Future of Commerce Advertising: Felix Witte on Influencer Marketing

1. Your career spans the fast-evolving landscape of commerce advertising. If you had to describe your journey in three words, what would they be and why?

Connections: Success in this space is all about relationships. Whether with advertisers, publishers, platforms, or tech partners. Being deeply connected to industry trends, networks, and the right people has been key to driving growth and staying ahead. It's also been enormously rewarding meeting the individuals shaping the industry.

Innovation: Commerce advertising is a space where innovation never stops. Whether it's testing new performance models, scaling partnerships, or navigating platform shifts, there's always something exciting happening, interesting conversations to be had and decisions to be made. The dynamic nature of the industry keeps things fresh and engaging.

Entrepreneurship: The industry rewards those who move and act fast. From launching new business models to optimizing performance strategies, there's always an edge to find and always an opportunity to innovate and build something that delivers value.

Strong relationships are the foundation. When paired with an entrepreneurial mindset, an innovative spirit, and a touch of humour, we can achieve the best results.

2. mrge is shaping the future of intelligent commerce advertising. What’s the one misconception people have about the industry that you’d love to, correct?

The conception that commerce advertising is just about last-click conversions. Many assume it’s a lower-funnel tactic only, but in reality, commerce advertising influences the entire customer journey. The right data can drive brand awareness, discovery, and consideration, as well as transactions, sign-ups, or leads.

E.g. a creator paid per sale will generate plenty of "free" branding and should not be evaluated purely by the sales generated. Advertisers need to explore and examine those partnerships more actively and reward those activities with higher CPA/CPCs, better attribution or tenancy payments.

3. Your 2025 Commerce Advertising Report positions influencer marketing as a top growth channel. Is this just another trend cycle, or are we witnessing a fundamental shift in how brands drive commerce?

It’s a fundamental shift. We’re seeing commerce move to where people spend their time, and creators are at the centre of digital engagement. Look at tiktoks affiliate strategy that empowers millions of creators to start earning on each sale they make. Creator marketing isn’t just about brand awareness anymore, it’s a performance channel that drives measurable revenue.

4. With brands obsessing over reach, engagement, and cost efficiency, what separates an average influencer campaign from a game-changing one?

You have to adopt a long-term partnership mindset. Which creator is a good fit and could keep posting for years? Who do you want to associate with and who can represent you authentically? It takes good communication to make sure the content fits the purpose and lastly, it takes trust to let the creator produce authentic content.

A smooth, easy integration is also key, making it simple for interested followers to purchase and check out quickly, ensuring a positive experience with your brand from start to finish.

5. There’s a fine line between automation and authenticity. Can AI really help brands build trustworthy influencer partnerships, or is there a risk of losing the human touch?

I like the "human-in-the-loop" concept. AI is incredibly helpful with repetitive tasks, but when it comes to content it often misses the spark and the authenticity. AI learns from the internet, Reddit, etc. and unless you have trained a model to fit exactly your personal tone, it will struggle to convey your message. For some creative tasks, AI is good but not great. If you want a winning creator strategy or converting content, you need to be better than the cut.

6. Shoppable video and niche platforms are on the rise. Are we entering a future where influencers become entire marketplaces themselves?

Yes, and it’s already happening. Think about fitness creators and their often highly trusted product recommendations. Every day creators are launching their own storefronts, selling through livestreams, and integrating affiliate marketing into their content. Some advertisers are investing in dedicated high-quality shops for influencers to ensure exclusivity. Platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram Checkout are definitely turning influencers into mini-marketplaces. Outside of the large platforms, LTK (one of the largest platforms intersecting affiliates and influencers) is making it easy for influencers to create shoppable content and everyone knows “Link in Bio” products.  Interestingly enough the first fitness affiliate influencer was Michael Jordan with the Nike Air Jordan, earning him more than 100million USD in commissions per year.

7. The industry is evolving fast, but what’s the one blind spot brands aren’t paying enough attention to in influencer marketing?

A well-curated group of creators with an engaged audience can outperform an entire ad campaign. Inspiration is now coming from creators more than traditional media. And contrary to traditional media, creator content can easily be made shoppable and tracked. This is a huge opportunity for performance marketing. As the impact of the influencer can be amplified with smart ads and targeting. Think of combining the creator content with on-platform retargeting and targeting on the open web.

8. If you had to bet on one influencer marketing strategy that will dominate 2025 and beyond, what would it be?

The growth of influencer marketing within commerce advertising at scale. Performance-based influencer campaigns will take over. More brands will shift to CPA, and CPC models in combination with flat fees, leveraging influencers as both media buyers and sales partners.