You may have heard of affiliate marketing and thought to yourself: “A way to gain promotion with no upfront costs? That’s amazing”. You probably also know about influencers, and who better than people with an online following to promote your product, especially if there is only to pay for the results.
But, as is often the case, what sounds too good to be true has a catch.
While the monetary stake may seem low, there is more at play with affiliate marketing under the surface.
Here we explain why combining an affiliate program with influencers may be one of the worst ideas in a marketer career.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a marketing tactic by which promoters earn a percentage of the sales done through them.
Affiliate marketing is often done by providing each affiliate with personalized links to the products using which the brand can track sales and calculate the kickback for every affiliate.
Many affiliate marketing programs have very low entry barriers and encourage as many users as possible to join.
Affiliate marketing offers the possibility to earn for many bloggers and website owners who specialize in small niches with content like product reviews.
Different platforms implement affiliate marketing differently: Amazon, for example, provides a 10% commission for any sale done through their personal link regardless of where it comes from.
Meanwhile, Etsy has different programs if it is promoted through social media or other avenues.
Platforms try to incentivize the promotion through channels they deem respectable and advantageous for their image and reach.
At the core affiliate marketing is a performance-based way to remunerate successful promotions that converted.
In practice, it gets easily exploited with low effort and spammy content that is likely to hurt a brand image in the long run.
Why affiliate marketing is appealing?
Affiliate marketing allows companies to have increased exposure and brand awareness without committing any budget before the sales are actually in.
With this strategy, the brand does not have to provide content or directions and can let the affiliate do most of the heavy lifting to find out the strategies that work best with their audience.
Starting companies often find it appealing due to low costs and the huge potential of increasing visibility.
Affiliate marketing vs influencer marketing
Both affiliate marketing and influencer marketing use user-generated content (also known as UGC or consumer-generated content) to spread information about a product and convince new potential customers to make a purchase.
The main difference lies in the control over the content.
With influencers, there is a back-and-forth between the brand and creators to only put out content that aligns with both.
When using affiliate marketing, the brand does not have control over the content. Affiliates are not supervised and can prepare content without regard to the brand guidelines or image.
Affiliate marketing offers a hands-off approach while still providing the potential for a great level of reach and coverage for the products or the brand. But those who engage with it are strictly interested in making a sale as fast as possible often with disregard for other important aspects like, for example, brand recognition.
Influencer marketing offers a more controlled output of content and with it, it also comes a more mindful approach to the brand and the products since a campaign’s success is not only determined by short-term sales.
How do they combine?
In its more traditional approach, affiliate marketing has been mostly used by small site owners or bloggers to have a viable way to monetize their content. But social media becoming popular many brands have attempted to combine it with influencer marketing and institute a program specifically for affiliates with a large online following.
Their approach combines the hands-off affiliate marketing practice with qualifying criteria, often minimum social media following and engagement rate. Some programs will also specify which platforms to publish and which hashtags need to be used for the posts to qualify.
What are the drawbacks of combining affiliate marketing and influencer marketing?
While on paper the combination of affiliate marketing and influencer marketing may sound like a perfect strategy, the reality couldn’t be further from that.
Most influencers understand that they offer more than direct sales and will refuse a pure affiliate deal.
Creating good and engaging content is expensive and requires both time and resources. Offering a payout only when directly connected with a sale would not attract many serious content creators who take pride in their jobs.
From our experience most of the creators that will agree to affiliate type of deals are the ones that you will not want to have on board: low engagement, poor content, and questionable practices.
How to successfully combine affiliate marketing and influencer marketing?
While a pure affiliate program is going not to be enticing for most reputable influencers, there are ways to combine the two that are going to play into the strengths of each strategy.
For once, providing a base payment for the content shared is going to be the bedrock of any respectable influencer partnership. On top of that is possible to include a bonus for each sale done through their link.
This way the content creators will both have a stable baseline payment for their work and an incentive to craft the best-converting content they can think of.
For any questions about influencer marketing and how it can help your brand achieve your goals, we are here to answer them. Our team of expert campaign managers will craft and execute the right strategy for your goals so you can lay back and enjoy the benefits.
TL:DR
Affiliate marketing is not a great way to grow a respectable band and will cause many questionable practices to be associated with your name if not only implemented as a way to provide extra incentives.
Taipei, Taiwan – CreatorDB, a leading influencer data platform featuring an agency with a global mindset, is set to share its expertise in connecting Eastern and Western markets through influencer marketing at this year’s Web Summit. Specializing in bridging the gap between diverse cultures, CreatorDB’s in-house multilingual influencer marketing agency offers businesses the tools they need to reach a global audience.
CreatorDB has established itself as a bond between East and West, offering tools and strategies that enable businesses to engage with a global audience effectively. The company’s team of experts facilitates connections between brands and a wide range of influencers, fostering communication and understanding across different cultures.
In addition to showcasing its agency services, CreatorDB will also introduce its influencer API — a vital component of its offering. This tool allows businesses to incorporate a rich database of influencer insights into their existing workflows, ensuring a more streamlined and effective influencer marketing process.
CreatorDB’s presence at the Web Summit is a statement of their commitment to breaking down barriers in international business. They are not just about finding an influencer; they’re about finding the right voice to speak to customers on both sides of the world.
About CreatorDB
CreatorDB is a leading influencer data platform with an in-house agency, connecting brands and agencies with influencers who align with their values and goals. The company’s innovative platform enables users to search and filter through a database of over 4 million creators globally, making finding the right influencer for any campaign easier than ever. For more information on CreatorDB and its services, visit https://www.creatordb.app/
In today’s digital age, businesses are constantly seeking effective marketing strategies to gain an edge over their competitors. One such strategy that has gained significant attention is social proof marketing.
Social proof, a concept deeply rooted in human psychology, has the power to influence consumer behavior and drive conversions.
In this article, we will delve into the psychology behind social proof marketing, exploring its various forms and how businesses can leverage its power to attract and retain customers.
How Social Proof Works?
Definition and Importance
Social proof refers to the psychological phenomenon where individuals rely on the actions and decisions of others to determine their own behavior.
It is a powerful tool in marketing as it taps into the innate human desire to conform and seek validation from their peers.
By showcasing social proof, businesses can establish trust, credibility, and influence over their target audience.
Evolutionary Roots
The concept of social proof can be traced back to our evolutionary history.
In primitive societies, conforming to the behaviors of the group was crucial for survival. Individuals who deviated from the group’s actions risked isolation and potential danger.
As a result, our brains have developed a deep-rooted inclination to follow the crowd, which manifests in modern-day consumer behavior.
What are the Types of Social Proof?
Expert Social Proof
Expert social proof involves leveraging the authority and expertise of credible individuals or organizations to influence consumer decisions.
This form of social proof is commonly seen in endorsements by industry experts, professionals, or renowned organizations, providing validation and credibility to a product or service.
Yakult has a long history of partnering with health and fitness experts to promote its probiotic drink:
Celebrity Social Proof
Celebrity social proof relies on the influence and popularity of well-known personalities to endorse products or services.
By associating their brand with a recognizable figure, businesses can tap into the emotional connection that fans have with their favorite celebrities, increasing trust and generating interest.
For the release of a new event in World of Tanks Blitz, Wargaming partnered with Joanna Jędrzejczyk, 5 times UFC Strawweight Champion, to promote the event:
Influencer Social Proof
Influencersocial proof stands in the middle between expert and celebrity social proof.
While in a sense influencers are celebrities themselves more often than not they are catering to smaller audiences that follow them because of the nature of the content they produce.
By associating with the right influencers a brand can show to understand and value the input from the community around their products.
Surfshark is a great example of influencer social proof. It showcases some of the most striking quotes about its product on its front page:
User Social Proof
User social proof involves leveraging the experiences and opinions of existing customers to influence potential buyers.
