You probably don’t need to purchase a complete platform yet. But here are some manual tools you’ll need to get started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Spreadsheets<\/strong> \u2013 Most of your influencer management will exist within a spreadsheet, whether Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.<\/li>
- Email<\/strong> \u2013 To properly collaborate with your creators, you’ll need a basic suite of email management tools to maintain regular communication.\u00a0<\/li>
- Storage<\/strong> \u2013 You’ll want to download or screenshot influencer content during campaigns and upload them onto a secure cloud drive<\/a>. Additionally, you’ll want to be able to organize your content library by the creator, campaign, post style, and more.<\/li>
- Payment services<\/strong> \u2013 If you’re paying your influencers commissions or flat rates, you’ll need a good system for sending prompt payments electronically.<\/li>
- eSignature tool<\/strong> \u2013 Creator contracts are critical for establishing accountability, content rights, and more.<\/li>
- Social listening<\/strong> \u2013 Some social media platforms give you basic social listening, such as notifications when someone tags your brand. But to catch more UGC online, you may want to look at a few low-cost social listening tools.<\/li>
- Fulfillment tracking<\/strong> \u2013 If you’re like most influencer marketers, you send a lot of products to your creators. Using your ecommerce platform, you’ll need to develop a process for tracking which influencer chose what product, updating that inventory, and then sending that product out on time.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Mid-stage: Scaling your program<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
By mid-stage, you’ve run several successful influencer campaigns, and you have a handful of top performers that you intend to use again. The main problem you’re having at this stage is figuring out how to keep track of all the details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a pretty good idea of what you need to run a successful influencer program. You can “see the light,” but you need a better tech stack to get you there. Now is the perfect time to invest in an influencer marketing platform that automates most of the tasks mentioned above.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Scaling your influencer marketing program will take good influencer marketing tools<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Full stage: Managing a high-performing influencer program<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If you’re running a full-fledged influencer program, you likely have a creator management platform everyone on your team uses to recruit influencers, manage campaigns\/workflows, report performance, and maintain a creator content library. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at this stage, you can refine your program. That might mean that you need a better influencer platform or supporting tools. Or, it could mean that you recognize the need to dial in your influencer selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See Also: How to Sell Your Boss on Influencer Marketing Software [+ Downloadable Pitch Deck]<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n
What do you need your influencer marketing tools to do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When considering a creator management platform, it’s important to determine what your current influencer program looks like today and where you hope to take your program in the near future<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early on, you’ll probably be using spreadsheets, tools within each social platform, and other low-cost tools at your disposal. But eventually, you’ll need a better solution\u2014one that accomplishes more in fewer clicks and does a better job of integrating with your entire marketing tech stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Influencer management support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your chief influencer marketing tool is whatever platform you use to manage your influencer relationships and campaigns. Whether using manual tools (spreadsheets) or automation (creator management platform, IRM software<\/a>, etc.), what you hope is that your management support will help you achieve the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- An exhaustive list of influencer prospects, as well as any active or archived influencers<\/li>
- A system to organize all relevant details on each influencer<\/li>
- A record of communication with creators, including campaign briefs, pitches, and contracts<\/li>
- A library of influencer content posted during campaigns<\/li>
- A database of influencer performance metrics (engagements, revenue, number of posts, etc.)<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Creator discovery & recruitment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Though your creator discovery and recruitment tools<\/a> may come included within your influencer management support, this task is critical enough to merit a separate discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quality of your influencer program comes down to the quality of influencers you partner with. Many marketers lean heavily on a combination of tools to achieve the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Identify influencers that match their buyer personas.<\/li>
- Compare influencer performance.<\/li>
- Track outreach messages and replies.<\/li>
- Identify lookalike influencers (influencers who are similar to other high-performing influencers on your team).<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Campaign management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Launching an influencer marketing campaign requires various workflow and project management tools<\/a>. Keeping your campaigns organized from start to finish requires you to identify tools that will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Compose and save campaign briefs.<\/li>
- Supply relevant tags, hashtags, affiliate links, coupon codes, landing pages, logos, and other content assets.<\/li>
- Track posts and the performance of each.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Creator content library<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When your creators post for a campaign, you’ll need a system for downloading, saving, or taking a screenshot of each post. Within your content library<\/a>, you can confirm that your influencers are posting as agreed. You can also use that library to repurpose high-performing influencer content for paid ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Digital contracts & esignatures<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In this day and age, it’s unfeasible to manage paper contracts with your influencers. Instead, you’ll need a process for sending, negotiating, and signing influencer agreements<\/a> that holds everyone accountable for what you expect from your influencers and how you will compensate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ecommerce store<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Whatever ecommerce platform you’ve chosen for your brand, you’ll need to integrate inventory, selling, and fulfillment with your influencer campaigns. This is especially true if you plan to utilize various social commerce tools, such as in-app shopping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Communication tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Maintaining open communication with your influencers before and during your campaigns is critical. And if you’re using a reliable email provider attached to your domain (like G Suite or Outlook), you’ll have many communication tools at your disposal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Depending on your program size, you may have too many influencers to email individually for every task in every campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As your program grows, consider adding a tool that allows you to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Use targeted email sequences for specific groups.<\/li>
- Send mass emails with personalized tags (such as the influencer’s name, campaign, dates, etc.).<\/li>
- Customize pre-made email templates for outreach, campaign briefs, and more.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Workflow & project management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your influencer program exists as a piece of your greater marketing strategy. As such, you’ll need to coordinate your creator collaborations with other campaigns, such as product launches, experiential marketing events<\/a>, holiday promotions<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A great addition to your influencer marketing technology list is project management or productivity tools that make it easier for you and your team to oversee workflow, timelines, and milestones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Performance tracking & influencer reporting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Performance tracking and reporting<\/a> demonstrate to you and your leadership that your influencer program is working. When your program is young, pulling key metrics from multiple spreadsheets and manually calculating ROI is understandable. But once you’re overseeing numerous campaigns and a handful of influencers, you will need a tool to gather your performance metrics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideally, you want your reporting tool to track:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Number of posts per influencer and per campaign<\/li>
- Post views\/impressions<\/li>
- Engagements per post<\/li>
- Link clicks<\/li>
- Conversions<\/li>
- Influencer costs<\/li>
- Overall ROI<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Automation vs. manual tools: Pros & Cons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Manual tools (spreadsheets, social media platforms, email, etc.)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Manual influencer marketing tools are any free, pre-existing, or general tools you use to get the job done. For new influencer programs, manual tools make the most sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naturally, this approach requires gathering, storing, organizing, and retrieving information from a few different places. But if you don’t have too much data to work with just yet, you’ll be able to launch your program with few issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pros<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
- Little to no financial cost<\/li>
- A clean slate from which to launch your program<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Cons<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
- Time-consuming<\/li>
- Disorganized<\/li>
- Data stored in multiple places and formats<\/li>
- Limited reporting and analytics capabilities<\/li>
- No integrations for ecommerce, email, etc.\u00a0<\/li>
- Impossible to manage at scale without a large team<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Creator management platforms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Once you’re managing a handful of influencers you plan to collaborate with repeatedly, the manual approach won’t suffice (unless you hire a couple of new team members to help you keep track of everything).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Email<\/strong> \u2013 To properly collaborate with your creators, you’ll need a basic suite of email management tools to maintain regular communication.\u00a0<\/li>