In an era saturated with ephemeral social updates and quick-scroll platforms, one channel stands firm as a reliable, evergreen search and discovery platform: YouTube. Long-form video offers a distinct advantage for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, providing the real estate necessary to convey deep authenticity and capture a highly engaged audience.
In a recent Refersion webinar, Ryan Hilliard, CEO of Refersion, was joined by Jerome Mahilum, the Influencer Marketing Manager at INTO THE AM [01:57]. For over six years, Jerome has overseen the apparel brand’s highly structured influencer strategy—primarily focusing on long-form YouTube creators [02:14]. INTO THE AM specializes in premium men’s basics, graphic tees created by independent artists, and highly sought-after product bundles [03:49].
Jerome shared INTO THE AM’s exact playbook for utilizing consumer data, testing niche communities, navigating long-form production, and structuring collaborative, win-win relationships that last for years.
1. Mining Niche Communities via First-Party Customer Data
Many brands make the mistake of launching influencer outreach blindly. INTO THE AM takes a meticulous, data-first approach to discovering hidden, highly lucrative corners of social media [08:58].
Instead of guessing what their target demographic enjoys, they regularly deploy customer surveys and audit internal data to uncover their buyers’ true hobbies, interests, and creative passions [09:38].
Case Study: The Miniature Painting Pivot
Through customer persona auditing, Jerome’s team discovered an artistic, hyper-specific cross-section within their audience: individuals who paint gaming miniatures [10:05].
- The Test: They proactively sourced small, dedicated YouTube creators within the miniature-painting community and initiated low-risk affiliate testing [10:43].
- The Result: The niche proved to be an explosive customer acquisition channel [10:50]. Because it aligned perfectly with the artistic, detail-oriented style of INTO THE AM’s graphics, it quickly became one of their highest-performing evergreen partnerships.
2. The Multi-Tier Testing and Scaling Pipeline
INTO THE AM uses a highly structured pipeline to scale up their creator network while minimizing financial risk [11:04]. They transition creators seamlessly across different tiers based on hard performance metrics.
THE CREATOR SCALING PIPELINE
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. PRODUCT & SEED TESTING (Verify brand & product fit) │
└───────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 2. COMMISSION/AFFILIATE STAGE (Monitor click volume). │
└───────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 3. LOOKALIKES & FLAT-FEE UPGRADES (Scale ROAS & budget)│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Tracking Action Over Instant ROAS
When evaluating an affiliate or commission-only creator, don’t look exclusively at direct sales right out of the gate [13:22]. Jerome advises brands to track link click volume as a leading indicator [13:22].
If a creator effectively drives high-intent action but conversions remain low, the creator isn’t necessarily the problem—it may be a temporary hurdle on your website, pricing model, or checkout experience [14:16].
To salvage this traffic and push the audience over the finish line, INTO THE AM strategically layers custom product launches, bundled promotions, or holiday discounts over that specific creator’s integration [12:07]. This gives the audience an extra, irresistible incentive to buy.
Capitalizing on the Residual Halo Effect
Every integration generates a long-term halo effect [15:24]. A viewer might watch a YouTube integration, leave the app, and buy directly on the main site a day or two later [15:24]. To capture this traffic completely, INTO THE AM instantly places those inbound site visitors into pixel retargeting funnels on Meta and automated drip email campaigns [14:48].
3. The Power of Long-Form Integration and Creative Trust
While short-form formats like YouTube Shorts are great for visibility, Jerome points out a major operational hurdle: product links embedded in Shorts are not clickable [18:00]. Therefore, INTO THE AM treats Shorts as a bundled package add-on, focusing their core budget on long-form pre-rolls and mid-rolls [18:15], [19:01].
Ditch the Corporate Script
The foundation of a successful long-form video ad is pure, unadulterated creative freedom [20:56].
- Plant Seeds, Don’t Dictate: INTO THE AM never hands a YouTuber a rigid corporate script [21:05]. They provide a baseline product, detail the core benefits, and let the creator explain the product in their own authentic language [21:17].
- The “Proud to Wear” Deliverable: Rather than micromanaging the edit, Jerome establishes simple, non-negotiable deliverables: the creator must include a clear call-to-action, provide an affiliate link, and actively wear the apparel proudly on-camera during the video [19:16]. Seeing a trusted creator organically wear the shirt throughout their usual content naturally fosters audience trust [19:50].
4. Maximizing the Seasonal Calendar (Q1 & Q2 Seeding)
Most brands concentrate their influencer marketing efforts entirely within the Q4 holiday surge. Jerome reveals a clever competitive counter-strategy: build your foundation during Q1 and Q2. [26:02]
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ THE SEASONAL CAPACITY STRATEGY │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Q1 & Q2: LOWER BRAND NOISE │
│ • Creators have empty slots & lower inbox volume │
│ • Higher willingness to test low-budget/affiliate setups │
│ • Build organic product love early │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Q3 & Q4: MAXIMUM COMPETITION │
│ • Inboxes are completely flooded │
│ • Ad slots are fully booked by competitors │
│ • Established partners prioritize your locked-in brand │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
By planting seeds, distributing product samples [16:01], and initiating relationships when creators have lesser brand noise, INTO THE AM ensures they are top-of-mind and have secured ad inventory by the time the highly competitive November shopping season rolls around [26:42].
5. Tactical Tools and внешней KPIs
During the interactive audience Q&A, Jerome answered several burning operational questions:
- Vetting the Unvetted Creator: When approaching a completely unvetted channel from the outside, look directly at their average view count rather than subscriber numbers [35:23]. Calculate your prospective flat-fee offers against standard CPM targets [35:29]. Crucially, make sure to exclude sudden, viral video anomalies (outliers) from your average calculations so you base your projections on predictable baseline traffic [35:53].
- The Tool Stack: To discover lookalike creators based on audience demographics and specific interests, Jerome recommends utilizing a tool called IMAI [33:03]. It allows your team to upload a high-performing creator and instantly generate a list of lookalike channels sharing a similar niche and subscriber tier [33:19].
- The “First Partnership” Goldmine: Don’t avoid micro-creators who have never done a brand sponsorship before [23:28]. Audiences view unmonetized channels as highly selective and authentic [23:44]. Because they aren’t constantly pushing products, their first endorsement carries immense weight and rarely triggers “sellout” fatigue [23:51].
Final Thoughts: Prioritize the Win-Win
Ultimately, scaling an affiliate program successfully comes down to moving past transactional habits and embracing human connection. INTO THE AM boasts active creator relationships that have thrived for four to five consecutive years [31:13].
To solidify this loyalty, always cultivate a reciprocal ecosystem. Jerome ensures that as the brand grows, the creator grows along with them—whether that means offering custom co-created graphic tea collections [04:52] or providing exclusive gift cards for creators to distribute as giveaways to reward their audiences [37:15].
To watch the full live recording and unlock more long-form creator insights, check out the complete video on YouTube: How to Find the Right YouTube Creators for Your Affiliate Program.