Positive user feedback can build trust and credibility, while negative feedback can raise concerns or prompt improvements.
For example, Derila uses various social proof strategies in its marketing like influencers, media appearances, and experts’ opinions. But heavily features the reviews it gets from its clients on its front page to show authenticity and trustworthiness:
Wisdom of the Crowds
The wisdom of the crowds is based on the belief that a large group’s collective opinion or behavior can be a reliable indicator of what is popular or desirable.
This form of social proof is often seen in social media metrics such as the number of followers, likes, shares, or comments.
The more significant the numbers, the greater the perceived value or quality of a product or service.
But this is not the only way, Fraîcheur built impressive media coverage, and is not afraid to show it, making rapidly evident how many voices vouch for their product:
The Psychology of Social Proof Explained
Cognitive Bias: Informational Social Influence
Informational social influence occurs when individuals conform to the actions or decisions of others because they believe that others possess more knowledge or information.
This cognitive bias often leads to the assumption that “if many people are doing it, it must be the right thing to do.”
Businesses can leverage this bias by showcasing the popularity or widespread adoption of their offerings.
Emotional Impact: Normative Social Influence
Normative social influence taps into the human need for acceptance and belongingness.
When individuals observe others engaging in certain behaviors or making particular choices, they often feel compelled to conform to fit in.
By highlighting how a product or service aligns with social norms or trends, businesses can trigger the emotional desire to be part of a larger community.
How to use Social Proof in Marketing?
Testimonials and Reviews
Displaying authentic testimonials and positive reviews from satisfied customers can be a persuasive form of social proof.
By sharing real-life experiences, businesses can showcase the benefits and quality of their offerings, easing potential customers’ concerns and building trust.
Influencer Collaborations
Partnering with influencers who have a strong following in a specific niche can significantly impact consumer behavior.
When influencers endorse a product or service, their audience perceives it as a recommendation from a trusted source, leading to increased interest and potential conversions.
User-Generated Content
Encouraging customers to create and share content related to a brand or product can amplify social proof.
User-generated content showcases genuine experiences and creates a sense of community around the brand, strengthening brand loyalty and attracting new customers.
Social Media Engagement
Active engagement on social media platforms allows businesses to showcase real-time interactions with customers.
Responding to comments, addressing concerns, and sharing user-generated content can create a positive perception and generate social proof by demonstrating that others find value in the brand’s offerings.
Expert Endorsements
Identify influential experts or industry leaders in your field and seek their endorsements. This can be done through collaborations, guest blog posts, or interviews.
Expert opinions provide a valuable stamp of approval and can significantly enhance your brand’s reputation and credibility.
How Does Social Proof Impact on Consumer Behavior?
Building Trust and Credibility
Social proof plays a vital role in building trust and credibility among potential customers.
When they see others actively engaging with your brand and expressing satisfaction, it alleviates doubts and reduces perceived risks. Trust is a critical factor in the decision-making process, and social proof provides the necessary reassurance to potential customers.
Influencing Purchase Decisions
The power of social proof lies in its ability to influence consumer behavior.
When individuals observe others purchasing or recommending a product, they feel compelled to follow suit due to the fear of missing out (FOMO) or the desire for social acceptance.
By strategically showcasing social proof, businesses can influence potential customers’ purchase decisions and drive sales.
Enhancing Perceived Value
Social proof marketing can enhance the perceived value of your products or services.
When potential customers witness others positively engaging with your offerings, it creates a sense of desirability and exclusivity.
By associating your brand with satisfied customers, influencers, or industry experts, you elevate its perceived value, making it more attractive to consumers.
Examples of Successful Social Proof Campaigns
BYDFi and Customer Reviews
BYDFi effectively utilized customer reviews on third-party platforms to establish credibility and trust.
By promoting reviews of their platform they were able to create a solid track record that new users investigating the platform could easily find.
Surfshark collaborated with influencers to showcase their product’s unique features and benefits.
Through genuine and authentic content, they were able to reach a highly engaged audience and generate social proof, leading to increased product adoption and brand recognition.
How to Overcome Challenges in Social Proof Marketing
Authenticity and Trust
Maintaining authenticity is crucial in social proof marketing.
Businesses must ensure that the social proof they showcase is genuine and reflects real customer experiences.
Faking or manipulating social proof can lead to a loss of trust and credibility, ultimately damaging the brand’s reputation.
Balancing Quantity and Quality
While social proof relies on numbers and metrics, businesses must strike a balance between quantity and quality.
Displaying an overwhelming amount of social proof without considering its relevance or impact may dilute its effectiveness.
It is essential to curate and showcase the most compelling forms of social proof to drive meaningful engagement.
Mitigating Negative Social Proof
Negative social proof, such as publicized customer complaints or low ratings, can undermine a brand’s reputation.
Addressing and resolving negative feedback promptly and transparently is crucial to mitigate its impact.
By actively engaging with customers and demonstrating a commitment to improvement, businesses can turn negative experiences into positive ones.
What are the Future Trends in Social Proof Marketing?
Artificial Intelligence and Personalization
Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) allow for personalized social proof experiences.
AI-powered algorithms can analyze user behavior and preferences to provide tailored recommendations and social proof content, enhancing the overall customer experience and driving conversions.
Gamification and Interactive Experiences
Incorporating gamification elements and interactive experiences can boost engagement and social proof.
By creating interactive quizzes, challenges, or contests, businesses can encourage customer participation and generate user-generated content, fostering a sense of community and authenticity.
Conclusion
Social proof marketing taps into the fundamental aspects of human psychology to influence consumer behavior.
By understanding the psychology behind social proof and leveraging its various forms, businesses can build trust, and credibility generating interest in their products or services.
Authentic testimonials, influencer collaborations, user-generated content, and social media engagement are powerful tools that can drive conversions and foster long-term customer relationships.
FAQs
1. Does social proof marketing work for all industries?
Social proof marketing can be effective across various industries, but its impact may vary depending on the target audience and the nature of the products or services.
It is essential to understand your target market and tailor your social proof strategies accordingly.
2. Is it better to have a few influential testimonials or many testimonials from regular customers?
Both influential testimonials and testimonials from regular customers can be valuable forms of social proof.
The choice depends on your target audience and the message you want to convey.
Influential testimonials can provide immediate credibility, while regular customer testimonials showcase widespread satisfaction.
3. How can I ensure the authenticity of user-generated content?
To ensure the authenticity of user-generated content, encourage customers to provide honest feedback and experiences.
Implement moderation processes to filter out any irrelevant or inappropriate content.
Engage with customers and respond to their content to show genuine appreciation for their contributions.
4. Can negative social proof be turned into a positive?
Yes, negative social proof can be turned into a positive if handled effectively.
Address negative feedback promptly, empathize with customers’ concerns, and take visible actions to resolve the issues.
By demonstrating your commitment to improvement and customer satisfaction, you can turn negative experiences into positive ones.
5. How can businesses stay ahead with social proof marketing in the future?
To stay ahead with social proof marketing, businesses should keep an eye on emerging trends and technologies.
Incorporating personalization through AI-driven recommendations and creating interactive experiences can help businesses stand out and provide unique social proof experiences for their customers.
If you are working in influencer marketing, you must have heard of the new buzzword: AI influencers.
AI influencers, sometimes called virtual influencers, are particular influencers whose appearances are virtually generated by AI technology.
Even though it is the latest industry trend, they will definitely not take over completely human influencers.
Working with AI influencers could drive excellent marketing results and grow your business. This is why, it is essential to keep up with this trend and understand how to work with AI influencers.
In this article, we will discuss the history of AI influencers, how they will impact influencer marketing, and, with their existence, what will happen in the near future.
What are AI Influencers?
AI influencers are influencers generated by AI technology. They usually have CGI appearances and act like real human beings interacting with the world in a first-person perspective.
