide so creators produce on-brand content.
• A plan for compensation: fixed payments, percentage commissions, free product seeding, or discount codes.
• Policies and compliance: clear terms for creators, and awareness of disclosure rules (FTC guidelines in the US or equivalent in other jurisdictions).

Step 1 — Enable Collabs and explore the interface

Open your Shopify admin and locate Collabs (it may appear under Marketing or Apps depending on your admin layout). Spend time exploring the dashboard: offers, creator applications, and reporting tabs. Familiarity with the interface reduces onboarding friction later.

Step 2 — Define your collaboration offer

Decide what you will provide creators. Typical offers include:

• Commission on sales (e.g., 8–15% per sale).
• Unique discount codes for each creator to share with their audience (helps attribute conversions and incentivize purchases).
• Product seeding: free samples in exchange for content or reviews.

Write a short description of the offer that you can reuse when inviting or approving creators.

Step 3 — Create a clear creator brief

Draft a concise content brief that includes:

• Campaign goals (traffic, sales, email signups).
• Key messages and product features to highlight.
• Creative requirements: image sizes, caption length, hashtags, and mandatory disclosure language.
• Deliverables and timing: how many posts, due dates, and approval steps.

Even simple templates reduce back-and-forth and keep expectations aligned.

Step 4 — Find and invite creators

You can discover creators in various ways: organic search on social platforms, influencers who already purchase from your store, or by using Collabs’ discovery features if available. When inviting, personalize outreach — reference a recent post or explain why your brand fits their audience. Offer clarity about compensation and deadlines in the initial invite.

Step 5 — Approve applications and onboard creators

Review applications with these criteria in mind: audience relevance, engagement quality (not just follower count), past content quality, and alignment with your brand values. Once approved, provide the brief, tracking links or codes, product shipping info, and a simple contract or terms that cover usage rights and disclosure requirements.

Step 6 — Track performance and manage relationships

Use Collabs reporting to monitor clicks, attributed sales, order value, and conversion rates. Look for creators who bring high-quality traffic (good conversion and order value) rather than only high click counts. Communicate regularly — short progress updates, creative feedback, and timely payments build trust and often lead to better long-term partnerships.

Step 7 — Pay creators and wrap up campaigns

Follow the payment method you agreed on. Record payments and tie them to the campaign’s reported results for ROI calculations. After a campaign, gather creator feedback and collect top-performing content for use in other channels (with permission).

Practical example

A small beauty brand launches a new serum and wants sales. They enable Collabs, set a 12% commission, and offer free sample packs to beauty micro-influencers. They upload a two-paragraph brief asking for an honest review and two Instagram posts. After two weeks they review Collabs’ reports, identify three creators who drove most sales, and convert one into a longer-term brand ambassador with a higher commission rate.

Beginner tips and quick wins

• Start small: run a pilot with 5–10 creators to learn what messaging and compensation work.
• Use discount codes for quick attribution and to give shoppers an incentive.
• Prefer engagement and conversion metrics over follower counts when selecting creators.
• Keep communications friendly and concise — creators are more likely to accept clear, well-structured offers.

Final reminders

Document your processes as you learn them — a simple onboarding checklist and a template brief save time. Respect creators’ creativity and disclosure obligations, and iterate offers based on results. With consistent testing and clear communication, Shopify Collabs becomes a reliable channel to scale creator-driven growth.