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Creating collabs (collaborations) is your first step to building partnerships with creators. This guide covers the basics of creating and managing collabs.

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What Is a Collab?

A collab is a relationship between a creator and your brand (channel). Each collab includes:
  • Creator profile information
  • Discount code and affiliate settings
  • Collaboration tier/level
  • Drops (curated product collections)
  • Custom fields and branding

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Creating Your First Collab

Steps:
  1. Open Shopify Collabs app
  2. Invite creator or accept creator application
  3. CreatorCommerce automatically syncs the collab
  4. Creator appears in CreatorCommerce dashboard
  5. Configure additional settings as needed
Benefits:
  • Seamless creator onboarding
  • Integrated discount management
  • Unified creator database
  • Automatic syncing

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Via CreatorCommerce API

Create Collab: 
POST /creators/collabs
{
  "myshopifyDomain": "yourstore.myshopify.com",
  "email": "creator@example.com",
  "firstName": "Jane",
  "lastName": "Doe",
  "affiliateCode": "JANE10",
  "primaryColor": "#FF0000",
  "custom": {
    "cc-hero-header": "Welcome to Jane's Shop"
  }
}
What Happens:
  • Creator account created (if new)
  • Collab relationship established
  • Shopify metaobject created/updated
  • Shopify collection created (for drops)
  • Creator can access dashboard

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Via CreatorCommerce Dashboard

Steps:
  1. Go to CreatorCommerce dashboard
  2. Click “Create Collab” or “Add Creator”
  3. Enter creator details
  4. Configure settings
  5. Save and activate

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Essential Collab Settings

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Creator Information

Required Fields:
  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address
Recommended Fields:
  • Profile picture
  • Bio/description
  • Brand color/theme
  • Handle/slug for URLs

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Discount Configuration

Discount Types:
  • Percentage - e.g., 10% off
  • Fixed Amount - e.g., $10 off
Discount Code:
  • Unique affiliate code
  • Auto-generated or custom
  • Syncs with Shopify Collabs (if used)
  • Attached to checkout URLs

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Affiliation Settings

Affiliate Code:
  • Unique identifier for creator
  • Used in affiliate links
  • Tracks attribution
  • Can be used in URLs
Affiliate URL:
  • Custom landing page URL
  • Can include discount code
  • Branded experience URL
  • Shareable creator link

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Tier/Campaign Assignment

Collab Tier:
  • Classifies relationship level
  • Examples: “Ambassadors”, “Influencers”, “Partners”
  • Defines permissions and benefits
  • Links to campaigns
Campaign:
  • Marketing initiative
  • Groups multiple tiers
  • Defines redirect templates
  • Sets query parameters

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Managing Collabs

Use this when a creator needs the link that signs them into onboarding or the creator dashboard.
1

Confirm the creator is in a Destination

The creator must be assigned to a valid Destination. If they are not in a Destination, CreatorCommerce does not consider them active for storefront and onboarding workflows.
2

Open the Collaborations table

In CreatorCommerce, go to the Collaborations table.
3

Open the creator actions

Click the right side of the creator’s row, or click into the creator’s page.
4

Copy the invite/onboarding link

Use the copy action for the creator’s invite or onboarding link.
5

Send it to the creator

The link automatically logs the creator in and takes them to the correct onboarding or dashboard experience.
Creators can also self-enter onboarding when you send a Klaviyo creator invite flow, deploy the CreatorCommerce customer account block, or use an embedded sign-in integration inside your affiliate platform’s affiliate portal. For access options, see Links + Auth Explained.

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Testing or Viewing a Creator Storefront

To test a creator as a merchant, find the collab and click the creator’s affiliate link. The creator must be in a valid Destination, and the affiliate link should route through: 
/apps/cc-storefront/redirect
That redirect resolves the creator’s Destination, keeps affiliate platform tracking intact, and invokes the CreatorCommerce SDK with creator context. If the affiliate platform link is not yet configured to use the redirect, manually preview the page with: 
/pages/creator/{{handle}}?cc={{handle}}
Use the handle shown on the creator’s page. This manual URL is a preview fallback; production affiliate links should go through /apps/cc-storefront/redirect.

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Updating Collab Details

Via API: 
POST /creators/collabs/{collabId}
{
  "firstName": "Jane",
  "isOnboarded": true,
  "discount": {
    "discountAmount": 15,
    "discountType": "Percentage"
  }
}
What You Can Update:
  • Creator profile information
  • Discount settings
  • Affiliation codes
  • Custom fields
  • Onboarding status
  • Tier assignments

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Onboarding Status

Tracking Creator Onboarding:
  • isOnboarded: false - Creator invited but not onboarded
  • isOnboarded: true - Creator completed onboarding
  • Used to track creator lifecycle
  • Affects dashboard access

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Collab Status

Active Collabs:
  • isActive: true - Collab is active
  • Creator can create drops
  • Storefront experiences visible
  • Attribution tracking enabled
Inactive Collabs:
  • isActive: false - Collab paused
  • Drops hidden from storefront
  • Attribution still tracked
  • Can reactivate anytime

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Best Practices

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Creator Onboarding

Welcome Sequence:
  1. Send creator invitation
  2. Creator accepts and creates account
  3. Complete profile setup
  4. Create first drop
  5. Launch creator experience
Support Materials:
  • Creator dashboard access
  • Drop creation guide
  • Best practices documentation
  • Support contact information

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Setting Up Discounts

Choose Appropriate Discount:
  • Align with brand margins
  • Consider competitor pricing
  • Test different discount levels
  • Monitor performance
Discount Code Management:
  • Use meaningful codes (creator name)
  • Make codes easy to remember
  • Ensure uniqueness
  • Track usage

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Custom Fields

Brand-Specific Data:
  • Hero section content
  • Creator logos
  • Seasonal content
  • Brand-specific metadata
Use Custom Fields For:
  • Landing page headlines
  • Creator branding elements
  • Campaign-specific content
  • A/B testing variations

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Testing Your First Collab

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Create Test Creator

Recommended Steps:
  1. Create test creator with your email
  2. Complete full setup
  3. Create test drop with products
  4. Test checkout flow
  5. Verify attribution

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Verify Setup

Check Creator Data:
  • Creator appears in Shopify metaobjects
  • Profile data populated correctly
  • Discount code working
  • Drops accessible
Test Checkout:
  • Click creator link
  • Verify cart attributes set
  • Apply discount code
  • Complete test purchase
  • Check attribution

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Common Workflows

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Onboarding New Creator

Simple Flow:
  1. Creator applies or you invite
  2. Create collab in system
  3. Creator receives magic link
  4. Creator completes profile
  5. Creator creates first drop
  6. Launch creator experience

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Managing Existing Creator

Update Workflow:
  1. Access creator in dashboard
  2. Update profile or settings
  3. Changes sync automatically
  4. Shopify metaobject updates
  5. Storefront reflects changes

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Tier Management

Moving Creator to New Tier:
  1. Update collabTier field
  2. System updates permissions
  3. Campaign assignment updates
  4. Redirect URLs update (if configured)
  5. Creator experience adapts

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Next Steps

After creating your first collab:
  1. Create Drops - Add product collections (see Make Your First Shopping Experiences)
  2. Build Storefronts - Create co-branded experiences
  3. Track Performance - Monitor attribution and metrics (see Attribute & Analyze)
  4. Optimize - Improve based on data (see Optimize)