At the moment, The Conversations mentioned there are 3 types of AI influencers:
non humans
animated humans
Life-like CGI humans
Most of these influencers nowadays use AI as part of their narrative such as LilMiquela and many others.
Currently, the closest version for us to a true AI influencer is Kuki, which is integrated with an advanced chatbot and offers the possibility of having a conversation with Kuki herself.
What’s the history of AI influencers
The concept of AI influencers first came out can be traced back to the early 2010s.
Back in those days, the early version of AI influencers were simply virtual characters in the gaming and entertainment industry.
As AI and computer graphics developed, these characters started to have more nuances and became more sophisticated, eventually becoming the virtual influencers we see today.
In 2016, the world welcomed Lil Miquela who is considered the first official hyperrealistic AI influencer in history. After her release, there were a ton of debates about whether she was a real person or not.
Since then, many brands also have developed their own AI influencers for their business, starting from their mascots. The most successful is CB de Casa Bahia, the face of a major retail brand in Brazil with over 10 million followers.
While initially AI was just in the name while the images were CGI creations in the past year, with the explosion in popularity of stable diffusion and generative AI, have emerged profiles like Milla Sofia whose images are generated by an AI model.
With the advancement of generative AI, virtual influencers will become more and more integrated with the real world and offer a more engaging experience to fans.
Why do Brands need AI influencers over Human Influencers?
While they are for now still a niche category of influencers AI influencers appeal to many brands for various reasons:
They allow brands to try experimental and innovative ways to reach their customer base
With AI influencers, brands can have full control of the messaging and branding
Compared to human beings, AI Influencers are less likely to be caught in scandals or controversies
Besides those reasons, according to Influencer Marketing Hub data, AI influencers are collecting excellent feedback from the marketers who worked with them and inspiring more collaborations:
59.8% of marketing professionals have worked with AI influencers
15.5% plan to collaborate with AI influencers
Over 60% of those who once collaborated with virtual influencers are satisfied.
Since AI influencers don’t exist as people outside of their social media feed, there is a team of professionals managing them, it is easier to have them align with the specifics of a marketing campaign.
How to use AI influencers in your marketing campaign
Although there is still no data about how effective AI influencers are compared to traditional influencers is clear the fit with the product is still the most critical factor for a successful influencer marketing campaign.
Audiences might be happy to see the innovation of AI influencers, but they may find human influencers more relatable regarding certain products.
Still, AI influencers are great if brands want to showcase an innovative image and position themselves at the forefront of a trend.
We’ve found 3 case studies in different industries to help you get to know better how to work with AI influencers.
Hugo Boss Rebranding (2022)
In the spring of 2022, the German fashion brand Hugo Boss underwent a major rebranding effort to reach the younger generations. First of all, it was the campaign, which included many traditional fashion influencers such as Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber.
In addition, they partnered with Nobody Sausage and Imma, two of the most well-known AI influencers in this field.
It was a powerful signal to integrate virtual influencers in the rebranding, which showed that Hugo Boss’s future will focus on technology and innovation.
Miquela for Samsung
Created by Los Angeles-based startup Brud, Miquela Sousa has collaborated with prestigious brands such as Calvin Klein, UGG, Prada, etc. Among all the exceptional work, one paid partnership stands out: her collaboration with Samsung’s #TeamGalaxy.
In this collaboration, Miquela stands for one of the most advanced technologies, like the latest Samsung phone. The collaboration is undoubtedly a perfect match in digital heaven.
The presence of virtual influencers like Miquela Sousa has also redefined the concept of brand ambassadorship.
Miquela Sousa brings a unique allure to the brands with which she collaborates.
By leveraging Miquela’s influence, Samsung has effectively connected with a tech-savvy audience and embraced the essence of modernity, ultimately enhancing its brand image.
Noonoouri for Dior Rogue
In 2018 Noonoourisubstituted Natalie Portman in the Dior “Rogue” perfume campaign. With her cartoonish appearance and exaggerated eyes, Noonoouri gave a huge tribute to her predecessor.
The commercial resembles the original version, with Noonoouri dancing while applying makeup. While it would be a standard ad for the cosmetics industry, using an AI influencer creates a sense of novelty and unexpectedness, making the ad much more appealing.
What is the Future of AI Influencers
As we know, AI tools like Midjourney, and ChatGPT are becoming more vital in every industry. They are integrated with many services to provide a more personalized user experience. With these tools becoming more precise and reliable, we expect to see them integrated with AI influencers in the future as well.
Integrating “true AI” tools in AI influencers will allow these influencers to connect with their audience better. As in the case of Kuki, AI models can be tailored to chat with users while having their characteristics.
Once this kind of implementation is proven reliable, we can expect many brands to start creating AI influencers of their own and relying on them as brand ambassadors while including them in much of the brand’s online material.
Conclusion
In conclusion, AI influencers have opened up a new frontier in the world of social media marketing. While they present exciting opportunities for brands to engage with their audience in novel ways, they are still in the early stages of development. As AI technology progresses, AI influencers will become more common while providing better value to brands.
Establishing the right price for an influencer can be difficult.
With unique characteristics and factors coming into play.
This doesn’t mean you should pass on the 5X ROI that influencer marketing can bring you.
We created this guide based on our experience to stir you in the right direction when it comes to influencer prices.
But before we start going into money talks let’s clarify some of the basics:
Is it worth paying influencers?
Definitely. There will always be influencers available to work for free but these are often starting influencers or ones with minimal traction.
It may be beneficial to create ties with emerging influencers in your area from the beginning but is also important to get access to more seasoned faces.
They are more than likely to expect compensation for their work.
In exchange, they will provide your brand with an extra boost of relatability, social proof, and, conversions.
How do I hire and pay influencers?
Hiring an influencer can be as simple as sliding in their DMs, even if we suggest taking a more professional approach.
Once you establish a line of communication you want to lay out what you are expecting from the collaboration and what are your goals.
Work out the details and sign a contract to put all the expectations and requirements in a written, legally binding form.
Influencer payment is often a very simple process that can be done by money transfer, but in some cases, especially if you are executing a campaign in a foreign country, you may have to adapt to local preferences about payments.
You can prevent many of these problems by outsourcing influencer management to a specialized agency.
What affects the price of an influencer partnership?
Influencers do not have a fixed price and due to their unique traits, the cost of a partnership can vary wildly.
There are many criteria to take into account when deciding what is the price worth of an influencer collaboration.
Content Category
Influencers who create within small, in-demand niches can charge higher rates.
In contrast, large popular content categories have lower rates due to the high supply of content that can be sponsored.
Audience Size
Audience size is often the first characteristic that is looked at by marketing professionals.
A larger audience means that more eyeballs are going to see the content but also translates into fewer people (proportionally) engaging with it.
Country of the Creator & the Audience
Creators from countries with a higher cost of living have higher costs for activation.
The nationality of the audience is also important since many products are tailored to specific countries.
Production Quality
The quality of the content on the channel sponsored reflects the brand image and the cost of production driving the price higher.
Engagement Rate
Engagement rate is a measure of an influencer’s ability to drive audience actions.
Higher levels of engagement are a strong indicator that an influencer can drive conversions.
Agency Involvement
When agencies are involved more parties need to be paid.
Agencies’ participation is often also connected to a higher quality of content and easier communication between parties.
Exclusivity
It is common for brands to ask influencers to not promote their competitors for some time after sponsored content.
Exclusivity clauses do not have a super pronounced effect but they are worth keeping in mind as they may come up during negotiation.
Repurpose Rights
If you want to use the sponsored content for your marketing material or on your channels you may have to add a little extra to the deal.
Time of the Year
There’s a well-observed phenomenon that ad spending is higher towards the end of the year.
And then goes through an early year slump while budgets are decided upon and brands recover from their Christmas spending spree.
