Collaborations between influencers and brands are at the heart of influencer marketing. It’s interesting to think that just several years ago, influencers were not in any mainstream marketing plan. Today, influencer collaborations are effective means of marketing.
Because of the popularity of influencer and brand collaborations, marketing teams have an array of tools at their disposal to make managing these partnerships easier and more effective. After all, no two collaborations have the exact same resources and goals, so marketing teams can’t apply cookie cutter management approaches to all.
From choosing the right influencer for a brand or product to managing pricing and payments to creators, running a successful influencer collaboration program involves a number of tasks that may get overwhelming when you have several campaigns running at once.
We’ve rounded up the nine best tools for brand collaborations to help you manage your influencer marketing campaigns.
Top Tools for Brand Collaborations With Influencers:
A top-tier tool designed for brands that aim to remain at the cutting edge of social trends, Brandwatch offers comprehensive features to understand and engage with customers in real-time. As the digital world moves at an unprecedented speed, Brandwatch stands as an ally for brands keen to evolve and adapt efficiently. Detailed pricing is provided after booking a meeting, ensuring a tailored approach to your brand’s needs. Three plans are available: Key Features: Influencer Discovery, Influencer directory management, Creation of private influencer network, Campaign management and reporting, Broad platform coverage, Automated reporting, Channels: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, TikTok, Shopify Creator.co’s Collaboration Hub makes it easy for brands to create campaigns and look for influencers to partner with. On the other side of the fence, it also serves as a platform for creators to work with their favorite brands and participate in various influencer marketing programs. With packages ranging from self-serve accounts to fully customized and tailor-fit accounts, Creator.co was built with small businesses in mind. Meanwhile, influencers can join its creator community and participate in gifted and paid campaigns with partner brands. The company started in 2018 as Shop and Shout, an influencer marketplace that focused on micro-influencers and small enterprises. As Creator.co, it hasn’t shifted its focus all that much, still catering to medium and small businesses that have no dedicated marketing teams. Its automated campaigns have contributed to its success in this market, so much so that even big brands have begun to use the platform as well. Key Features: Search/Discovery, Automated Recruiting, Influencer Relationship Management, Influencer Marketplace, Content Review, Content Library, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Fake Follower/Fraud Detection, Payment Processing, Social Listening, Competitor Research, Creator Marketplace, Channels: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok Looking to streamline your influencer marketing efforts? Modash is the go-to tool for managing brand collaborations with influencers without the headache of going back and forth constantly. Modash centralizes the key aspects of brand-influencer collaborations, such as discovery, analysis, outreach, and workflows, making it a game-changer for brands. Pricing Structure: Pricing starts at $99/month. Key Features: Influencer Discovery, Influencer Analytics, Influencer Campaign Monitoring, Influencer Management, LTK, a distinguished Brand collaboration tool, has carved a niche for itself by seamlessly connecting brands with influential creators. This platform is not just a tool; it’s a comprehensive ecosystem that enhances your brand’s digital presence and influencer marketing strategies. At the heart of LTK’s offerings are its Brand Collaborations features, designed to amplify your brand’s reach and resonance. The platform excels in end-to-end campaign management, ensuring every aspect of your influencer collaboration is meticulously planned and executed. With LTK, you gain access to Creator Powered Marketing, a strategy that leverages the authenticity and reach of creators to drive your brand’s message home. Pricing range: Available upon request Key Features: Search/Discovery, Content Review, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, Product/Gifting Tools, Forms and Compliance, Payment Processing, Channels: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Blogs, LTK App Featuring luxury brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Lancôme, and Dior, Skeepers is an influencer marketing platform in the beauty, fashion, and lifestyle market. Eligible influencers can join through social media campaigns from the world’s leading brands. Essentially, once they join, they can look for available products to try for free and if a brand accepts, the product is shipped to the creator, who can then make a post about it. Skeepers works with three social media platforms: YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. For a YouTuber to be eligible, they need to have at least 1,000 subscribers with an average of 2,000 views for their last five uploads. On Instagram, a minimum of 1,000 followers is also required plus a 2% engagement rate. For all platforms, you need an active account that publishes relevant content consistently. Pricing range: Not available on the website Key Features: Campaign Management, Influencer Discovery, Social Media Monitoring, Faceted Search / Filtering, Channels: Tik Tok, Instagram, Shopify, Retail Sites, Brand Website SocialLadder is an end-to-end creator management platform to help organize all your