This ultimate guide unravels the mystery around creators to help you understand: - Different influencer tiers and compensation - Influencer campaign strategies - How to build long-term creator relationships - Campaign goals that drive more revenue growth
Ebook
The ultimate guide to influencer tiers:
from nano creators to megastars
The influencer marketing industry grew from $1.7 billion in 2016 to an expected $21.1 billion in 2023, transforming the marketing landscape. Influencers, or creators as they refer to themselves, are now a vital part of the marketing toolkit and are impossible to ignore. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, 56 percent of brands invest in long-term relationships with these influential creators. However, brands navigating and managing the creator types and tiers ecosystem face several challenges. This ultimate guide unravels the mystery around creators to help you understand: ● Different influencer tiers ● Influencer campaign strategies ● How to build long-term creator relationships ● Campaign goals that drive more revenue growth
Contents
1
Creators aren’t new, but they’re evolving
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Creator and influencer tiers (and how to work with them)
Top influencer platforms (and the users on them)
Find and recruit the right influencers for your brand
How to manage different types of influencers
Navigate influencer compensation and build lasting relationships
Brands that got influencer marketing right
Connecting with creators through partnership management platforms
Creators aren’t new, but they’re evolving CHAPTER 1
Creators can engage audiences as a range of players, including:
Content creators
●
Bloggers
●
Celebrities
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Key opinion leaders (KOLs)
●
Subject matter experts
●
To name a few.
Influencer marketing engages audiences, drives brand awareness, and guides consumer purchasing decisions through product placement and endorsements. It puts the reach and authenticity of a creator to work for your brand.
The evolution of influence
Tight marketing budgets and spiking social media consumption created a massive opportunity for creators, especially those with smaller audiences. In early 2020, nano-influencers with audiences under 15,000 increased brand partnerships by 10 percent, while influencers with more than one million followers saw a corresponding drop.
As the pandemic forced the world into lockdown in early 2020, a third of advertisers reported canceling or pausing campaigns. Global ad spend declined by 4.2 percent. However, digital media grew by 8 percent.
of United Kingdom and United States audiences reported spending more time on social media during the pandemic
72%
of brand partnerships in 2020 involved influencers with audiences of 50,000 or less
40%
Two-thirds of this audience planned to continue using social media to the same extent post-pandemic.
Creators aren’t new, but they’re evolving
Authenticity as currency
Creators offer brands trust and authentic connections to audiences—something traditional advertising lacks. A survey by Micro Biz Mag showed that UK consumers are more than twice as likely to trust product recommendations from people they follow on social media compared to a company’s website. According to Adweek, almost half of U.S. consumers purchase based on creator recommendations. Because of the trust creators build with their audience, creator marketing can generate 11 times the return on investment (ROI) of traditional advertising. Marketers are catching on, too, driving the creator marketing industry to grow by an average of 47 percent annually from 2016 to 2022.
Creators aren’t new, but they’re evolving
Influencers or content creators: what’s the correct term?
Let’s break down the terms:
While 86 percent of marketers use the term “influencers,” 54 percent of influencers prefer “content creators”—and that number is rising. Creators put time and effort into creating content, which requires expertise and industry knowledge. Most creators avoid the word “influencer” because it carries a stigma—or little respect for its perceived lack of hard work or knowledge.
● Content creator: Someone who creates content for digital distribution via social media or the creator’s channels. This work can include writing, audio, video, photography, or any other medium. The creator’s main priority is making content that connects with their audiences—influencing the viewers’ purchasing decisions come after. ● Influencer: A type of content creator or public personality whose primary goal is to impact the decision-making or sentiments of their audience. Many influencers partner with brands
to promote or recommend products and services to their social media audience.
Creators aren’t new, but they’re evolving
Influencers or content creators: what’s the correct term? (con’t)
So, it’s the intent of the action that separates the two. Think of Crocs collaborating with Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Bad Bunny, and other stars to raise the pop culture profile of its products. The musicians influenced consumer behavior while producing little of their own Crocs content. On the other end of the spectrum, journalist-turned-YouTuber Johnny Harris makes videos about everything from geopolitics to geography, but brand partnerships pay the bills. In general, influencers can be creators, and creators can be influencers. The lines are blurry, and many use the terms interchangeably. It largely depends on the content’s engagement, action, and sentiment.