Cross-posting
Most influencers operate on multiple platforms and is often possible to negotiate a package that includes multiple platforms.
These deals are a value add because the multiple touchpoints reinforce your brand’s image and improve conversion rates, at a lower cost.
Long-Term Promotion
If you can guarantee an influencer works over a long period in the form of multiple collaborations, you will be able to obtain a lowered CPM.
Celebrity Status
With more and more people turning to create content online some of them are already famous from other careers.
Collaborating with them can be beneficial since they are often more known to a wider audience than online-only personalities but they come with a higher cost of activation.
Types of Deals
But not all deals are the same.
You can adopt different methods of compensation based on which kind of agreement and KPIs you are going after.
To make your life simpler, here are the most common kinds of payment deals when it comes to hiring an influencer.
Flat-Rate Payment
A flat fee is paid in exchange for one or more posts on the creator’s platform.
This is the simplest form of payment as it requires no post-publish calculations.
However, it can be difficult to judge a fair price for a piece of content.
Affiliation
The brand pays the creator a percentage of profit for every one of its audience who purchases through them.
It’s generally disliked by creators since it does not guarantee any return for them.
Hybrid models are common: the brand can guarantee a minimum payment to creators while also a percent of sales as a bonus to the creator.
Non-monetary deals
Products and services can be offered in exchange for a promotion.
This is often the case with smaller creators.
A hybrid approach is also common: providing free products along with flat-rate payments.
Influencer Seeding Marketing Campaigns
In a seeding campaign influencers are sent a sample of the product without any kind of agreement but just for the possibility of them organically creating content around it.
Performance-Based
Typically deals will be structured around CPM with a fixed price per thousand views.
Paid out after a pre-agreed amount of time (often 30 days) the content is published.
This has the benefit of incentivizing good work from the creator while reducing the brand’s potential for overspending.
What is CPM
CPM, or Cost per Mille (Latin for one thousand) is a commonly used metric in influencer marketing and calculates the cost of a thousand interactions.
Often is agreed on a certain CPM before the campaign and after a certain time the interaction is counted and the payment is made based on the CPM rate agreed upon.
CPM by real views
With this model, the CPM is agreed upon in advance, and after, generally a month, the views are counted and the payment is made.
Ex. Jim agrees to sponsor a new drink for a $15 CPM. His video after 30 days has collected 100K views. The drink company is going to pay Jim $1,500 ($15 CPM X 100 thousand views).
CPM by average views
In this case, the final payout is agreed upon in advance on the base of the average amount of views the content receives.
Ex. Sal’s 20 most recent videos received between 80K and 120K views. A sponsor offers her a $20 CPM with 100K average views. Sal will receive $2,000 no matter the performance.
CPM by expected views
Expected views are a great tool when one recent video has over or underperformed sensibly.
Shaving off the outliers is going to be more representative of the actual results.
Type of Influencer Partnerships
Influencers are a versatile medium and they can be integrated into your marketing plan with many different types of content.
Here you can find some examples of the most common ones.
Keep your mind open to experiments with new and different ways that may benefit your goals.
Dedicated Post
Most common and simple promotion from an influencer.
A post showcasing your product and accompanied by a caption explaining the benefits/ their story with the product.
Video Integration
Similar to dedicated posts but for YouTube influencers.
While videos are about topics the audience finds interesting or entertaining you can buy a 60 to 90-second slot in the video with the creator introducing your product to the audience.
Giveaways
The influencer entices his audience to engage with your brand or your social media by offering the possibility to win one of your products.
Platform Takeover
Allow an influencer to publish from your brand’s social media and be in charge of them for a while. This is going to give more visibility to your channels and allow a different less business approach to social media.
Affiliate Marketing
Make influencers part of your team incentivising them to promote your brand with a part of the revenue.
Brand Ambassador
Brand ambassadors are people with large visibility designated to raise awareness of a brand or product.
Instead of a collaboration limited to a specified amount of posts or content pieces brand ambassadors represent the brand, often participating in company events and doubling as spokespersons.
The Right Price for an Influencer on each Platform
Influencers are active and available on many different social media platforms.
Each platform has its characteristics and different kinds of content that are available.
Here we will give you an overview of how much sponsored content costs in various forms and on various platforms in our experience.
The right price for an influencer on YouTube
YouTube is the largest video-sharing platform.
It has over 2 billion monthly active users and hosts more content than anyone could see in their lifetime.
It is also a hub for content of any type allowing marketers to tap into any kind of community they are interested in.
Integration Price
Integration is the most common partnership with YouTube content creators.
Your product will be promoted in a 60 to 90-second segment inside a larger video.
Is beneficial if the video and the product can be easily connected.
In our experience, integrations in a tier 1 country can cost a CPM between $15 and $25. Larger YouTubers are relatively cheaper but often have a less engaged audience.
The previously listed factors come into play to influence the final number.
Dedicated Video Price
Due to the cost and time investment of creators to script and film an entire video related to your product, dedicated videos are more expensive compared to integrations.
We estimate that you can expect the CPM to be double from an integration at minimum.
Therefore, in a tier 1 country, you can face costs of $30 and above for each thousand views.
Once again the final cost will be affected by many different variables especially technical costs related to the video concept.
The right price for an influencer on Instagram
Instagram allows its users to share photos and short videos.
Is the main platform for many influencers and one of the most used channels by marketers to promote their products.
Sponsored Post Price
A sponsored post cost can vary wildly due to many factors, in particular, the size of the influencer following.
Nano and micro-influencers are relatively cheap and a single post can be agreed upon with a budget between $100 and $1000.
When it comes to larger influence the cost can skyrocket significantly into the tens of thousands.
For celebrities, the price inflates even more, and $1+ Million deals aren’t unheard of.
Sponsored Story Price
Instagram stories are slightly cheaper than posts.
By disappearing in 24 hours they are only available for a small amount of time but they have higher levels of interactions and can directly lead to your shop.
The right price for an influencer on TikTok
Since its emergence, TikTok has consistently shown how its algorithm is extremely powerful at matching content with viewers.
Thanks to this characteristic the potential reach of any TikTok influencer is much larger than their followers list and each piece of content can be expected to be served to an interested audience.
Sponsored Video Cost
As usual, the following size is the most important aspect to determine the cost of a sponsored video.
Micro and nano influencers on TikTok have average prices from $20 to $500 per post.
Larger influencers can require compensation of up to a few thousand dollars, with celebrities once again being able to cash in the most.
How do I know the right price for the influencer I want?
Many influencers, especially if they are not new to sponsorships, have prepared a press kit that will outline what are their prices and which channels they are available for sponsorship. Otherwise, you may have to directly pitch to them your plan and ask for their price.
Influencer marketing agencies can be game changers for many companies since they will relieve the marketing teams from having to deal with each influencer individually and will instead provide a single point of contact.
In international or cross-country campaigns influencer marketing agencies are often better equipped to deal with different languages and cultures.
Also, influencer marketing agencies have the tools and expertise to evaluate the potential and effectiveness of each influencer before launching the campaign, translating into better results.
Therefore influencer marketing agencies are a powerful tool that many marketers should keep in consideration when planning a campaign.
How much does it cost to hire an influencer agency?
The cost of an influencer marketing agency may vary drastically by the scope and size of a campaign.
Commonly the cost is between 15% to 30% of the overall campaign budget.
Generally, agencies prepare a pre-campaign brief in which they illustrate the plan for the campaign and the expected results.his document also includes a breakdown of the costs that take into consideration the fees for the agency services.
In some cases, agencies may prefer a fixed fee or will want a different type of deal.
What should I look for in an influencer marketing agency?
There are many influencer marketing agencies available on the market and finding the right one for your goals can be a long process.
But most importantly you should be looking at the previous works the agency has done, the ability of the agency to operate in the geography your campaign wants to target, and their communication and reporting abilities.
