Influencer marketing can be an effective tool to grow your business. According to a survey from Mediakix, 89% of marketers say the return on investment from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other channels.

Influencer marketing has become increasingly popular in recent years because it is seen as a more authentic and effective form of marketing than traditional advertising.

In fact, 71% of marketers rated customers and site traffic from influencers as better qualified than those coming from other marketing sources such as PR, paid search, social media, SEO, and email.

However, finding and connecting with social media influencers in your business niche can be time-consuming and hit or miss. This is where influencer marketing platforms come in.

What Are Influencer Marketing Platforms?

Influencer Marketing Platforms bridge the gap between your brand and content creators, such as Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitch, and TikTok influencers.

Influencer marketing platforms can help you reduce the amount of time you spend profiling and connecting with new influencers.

Suppose you are considering using social media influencers as part of your marketing and promotional efforts. In that case, an influencer marketing platform can help you to connect with influencers of varying audience sizes who have a dedicated following in your specific niche.

Some influencer marketing platforms essentially act as intermediaries, facilitating both your interaction with and payment to the influencer. Others offer an extensive, self-serve database of influencers searchable by niche, audience size, platform, and other important metrics.

In other words, you could search specifically for Instagram parenting influencers or parenting influencers across various channels, including YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok.

This can be helpful if you plan to manage your influencer campaigns in-house instead of using an agency.

Generally speaking, most influencer marketing platforms are fairly sophisticated search engines, and many offer additional agency services to assist your business in your influencer marketing efforts.

Different Types of Influencer Campaigns

Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool to promote your products and services. Some ways that influencers can promote your brand include:

Sponsored content 

In this type of influencer content, also known as “shoutouts” or product mentions, the influencer creates a photo, video, or blog post featuring your product. Your company provides the influencer with a creative brief outlining your company’s requirements for the sponsored content. It is important to give your influencers a significant amount of creative freedom. After all, no one knows how to connect with their audience better than they do.

Reviews

Reviews are one of the most common influencer posts. A brand offers its product or service to the influencer in exchange for a review. The upside for the reviewer is that they often have the opportunity to use or try the product before the general public and get the product for free. Of course, the upside for the brand is that if the influencer enjoys the product or finds it useful, the review can be quite influential. The downside for your company is that offering a free product in exchange for a review does not guarantee a positive mention. If the influencer does not like your product, they will also communicate that to their audience.

Giveaways and competitions

Giveaways and competitions are a win-win-win for influencers, your business, and their fans. With giveaways, your company would offer a free product or service for the influencer to giveaway to their followers. Generally, to enter, followers must engage with either the influencer’s post (such as tagging a friend or using a particular hashtag) or your company itself (such as liking or following your company’s social media channel.) Giveaways and competitions can be effective marketing tools because of the inherent positive excitement involved in the giveaway.

Content and product collaborations

Collaborations between brands and influencers can take many different forms, but content and product collaborations are two of the most common.

In a content collaboration, an influencer creates original content featuring a brand’s products or services. This could be anything from a review or unboxing video to a blog post or Instagram post.

On the other hand, a product collaboration typically involves the influencer using the brand’s products in their everyday life and then sharing those experiences with their followers.

Product collaborations can take many forms, from traditional endorsements to more organic integrations. Whether it’s content or products, collaborations between brands and influencers can effectively reach new audiences and build trust and credibility with potential customers.

This type of influencer marketing is often seen in the beauty and fashion industries. With product collaborations, influencers often create their own line of accessories, beauty products, or other products under the brand, such as an eyeshadow palette or a furniture line.

Long-term brand ambassadors

A long-term brand ambassador is an influencer who partners with your company for an extended period of time, acting as a spokesperson or the “face” of your brand. A long-term ambassador promotes your brand for several months to several years. The advantage to your business is that it keeps your company top of mind for the influencer’s audience, and a long-term relationship with the influencer creates more trust and authenticity with their audience.

“Takeovers” on your social media platform 

Takeovers are a popular way to create fresh content, give followers a behind-the-scenes look, and build relationships between influencers and the brands they work with.

In a takeover, an influencer takes over the brand’s social media account for a period of time, usually a day or a week.

During this time, the influencer posts content in line with the brand’s values and mission. This content might include photos, videos, or even short updates about what the influencer is up to.

Takeovers provide an opportunity for brands to reach new audiences and give their followers a behind-the-scenes look at their favorite influencers. Additionally, takeovers can help build relationships between brands and influencers, which often result in long-term partnerships.

For example, a fashion blogger might take over a clothing brand’s Instagram account to show her followers how the clothes are designed and made.

Or, a travel influencer could take over a hotel’s Snapchat account to give viewers a property tour.

Takeovers can be an effective way to increase exposure for both the influencer and the brand, and they often result in high levels of engagement from followers.

How Can An Influencer Marketing Platform Help Your Business?

An influencer marketing platform can help your business by connecting your brand with social media influencers who have a large following and can promote products or services to their followers.

This type of marketing can be extremely effective in reaching potential customers and increasing sales.

The key to successful influencer marketing is finding the right platform that works for your business and its goals. There are many different influencer marketing platforms to choose from, so it is important to do some research to find the one that is the best fit.

Influencer marketing platforms can help your business by simplifying your influencer search and streamlining outreach.

Some of the biggest benefits of using influencer marketplaces and platforms include:

• Self-service marketplaces and platforms put the power in your hands 
• Great for a savvy in-house team
• More affordable since you’re only paying to use the platform
• Monthly subscriptions make it even more cost-effective if you’re only running a few small campaigns a year
• Gives you direct access to influencers or their representatives
• Easy access to your campaign performance and real-time analytics
• No lag or lead time to implement changes to your campaign whenever you want to

How to Select an Influencer Marketplace

There are a few key factors to consider when selecting an influencer marketing marketplace.