Creators aren’t new, but they’re evolving
What it means to be a creator
Creators develop personal branding with a face acting as an individual or group. They have authority over topics ranging from fashion to food, travel, and more. For example, when you think of Huda Kattan, what comes to mind is makeup, beauty, and skincare—this is why she created her beauty brand. Whether you would buy her products or not, she’s become a beauty expert and carries influence. Creators post content or share posts on social media to engage with their followers. Authentic creators are honest and opinionated, unswayed by outside influences or businesses. Their audiences know they’re getting the whole truth, which builds trust. Trust affects the consumers purchasing decisions thanks to a mixture of the creators →
Authority
Knowledge
Position
Lifestyle
You can also define influencers based on audience relationships. A high-value creator will tick the following boxes: ● Does the audience trust the creator? ● Can the audience consider them a resource, friend, or direct source of knowledge? ● Does the audience interact with the creator?
Creators aren’t new, but they’re evolving
How the size of a creator's following influences reach
A professor in a crowded lecture hall can’t connect meaningfully with every student as they're a number on a long list of class attendees. In the same way, influencers with millions of followers can’t build a deep connection with every fan.
Audience size can determine reach but shouldn’t be the only factor when choosing a partner. An influencer with a large audience has the reach to spread your brand’s message effectively—but bigger isn’t always more effective.
Small-scale influencers with thousands of fans drive 60 percent higher campaign engagement rates than those on the macro end of the scale.
60%
Creators aren’t new, but they’re evolving
Creator and influencer tiers (& how to work with them) CHAPTER 2
Breaking down influencers into different tiers lets brands weigh the best options for their marketing programs.
Nano-influencers (Less than 15k followers)
Each tier involves tradeoffs between reach, engagement, and cost.
Who they are: With less than 15,000 followers, nano-influencers may look like the smallest fish in the pond. However, these small creators pack a big punch and are by far the most cost-effective to recruit. They connect with 33 percent of audiences, attracting them with a genuine passion for a niche subject. Who works with them: Smaller brands get the biggest boost per post from influencers in this tier, drawing 1.69 times more engagement than the brand’s posts. However, the combined forces of many small audiences can be a loud megaphone for your brand. Brands from Dove to Ikea work with nano-influencers and see incredible results.
Micro-influencers (15k-75k followers)
Mid-tier influencers (75k-250k followers)
Who they are: The micro-tier includes creators between 15,000 and 75,000 followers. They capture a highly engaged audience with their relatability and authenticity. Micro-influencers are the most popular tier, connecting with 46 percent of audiences. Who works with them: Similar to nano-influencers, these influencers can provide the most efficiency for smaller businesses on a per-post basis. This tier draws between 2.4 and 6.7 times more interactions than the brand’s social media. More mature brands must recruit a more significant number to get the same effect.
Who they are: Neither big nor small, mid-tier influencers occupy the sweet spot of the influencer world—between 75,000 and 250,000 followers. They have a wider reach than smaller-scale influencers but higher engagement than influencers with more followers. While mid-tier influencers appeal to large audiences, they can commit more time to brands and directly connect with followers—compared to celebrities that don’t have the bandwidth. Who works with them: They get more buzz per post for medium-sized businesses than the previous two tiers while remaining an efficient option for smaller companies.
Creator and influencer tiers (& how to work with them)
Macro-influencers (250k-1m followers)
Mega-influencers [celebrities] (1m+ followers)
Who they are: These trendy influencers are subject matter experts, personalities, or engaging people who’ve achieved popularity on a particular platform due to their passion for a topic. They typically have between 250,000 and one million followers. Who works with them: If they can afford it, just about anyone can get attention by hiring these influencers. They’re the most efficient option per post for large businesses, drawing 2.9 times more interactions than the business’ posts can.
Who they are: The celebrity category is typically actors, musicians, radio and TV personalities, and best-selling authors. Some reach this level of influence through notoriety, while most are famous through their work. Before social media, these were the only collaborations for brands. However, their influence is limited despite their reach. These influencers only hold three percent of consumer popularity. Who works with them: Only celebrities can exceed a large brand’s following on social media, and those are often the brands that can afford to secure the mass reach of a celebrity endorsement. Influencing isn’t usually a celebrity’s main gig, so they tend to partner with a few big brands.
