On November 1st, Youtube superstars Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star debuted a much-talked-about makeup palette, with help from Morphe Brushes. The release broke with an hour-long hype video on Shane’s channel, long lines wrapping around the corner of Morphe’s retail locations, and a projected $35 million in sales.  

The Conspiracy Collection sold one million palettes in 30 minutes, overwhelming ecommerce platform Shopify to the point where it ‘broke’ and stopped taking orders.

One fact is undeniable: Influencer Marketing crashed a website. By partnering with prominent influencers in their space, Morphe bet big on the power of the influencer, and the venture is looking to be incredibly successful for all parties. While Morphe is one of the hottest players in the online beauty scene, Influencer marketing expands brand reach through relevant communities in any industry.

Content like makeup tutorials, palette reviews, and simply celebrity presence attract consumers to these products, spurred by an authentic story of the cosmetics. To be more specific: consumers aren’t just getting a snapshot of a model with perfect makeup applied, likely by someone else – with YouTube and Instagram influencers and makeup tutorials, they’re watching the start to finish journey of a color palette or other beauty product – an authentic insight into how the product really works. While the YouTube stars apologized to their fans for the web issues, a product restock was swiftly announced and the duo promises to explain the issues in their YouTube series.  

Not every influencer-driven promotion is going to break your online shopping site, or maybe Shopify will be a little more prepared next time. Want to attract your own influencers and go viral like Morphe, Shane & Jeffree? Learn how Pixlee can help you discover your own brand’s influencers to kickstart your viral influencer campaign.