Influencer Marketing Platforms: 5+ Tools for Your Brand

Do you want to grow online more authentically and creatively? Use influencer marketing. It involves collaborating with popular social media users so their followers discover your brand and its offerings. 

However, building a successful influencer marketing program requires significant effort. From identifying the right influencers and reaching out to them to devising a content plan, there’s a lot at play.

That’s where influencer marketing platforms come into play. They can help find content creators, build effective campaigns, and monitor their performance. 

This article will walk you through everything you need to know about influencer marketing tools, including top platforms to use. 

What Are Influencer Marketing Platforms?

Are you wondering what influencer marketing platforms are exactly? They’re companies or software designed to help businesses create influencer marketing strategies. 

Some could be marketplaces that help connect brands with social media influencers in their niche. Others may help communicate or monitor campaign analytics for brands and influencers. 

They can also be agencies with real specialists who help brands build influencer partnerships. 

From brands new to influencer marketing to large companies, an influencer marketing tool can be increasingly valuable. 

Why Do You Need Influencer Marketing Platforms for Small Businesses?

Whether you launch your maiden influencer marketing program or 90^th, here are some reasons to use influencer marketing tools. 

• Find Social Media Influencers Easily

Finding relevant influencers for your influencer marketing campaigns can be tough. However, the right influencer marketing platforms for small businesses make it a breeze. 

They help you easily connect with content creators of your choice. These platforms use AI to match you with scores of influencers based on your goals, audience demographics, and your niche. 

Not only that, but they also automate outreach, so your influencer campaigns take off smoothly right from the get-go.

• Streamline Your Campaign Management

Managing a successful campaign involves various tasks, such as connecting with influencers, launching the campaign, and keeping track of results.

An influencer marketing platform streamlines all these tasks into one convenient place. In simple terms, it helps you work smarter—not harder.

• Improve Tracking & Reporting

How does a brand show that its influencer marketing efforts are successful? By displaying great results. 

With an influencer platform, marketers and brands can see the performance of their campaigns in real time. It includes click-through, conversion, and engagement rates. 

This information helps companies share best-performing social media posts and key stats and provides insights for future campaigns. 

Top Influencer Marketing Platforms To Boost Your Influencer Campaigns

According to one report from Hubspot, 89% of marketers and brands use influencer marketing and will continue to do so. Moreover, over 70% of Millennials and Gen Z follow influencers on social media. This shows how crucial influencer marketing has become for brands. 

Do you want to start your first influencer marketing campaign or streamline certain steps for your team? 

Regardless of your reason, here are 5 top influencer marketing platforms to help.

Grin

Grin is one of the best creator management platforms. It helps brands connect effortlessly with brand advocates and macro and organic influencers. 

This marketplace enables users to organize influencer campaigns and monitor their performance. Its database includes YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram influencers. 

You can search for 100+ million influencers on Grin with around 37M profiles with email addresses. 

When a brand identifies the influencers they want to collaborate with, Grin helps manage the campaign process. This includes negotiating contracts, creating content briefs, and approving and publishing influencer content.

You can even track influencer campaign performance and measure ROIs using its reporting and analytics. 

Upfluence

Upfluence is an affiliate and influencer marketing platform that uses AI to improve your brand’s influencer marketing strategy. 

Tailored to help marketers save time while collaborating with influencers, this platform is best for businesses with small teams. 

It has an AI-powered chatbot for auto-generating messages to creators and influencers. Not to mention, you can easily find relevant influencers who are willing to work with you using its creator-matching tools. 

Moreover, the platform has a streamlined process for invoicing, promo code generation, product seeding, and more.

Brandwatch

Brandwatch is a tool that helps brands stay updated on online trends and industry conversations. In addition to monitoring social media and consumer insights, it offers influencer marketing features. 

It can help sift through a list of over 30 Million creators and manage influencer relationships in a single dashboard. You can also measure campaign outcomes and create reports you can share easily with your team. 

Afluencer

Afluencer is a top influencer marketplace that connects influencers and brands for sponsored content and partnerships.

Set criteria such as follower count, channels, or interest. This will help you easily search for influencers that best fit your campaign. 

It helps you create a brand profile so potential influencers can easily find out more about you. Plus, you can manage your influencer conversations in a user-friendly dashboard. 

Klear

Klear connects e-commerce stores with social media influencers on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. 

What sets Klear apart is its approach. It offers tools that target influencers from your current follower base. 

Partnering with influencers is an effective way to create brand affinity and sell through social commerce. The only prerequisite is you have to collaborate with the right influencers. 

It also helps identify potential micro-influencers and partnerships in your social network, improving your influencer marketing strategy. 