Creator and influencer tiers (& how to work with them)
User-generated content (UGC) creators
Who they are: UGC creators are regular people who make sponsored content that appears authentic but is designed to sell a brand’s product or service. Examples of UGC include:
Who works with them: Many brands, such as Coach, will “seed” nano-and micro-influencers with free products in hopes that they will create content. Others, like Uniqlo, have found success by offering prizes for users who create UGC using their products. UGC creators can be paid (approached by a brand to create content in exchange for compensation) or unpaid (a user who genuinely loves the brand and has their content reposted on the brands social channels). For paid UGC creators, usage rights are important terms to negotiate and can increase their compensation. For example, a paid UCG creator films an unboxing video for a brand—charging a flat fee of $500 with an additional $200 for the brand to reuse their content (reposting it on their channel for a specified period or owning the rights forever).
Testimonials How-to guides Unboxing videos
● ● ● ●
Reviews & demonstrations
UGC creators don’t necessarily have a big following or post content to their pages vs an influencer. For example, their content could be reposted onto a brand’s channels. Audiences gravitate toward the unpolished style UGC offers, which is usually filmed on a smartphone or camera equipment. Think of UGC creators as freelance content makers.
Creator and influencer tiers (& how to work with them)
Top influencer platforms (and the users on them) CHAPTER 3
Creators can use various social media channels to build an audience. Each has benefits and drawbacks that can make it more or less effective depending on the brand goals. For example, Instagram established itself as a photography-based social network, making it a perfect home for fashion, travel, and food influencers. More video-savvy content creators might prefer YouTube or TikTok. However, there’s more to a social media app than the content formats it supports.
With 500+ million daily active users, Instagram ranks second only to Facebook regarding daily logins. However, 92 percent of creators post on Instagram, making it the most popular influencer platform. Influencers gravitate to Instagram for its visually dominant format and the seamless paths to conversion built into the platform. Brands can create stores within the platform and add links to outside content.
Who you’ll reach: Instagram attracts mainly Gen Z and Millennial users globally, making up 39 and 48 percent of its user base.
Top influencer platforms (and the users on them)
TikTok
This social media newcomer launched worldwide less than six years ago and became the first social media app not owned by Meta to hit 3 billion downloads globally in 2021. With that kind of reach, it’s no wonder TikTok is fast becoming an influencer favorite. The platform overtook Facebook as the second-most popular social media platform for 43 percent of influencers. TikTok wins over Gen Z audiences thanks to its short-form video content. 61 percent of U.S.-based Gen Z’s use the platform at least once a month. The platform also drives a 7.5 percent average engagement, nearly double Instagram’s 3.2 percent.
Who you’ll reach: TikTok is popular with all age groups—particularly younger demographics. About 47 percent of its user base is under 30 years old.
Top influencer platforms (and the users on them)
Facebook, the most prominent social media network worldwide, drew nearly two billion daily active users in 2022. That means a quarter of humanity logs onto Facebook daily. Despite that, only 41 percent of influencers prefer the platform. Facebook's algorithm limits the reach of organic posts, making it difficult for influencers to build an audience and get results. However, the size of its user base makes it hard to count out. Who you’ll reach: Facebook hasn’t caught fire with Gen Z as much as it did with Millennials. Only 18 percent of its users are under 25 years old. It remains most popular with people between ages 25 and 34, who comprise 23.7 percent of its users.
Top influencer platforms (and the users on them)
Pinterest allows users to collect and share style inspiration, home decorating ideas, and more. As users curate shareable bookmarked collections called “pins,” they discover new products through the website. Because of this, it’s always had a unique connection to ecommerce, leading 20 percent of influencers to use it. Interestingly, Pinterest doesn’t call itself a social network, preferring the term a “visual discovery engine.” Despite that, this discovery engine’s social component has earned it a substantial audience. Pinterest has 433 million monthly users, usually with high purchasing intentions.
Who you’ll reach: Pinterest is most popular with women in all age groups, but especially those 25-34, making up 28.5 percent of users.
Top influencer platforms (and the users on them)
YouTube
YouTube has more than two billion monthly active users viewing one billion hours of content daily. The 15 percent of influencers who prefer the platform significantly impact consumer behavior—accounting for 60 percent of video views in categories such as beauty. Compare this to the 39 percent that brands capture. This platform is a place where smaller-scale influencers shine. YouTube creators are four times more effective at increasing brand familiarity than celebrities. Who you’ll reach: YouTube is most popular with young adults, with 20.7 percent of its user base coming from the 25-34 age group and 16.7 percent falling between 35 and 44.