What to look for when pricing an influencer
As we have seen many factors come into play when is time to price an influencer collaboration. But is also important to keep in mind other aspects independent from the influencer that help marketers to decide whether or not to proceed with the deal.
Average ROI
Influencer marketing is projected to give a 5:1 ROI on average.
That means that for every dollar spent $5 should come back in.
Not all deals will bring in $5 or more for each $1 spent but this is a good measure to identify which influencers have good potential and who is underperforming.
Previous performances
The size of the following is the main aspect taken into consideration when calculating an influencer price.
But it is important to know that is not the only thing that matters and it could be inflated.
Looking at engagement, likes, and sentiment analysis around an influencer’s content is going to give a better understanding of what is going on with an influencer and what is the potential of a collaboration.
NELK, or the NELK Boys firstly started as a pure prank YouTube channel where the boys would play pranks on the public in a variety of hilarious ways to garner reactions.
NELK boys currently have 7.87m YouTube subscribers.
In 2010, Kyle formed the YouTube channel called NelkFilmz with his best friend Lucas and two other friends, Niko and Marko Martinovic.
Kyle and his crew began to film prank videos on YouTube for the next 3 years as they started to gain some local traction.
Around this time in late 2013, Kyle rebranded his YouTube channel name to simply NELK and began upping his game regarding the quality of his content and the risks he was taking to execute pranks.
As a result, he made a connection that allowed him to attend the 2014 MTV Canada conference where he met Jesse Sabastiani.
At the time, Jesse was filming for MTV Canada doing a country-style, Canadian version of the show Jackass.
Kyle and Jesse saw eye-to-eye on many ideas early on so they decided to start filming together. Later Jesse officially joined the group and left his MTV Canada career.
NELK and their first viral video
At this point in NELK’s journey, their leading brand was prank videos with some occasional beer drinking taking place. NELK was working on a very strict budget, and they had to sleep at the houses of fans as they road-tripped around America to film their videos.
Their thriftiness began to pay off as it was an easy way to directly connect with their fan base. It has also forged many opportunities for creating viral moments on the internet, one of their first being its “Coke on Cops” prank in 2015.
In this video, Kyle and his crew purposely park illegally and act sketchy as a police officer approaches them.
After some questioning from the officer, Kyle blurts out that they have Coke in the back.
The boys had a Go-Pro rigged to the top of the trunk so the viewers could see the officer’s reaction as she uncovered a pile of Coke cans.
At the time the cop seemed somewhat amused, but the LAPD later released a statement stating that they were none too pleased, and the prank was technically a crime.
“Coke Prank on Cops” became the second most viewed video of all time from NELK Boys
With the boys avoiding legal trouble, this video marked the beginning of their YouTube notoriety.
Despite this close run-in with the law, NELK continued to push the boundaries with their pranks, some of their most recognizable ones being their fake employee videos.
NELK would acquire a specific uniform for a large corporate store (usually from a fan) and would film videos pretending to be employees at the store and messing with both the customers and staff.
These videos would prove to have their consequences though as they were banned from many stores and local Canadian law enforcement started to take notice. However, the boldness and hilarity of their pranks created an extremely rabid and supportive fan base.
At this point, NELK was beginning to build a cult-like following on the internet which proved to be their saving grace and path to success.
A major portion of the early NELK story revolves around their constant battles with YouTube which would constantly age-restrict and demonetize their videos seemingly without cause in certain cases.
This type of punishment nearly put the boys out of business as they were no longer able to make ends meet from ad revenue on YouTube alone.
It was this combination of a need for an alternative revenue source and their rabid fan base that created the perfect storm for NELK to start making some serious money with their merchandise sales.
From the beginning, the NELK boys employed a unique strategy when it came to releasing their merchandise.
Unlike most influencers who have an online store with a nearly constant supply of their various merchandise items, NELK has consistently done what they call “merch drops” about five times a year.
They also never re-released any of the items in future merch drops.
This scarcity strategy has allowed them to always sell out their inventory and also be able to charge continuously more expensive prices as the demand for their items continues to grow by making them more and more exclusive.
The early and immediate success of NELK’s merch drops propelled them into a higher tier on the YouTube creator ladder.
The increase in money and fame allowed the boys to pursue things like travel, collaborations with other influencers, higher quality videos, and a larger team to help support these things. Specifically, NELK was able to relocate to the center of entertainment, Los Angeles.
On top of moving locations, the boys were also invited by FaZe Banks of the famous e-gaming company, FaZe Clan, to move into his influencer-focused house called “The Clout House,” which has been home for many mega influencers like FaZe Banks, Ricegum and Sommer Ray.
This provided NELK with a group of large influencers within the same living space as them which helped their name and brand to spread across Los Angeles and the internet.
Another genius creation of the NELK boys was their tagline “Full Send” which is a saying that represents going all out for something, in the case of the boys’ brand, partying and drinking.
The brand tagline “Full Send” fits perfectly with their LA celebrity lifestyle, populated by parties with copious amounts of alcohol and scantily clad women.
NELK was able to exponentially grow the popularity of their brand through videos covering their partying life mixed in with their classic prank bits.
It was at this point, going into 2019 when NELK truly began its takeover of YouTube and the influencer scene.
SteveWillDoIt Joins the Gang
In May of 2019, Kyle struck gold when he found a young man by the name of Steve Deleonardis on Instagram who was gaining popularity for his insane drinking, smoking, and eating challenges.
Steve was an instant hit with the NELK fans as he fits in perfectly with his crude sense of humor and love for alcohol.
His drinking and eating challenges were so outlandish and popular that he formed his channel on YouTube called “SteveWillDoIt” in addition to being a mainstay in NELK videos.
The original SteveWillDoIt YouTube channel was removed due to the indirect promotion of gambling. Steve opened up about the ban by posting a screenshot of a notification that claimed he “severely or repeatedly violated” community guidelines on the platform.
Steve’s fan base multiplied and he was able to amass one million subscribers just in the first month of creating his YouTube channel.
This move proved to be very fruitful for both Steve and NELK as a whole because although Steve was a later addition to the NELK crew, he was able to form a close relationship with his fans much faster through his channel.
This allowed him to be a hilarious, alcohol-consuming force in NELK videos as the original NELK fan base quickly understood and accepted what Steve brought to the group.
Following the new NELK business model, Steve and the crew could immediately capitalize on his addition through their exclusive merch drops.
Essentially, a whole new brand line was created for Steve-specific merch that ranged from T-shirts and hoodies to a glass boot to drink beer from called “Steve’s Boot.” Throughout the rest of 2019, it was reported that the NELK boys would consistently sell enough merchandise to generate seven figures of revenue on their drop days.
At the end of the year, the NELK boys felt like it was time to use some of that money to move to their own space where they could also house their growing team of employees.
In February 2020, NELK officially moved out of the Clout House and into their mansion (also in LA) which they dubbed “The Full Send House.”
The naming of the house may seem simple, but it was very meaningful to the boys as their main goal was to start to grow the Full Send brand to new heights.
They wanted to not only continue to grow the Full Send clothing line into a legit streetwear brand but also expand it into a lifestyle brand that is recognizable to a wide demographic of people.
Photo courtesy of eBay
NELK Boys and their full-blown business
In early 2020, NELK’s growing rabid fan base allowed them to take even bigger business and content risks as their whole operation was being funded entirely by their fans. YouTube had completely demonetized their channel and there weren’t any brands interested in using the group to sponsor their products given the edgy and sometimes controversial nature of their videos.
From here on out, NELK was able to get involved in the development and selling of various types of products to support its goal of making Full Send a complete lifestyle brand.
The boys were still very calculated with the types of products they started to develop by sticking to what they knew. One of their first ventures into a product not involved in their clothing & small accessories line was workout supplements and equipment.
