The 6 Best Influencer Platforms for Creators
We’re always trying to find the best influencer platforms for creators so that we can find brands to work with that align with our mission, get our foot in the door, and hopefully build a relationship with that company. Cold pitching can be exhausting, tedious and sometimes doesn't get us anywhere, so at least with creator platforms we know that we are reaching the right people at the brand.
But there are truly so many different influencer marketing platforms out there, how are we supposed to know which ones are worth putting our time and energy into?
Well, today we’re diving into the influencer platforms that I’ve had the most luck with in my 3+ years of being a full-time creator.
If you want to learn more about finding success on influencer platforms, you can also listen to our episode of Soulcial Scoop podcast with the Creator Initiatives Manager at #paid, Danny Desatnik. You can find the link to this episode in the description below.
Aspire
Brands I’ve worked with: HelloFresh, Ruggable, Michaels, Hippeas, Vistaprint, Hush Puppies, 1800Contacts, Poppi, Raw Generation, Choice Organics
Easily the platform that I’ve had the most success with
Browse through Ambassador opportunities as well as paid opportunities
Some brands have their rates capped while others allow you to bid
Aspire will give you a rate that is suggested, but in my experience, it’s always been quite lower than what I would typically charge.
You can message back and forth with this brand to negotiate with them.
Make sure you’re reading the agreements all the way through because most include perpetual usage which in my opinion is a big no-no. I’ve always been able to let the brands know that I do not offer this, and they’re removed it from the agreement.
When working with a brand, you submit all of your content via Aspire as well as get paid via Aspire. I have hooked up my PayPal account for payment.
Now more than ever they’re looking for more nano and micro influencers on the platform
Hashtag Paid
Brands I’ve worked with: Nuuly, Kinky Vodka, Risata Wines, A to Z Wineworks, Cerebral
You can either wait for Hashtag Paid to present you with a campaign via their portal or you can check out their job board to apply to campaigns that you’d like to work on.
There are a lot of opportunities here for sponsored work but also for content creation or user-generated content (UGC).
Just about every opportunity I’ve ever seen on #Paid is, well, paid.
For all of the jobs that I’ve ever applied to, I’ve been able to bid with my own rates vs. the brand having set rates for the campaign.
You can message back and forth with the brand to negotiate.
When you’ve secured a campaign, all of the content is submitted via #Paid as well as the payments.
A lot of opportunities for those in Canada
Activate Social
Brands I’ve worked with: Nurx, Carmex, GoDaddy, AHA Sparkling Water, Luigi’s Italian Ice, San Pellegrino
Brands list their campaign on a job board with requirements for each campaign
Because the jobs are listed by the brand or agency, it’s easy to build rapport. I’ve built great relationships with a lot of the agencies that use Activate, so whenever I see new campaigns from those brands, I have a better shot at getting my name in the ring.
A brand can also invite you to a collaboration if they specifically want you.
You can sort through partnerships by compensation, collaboration type or different platforms.
They offer collabs that are flat fee, big, non-cash, or performance-based.
You can message back and forth with the brand to negotiate and share ideas.
With most brands, I’ve done all my content submissions through the Activate platform, but with some, we take things off Activate over to email.
They also provide you with a “Tasks” tab so you can see what tasks you have that are outstanding for each partnership.
Typically, I’m paid via the platform that goes direct deposit into my bank.
Popular Pays
Brands I’ve worked with: None! I just got on the platform, but it’s a favorite among many of my creator friends.
Brands list all of the suggested gigs based on the profile that you’ve created.
You can sort the gigs by platform. UGC (content creation) is also offered here. In fact, there are quite a lot of UGC partnerships on Pop Pays - probably more than any other platform that I’ve used.
Some campaigns do have a set rate while others allow you to bid. Sometimes for the bidding campaigns, they give you a “suggested rate” that you can choose to follow or not.
Make sure to pay attention to the campaign usage requirements as many of them do require full usage rights.
Fohr
Brands I’ve worked with: Shutterfly, OLLY, Suave, Frangelico
My favorite thing about the Fohr platform is that it shows you a ton of insight into your own content. You can see so many different graphs and charts that show you your progress and performance insights. Brands can also see this information.
There is a “Bulletin” job board on Fohr, but to be honest, I rarely find jobs there. Almost never.
Being in the Fohr network gives the agency your information so that they can reach out via email when they think that you’re a good fit for a campaign.
The only high-paying collaborations I’ve gotten through Fohr have been ones that they’ve sent me via email.
For these, they’re treated like a normal partnership where they give me the deliverables, timeline, and campaign info, and I provide them with a rate. Then, we negotiate, and most everything else is done via email.
When it comes time to submit content, you do that through the Fohr platform as well as your insights.
I’m usually paid via Bill.com for partnerships on Fohr.
IZEA
Brands I’ve worked with: T-Mobile, Humphrey’s Witch Hazel, Truist, Skintimate
There aren’t always a ton of campaigns that pop up on IZEA, but I think it’s still worth being on the platform.
A lot of brands use IZEA to host their campaigns that they’re casting via email meaning you may not be able to apply to the campaign but once they’ve engaged you via email, you will have to have an IZEA account to do everything else: contracts, submissions, stats, payment, etc.
I’ve worked with Humphrey’s Witch Hazel and Trust through applications that I’ve submitted via the email while T-Mobile and Skintimate are partnerships that I’ve been engaged via email for and used IZEA to host the collaboration.
For the partnerships that you can apply to, most give you the opportunity to submit your own rates.
You can chat back and forth with the brand to negotiate.
Honorable Mentions
Mavrck
Quotient
Acorn
Takumi App
Let me know which platform is your favorite, and if you’re interested in hearing more about my influencer platform best practices, let me know in the comments below.