partnerships. Whether they’re loyal brand ambassadors that promote their favorite products or influencers to help you grow brand awareness, SocialLadder’s platform helps you manage all of them in one dashboard. Pricing range: Upon request, free demo available. For those looking for the most budget-friendly options, Buzzbassador has you covered. The company was founded by Shopify merchants Calvin and Shelby, who ran an online women’s clothing store. Success did not come quite so easily to them, so they decided to do brand ambassador marketing to boost their sales. After much research and testing, they launched their campaign with micro-influencers and were able to generate a massive 1,566% increase in sales. Because of their experience as brands looking for ambassadors to engage with, the founders established Buzzbassador to cater to eCommerce businesses like themselves. Their firsthand experience on what eCommerce brands need in terms of influencer and brand ambassador marketing has given them the right perspective to suit similar markets. Pricing range: $39 to $499, free 14-day trial available Manifest, stylized as “MNFST,” is an app that targets new or upcoming influencers who may need more experience. Unlike most of the tools on our list, MNFST does not require you to have a minimum number of followers before you can join and participate in collaborations. All you have to do is download the app on iOS or Android, connect your Instagram account, and look for a campaign you are interested in joining. Influencers can either get paid for the number of impressions or number of actions. The cool thing about MNFST is that since it is made for emerging influencers, it helps you develop and optimize your social profile in order to gain more followers and be a full-fledged influencer. MNFST specializes in crowd-promotion campaigns for brands. It uses branded video segmentation or augmented reality masks to engage hundreds of thousands of influencers. Given its focus on influencers who may need a bit more reach and experience, crowd promotions plus native integrations are its strengths. According to the company, this marketing combination can reach millions of consumers with a lower CPM and increased ER. Some of the brands that MNFST work with are Nestlé, Vivid, Yango Deli, and Bolt. Pricing range: Not available on the website Collabor8 is another app that aims to connect influencers and brands on a one-on-one basis. Branding itself as the “Tinder of influencer marketing,” it’s the first mobile app to offer “matchmaking” services for brands and creators. It’s perfect for influencers who are only beginning to grow their followers, as Collabor8 welcomes all brands and influencers to sign up on the app, no matter the size. Despite its wide net, the app has powerful filters that allow brands to search for the right influencer depending on geographic location, follower count, gender, and industry. Influencers can also request to collaborate with brands they like, and brands can set limits on creators who can send a request. Much like Tinder, Collabor8 also allows in-app messaging between parties who have accepted each other as partners. When a request to collaborate has been approved, the parties can then communicate and move the partnership forward. However, currently, the app does not really provide more tools beyond matching you with a brand or influencer and handling payments securely. Pricing range: Free to join and collaborate, additional services and functions available for a fee Built for eCommerce businesses, Grin is a top creator management platform. The company has won various awards this year from G2, including “best usability,” “best results,” and “best relationship.” These awards are not unfounded, because of Grin’s easy-to-use platform. It caters to all types and sizes of businesses, so its software can handle even a large number of creators, products, and agencies. It has integrated with major social media platforms, plus eCommerce sites like Shopify and Magento. Communication channels include Gmail, Outlook, SMS, and Slack. Pricing range: Customized depending on your needs and business resources Key Features: Content Amplification, Search/Discovery, Influencer Lifecycle Management, Influencer Relationship Management, Content Review, Content Library, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis, E-commerce Tools, Product/Gifting Tools, Forms and Compliance, Channels: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube1. Brandwatch Influencer Marketing Software
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2. Creator.co
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3. Modash
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4. LTK (formerly rewardStyle)
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5. Skeepers
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6. SocialLadder
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7. Buzzbassador
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For Influencers Just Starting Out
8. MNFST
9. Collabor8
10. Grin
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Why Collaborate With Influencers?
These days, collaborations are what drive digital marketing. The creator market is in full swing. People no longer turn solely to their favorite actors and actresses’ endorsements. In the digital age, influencers can have as much impact as A-list celebrities, if not more. The optics of the boy- or girl-next-door who “looks like me” has a greater effect in advertising and marketing than a glamorous image of a celebrity.
Collaborations are a way for brands and creators to make marketing more authentic. Influencer apps and tools like the ones we listed help brands achieve their sales targets through collaborations.
