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Creators-as-Stores: The No-Ad Funnel You’re Missing

ShopMy’s new “circles,” AI-triggered postcards, and a LinkedIn swap play (do these before Q3 ends).

Author

Omar Abed
August 01, 2025

In partnership with

☕ ESPRESSO SHOT

Ads are pricier, feeds are noisier, and small teams need growth that compounds without burning budget.

Three moves below: one creator-led engine, one mailbox comeback, and one distribution hack.

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GAP OF THE WEEK: Creator “Circles” = Your Shoppable Microsite

The hole: Paid social CAC keeps creeping up; your product gets lost between cat videos.

The wedge: Stand up a creator-led storefront by partnering with niche influencers and building a ShopMy “circle”, a permanent, curated page that routes buyers to your site and pays commission only on sales. Pilot with 3–5 micro-creators; refresh picks weekly; track revenue by UTM.

Why now:

  • ShopMy launched a consumer shopping site centered on “circles.” It already processes ~$80M/month in affiliate sales and works with 1k+ brands. That’s real demand you can draft. Vogue Business

  • The platform is capitalized (Series B, $77.5M, $410M valuation) and is expanding beyond beauty into food/family/wellness, as well as SMB-friendly verticals. The Wall Street JournalEMARKETER

  • Creator commerce keeps tilting toward micro/nano partners with higher engagement and clearer ROI. Vogue Business
    Exit vision: Your brand becomes a curation network; multiple circles per niche, seasonal bundles, and a creator CRM that outperforms cold ads.

⚡ TWO-MINUTE GAPS

Spark

Why It Prints

Early Signal

AI-Triggered Postcards (Cart Rescue)

Automate a postcard 24–48h after abandon for about $1.15; combine with QR to cart. Expect 15–20% lift vs. email-only flows.

Postalytics ships a multi-tenant Direct Mail API and a ready-made Shopify→postcard Zap—turnkey for SMBs. PostalyticsZapier

LinkedIn Newsletter Swap Network

Trade 100-word plugs with adjacent creators; pay or barter at low CPM; capture high-intent subs you don’t get via ads.

LinkedIn newsletter features/metrics have expanded, and LinkedIn’s engagement rates are among the highest in social, fertile ground for swaps. LinkedInBuffer

Lifecycle Email > Blasts

Wire birthdays, win-backs, and post-purchase nudges. Email still returns ~36:1 on average when automated.

Recent Litmus data reinforces email ROI and the advantage of lifecycle automation. LitmusLitmus

WEEK IN 3 SIGNALS (Swap-worthy posts to cite)

  1. ShopMy’s retail launch & “circles.” Takeaway: build creator-run shelves that you don’t have to feed with ads. Vogue Business

Property of Market Gaps

  1. Postalytics automation stack (API + Zapier). Takeaway: direct mail retargeting is a one-click add-on now. PostalyticsZapier

  1. LinkedIn newsletter upgrades + high engagement. Takeaway: swaps convert because the platform holds attention. LinkedInBuffer

Property of Market Gaps

🤯 STAT OF THE DAY

49% of small businesses plan to increase marketing budgets in 2025, pointing spend toward social, search, video, and content. Build systems that compound it. LocaliQ

⏭ CLOSING LOOP

We publish Mon–Fri. Forward this to a founder who still thinks “influencer” means celebrity.