Influencer marketing has become a staple in any social media marketing campaign. The industry is currently worth a whopping $13.8 billion and shows no signs of slowing down. Today, many digital agencies and platforms offer influencer marketing services and tools to help brands optimize their campaigns and reach their marketing goals. We’ve gathered all the info about influencer marketing platforms to help your brand succeed in 2023.
What is an influencer marketing platform?
Influencer marketing platforms are digital tools that help brands identify, recruit, and engage with influencers who can promote their products and services. They automate many mundane tasks and processes involved in influencer marketing recruitment and management, such as communication and campaign tracking. In addition, they are usually equipped with analytics tools and built-in communication features to track, scale, and measure your influencer marketing campaign’s progress and success.
Influencer Marketing Platform vs. Agency
Before we explain how to use influencer marketing platforms effectively, it’s important to distinguish them from influencer marketing agencies. On a basic level, influencer marketing agencies manually select influencers based on a brand’s target audience and marketing goals, whereas influencer marketing platforms perform this selection process through a software application.
There are benefits and disadvantages to choosing to work with either. For example, while an influencer marketing platform might select the influencers faster, it is limited by its set pool of creators and AI (Artificial Intelligence) selection process. On the other hand, an influencer marketing agency can offer brands an overall influencer marketing strategy, ensuring that the influencers you’ll be working with will be tailored to your goals throughout the campaign’s lifetime.
So, if your goal is to build a complete influencer marketing campaign, we recommend finding an influencer marketing agency to accommodate your long-term marketing goals. However, if your in-house team has some previous experience with influencer marketing, or you’re simply looking to reach many creators quickly to promote your brand, you can consider utilizing an influencer marketing platform.
How to Use Influencer Marketing Platforms Effectively
The influencer marketing industry grew in popularity due to the increasing number of individuals who turned away from traditional forms of advertising. However, the influx of influencers currently creating content on social media has also brought some challenges for brands, as it can take time to decide which are best for their specific marketing goals. This is where influencer marketing platforms come into play.
The most effective way to approach choosing an influencer marketing platform is by first setting up your marketing goals and budget. To do so, identify what’s missing from your marketing efforts and the platforms on which you may lack brand awareness and engagement. Next, you can assess your social media accounts with the following metrics: audience growth, engagement rate, post shares, overall impressions, video views, and reach. Finally, once you’ve set up some KPIs for success, it’s time to dive into the next step: picking an influencer marketing platform for your brand.
The Best Influencer Marketing Platforms For Brands of All Sizes
In no particular order, here’s our list of the best influencer marketing platforms on the market:
1. Aspire
Notable Features: Influencer Visual Search & Discovery, Influencer Relationship Management, Influencer Campaign ROI Measurement, Influencer Content Creation, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Strategic Services, Creator Marketplace, Custom Workflow Creation, Influencer Promo Codes Creation, Influencer Campaign Management, Payment Processing.
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Blogs
2. Afluencer
Notable Features: Influencer Visual Search & Discovery, Influencer Relationship Management, Occasional Brand Features (in the company’s Newsletter & Platform), Influencer Communication Management, Collaboration Management, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Collaborations Directory, Creator Marketplace, Influencer Content Approval.
Channels: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook
3. Creator.co
Notable Features: Influencer Giveaways, Influencer Collaboration Hub, Social Media Management, Influencer Search & Discovery, Influencer Campaign Management, Content Amplification, Influencer Profiles Analysis, Campaign Reporting System, Influencer Relationship Management.
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok
4. Humanz
Notable Features: Influencer Campaign Management, Influencer Search & Discovery, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Influencer Marketplace, Influencer Custom Links, Influencer Campaign Live Reporting, Competitor Analysis, Content Amplification, Influencer Relationship Management.
Channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok
5. CreatorIQ
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Creator CRM, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Payment Processing, Influencer Campaign Reporting & Analytics, Social Media API Integrations, Community Discovery, Audience Analysis, Influencer Campaign Management, Influencer Content Approval, Competitor Analysis.
Channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok
6. Tagger
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Influencer Campaign Management, Influencer Campaign Reporting & Analysis, Social Media API Integrations, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Influencer Relationship Management, Payment Processing, Influencer Affiliate Link Tracking, Audience Analysis.
Channels: Instagram and YouTube
7. Captiv8
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Influencer Campaign Management, Influencer Campaign Reporting & Analysis, Influencer Relationship Management, Custom Workflow Creation, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Content Amplification, Social Media API Integrations.
Channels: Instagram and YouTube
8. Traackr
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Influencer Campaign Management, Influencer Relationship Management, Campaign Reporting System, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Competitor Research, Influencer Analysis, ROI Calculator.
Channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Blogs
9. Upfluence
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Influencer Profile Performance Metrics, Audience Demographics & Analysis, Influencer Promo Codes Creation, Influencer Payment Management, Influencer Affiliate Management, Influencer Product Seeding & One-Click Orders, Influencer Commission Calculator, ROI Calculator, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Collaboration Features, Campaign Management & Tracking.
Channels: Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Twitch, Tiktok, Twitter, Pinterest, and Blogs
10. Grin
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Campaign Management, Influencer Product Seeding, Influencer Payment Management, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Content Management & Amplification, Campaign Reporting & Analytics, Influencer Relationship Management, Influencer Recruitment, Audience Analysis.
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube
11. Heepsy
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Influencer Authenticity Analysis, Audience Demographics, Influencer Campaign Reporting, Influencer Outreach, Influencer Relationship Management, Ecommerce Platforms Integration, Influencer Performance Analysis, Campaign Reporting & Analytics.
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch
12. impact.com
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Campaign Management & Automation, Influencer Content Management & Amplification, Influencer Campaign Reporting & Analysis, Influencer Relationship Management, Audience Analysis, Content Library, Influencer Product Seeding, Influencer Promo Codes Creation, Ecommerce Platforms Integration.
Channels: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook
13. inBeat
Notable Features: Influencer Search & Discovery, Influencer Campaign Management, Influencer Bulk Content Exports, Influencer Statistics & Analysis, Influencer Relationship Management, Influencer Campaign Reporting, Influencer Outreach.
Channels: Instagram and TikTok