Top Free Influencer Marketing Platforms You Should Check Out

There are numerous free influencer marketing platforms available with features to connect brands with influencers for effective promotion. 

You can use them to search for creators based on location, followers, or interests. They even help users track performance and contact influencers. 

Here are a few you can leverage for your influencer marketing efforts:

• Shopify Collabs

It is an all-in-one influencer marketing tool by Shopify. It helps you build partnerships with influencers on major platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. 

You can manage affiliate payouts, search for influencers, and create custom application pages. It’s free, works with any Shopify plan, and provides 24/7 customer support.

• Storyclash

Use Storyclash’s free influencer search tool to find IG influencers who talk about your business. 

Simply input your brand name or hashtag to see a list of influencers mentioning it in the last 30 days. It will also include the influencer’s niche and number of followers. 

In addition to that, Storyclash provides a free ‘Visual Influencer Discovery’ tool. You can use it to find influencers based on the visual content you seek.

Tips To Find the Best Influencer Marketing Tools for Your Brand

Choosing an Influencer Marketing Platform for your brand can be tricky, particularly when there are many options. 

Make sure to consider the following factors when you select the right tool:

• Ease-of-Use: Believe it or not, marketers have a lot of responsibilities. So, it’s challenging for them to spend hours learning new tools and software. According to one report, the average marketer spends about 16 hours per week on routine tasks. Choose a tool that makes your work easier—and not harder.
• Pricing: Find an influencer software that provides all the necessary features and still falls within your budget. Most tools offer various pricing options due to this, allowing you to scale when required. 
• Consider Your Team Size: Your team size and company resources can have a major say in the influencer marketing software you choose. If you have a small team, consider working with an agency. However, if your brand has a full social media team, self-service influencer tools can be a better choice. 

What Features To Consider When Choosing the Influencer Platform

There’s a wide variety of great influencer tools available. If you want to choose the best for your brand, look for features to enhance your influencer marketing efforts. 

Here are seven must-have features to look for in an influencer platform:

1. API integration
2. Real-time reports
3. Payment Automation
4. Messaging automation
5. Post and campaign tracking
6. Key insights
7. A white-label feature

While payment automation and communication are key, look for tools to help automate campaigns. 

Even better, find a platform that allows you to create automated processes to reach different audiences and increase post engagements. 

Ensure the tool you choose has a large influencer network across various social networks. Plus, it should allow you to filter the search to find relevant influencers. 

Look for the following filter options:

• Location
• Main interests
• Native language
• Audience type
• Age
• Gender
• Frequently used hashtags

Common Mistakes You Should Avoid in Influencer Marketing Tools

No solution is flawless, and like any digital marketing strategy, influencer marketing has its flaws. 

When selecting and using a new influencer marketing platform, make sure to avoid and do the following things:

• Don’t ignore a tool just because it focuses on nano and micro-influencers.
• Avoid platforms that support only a few social media platforms.
• Clearly define your goals and allow influencers creative control.
• Use it to monitor data from your influencer campaigns.
• Don’t solely rely on increased sales as the measure of campaign success.
• Expecting overnight results or after one campaign.
• Maintain the relationship with influencers even after a campaign concludes.

Instagram—The Best Channel for Influencer Marketing

Instagram is the leading social media platform for influencer campaigns. Influencer Marketing Hub says over 65% of brands consider it their top platform. 

Statistics from Hootsuite show that 80% of users turn to IG for product/service research. 35% make purchases directly on the platform. 

IG influencers can drive high engagement on both Stories and feed posts. Instagram stories—known for their timely and less polished feel—work well for sponsored content. 

In addition, live streaming and external linking further increase real-time engagement and sales.

Instagram keeps evolving with features like Instagram Shop, Reels, and Guides, adding value to influencer campaigns. 

Instagram offers the right elements for success for younger audiences and visually focused verticals like home decor, fashion, food, or makeup.

Let Path Social Help Scale Your Influencer Marketing Efforts

Influencer marketing is a popular strategy where your marketing team collaborates with established creators to leverage their influence and audience. It’s akin to having a celebrity endorse your product, just on a smaller or larger scale. 

Using influencers in social media marketing is increasingly crucial. However, since anyone can fake a social media following, choosing genuine creators is essential. 

When planning your campaign, maximize your impact without compromising the creator’s integrity.

Do you want to connect with the right Instagram influencers to drive your campaign? Choose Path Social! 

We provide a range of carefully crafted tools and strategies to help you reach relevant influencers. This way, you can experience organic growth and expand your follower count like never before. 

Don’t wait further to know influencer marketing platforms—let Path Social help you! Start growing and gaining Instagram followers today!