An influencer named Alix Earle just did something most influencer brands can’t really do.

She launched a skincare line in March. Made $1 million in just five minutes.

Everything sold out in 10 hours.

And no, it wasn’t because she has 14 million followers.

It’s because she did the one thing most people are too scared to do when launching a product.

She turned her biggest weakness into the conversation.

Here’s the thing about influencer brands. Most of them don’t work out, and it’s not because the product is bad or anything like that.

It’s because nobody cares.

You post a pretty picture. You say “link in bio.” People scroll past it the same way they scroll past everything else.

Alix knew this. So she built her launch around a question people were already asking.

“You used Accutane for years to clear your acne. So how much of your clear skin is actually from the skincare you’re selling?”

Instead of hiding it, she made it the main focus. Her team already had answers ready for that exact criticism before launch day even started.

And guess what happened?

People didn’t just buy the product. They researched it. They debated it. They shared their opinions with their friends.

The conversation didn’t spike on launch day and die. It carried from pre-launch, through launch, and kept going after.

That’s the difference.

Most people launch products like announcements. Alix launched hers like a conversation nobody could ignore.

Here’s what she did that you can steal:

➡️ Turn your weak spot into a talking point

Alix didn’t pretend she never used Accutane. She addressed it head-on. That honesty made people trust her more, not less.

If you’ve got something people might question, bring it up first. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.

➡️ Plan your responses before the backlash starts

Her team sat down in January and went through every possible criticism.

They had answers ready before anyone asked. That’s not damage control. That’s strategy.

➡️ Give people something to research

Here’s where it gets interesting. Alix’s launch wasn’t just “buy my product.”

It was “here’s my skin journey, here’s what worked, here’s what didn’t, and here are the ingredients we used.”

People went digging. They looked up the dermatologist, they checked the clinical studies, and they compared it to other products.

That’s active engagement, not passive scrolling.

And active engagement is what converts.

➡️ Let the controversy be real

This is the part most people mess up.

You can’t manufacture controversy. People smell fake from a mile away.

Alix had a real story, and the controversy wasn’t made up. It was baked into her actual experience.

So if you’re launching something, ask yourself: what’s the honest tension here? What’s the thing people might argue about?

That’s your angle.

➡️ Sustain attention, don’t spike it.

Most launches go like this: big announcement, one-day push, then silence.

Alix’s launch started weeks before with mystery posts. Continued through launch day. And kept going after with responses to questions and ingredient breakdowns.

The attention didn’t fade because the conversation kept evolving.

If you want people to care, give them something new to chew on every few days.

By the way, if you’re thinking about running a pre-launch contest or giveaway to keep people engaged, we have a guide on social media contest tools that can help you build buzz before you launch.

Look, I’m not saying controversy is the only way to launch a product.

But I am saying this: nobody buys boring.

If you want people to stop scrolling and actually pay attention, you need to give them something they can’t ignore.

In other words, a reason to care.

Stay curious,

Minosh

P.S. Once all that buzz gets people to your product page, you need descriptions that close the deal. We wrote a guide on writing product descriptions that actually convert browsers into buyers.