In late 2019, the boys realized they needed to do something to combat the toxic nature of their constant partying and celebrity lifestyles so they started hitting the gym and lifting weights. Around this time they also started to collaborate with a YouTube workout influencer named Bradley Martin.
Bradley soon became a mainstay in many of the group’s videos and vice versa regarding the boys being in some of Bradley’s workout videos.
This collaboration was another one that proved to be very fruitful as the NELK boys were now getting exposure amongst a workout-focused demographic which further diversified their fanbase and made their videos about more than just pranks and partying, but a certain way of life.
The NELK boys’ ventures into new products and fan bases came at a great time as the world was about to experience a tragedy that would drive people to greatly increase the time they spent on the internet and YouTube in particular.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused governments around the world to enforce stay-at-home mandates and prevent people from going to work which forced many people to spend much of their greatly increased free time perusing the internet.
At first, it proved to be a tough transition for NELK as all of their videos required them to be able to interact with the public in some way.
However, they were able to weather the storm early on by adapting their videos until they were able to travel to different states around the country that had fewer restrictions as California was one of the most locked-down states.
Media exposure soaring
Many people took issue with the NELK boys continuing their pranks during a global pandemic but it didn’t matter and proved to pay off as the online demand for new content was at an all-time high, especially amongst people in NELK’s average age demographic of young adults.
This caused NELK’s subscriber total and overall media exposure to soar.
Now that the boys had garnered a large amount of mainstream media coverage, they were starting to get noticed by big-name celebrities who were fans of what they were doing.
This led to the boys getting invited to fight nights which created amazing content for their videos and to a clothing collaboration that featured a UFC x Full Send t-shirt.
This was a match made in heaven as it was another catalyst that helped expand NELK’s fan base and it also fits very well with the already-formed workout component of Full Send’s lifestyle brand.
Photo courtesy of talkSPORT
Possibly one of the most important relationships to the transformation of Full Send into a lifestyle brand was a lucky opportunity the boys got through Dana White that was completely unrelated to fighting or the UFC.
They met President Donald Trump on Air Force One before one of his presidential rallies.
The President even brought the boys on stage at the end of his rally to shake hands and be introduced to the crowd.
This was the first time that NELK had been involved in anything political and even though they never state their personal political views, the fact that they got to meet and be a part of the sitting President’s political rally showed the world how far past just pranks and jokes the NELK boys and most importantly their Full Send brand had grown.
The year 2020 proved to be huge for the growth of Full Send but it had also clearly taken a toll on the boys as they were constant targets of law enforcement, had to adjust to new COVID restrictions, and traveled across the U.S. and out of the country to find less restricted areas to film content.
It was because of this that during NELK’s annual holiday video break one of the founding members, Jesse Sabastiani, decided to remove himself from the content side of NELK to focus solely on the business side of the Full Send brand.
He took over everything related to the development of the Full Send brand from designing new clothing items to coming up with new lifestyle items like Full Send skateboard decks, poker chip sets, ashtrays, and many other items that fit the brand’s lifestyle.
In addition to this, he started a new Full Send-specific YouTube channel where he documents his life behind the scenes of the business.
Jesse taking over the main role in the development of the Full Send brand was one of the most important moves that NELK made in 2021.
With his intimate relationship and knowledge of the NELK fan base, Jesse was able to better target the type of new lifestyle items to invest in.
Also, Jesse’s separate “FULL SEND” YouTube channel turned into a huge hit among NELK fans and gave them a new appreciation for the complexity of the Full Send brand.
However, the most impactful move that NELK made for their brand in 2021 was the release of their alcoholic beverage, a hard seltzer brand called Happy Dad.
Although the release of Happy Dad happened in June 2021, it’s already proving to be a huge hit with most stores selling out of the hard seltzer on the first day of its release.
This makes perfect sense as NELK tapped into the ultimate product for the Full Send lifestyle brand because they were able to go back to their roots of drinking and partying and execute a product that is accepted and consumed more broadly in society.
Full Send now produces a product that is both attractive to its cult-like fan base and the general public.
Happy Dad seems to have fully transitioned Full Send into a lifestyle brand now that it can reach everyday people who aren’t familiar with the NELK boys. In other words, you no longer need to be someone who watches YouTube and is a fan of pranks and crude humor to want to support the Full Send brand.
This is the true power of the creator economy or influencers in general, to build real businesses while using their fandom as a huge jumpstart. The only question that remains now is: what product or industry will the NELK boys try to take over next?
Streaming debut
On October 26, 2023, the upcoming streaming platform Kick announced that Nelk was going to start streaming live on their platform the next day.
In less than a week the group collected over 25K followers on the new platform and streamed one of their pranks live and their Halloween party.
Until now Kick was going after established streamers and trying to snatch them from other platforms like YouTube and Twitch with multimillionaire deals.
But with Nelk they took a gamble and signed a group with a large online following but no streaming background.
Their first live stream brought in many eyes but is still up to see if they will be able to conquer this new medium.
If you are a marketer looking at influencer marketing, a CEO with an idea that targets influencers, or just interested in the dynamics that involve content creators, you most likely need access to an influencer database!
Adding an influencer database to your tool bag can be beneficial for all these purposes and even more. Businesses often need access to information regarding influencers and the creator economy that are contained in an influencer database
In this article we will go over what an influencer database is, what can you find in it, and how that can help you. Plus, we will go over free alternatives and ways around using a professionally managed database.
What is an influencer database?
An influencer database is an organized collection of influencers, generally, it also includes information and analytics like their following, engagement, and social media they are active on, plus many other things.
Influencer databases allow marketers to bypass the choke points of social media by having more precise and in-depth search functions. Oftentimes a database is populated with data from different social media making it easier and faster to check between platforms.
Influencer databases gather their data from social media and they can supplement it with other services and tools to provide better contextualization and deeper analytics.
Is there a database of all influencers?
It is unlikely that exists a database of all influencers. Even if reputable services scan social media and update their database daily, the amount of data to go through and categorize is just way too large and too fast-changing.
Are there free tools to find influencers?
Of course, mainly social media themselves. All social media platforms allow you to search the profiles of their users but then is up to you to find the ones that fit your needs.
Social media do not let you search for the following size, engagement rate, and often neither just topics. Therefore, the quality of the results may vary depending on your knowledge of the niche you are interested in.
How can I find influencers in bulk?
To find as many influencers that fit specific criteria, it is best to use professional tools. Advanced search functions, like the CreatorDB’s, allow you to quickly highlight the creators for you based on measures like following, content category, language, country of provenance, and even audience demographics.
With these services, you will be able to access the right influencers at a much larger scale than on social media, also having an easier time comparing them.
While building your own database can sound enticing, it would bring you to deal with many chokepoints that social media put in place when accessing their data. By relying on a professional service, you can rest assured that all those bottlenecks will be addressed by an expert team allowing you to access all the information you need hassle-free.
Access an influencer database
Getting access to an existing influencer database is fairly simple, in fact, you can try CreatorDB’s one with just an easy sign-up. Many of these services allow for free trials so that you can try them first-hand and evaluate their usefulness.
There are mainly two ways to interface with an influencer database:
According to your needs, it can be advantageous to use one method over the other.
How to search through an influencer database?
Influencer databases can be searched using many different criteria. Commonly marketers look for influencers that are popular in specific content categories or geographies. This can be easily sorted out by querying a database for these data. Some databases, like CreatorDB, also provide audience data and allow you to search for creators with audiences of specific ages or located in particular countries.
Databases or portals
Differently from databases influencer portals are directly connected with the creators they feature. Often they offer more detailed information about the influencer’s performances, but the number of influencers present drops significantly.
Portals work as a sort of agency facilitating communication between the two parts but like agencies their reach is limited. Often portals only feature medium-large influencers and don’t include micro-influencers hampering the efficacy of your campaign.
What I can use an influencer database for?
