Alana Willis

I'm an experienced content strategist with over 10 years of experience crafting impactful B2B/B2C narratives. Let me tell your brand's story.

Alana Willis

I'm an experienced content strategist with over 10 years of experience crafting impactful B2B/B2C narratives. Let me tell your brand's story.

Mavely blog •

Millions in Sales, Zero Gatekeeping: How Taylor Mitchell Turned Consistency Into Life-Changing Income • Mavely

Six years ago, you would have had to scroll for a while to find a photo of Taylor Mitchell on her own Instagram feed.
“I hid behind motherhood for so long,” she says. “If you went back and looked at my page, it was mostly my daughter. You’d really have to hunt for a photo of me.”
Today, Taylor is the face of her brand—and the primary income earner for her family.
Based in Greenville, South Carolina, the mom of three has built a thriving affiliate business centered around affordable fashion, conf...
Later blog •

Later, rebranded: the story behind our boldest move yet

Today, we're unveiling a new brand identity. New logo. New colors. New voice. Refined focus. A complete reimagining of how we show up for our customers. If you've spent any time on our website, our socials, or even in our product today, you've already noticed the difference.We won't pretend this was a small undertaking. Rebrands are high-stakes, high-visibility decisions, and they carry real risk. We know this because we work with brands navigating reputational choices every day. So when it came...
Later blog •

Introducing Later 360: One View for All Your Influencer Marketing Data

Enterprise marketing leaders understand the challenge intimately. Influencer marketing drives real business outcomes, but proving that impact has required piecing together data from multiple platforms, reconciling metrics across teams, and building manual reports that are outdated the moment they're finished. The result is fragmented visibility that makes it difficult to optimize in real time, harder to prove ROI to stakeholders, and nearly impossible to scale with confidence.Later is launching...

$8M Super Bowl Ad vs 780 Influencer Partnerships | Later

TL;DR Super Bowl ads cost $8 million for 30 seconds, but what could that budget accomplish over the next 10 months? Brands like Chipotle and DoorDash won without buying airtime by meeting audiences on their second screens with participatory activations.The same $8 million could fund 780 micro influencer partnerships, 1.6 billion programmatic impressions, or sustained campaigns through year-end.Forward-thinking marketers are shifting focus from single moments to year-round influence strategies th...
Later blog •

Why Trust Will Be the Defining Metric of 2026 | Later

What we measure reveals what we valueFor years, social media success has been quantified through numbers that feel solid but tell an incomplete story. Impressions measure eyeballs, not attention. Followers indicate interest, not loyalty. Even engagement rates can be gamed, purchased, or manufactured. These metrics aren't meaningless, but they're insufficient for understanding what actually drives lasting business outcomes.Trust operates differently. When someone trusts a creator's recommendation...
Mavely blog •

5 Ways to Negotiate Brand Deals During Cultural Moments (Without Compromising Your Voice) • Mavely

You’ve built your decision-making framework for cultural moment partnerships (if you haven’t yet, start here). Now brands are reaching out, and you need to know how to structure these deals in ways that protect your authenticity while fairly compensating you for the unique value you bring.
Here’s your tactical guide to negotiating cultural moment partnerships when brands approach you.
Before you start negotiating, understand what makes you valuable during cultural moments.
You’re 5x more credibl...
Mavely blog •

Kristina Roy: How One Home DIY Creator Turned Passion into Profit • Mavely

When Kristina Roy first began sharing snapshots of her home projects in 2018, she didn’t have a business plan or long-term vision. At the time, she simply hoped that maybe, just maybe, she’d receive some free décor for the house. “I told my husband, ‘I’ll just post and maybe we’ll get some free stuff for the house,’” she recalls with a laugh.
Fast-forward a few years, and Kristina is a full-time content creator with consistent campaigns, growing revenue, and a clear purpose: helping women make t...
Mavely blog •

How to Future-Proof Your Creator Business in 2026 • Mavely

At Mavely’s inaugural Swipe Up creator summit this past November, Ciara Strickland, Associate Director of Client Strategy at Later, hosted an interactive workshop on how creators can future-proof their business in the age of AI. With years of experience partnering with platforms, brands, and creators at every stage of their journey, Ciara shared a framework that moves creators from reaction mode to resilience. Here’s what she had to say.
Most creator businesses don’t fail because the creator lac...
Mavely blog •

How to Monetize Cultural Moments Without Losing Your Audience's Trust • Mavely

Here’s something worth knowing: during elections, social movements, industry shifts, and other cultural moments, 52% of audiences view creators as more credible than news outlets (24%), brands (9%), or government agencies (4%).
That trust you’ve built is one of your most valuable business assets. In fact, Forbes recently highlighted that trust has become one of the most valuable currencies in modern marketing, with audiences increasingly trusting faces over faceless companies and lived experienc...
Later blog •

