Customer Story Making Data Storage Fun: How SanDisk Leverages Creator Partnerships to Stay Top of Mind for Consumers

Hayley Beauregard, digital marketing manager at SanDisk, is reshaping how the company engages with audiences through creator marketing. Rather than seeing creators as traditional salespeople, she recognizes them as powerful brand ambassadors who can authentically connect with their followers.

Hayley acknowledges that today’s savvy audiences, especially Gen Z, can easily spot disingenuous advertising. That’s why her main goal for SanDisk’s creator marketing program is to drive brand lift and awareness that helps keep SanDisk top of mind for potential customers long before they are ready to buy. 

One of SanDisk’s biggest marketing challenges is transforming how consumers think about data storage. By partnering with content creators, Hayley aims to illustrate how storage is integral to everyday life, whether you’re a content creator, gamer, small business owner, or regular cell phone user. “We have to make storage fun and known to people,” says Hayley. “That's why creators are important to the SanDisk brand.”

By turning storage from a technical necessity into something more fun and desirable, SanDisk’s creator marketing program helps demystify data storage and make it more accessible to a broader audience.

Historically, SanDisk relied on agencies to handle all aspects of creator program management, but coordinating efforts and measuring impact across external teams and systems became too logistically challenging.

Moreover, discovering and activating new creators proved too time-consuming, especially given that Hayley was also responsible for SanDisk’s owned social media management.

SanDisk needed a centralized and efficient solution to expedite and optimize creator discovery and program management while still maintaining authentic relationships with creators.

The creator marketing program at SanDisk took a major step forward with the adoption of CreatorIQ. “We came to CreatorIQ because we wanted to bring creator marketing in-house,” says Hayley. Implementing one centralized system brought myriad benefits to the SanDisk team: “One, it saves us a lot of money because we don’t have to pay all these agency fees. Two, we're able to see the data and metrics right then and there within the platform. And three, I love it,” Hayley says.

With CreatorIQ, SanDisk has been able to streamline many of its processes. The platform’s advanced, AI-powered Discovery tool, for instance, significantly expedites the process of finding the best creators to match campaign objectives. Plus, thanks to CreatorIQ’s speedy payment solution, SanDisk is able to provide a much more seamless compensation experience for its creators.

When it comes to measuring impact, SanDisk also leverages CreatorIQ’s affiliate integration with CJ to monitor creator link-tracking performance and report success to its executive team. 

SanDisk's creator marketing program transformed after adopting CreatorIQ. By bringing creator discovery, program management, and measurement in-house, SanDisk has increased its efficiency while reducing costs, and gained deeper, real-time insights into program performance. 

With CreatorIQ’s robust data and analytics, SanDisk can more confidently showcase the effectiveness of its creator marketing efforts and validate the program’s business impact to stakeholders, proving invaluable for securing additional marketing budget and resources.

Looking ahead, SanDisk is exploring innovative ways to leverage creator content beyond creator channels, such as sharing creator-led content on its own website, as well as on partner websites like Best Buy. This move signals a step forward in SanDisk’s creator marketing journey toward the content-first, creator-led future. 

With its focus on creators, SanDisk is redefining how a technology brand can connect with audiences, not just by selling products, but by telling stories. Empowered by CreatorIQ, SanDisk has expanded its creator marketing efforts, making data storage not only relevant but also engaging in the digital age.