Top influencer platforms (and the users on them)
Other platforms
LinkedIn: With 900 million users globally, Linkedin is the most popular social media platform for people looking to network and grow their careers. The website is the perfect spot for business-to-business (B2B) campaigns. While anyone can build a following on LinkedIn, the company started cultivating content creators through its Creator Accelerator Program in 2021. Blogs: Blogs stand the test of time, attracting 77 percent of internet users. The enduring popularity of blogs makes them a popular promotional tool for 39 percent of influencers. Blog readers skew older, with 67 percent falling between 30 and 60. Only 27 percent of blog readers are under 30.
While the above is far and away the most popular sites for influencers, you can also use other platforms to reach unique audiences.
Twitter: Though the social media network has fewer active users, you can’t count out a website visited by 20 percent of U.S. adults. At 61 percent, more Twitter users follow influencers than on any other platform. Snapchat: More than 293 million people worldwide use Snapchat daily, reaching 75 percent of the U.S. millennial and Gen Z population. Despite this, only four percent of influencers use the platform. Snapchat is a great place to reach women, who comprise 52.9 percent of its user base. The platform skews young overall, with 48 percent of users falling between the ages of 15 and 24.
Top influencer platforms (and the users on them)
Find and recruit the right creators for your brand CHAPTER 4
While the core pillars of the discovery and recruitment process remain the same for all partnerships, influencer partnerships bring unique challenges. Influencers are often individuals, not other businesses. Therefore, identifying the influencers to work with is more nuanced than selecting corporate partners. Only 39 percent of U.S. businesses feel that it can find the right influencers.
Searching for brand fit
Brands should choose influencers based on how well they can authentically represent them.
Smaller-scale influencers should have a documented history of creating content about the product category. Reach outside of your typical audience to grow your customer base. The ecommerce retailer BBQGuys wanted to expand beyond the usual male suburban griller, so it used impact.com to help them build relationships with influencers that introduced the brand to urban dwellers, LGTBQ+ couples, and female campers. The impact.com team recommended a mix of micro-and mid-tier influencers to balance impressions and content generation. This strategy allowed the team to capitalize on the higher reach of more prominent influencers yet stay within budget by having smaller creators generate additional content. The influencer campaign was a hit, reaching 636k people.
of consumers say it’s important for influencers to care about their interests genuinely.
88%
So, when choosing influencers to work with, enlist those who can make credible claims in the product category you’re asking them to endorse. Credibility can mean different things for different influencers, but customers likely cared more about Cristiano Ronaldo’s favorite sports clothing than his choice of toothpaste. Celebrity influencers should have demonstrated expertise in the space or an affinity or association with your product.
Find and recruit the right creators for your brand
Getting influencers interested
Partnerships thrive when you can track a creator’s performance and match their content with the right products. Influencers want to work with brands they enjoy and believe in. Nearly 80 percent of influencers believe healthy brand partnerships will boost their value and agency in the future. Marketers can use partnership management platforms like impact.com to discover, collaborate with, and track influencers' performance that fits their brand’s values.
Find and recruit the right creators for your brand
5 steps to pitch your brand to creators
5.
Follow up. Brands approach creators constantly, especially the more popular ones. Your message may have gotten lost in the shuffle.
Once you have a project and an influencer in mind, it’s time to reach out. Follow these five tips for an effective, engaging pitch. 1. Do your research. Ensure that this is the right influencer for the job. Does this creator work with similar brands? Do they make the kind of content you’re looking for?
You may have send hundreds or thousands of messages based on your campaign. For one micro-influencer campaign, fashion brand Ellos partnered with impact.com’s creator managed services team to send more than 5,000 emails to potential influencers—receiving 635 applications back. Automation sped up time-consuming recruiting process. Afterward, you should vet each influencer to ensure a brand fit. Ultimately, the Ellos team partnered with 130 influencers to create content across the Nordic region, highlighting the brand’s fashion and furniture styling. In Finland, Ellos’ conversions grew by 478 percent after switching to impact.com.
2.