First, consider the size of the platform. A larger platform will likely have a greater selection of influencers to choose from and more detailed data on each influencer’s performance. However, a smaller platform may offer more personalization and one-on-one support.

Second, consider the fees charged by the marketplace. Some platforms charge a percentage of the total campaign budget, while others charge a flat fee. Be sure to compare the pricing structures of multiple platforms before deciding.

Finally, consider the level of support offered by the marketplace. Some platforms provide extensive resources and training materials, while others provide more limited support. Choose a platform that offers the level of support you will need, especially if you are new to influencer marketing. Here’s what to look for:

• A broad and diverse group of influences
• Seamless collaboration
• Publish and distribute content
• Fully managed solution
• Detailed analytics

Some Top Platforms

While there are hundreds of influencer of marketing platforms to help you grow your business, you’ll find a few options below to get started.

Creator.co 

When it comes to influencer marketing, there are a lot of different platforms to choose from. One good option is Creator.co, which bills itself as a “creator-first” platform. Here’s a look at some of the pros and cons of using Creator.co for your influencer marketing campaigns:

Pros:

• Allows you to connect with a wide range of creators, including YouTubers, Instagrammers, bloggers, and more 
• Offers a variety of affordable price points 
• The interface is user-friendly and easy to navigate 
• Provides detailed campaign insights and analytics 

Cons:

• The selection of creators may be limited in certain categories

 Afluencer

Afluencer is an online platform that connects businesses with social media influencers. The website allows businesses to browse through a database of influencers and view their profiles, including the number of followers they have, their average engagement rate, and the type of content they typically post. Businesses can also use the platform to contact influencers directly and negotiate deals. Afluencer takes a percentage of each deal that is made through the platform.

Pros:

• Overall, Afluencer is a convenient way for businesses to find and connect with social media influencers 

• The platform makes it easy to view relevant information about potential partners and provides a simple way to negotiate deals

Cons:

• The site is not free to use – businesses must pay a monthly subscription fee in order to access the database and use the tools

• Some users have reported difficulty in getting in touch with customer service representatives when problems arise

Upfluence

Upfluence is a self-service influencer marketing platform that gives brands the ability to find, contact, and collaborate with influencers.

The platform has a database of over 10 million influencers across all major social media platforms, making it easy to find the right fit for your campaign.

Upfluence also offers a suite of tools to help with every aspect of your influencer marketing campaign, from content creation to tracking and analytics. Upfluence remains a popular choice for many businesses due to its overall ease of use and a large selection of influencers.

Pros:

• The platform makes it easy to find relevant influencers in your niche
• The tools offered by Upfluence can save time and effort when it comes to managing influencer relationships
• Upfluence offers a variety of tools to help brands maximize their influencer campaigns, such as campaign tracking and reporting, customized URL shortening, and follow-up

Cons:

• Because it can be difficult to track results and metrics using the platform, it can be hard to measure the ROI of an influencer marketing campaign 
• Upfluence charges a relatively high commission fee, which can eat into profits 
• The platform relies heavily on automated processes, which can sometimes lead to errors or inaccurate data 

Shoutcart

If you’re looking for a reliable and affordable way to promote your brand, ShoutCart is worth checking out.

With over 3 million followers across all major social media platforms, ShoutCart has a huge reach, and they’re constantly adding new users. Plus, their prices are very competitive — you can get started for as little as $5 per day.

Additionally, if you’re not happy with the results, you can always cancel your campaign and get a full refund. Overall, Shoutcart is a decent option for businesses exploring influencer marketing.

Pros:

• It’s quick and easy to use, and it provides access to a wide range of potential influencers
• It’s relatively affordable, making it a good option for businesses on a tight budget 

Cons:

• The quality of influencers on the platform can be somewhat hit-or-miss 
• There’s no way to really vet potential influencers before working with them, so there’s always the risk that they may not be a good fit for your brand 

Social Bond

Social Bond is a newer social media platform that promises to revolutionize the way brands connect with influencers. Unlike other platforms, Social Bond allows brands to directly connect with influencers without a middleman. This marketing platform is quickly gaining popularity among both brands and influencers alike.

Pros:

• The Direct-to-Influencer (D2I) model cuts out the middleman, which can save on costs. D2I gives brands more control over the influencer relationship 
• A unique model allows brands to more easily track the results of their campaigns

Cons:

• It may be more difficult to find the right influencer for your brand
• You may not have as much negotiating power as with platforms that negotiate on your behalf
• The platform does not offer any guidance on how to create an effective influencer marketing campaign 
• Social media influencers on Social Bond are not required to disclose their relationship with the brands they partner with, which can lead to credibility issues and violation of some platforms’ terms of service

Grapevine

Grapevine is a micro-influencer marketing platform that allows brands to connect with more than 175K social media influencers. The platform makes it easy for brands to find and contact influencers and manage campaigns and payments. Grapevine also provides tools for tracking campaign performance.

Pros:

• The platform is easy to use and navigate. It’s a great way to connect with influencers in your niche
• You can view an influencer’s profile before you contact them, so you can see their work and get an idea of their style 
• The platform makes it easy to track campaign performance 

Cons:

• Grapevine takes a 20% commission on all payments made through the platform, which can eat into your budget 
• Some users have reported that the quality of influencers on Grapevine can be hit or miss

Final Thoughts 

Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool to help grow your business because it is perceived as more authentic and has been proven to be more effective than traditional advertising. That said, finding the right social media influencers can be a challenging task without the right tools. Influencer marketing marketplaces can help you find the right influencer partners to help your business grow.