Driving sales during Black Friday is hard enough... but doing it on a third-party retailer with a tight timeline raises the stakes even higher.

When Popsmith needed to prove demand on Costco.com ahead of a critical retail opportunity, the goal wasn’t awareness — it was performance. This case study breaks down how a fast-moving, retail-first influencer strategy turned creator trust into measurable Black Friday results.

Popsmith is a premium stovetop popcorn maker designed to deliver perfect popcorn every time. The brand has earned major retail credibility, landing on Oprah’s Favorite Things and securing placement at retailers like Williams Sonoma and Crate & Barrel.

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The Challenge:

Popsmith needed to drive meaningful, fast-moving sales on Costco.com during Black Friday to help secure a high-stakes retail deal with Costco.

This wasn’t a brand awareness play; sales performance mattered, and the timeline was tight.

Key challenges included:

• A short runway ahead of Black Friday
  
  
• Driving traffic to a third-party retailer, not DTC
  
  
• Standing out during the most competitive shopping week of the year
  
  
• Proving traction quickly enough to support future retail expansion

The Strategy:

Aligned Growth mobilized quickly to design and launch a high-impact influencer campaign in just a matter of weeks, built specifically to convert Costco members leading up to and during Black Friday week.

The strategy combined:

• High-trust influencer content to drive organic discovery
• Meta Partnership Ads (whitelisting) to scale winning creative
• A clear value proposition: Costco.com offered the best price available

Campaign Goals:

1. Create high-performing influencer content that could be repurposed and scaled via paid media
   
   
2. Drive organic reach, engagement, and link clicks through Instagram during Black Friday week
   
   
3. Move product on Costco.com, not just generate buzz

Key Tactics:

• 16 creators activated
  
  
• Each influencer produced a direct-response Instagram post, designed to feel native while clearly calling out the Costco.com offer
  
  
• All in-feed posts were whitelisted via Meta Partnership Ads, driving directly to Costco.com
  
  
• Top-performing creators were reactivated for additional Instagram Stories, optimized for swipe-through behavior and direct link clicks
  
  
• Content focused on:
  
  • Giftability during Black Friday
  • Ease of use and quality of the Popsmith popcorn maker
  • The exclusive value of purchasing through Costco.com

Results:

Organic Performance

Despite the crowded Black Friday landscape, influencer content delivered strong organic efficiency.

• 1.2M organic impressions
• $29 CPM
• 58 total posts
  • 16 Reels
  • 42 Stories
• 1.6k+ organic link clicks from Instagram Stories to Costco.com

Paid Meta Performance

By scaling proven influencer content through Meta Partnership Ads, Popsmith achieved standout paid performance — especially for a retail traffic objective.

• 11.36% Link CTR
• $10.91 CPM
• $0.07 CPC
• 500+ units sold during BFCM weekend

These results demonstrate the power of pairing creator-led trust with performance media, even when driving to a third-party retailer like Costco.

Why This Campaign Worked:

• Speed to market: The campaign was ideated, executed, and live within weeks — critical for Black Friday success
  
  
• Retail-first messaging: Clear emphasis on Costco.com as the best-value destination
  
  
• Content that converts: Influencer creative felt native, credible, and highly adaptable to paid media
  
  
• Strategic whitelisting: Scaling top-performing creators amplified results without sacrificing authenticity
  
  

Influencer marketing isn’t just for awareness — when executed strategically, it can drive real retail performance at scale, even on a tight timeline.

For Popsmith, this Black Friday campaign helped reinforce demand on Costco.com, support retail growth, and position the brand for continued expansion with one of the most competitive retailers in the world.

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