Focus on the creator. Rather than pitching your brand, discuss what catches your eye about the creator’s work and why you think they’re a match. Be clear on project details. Provide vital details such as compensation, required assets, goals, and clear timeframes from the start. Use their agent if they have one. Many content creators now have representation to negotiate partnerships.
3.
4.
Find and recruit the right creators for your brand
How to manage different types of creators CHAPTER 5
While influencers have different management needs, some are universal. Marketers should immediately define key performance indicators (KPIs), aligning influencer compensation with brand goals. Everybody wins when content creators and marketers know what goals to reach. Content guidelines can help protect your brand, but giving creative freedom and letting the creator's authenticity shine through is essential. No matter what type of influencers you work with, they all need space to succeed and ensure the messaging doesn’t clash with their (or the brand’s) identity. If their content feels authentic, it will resonate with their audience and benefit your brand.
Managing nano- to micro-influencers
The upside is that they’re far more affordable and drive greater audience engagement than celebrities and macro-influencers.
The sheer volume of nano-and micro-influencers you’ll need to recruit presents similar management challenges for these categories. Campaigns require dozens or even hundreds of smaller influencers to move the needle. Technology can help you manage a growing roster of influencers. Robust partnership management platforms such as impact.com automate workflows. You can automate creator payment processing, track consumer touchpoints, and provide actionable reporting on campaign performance to keep your partnerships moving in the right direction.
How to manage different types of creators
Managing mid- to macro-influencers
You can bring more of a personal touch to working with larger-scale influencers since you’re likely to work with fewer for any given campaign.
Consider letting your PR, business development, or social media teams manage macro-influencers if your goals are branding or reach-oriented. Your performance partnerships team is best aligned to drive measurable performance.
Take the time to get to know these influencers. It helps build long-term partnerships and aligns them better with your goals.
How to manage different types of creators
Managing mega-influencers and celebrities
With the contractual complexities of fame, your legal, PR department, business development team, or social team can better handle contract management responsibilities for mega-influencers or celebrities. Don’t forget that these influencers need their performance tracked to measure your ROI. It's reasonable to ask mega-influencers to include unique tracking links or codes in their posts to measure performance. A partnership management platform like impact.com lets you automate the creation of influencer contracts—no matter influencer or compensation type. Keep these contracts as a source of truth for all your departments, especially when negotiating with influencers.
How to manage different types of creators
CHAPTER 6 Navigate influencer compensation and build lasting relationships
Starting on the right foot with influencers will motivate them to create better content that converts their audience into customers more efficiently.
In short, fair compensation builds longer, successful partnerships.
How much do influencers charge?
Previously, brands compensated influencers with free products (gifting) and little else. While this was sufficient for some in the past, today’s influencers have evolved into subject matter experts creating high-quality content and should be paid accordingly.
Influencer tier
Compensation*
Nano
$500 - $2,000
Micro
$2000 - $8,000
Mid-tier
$8,000 - $20,000
Macro
$20,000 - $45,000
While many factors go into pricing a sponsored post, creators with bigger audiences typically command bigger paychecks.
Celebrity
$45,000 +
*Based on internal impact.com figures
Creators want to get paid for their work like anyone else.
Influencers are also growing revenue streams, with methods ranging from merchandise sales to direct payments from platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Many have also become more open to compensation packages from brand partnerships, including performance-based commissions.
Navigate influencer compensation and build lasting relationships
Influencer payment models
While you know what a sponsored post may cost, the mechanics of how creators prefer to be paid depends on who you ask. Most influencers, 84 percent, prefer a flat fee, while 47 percent prefer a hybrid model that combines a flat fee with a performance-based commission structure such as cost-per-action (CPA).
Getting the payment model right can create massive growth for your business. Because of its rigid flat-rate commission structure, menswear brand Mizzen+Main struggled to optimize its partnerships program with incentives based on the value partners brought to the company. Working with impact.com, the team took full advantage of the platform’s flexible commission options to ensure everyone involved brought their A-game. Offering a three percent commission boost for partners using dynamic, performance-based payments encouraged partners to leave rigid commission plans behind. These flexible payment options empowered the business to make the most of each partnership. Mizzen+Main saw a 75 percent year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth thanks to its new partnerships program with impact.com.
Aligning compensation with your creators helps you start off on the right foot and motivate their performance.