The beauty of influencer databases is that they are extremely versatile and can be used for a variety of different purposes. From our experience, these are the most common use cases for an influencer database:
Enrich previously acquired data
Companies often combine data from third-party providers with data they collect themselves in order to obtain a more nuanced understanding of the situation around the influencers they are interested in.
Embed extra data for custom applications
Many of our clients need access to just a minute part of our data offering in order to integrate it with their products. For example, a website that shows the subscriber count for Instagram profiles will likely obtain access to a third-party database and acquire the data from there over directly collecting the data.
Develop advanced data analysis
For some the data they can retrieve from third-party a provider are just the starting point. They will use them to develop models and investigate the connection between various aspects of online interactions.
Learn how Talkback sped up the identification of fitting creators thanks to the creator comment-reply ratio in our case study.
How can I find Influencer analytics?
Influencer databases generally include most common, and some uncommon, analytics, making them available for any user.
Can I find influencer data for free?
Of course, most influencers’ data are freely available on social media. You could collect data regarding likes, followers, and much more by yourself for free. But would it be worth the hassle? Most likely not, that’s why relying on a professional third party is often the best option.
How can I find influencers’ contact information?
Contact information is some of the most searched and most difficult to find information on influencers’ databases. While many do include them others don’t and is something you will have to verify yourself.
You can avoid all the trouble and rely on CreatorDB, we provide contact information.
Common analytics in influencer databases
Most if not all influencer databases will include:
Followers count, sometimes with the progression over time
Views, especially for YouTube channels
Average likes
Average comments
Many databases will also provide additional analytics. Often more advanced ones are derived by performing calculations on the basic ones or contextualizing the values with other creators in the same category or in the database.
Audience analytics
Some databases, like CreatorDB, provide you with audience data. Since these data are only visible to the creators themselves they are often derived with alternative means and represent an approximation. They may include:
Audience countries of origin
Split between male and female in the audience
Split between age groups in the audience
While not a hundred percent accurate audience analytics allow marketers to better understand if a content creator is a good fit for their goals or not.
How to integrate an Influencer Database with my workflow?
Data providers are going to offer different ways to interact with their data and you may prefer some to others due to your necessities.
Custom frontend
Many data providers are quite jealous of their data and only allow you to access them through a custom portal that will show all the data but prevent you from bulk exporting them in any form. If you choose to rely on a provider that only offers this option be ready to manually copy data one by one when you need them.
CSV export
A common form to allow data export is through CSV files. You are probably already familiar with this format of data and can be easily imported into most data analysis programs. It still requires some manual work in downloading the spreadsheets and importing them to their destination.
API
Not very common but extremely powerful. API allows machines to talk directly and retrieve data by simple code.
By querying a data provider server the data you need will be delivered to you, typically as JSON, and your application will be able to directly pick them up and parse them without any need for human intervention.
API is the best implementation for big or repetitive tasks since they can be set up once and executed in perpetuity.
You have decided to start an influencer marketing campaign but don’t know any influencers. No problem. We will walk you through how to contact influencers.
From identifying the right ones to deciding which is the best channel to contact them on and how to establish solid and long-lasting relationships with them.
Keeping a good rapport with the content creators you have worked with will help you carve out your name in the niche you choose to pursue and establish your company as a reliable and integral part of the sector.
Why influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is optimal when you want to connect with a specific audience or believe that a human touch could help your promotion. Influencers have amassed a substantial following on their social media platforms, and people look up to them. Often even develop parasocial relationships.
When an influencer promotes a product, many of their followers will associate their trust with the influencer with the product, something that is less immediate with other marketing avenues.
Furthermore, we are bombarded by ads, and many try to escape them as much as possible. Sponsored influencer content blends with their typically produced content making it more accepted and less invasive for the audience.
Decide which influencer to contact
Identifying influencers that fit your requirements and brand values is the first step in the process and can be done manually or through influencers’ platforms.
Over 165 million content creators have joined the creator economy in the last two years.
They cover any imaginable niche and segment of the audience, making it possible for you to target highly detailed segments. But, identifying the right one in this sea of creators will be challenging. You can decide to go two ways: manually or with the help of software tools.
If you choose to go manually, you need to identify pertinent hashtags or keywords and search who is posting related content. After you have collected a good amount of possible creators, you will need to extrapolate the fitting analytics for your campaign, like the number of followers, engagement rate, community sentiment, and any others you feel are relevant for each of them.
Organize them on your own. And make comparisons to decide with whom to partner in your campaign. You may want to identify more content creators than the one you want for your final campaign since some may not be interested, not reply, or just refuse to work with you.
To simplify the process, you can use third-party services, like CreatorDB, to do the heavy lifting. Through CreatorDB, you can search a database of over 3 million influencers for 130+ data points. We also offer a built-in niche system that allows you to identify and access over 9000 segments to have granular control over who will receive your message. Furthermore, CreatorDB directly allows access to simple and advanced analytics, making it easy for you to evaluate your picks and select only the best creators for your influencer marketing campaign. CreatorDB also lets you quickly find who a creator worked before and when: this way, you can easily avoid creators currently working with competitors or over-saturating their audiences with ads.
Decide where to contact influencers
Going through emails or agencies strikes as more professional but smaller creators may not have set up a business email or be represented by any agency making it necessary to contact them through the various social media platforms’ direct messaging functions.
Once you select a certain number of creators with whom you would like to collaborate, it is time to consider contacting them. Depending on the social media you are looking at, you may have or not a way to directly communicate inside the platform. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok (but only if the creator follows you back) have direct messaging systems that potentially put you in contact with the creator. Using these services may seem straightforward and tempting, but you have to consider that content creators receive many messages: from fans, other companies, spam, and so on. So the larger the creator’s following, the more unlikely they will see your message if you use such ways.
Concurrently, the larger the creator, the more likely they will be under management from some agency or have some people in place to manage their collaborations. You can generally reach these people through an email address listed in the creator’s information or in their link in the bio.
For platforms like YouTube, where there is no way to communicate with them in the platform, you will have to rely on the business email or try to contact them through other social media they may have.
Once again CreatorDB can help: you can filter your results for only creators that provide an email and access those emails directly, leaving you only to compose and ship emails. Overall is preferable to use the email address when it is provided. It would make your offer look professional and stand out from the tons of messages a creator would receive daily.
Contacting influencers with your pitch
Compose your message in a way that feels personal, and attention-grabbing while also introducing your brand, the idea you have for the campaign, and the influencer’s part in it.
Imagine yourself in the creator’s shoes: you want to collaborate with brands that will positively impact your community and share your same goals and values (or at least are not opposed). So try to tailor your offer to the creator’s style and personality: explain what your company and their message have in common and how they could combine.
Overall any successful email pitch should be composed of the following:
An attention-grabbing subject line.
Applies only to emails. You want to be direct and enticing at the same time. Mention your brand name, and that is for a collaboration/partnership/promotion. Avoid spammy wording and symbols: no dollar signs or fire emojis everywhere. That would make you look unprofessional and likely to be treated just as spam.
A personalized first paragraph.
Make it about them and what you appreciate about their platforms and messaging. Creators are more likely to respond and collaborate with companies that understand their vision and support it. Explain how your campaign perfectly matches their platform and why you chose them.
Introduce your company and product.
Explain your brand, its vision, and how a collaboration between the brand and the creator would be a double win. It is crucial to introduce yourself well if your brand is launching or is relatively unknown in the creator space. You could tweak the intro to focus on the product if the product is going to be the center of the campaign or if your brand is already widely known.
Explain the campaign and their role.
Here comes the meat and potatoes of your pitch. It doesn’t have to be a super detailed explanation, but it gives the general idea of what is to come: talking about what kind of content you expect, how long the campaign is going to run, and the campaign goals. If the influencer replies positively to this first contact, you will go further in detail with them and figure out all the nuts and bolts.
