On Nov. 30, a panel of marketing pros gathered to discuss the findings of CreatorIQ’s 2024 Influencer Marketing Trends Report. The webinar, which you can rewatch here, was packed with insight into the future of creator marketing… but we didn’t have time to cover everything.
Below are some important audience questions that our experts didn’t have time to answer during the webinar.
1. Are affiliate creators receiving a flat fee, or just commission?
Riley Cronin
President and Co-Founder of ZeroTo1
For micro-creators, use product gifting plus an affiliate commission. For midtier and macro-creators, use a blend of product, commission, and cash. Use the commission percentage to negotiate a better rate so that you have fewer upfront costs.
Brit Starr
SVP, Marketing at CreatorIQ
Compensation can come in all shapes and sizes. A recent CreatorIQ survey of 120+ affiliate creators found that flat fees are the most common. On average, affiliate creators bring in 31% of their creator income from campaign-based flat rates. That’s followed by pay per post (24%) and commission on referred sales (15%).
The full findings of this affiliate creator survey will be released early next year, but you can get a sneak peek here.
2. How do I know how much to pay creators?
Grace Niu
Brand Engagement, Influencer Marketing Manager at Quest Nutrition
There are various tools searchable on the internet, but we lean on our agency partners to assist with rates, as they work with a wide range of creators (and clients) day in and day out. If you are on your own, it can be a bit of a test-and-learn approach. I recommend reading the various reports such as the ones CreatorIQ can provide.
Brit
Payment expectations—and transparency—are a big gap in the industry, and even within organizations. Start at home by making sure you’re able to track and share payments across teams/team members/agency partners, as well as regions/divisions for larger companies.
For a deeper dive, we recommend checking out ANA’s invaluable Influencer Pay Equity Guide. The 2023 edition, which just dropped last month, walks you through best practices for campaign planning, evaluating risk, and setting compensation.
3. How can creators be utilized in a service-based, rather than product-based, organization?
Riley
When looking for creators to promote a service, start with your customer base. Take a mass “micro” approach and go for volume, or use a tool to pull social metrics from your customers to see who would be a good fit. Service-based creator campaigns are all about reviews and testimonials, so make sure that the creator is adept and educated on your service.
Grace
Find authentic users who can articulate and showcase the benefits of the service, and how or why they find the service to be a game changer. People want to find shortcuts and reasons to believe why a service will make their life easier.
4. What metrics should I track to determine creator ROI?
Brit
From a program standpoint, define your goals and outcomes first. A lot of our clients use EMV and Share of Influence (against competitors) over time to measure brand outcomes more effectively. Those metrics are similar to traditional metrics like reach, impressions, and engagements, and are highly correlated to desirability metrics like Google search volume, web traffic, and conversion. Benchmarking your progress over time, both against yourself and against competitors, will help you measure more holistically.
5. How can lesser-known brands control the narrative when it comes to creator marketing?
Riley
For smaller brands, I would be less focused on controlling the narrative, because you have less to be protective over. I would consider a strong influencer seeding program: gift your product to 200-500 influencers a month with no strings attached, then use social listening to see which influencers post organically about your product. For those who do, follow up with an affiliate link, additional product, or cash (for bigger creators) to incentivize further posting.
Brit
Find creators who are already speaking about your brand or products—or are creating content about similar products or values. If you start there, you have a built-in community from Day 1.
Influencer marketing was born out of smaller brands’ need to use products as currency versus paying to play (advertising, distribution). The goal is to get products into the hands of advocates to spread word of mouth. If you focus on that—and have a good product—it can be a game changer.
6. How are influencer teams typically organized? I’m a one-woman team looking to expand.
Grace
If you are a one-person show, like we are, agency partners are key. Find one you like that has a robust support team and a CSM that you enjoy working with. Interns are also a resource if you’re able to support an intern program.
Riley
Consider working with an agency to expand your influencer efforts. If you’re looking to manage all on your own, partner with CreatorIQ to make sourcing, outreach, and reporting more efficient. Maximize your relationships and be resourceful—ask your top-performing influencers to refer their friends in the same vertical.