Navigate influencer compensation and build lasting relationships
Negotiating rates
Rates aren’t always set in stone. Negotiating prices will get you the most value out of your campaign.
This doesn’t mean you should lowball your prospective partners. Be honest and realistic about your budget from the start. Offering performance-based incentives like Mizzen+Main can help lower your upfront costs without diminishing a partner’s take-home pay. A little negotiation can make a big difference. By expertly negotiating talent rates for BBQGuys’ #BornToGrill campaign, impact.com secured two additional influencers beyond the original target of eight. This resulted in 10 extra pieces of custom content and more opportunities to connect with potential customers.
Navigate influencer compensation and build lasting relationships
Long-term partnerships
These days, creators rely less on one-off brand relationships to supplement their income. Conversely, influencers and brands have much to gain from building long-term, mutually-beneficial partnerships. Longer-lasting partnerships incentivize influencers to dive deeper and better understand your brand, its products, and its story. A deeper understanding enables influencer content to connect better with audiences and drive more sales. However, this approach requires marketers to think differently about influencer partnerships than before.
For a brand to build sustainable long-term partnerships, it will need to revise its approach to two factors: compensation and connection.
Navigate influencer compensation and build lasting relationships
Compensation: Long-term partners aren’t simply paid for posts. They’re paid for their partnership by increasing the amount and duration of commissions while offering a broader spectrum of rewards. Like many during the pandemic, the Reef footwear brand turned to influencers to reduce media production costs. However, it did more than just launch a few one-off influencer campaigns. It launched Advocates of Capture in 2021 as an internal agency with 13 content creators paid a yearly retainer. Rather than juggling several brands, these influencers became expert ambassadors for Reef. This strategy freed Reef of production costs and provided their influencers with a stable income.
Navigate influencer compensation and build lasting relationships
Long-term partnerships
Connection: True partnerships differ from financially motivated relationships encouraged by one-off influencer campaigns. Instead, brands form meaningful relationships with influencers that give them a sense of equity and trust. In 2019, L’Oreal published a value charter for its influencers to forge stronger connections with its partners using transparency. This charter outlines both parties’ commitments and shared values, including respect, tolerance, and inclusion. According to the charter, this represents “a mutual commitment to engage in a genuine relationship in which both [L’Oreal’s] values and those of the influencers are aligned and in harmony.”
Navigate influencer compensation and build lasting relationships
CHAPTER 7 Brands that got influencer marketing right
Influencer marketing can amplify brand messaging cost-effectively. The following brands partnered with impact.com to build strong influencer campaigns that reached millions.
A mix of the right tools, talent, and strategy can make all the difference.
Coach
In partnership with Interparfums Luxury Brands Inc., the fashion brand Coach launched a youthful new scent called Coach Dreams Sunset. To reach its intended audience of teens and twenty-somethings and build buzz for the new fragrance, Coach wanted to bring its perfume to life through the eyes of the youth. Coach recruited 16 influencers from the macro, mid, and micro-tiers. The team encouraged creators to explore with their best friends and document the day with the fragrance on social media. The Coach team provided a brief featuring inspirational ideas for day trips, content ideas, fragrance notes, and packaging details. Additionally, Coach sent free fragrances (product seeding) to 40 micro-and nano-influencers across the U.S. hoping they’d create content about the product.
In just three months, impact.com helped Coach generate 211 pieces of UGC, reaching 2.3 million users on social media. The product seeding strategy exceeded expectations, with 83 percent of those influencers posting content.
@__aniam
Brands that got influencer marketing right
Bowlero
As the largest owner and operator of bowling centers worldwide, Bowlero wanted to drive bookings by communicating its unforgettable guest experience to an audience of bowlers, foodies, and nightlife lovers. With the help of the impact.com’s creator managed services team, Bowlero launched an influencer campaign on TikTok and Instagram to showcase that experience and direct users to Bowlero’s booking site using unique tracking links. The campaign doubled the expected impressions, achieving more than 4.4 million. The team also quadrupled the expected reach of the campaign, with an audience of 2.8 million. Users engaged with the 56 pieces of influencer content at a rate of 6.7 percent— 2 percent higher than the industry standard. 57
@ elizabethelias
Brands that got influencer marketing right
Vivino
Vivino, the world's largest online wine marketplace, wanted to educate wine drinkers in a fun and approachable way. So, the company turned to impact.com’s team to identify the right mix of creators to create high-quality content promoting its unique app features. impact.com also amplified posts that drove traffic to the Vivino website. The impact.com team developed, built, and expanded Vivino’s influencer program using a diverse mix of influencer tiers with powerful content production capabilities. Ultimately, impact.com’s influencer strategy doubled Vivino’s previous performance, achieving 1.36m impressions and more than 11k clicks. Partnering with micro-influencers with loyal audiences led to a strong engagement rate, while mid-tier influencers captured vital impressions.
