Most brands treat influencer marketing like a numbers game: find the account with the biggest following, pay for a post, and hope some of that attention sticks. SET Active's biggest launch ever came from taking almost the opposite approach.
Founder Lindsey Carter has argued for years that a brand's own community can be more valuable than its reach. The people actually buying, wearing, and talking about a product can have more influence than someone getting paid to promote it. In 2026, SET turned that idea into a formal strategy, choosing a small group of regular customers to introduce its new Coastline collection before it even hit shelves.
Rather than relying more heavily on traditional influencers as the brand grew, SET turned its attention toward the people who were already shopping there.
Find Customers Who Already Like the Product
A recommendation tends to carry more weight when the person giving it actually means it, which is exactly what SET set out to use.
Carter had been talking for years about the value of SET's community, from customers wearing the clothes to discussing them online and sharing feedback from their own experiences. That philosophy eventually became the SET Insiders initiative in early 2026.
Instead of looking at follower counts, SET looked within its own customer base for people who bought regularly and actively engaged with the brand online. The program started with just two enthusiastic customers and grew to around 15 by the time Coastline launched.
The difference in reach was pretty striking. One Insider's typical TikTok posts averaged around 300 views, while her posts as a SET Insider brought in thousands. Her existing audience wasn't what made her valuable. She already believed in the product and had a reason to talk about it.
That distinction gives businesses another way to think about finding brand advocates. Rather than starting with follower counts, look for the customers who are already showing up, buying, and talking about the product on their own.
Of course, real enthusiasm only goes so far if there's nothing interesting to share.
Give Customers Something Worth Sharing
Simply asking a loyal customer to post about a product doesn't guarantee they'll have anything interesting to say, but SET gave its Insiders something more tangible to work with.
Insiders received free products and behind-the-scenes details about upcoming launches before the general public. Different participants also got different pieces of the collection to preview, so everyone's content had its own angle.
That kept the rollout from feeling like the same ad posted 15 times as each Insider had something different to reveal, making the launch feel more like it was unfolding piece by piece.
SET brought that same approach offline with its Coastline launch event at the Clam Bar in Amagansett, New York. Instead of making it an exclusive influencer event, SET opened it to customers, vacationers, and anyone who happened to stop by. Hundreds showed up for food, games, and early access to the collection, with some even traveling specifically for the event.
The strategy worked because there was actually something to experience and talk about. Customers weren't just being asked to promote SET. They were being given something exclusive, personal, and fun enough to want to share.
This is an important distinction for any business considering customer-generated content. Liking a product and having a reason to post about it are two different things, and SET made sure its Insiders had both.
Let Real Customers Help Convince New Ones
The real advantage of turning customers into promoters is the credibility they bring with them, and SET's Coastline launch was designed to make the most of that trust.
Carter has said SET now leans toward existing customers over traditional influencers when conversion is the goal, since their relationship with the brand already exists beyond a single sponsored post. Many Insiders also work through ShopMy, allowing SET to track purchases generated by their content rather than relying only on likes and views.
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The approach helped drive SET's biggest limited-edition launch in its eight-year history, with $3.5 million in online sales within 24 hours of Coastline's release.
The customer response was just as notable. At the launch event, 41% of preorders came from people who had never purchased from SET before.
The momentum continued at SET's flagship store. On launch day, a line stretched five hours outside the New York location, and 51% of those shoppers were first-time customers.
By then, SET's existing customers were doing more than supporting the launch. They were helping introduce the brand to people who had never bought from it before.
Main Takeaway
SET shows what can happen when a brand looks at the community it already has instead of immediately chasing a bigger audience. The Insiders brought real enthusiasm, SET gave them something worth sharing, and their firsthand experiences gave potential customers a reason to pay attention and try the brand themselves.
Businesses don't need a $3.5 million launch to put the same idea to work. Start with the customers who are already buying and talking about your product, then give them something genuinely interesting to share.
Sometimes the people who can sell your product most effectively are the ones who were already buying it in the first place.