Combine the pitch with a seeding campaign
You can use the first contact with an influencer as a way to kick-start a product seeding campaign. Since sending a product to a creator is likely to need a physical address is necessary to first find out if the creator is available for this kind of campaign. In order to receive a positive answer is always better to explain why they would be a great matchup with the brand.
You can get other useful tips on how to convince a creator to partner with you here
By this time, you should already have in mind how you are expecting the influencer content to be structured, but in case you are still undecided, these are the most common ways of including sponsored content:
Testimonials
Especially suited for products that don’t have a significant strike factor at first sight or may need prolonged use. Software, dieting products, services, and similar can benefit from having an influencer bring to the audience their experience with them and how it compares to other similar products.
Unboxing
Very beneficial if your product is going to come through the mail. The audience would have a first-hand experience of what to expect through the influencer content. Also, leave a lot of space for the influencer reactions and spin on it.
Ads
Old but gold. Classic way to endorse a product less sophisticated than other approaches but evergreen. They are often done as a 30 to 60-second sponsored video in which the content creator reads a previously composed message about the product sponsored. For extra effectiveness is possible to allow the creators to give their personal spin on the ad.
Reviews
Reviews are the perfect way to make your promotional material feel authentic and genuine. You will have an influencer try out your product and give feedback on its performance. It may sound counterproductive, but you also want to have some negative feedback. If it is all negative, you may have to rethink your product, but the presence of minor issues or things that could be smoothed would make the review look even more genuine and less like a paid promotion.
Learn why you shouldn’t try to push for an affiliate program when it comes to content creators.
Negotiation
Be ready to discuss details and KPIs with the creators, set boundaries, and listen to their ideas about the creative direction they could bring to the campaign.
If the creator replies with interest to your email, this is the time you two will start discussing the details of the collaboration: timeline, rewards, and expected KPIs. Even before contacting the creators themselves, you should have an idea of what the partnership will bring to you regarding the essential KPIs for your campaign but be sure to discuss them with the creators and listen to their side of the story. They know their audience better than you.
Be clear with the creator about the timeline for the content publishing, what boundaries need to be respected, and how the product needs to be shown and discussed. Depending on the influencer experience size and preferences, they may want to be paid or accept product gifts as compensation.
Be sure to hear them about their creative ideas and compensation choices, and be accommodating when possible. If you want to work with influencer marketing for an extended period establishing positive relations with content creators is essential.
Conclusion
After all that we discussed in this article, you should be ready to start finding potential influencers for collaboration and sending out messages to get them on your team.
While contacting them, and being clear when doing so, is very important is not the only step that matters: being able to craft an effective campaign, track the analytics that matter and know what to do with influencers’ generated content after the campaign are also important steps.
To help you in your influencer marketing journey we at CreatorBD offer tools for you to craft your own campaigns and managed solutions to let you take a laid-back approach while reaping all the benefits.
Get familiar with the 4Ms model for influencer marketing and ace your next campaign.
If you dabble in marketing, you are probably familiar with the 4 P’s, one of the pillars of marketing theory, which see Product, Price, Place, and Promotion as fundamental aspects for any marketer that wants to achieve their objectives.
While this model was and still is a fundamental base when discussing how to market a product, the emergence of new channels to reach clients has pushed for new models. In 2004 Sid Peimer proposed the “Internet Mix” composed of Sell, Tell & Dwell as the central pillar to succeed in online marketing.
The “Internet Mix” is, under many aspects, still a valid model and can be a perfect guide to understanding the needs of a digital marketing campaign and if your planning is going in the right direction. With word of mouth and social proof becoming a more and more prominent aspect of digital marketing, especially influencer marketing, a new model came to light to frame how influencer marketing campaigns should be organized and their life cycle: the 4Ms model.
Thanks to this model, you can identify the core tenants of an influencer marketing campaign and easily understand your positioning.
The 4Ms are: Make, Manage, Monitor, and Measure, and they are used to create and follow an influencer marketing campaign from start to finish. The 4Ms are especially important not to get distracted by the many vanity metrics and secondary achievements that often become the main point of influencer marketing campaigns while focusing on the real benefit of influencer marketing:
Make
“Make the influencer” by understanding at which stage of the customer journey your customers are. Each different position in the funnel would require a different approach to successfully being pushed further down. Therefore knowing which kind of audience you are targeting is extremely important to make the correct decision about which influencers to collaborate with. Identifying the audience of any influencer and understanding how they fit in your sales funnel is the first step to success.
Manage
Manage is the more experimental moment of any campaign. Now that you have the right influencers for your campaign, it is time to see how their audience resonates with a different kind of content. While other influencers may target a similar audience, there can be significant differences in what their audiences enjoy. Considering that the influencer is the one that best knows its audience preferences is essential to keep their ideas in mind and give them at least a fair shot.
Want to learn more about how different content can lead to different outcomes? Check our Wargaming case study!
Monitor
Once the campaign is up and running is vital to monitor it actively. Social webs are not static, and by offering them a stimulus, the marketing campaign, they will answer to it, sometimes in unpredictable ways. By keeping track of mentions, sentiment, and trends around the sponsored content, you can individuate other influencers that will benefit your campaign and how external factors are aiding or disrupting your messaging. By proactively monitoring, you can rapidly adjust your campaign and react to changes in the circumstances that could disrupt your goals.
Measure
As for every marketing campaign, ROI is the most critical metric. Whatever your final goal is, you should have had it very clear since the beginning and have divided it by measurable metrics. Using content categories benchmarks to establish goals and thresholds. Controlling various measurements will make it easy to spot the influencers that overperformed, who underperformed, what kind of content was more effective in achieving your objectives, and much more.
Conclusion
Too often, companies and marketing departments decide to adventure into the world of influencer marketing because they expect it to be the next big thing and to bring results anyway. But like every other form of marketing, influencer marketing needs to have a solid backbone to work, a backbone that will sustain your current strategy and help you improve upon what you have already done, and boost your growth in the future. The 4Ms model provides you with all the tools you need to present and future success. If you are looking for the perfect way to handle your influencer marketing campaigns, look no further than CreatorDB. CreatorDB’s platforms let you access all you need to achieve your influencer marketing goals in one place: from influencers discovery to performance tracking to market analysis. CreatorDB also shows the audience’s sentiment about each influencer’s content and lets you easily differentiate between organic and sponsored content. If you want to succeed in influencer marketing, book your consultation today.
Taipei, Taiwan -CreatorDB is excited to announce its participation in the renowned GamesCom Asia 2023, where it plans to showcase its revolutionary influencer marketing solutions tailored for the gaming industry. This participation underscores CreatorDB’s commitment to innovating and expanding its reach, offering global brands and gamers impactful collaboration opportunities.
The GamesCom Asia event will provide attendees with a firsthand look at CreatorDB’s offerings, honed by an international client service agency. Their services facilitate dynamic collaborations between influencers and brands across the globe, a testament to the company’s continued evolution. Partnerships with notable gaming entities like Zooba and Wargaming highlight their expertise and adaptability.
CreatorDB is on a trajectory of growth and expansion. Beyond GamesCom Asia 2023, the company is slated to join more on-site events in the subsequent months, showcasing its versatile influencer marketing solutions that cater to businesses of every scale and domain.
CreatorDB’s team, a blend of professional expertise and genuine gaming enthusiasts, develops insights and strategies that resonate profoundly within the gaming community. Their approach is marked by authenticity, ensuring strategies that are not only informed but also deeply connected to the gaming ethos.
About CreatorDB
CreatorDB is a leading platform of influencer marketing data, connecting brands and agencies with influencers who align with their values and goals. The company’s innovative platform enables users to search and filter through a database of over 3 million creators globally, making finding the right influencer for any campaign easier than ever. For more information on CreatorDB and its services, visit https://www.creatordb.app/