Brands that got influencer marketing right
CHAPTER 8 Connecting with creators through partnership management platforms
Content creator marketplaces and platforms like impact.com allow brands to find the right partners
impact.com’s purpose-built partnership platform and Marketplace gave beauty retailer Sephora consolidated access to current and potential partnerships worldwide. The platform's discovery tools helped Sephora recruit a diverse range of influencers and content creators. Flexible contracting tools helped Sephora's team customize and finely tune each contract. These features allowed them to make the most of each partnership by finding the best options for both parties. Overall, Sephora tripled its revenue growth after joining impact.com.
and nurture the relationship throughout a campaign's entire life cycle, including:
Discovery and Recruitment
●
Contracting and payment
●
Performance tracking
●
Engaging partners
●
Protecting and monitoring fraud
●
Optimizing campaigns
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How to choose an influencer platform
To run an influencer campaign like Sephora, you must eliminate manual processes. Influencer management solutions come in three flavors:
3.
Hybrids. Companies like impact.com provide the right tools, marketplace, and assistance to manage influencer campaigns. These hybrid solutions give your team flexibility to choose the level of service needed.
1. Networks. Like affiliate networks, influencer networks facilitate the partnership for you. They act as a go-between between you and your partners, managing all relationship aspects. While this solution has some obvious benefits, it can also limit your program. For example, networks often restrict you to the partners within the network.
You can often manage influencers from the same platforms you use for affiliate marketing. As affiliate and influencer marketing converge with the rise of performance-based compensation, the two increasingly need similar management tools.
2.
Platforms. Technology platforms sit on the other end of the spectrum. These solutions provide a suite of self-service tools to help your internal team recruit and manage influencers.
Connecting with creators through partnership management platforms
What to look for in a creator marketplace
Not all marketplaces offer the same features, but there are a few that no one should go without. Brands should consider these three things when shopping for a marketplace:
Access to data and data compliance. Marketplaces should collect first-party influencer data and comply with social networks’ terms of service and API guidelines. This helps brands make data-driven decisions from performance metrics such as average engagement rates, comments, likes, and impressions (without jeopardizing privacy).
Verified influencers. Creators who opt into a marketplace are there to work. You’ll find motivated, engaged professionals responsive to brand outreach.
Easy ways to connect with influencers. Content creator marketplaces provide the tools to help brands facilitate and grow their relationships with prospective partners. Direct messages can discuss KPIs, and negotiate in-platform. Discovery tools like extended search can help brands find influencers outside their usual networks.
Connecting with creators through partnership management platforms
Lucky for you, the right platform is in front of you. With impact.com, you can find influencers of all sizes and manage the entire partnership life cycle—from discovery to optimization—all within one platform. Want to put your knowledge of influencer tiers into action? Schedule a demo to learn how impact.com can help your brand connect with content creators and strategically manage influencer campaigns—or contact grow@impact.com to get started . For more ideas and guidance, check out these other resources for influencer partnership management: ● ebook: Seven ways to pay influencers today and tomorrow ● ebook: Are you ghosting your influencers? ● ebook: How to scale influencer marketing globally
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Connecting with creators through partnership management platforms
About impact.com impact.com, the leading global partnership management platform, has been transforming the way enterprises discover and manage all types of partnerships — including affiliates, influencers, commerce content publishers, B2B, and more — since its founding in 2008. Its powerful, purpose-built platform helps businesses, including brands, publishers and agencies, to build authentic, enduring and rewarding relationships with both publishers and consumers. By providing visibility across the entire consumer journey they are able to aggregate, orchestrate and optimize the total value of the entire mix of partnerships with ease and transparency, driving growth and creating new value for consumers. To learn more about how impact.com’s technology platform and partnerships marketplace is driving revenue growth for global enterprise brands such as
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