2026 prediction: ROI Measurement Will Unlock Influencer Marketing's $40B Future

After years of proving its value as an awareness channel, influencer marketing has secured mainstream status with budgets, executive support, and strategic integration that rival traditional media channels. The US creator economy is projected to nearly double from $12.33 billion in 2023 to $20.64 billion in 2025 to over $40 billion in 2026, with some estimates putting the global creator economy exceeding $230 billion in 2026. Read our full list of 2026 predictions.This explosive growth comes wit...
Mavely blog •

Building Brand Partnerships That Actually Last • Mavely

Here’s a stat that might surprise you: 31% of brands say they work with the same creators for holiday campaigns year after year, while only 8% of creators report having those recurring partnerships.
That gap represents a huge opportunity sitting right in front of you.
Think about it: while most creators are starting fresh with new partnerships every season, a small group of creators are getting invited back automatically. They’re already on the calendar, they’re already trusted, and they’re alre...
Later blog •

Later Lookback 2025: Creator marketing growth by the numbers

When we talk about the creator economy, it's easy to get lost in the abstract. However, 2025 brought something different: tangible, measurable impact that proved creator marketing has evolved beyond experimental tactics into a channel driving real business outcomes at scale.We spent the year powering thousands of brand and creator partnerships, and the results speak to something bigger than platform milestones. They point to a fundamental shift in how marketing works, how audiences engage, and h...
Mavely blog •

Mavely Creators Earned $250M: What This Means for You • Mavely

One year ago, Mavely joined forces with Later to build something bigger: a platform where creators like you could turn authentic content into real income, without needing millions of followers or celebrity status.
Today, we’re sharing what that vision has become. Mavely and Later just surpassed $2.4 billion in annual gross merchandise value (GMV) and delivered more than $250 million in cumulative creator payouts. Over Black Friday and Cyber Monday alone, Mavely creators earned $3 million in just...
Later blog •

Later Hits $2.4B GMV, $250M in Creator Payouts After Mavely Acquisition

One year ago, we made a bold move: Later acquired Mavely, the Everyday Influencer Platform, to create the most comprehensive creator marketing infrastructure in the industry. Today, we're sharing the results of that vision coming to life.Later has surpassed $2.4 billion in annual gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate, up more than $1 billion since 2024, and delivered more than $250 million in cumulative creator payouts across both platforms. These milestones, covered today by EMARKETER, demonst...
Later blog •

Influencer Marketing as Business Infrastructure: 2025 Insights | Later

Something fundamental shifted in influencer marketing over the past year. Marketing leaders across enterprise organizations have moved past justifying influencer budgets and started building permanent systems around creator collaboration. The conversation has evolved from proving value to optimizing operations.According to Later's 2025 State of Influencer Marketing report, 61% of brands now treat influencer marketing as strategic infrastructure within their organizations. This represents a decis...
Mavely blog •

The Case for Joining Mavely: What You Gain Beyond Affiliate Networks • Mavely

If you’re exploring affiliate marketing as a creator, you’ve probably wondered whether you really need a platform like Mavely. After all, most brands have their own affiliate programs you can join directly. So why add a middleman?
It’s a fair question, and one we hear often from creators just starting their affiliate journey. The short answer is this: Partnering with Mavely simplifies your entire affiliate experience, maximizes your earning potential, and gives you support that individual affili...
Mavely blog •

Cook. Style. Repeat: How Kristen Sullivan Built a Community That Feels Like Home • Mavely

Kristen Sullivan didn’t launch her content platform with a business plan or brand strategy. She started with a simple need: to cook and share dinner with friends.
“I absolutely hate eating alone,” she says with a laugh. “During my divorce, I didn’t have my girls for seven days at a time. I’d make 30-minute meals and share them online. It felt like cooking with a friend.”
That simple act of showing up in the kitchen for herself quickly grew into something more. Today, Kristen is the voice behind...
Mavely blog •

Southern Style, Real Talk: How Nicole Brown Built a Brand on Trust and Transparency • Mavely

Nicole Brown, the voice behind Lelia’s Southern Charm, didn’t set out to become a fashion content creator—she simply wanted to answer one recurring question: “Where did you get that outfit?” So in 2020, she decided to take the leap and begin posting on Instagram.
A Mississippi-based HR professional with a love of affordable style and heartfelt hospitality, Nicole began documenting her day-to-day fashion choices on Instagram. What started as a casual photo diary eventually evolved into a growing...
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