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In today’s digital age, platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have become essential marketing channels for brands. While traditional advertising methods still hold relevance, the rise of creator culture and the shift toward influencer marketing have forced marketers to adapt.
Creating platform- and creator-first campaigns has emerged as a popular approach to reaching younger audiences and building a loyal customer base. Below, 15 Forbes Agency Council members share their best tips for creating a successful campaign that leads with a creator partner’s content and platform and still effectively meets the brand’s marketing goals.
1. Map The Customer Marketing Journey
Think all the way through the customer marketing journey, from the creator’s first touch point to the action you’d like your prospect to take as a result of connecting to your brand by way of the influencer. Throwing dollars and products at an influencer and expecting their content to drive a return is not a fully-baked approach. Map the path in advance to drive better results. - Carm Lyman, Lyman Agency
2. Translate Values Into A Purpose
As a marketer, the key is to understand your brand’s ethos and then translate those values into a purpose—a mission that people, and creators in particular, will be able to get behind. Setting up this framework and communicating it clearly will enable creators to buy into the brand platform on an emotional level while giving them enough room to contribute creatively. - William Soulier, Talent Village
3. Get Genuine Product Endorsements
Have a clear vision of your brand’s purpose, as well as the clear benefit of the product you’re promoting. Then, choose creators who align with your core values, believe in your product and are great storytellers so your ad sounds like genuine personal endorsements. Be sure to onboard them to your brand and product prior to launch, and set clear campaign key performance indicators to set expectations of success. - Kurt Kaufer, Ad Results Media
4. Work With Creators Who Understand Social Trends
Start by aligning with the right influencers and content creators—they’re the ones who truly understand all the platform nuances, content trends and what’s going to resonate with audiences. Instead of dedicating resources to the near-impossible task of staying on top of constantly changing social trends and technologies, partner with the people who already speak the language. - Danielle Wiley, Sway Group
5. Find Creators Who Are Passionate About Your Product
Partner with creators who passionately use your product and can easily articulate the benefits they like most about it. Empower them to speak to their audience in their own authentic way that their followers recognize, trust and engage with most. In our experience, scaling creator posts with paid boosting on the social channels they appear on can be 80% more efficient than running traditional ads on the same platforms. - Rodney Mason, LTK
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6. Know Where Your Audience Spends Time Online
First, know your audience—meaning, find out where they spend most of their time online, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or forums—that’s where you want to focus your creator-first campaign. Second, find a creator who already follows and uses the brand’s services or products because authenticity is the key, versus coaching a creator to turn into a “fan” of the brand. - Stephanie Sprayregen, Spray Marketing
7. Ask Creators Which Products They Use Daily
Start with your creators (if you don’t have them, source them), and ask which products they use daily. This is a good approach for marketers to take because, first, those creators are already generating valuable content, and second, the client will want to work with a creator who is already speaking about the product or industry consistently within their social channels. Content from the heart always performs better. - Mark Cunha, My People Know
8. Eschew Automation In Favor Of Human-Driven Campaigns
While many creator platforms tout the ability to scale efficiently via technology, you lose effectiveness when you don’t also have an experienced marketer at the helm to guide all aspects of the campaign. It takes a human touch to ensure you check all of the boxes for both creators and the brands sponsoring the content. - Cooper Munroe, The Motherhood Inc.
9. Prioritize Partnerships And Creating Content Of Value
The best tip for creating a platform- and creator-first campaign is to prioritize authentic partnerships and value creation for the creator and their audience. This approach allows marketers to tap into the creator’s unique voice and audience trust, creating more engaging and effective campaigns, building long-term relationships with creators, increasing brand loyalty and amplifying reach. - Adrian Falk, Believe Advertising & PR
10. Build A Strong Platform-Creator-Audience Relationship
To create a platform- and creator-first campaign, focus on building a strong relationship between the platform, creator and audience. Prioritize the creator’s voice and values to create authentic and engaging campaigns. This approach builds trust and loyalty, resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates. - Eroslav Georgiev, Orange Trail
11. Allow Creators To Have Creative Control
One of the best tips for creating a platform- and creator-first campaign is to prioritize authenticity and collaboration with the creators involved. This means allowing them to have creative control over the content they produce while ensuring that the campaign goals align with the values and messaging of the platform and the creators. - Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO
12. Ask Creators To Pitch Their Best Ideas
Creator-first campaigns focus on the platforms you have the most engagement around. You can best utilize your influencers by asking them to bring their best, most creative and stickiest ideas to the plate that will grab your consumers’ attention and have them coming back for more. - Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne LLC
13. Focus On Scale, Not ‘Whale’
It’s better to drop $2,000 apiece on 50 “momfluencers” for placements versus $100,000 on a “whale influencer” for our beauty and baby-gear clients because we can reuse 50 pieces of content and optimize them for all prospects coming into the funnel. Big placements with one influencer are risky—do 50 placements, and discover and grow your own. - Matt Wilson, Eastport Holdings
14. Make Good Content Your No. Goal
Content that solves problems, inspires and entertains will always perform. Different platforms appeal to different audiences; the savvy creator knows this and tailors content for those communities. Cast a campaign that comprises creators whose audiences align with your target consumer, then let them create the content they know their followers will value. - Laurie Buckle, CookIt Media
15. Building Solid Relationships With Creators
Focus on building relationships with creators, rather than using them as a marketing tool. By prioritizing the creators’ interests and goals, businesses can create campaigns that resonate with their target audience and generate engagement. This also benefits marketers by allowing them to tap into the creators’ creativity and expertise, resulting in more effective campaigns that align with their brand values. - Tony Pec, Y Not You Media
