Monday, January 11, 2021
If you’re an influencer or want to monetize your influence, you are always looking for arenas that I will call “influencer apps” for convenience to help you get hooked up to brands for collaborations.
Fortunately, a number of influencer apps and websites have been developed to help social media influencers find brands that might want to work with them.
If you think about if from the reverse angle, marketers are always looking for ways to find influencers, which is why influencer marketplaces have become so popular. Some of these influencer apps you might consider to be a bonafide marketplace, but others have different business models. That’s why influencer apps, as opposed to the other influencer marketing tools mentioned in this blog, are a unique niche and focused more on the influencer rather than the marketer experience.
Let’s now dig deeper into the influencer apps that can help you monetize your social media presence, and if you are a marketer and the app is attracting the niche influencer you are looking for, you might want to check them out as well!
One of the great things about BrandSnob is that it helps both influencers and brands within the beauty, lifestyle, and fashion segments plan collaborations. BrandSnob is an influencer marketplace that works by letting brands post collaboration proposals, which influencers then respond to. Brands can set a fixed price, or leave themselves open to negotiating. Either way, you then pick brand opportunities that best appeal to you, then get paid through the BrandSnob platform. Payments are made on the site and held in escrow until you’ve done the promised work.
The advantage is twofold. First, the platform protects members by verifying everyone’s identity. Second, it makes it much harder for people to get cheated due to the escrow provision. However, the platform only works for people using Apple products. Windows and Android devotees will have to wait for newer versions to be launched.
Pricing: For brands, the price is $185/month with a 7 day free trial. Influencers pay a 10% commission on all payments received.
Another influencer marketing platform is Brij. The app is exclusively iOS based, covers any industry type, and works only with micro influencers. Brij has a young management team, and it is built to appeal to Millennials. Influencers are advised to sign up, then accept brand offers. For Brij campaigns, you mostly get selfies with products or something similar. In other words, this is a no-frills way of running a campaign. Overall, a great place for you to get those first few brand collaborations. As you build a portfolio, more options may become available.
Pricing: Brij doesn’t advertise pricing on their website. Instead, you’ll have to send a registration request and talk to a representative. However, they did mention that payments to influencers are per-engagement rather than flat fee per post.
Collabor8 is a platform that calls itself the “tinder of influencer marketing.” Why? Collabor8 provides a place where influencers and brands can meet, but it doesn’t set a lot of rules. Brands and influencers set rules on who they’d like to work with, such as brand types and follower numbers. Then, Collabor8 shows subscribers matching results. Parties meet and work out the details of any collaboration. Influencers get paid through an escrow run by the app, which protects from fraud. Then, you can leave a review to help others decide if this is the right collab partner. This way, there is some protection from crazy stalkers and scam artists. You can get an Android or iOS version.
Pricing: There’s a free trial. After that, pay 4.99 a month to collaborate as either a brand OR an influencer. For $9.99 per month, you can be both a brand AND an influencer, as well as toggle between multiple accounts.
ExpertVoice takes a different approach to product marketing. The goal of the site is for people to learn about the newest products and services in their industry, then recommend the best products. In return, they get discounts on the latest gear. Eligible experts include retail associates, well-known athletes, and verified influencers. This means that you can monetize even your access to customers at work. However, you have to fill out an application to get in. Also, the brands don’t pay for content, only educate and offer discounts in the hope of getting people to recommend their products. A great option for beginning influencers and people who give offline advice.
Pricing: Brands are expected to “contact sales” about access. It’ll also cost you the discounts.
Heartbeat is another influencer platform that offers both payment processing and influencer matching. It is unique in several ways. First, they will work with nano influencers, and they offer the option of free product as payment. Second, they work with TikTok influencers, which is an underserved segment of the market right now. Third, they set the prices for each influencer: no haggling! Matches are made based on influencer profiles and brand preferences. This way, the process is less intimidating, and you will get more relevant offers. Overall, a fairly easy place to learn the art of collaborating with brands.
Pricing: not advertised, but two levels of service are offered. There’s full service, which includes all the campaign management, and self-service where you’ll do most of the work.
Do you have a skill that you’d like to turn into cash? Indi is one way to find gigs because it gives people with know-how the opportunity to share it with others. This means that they help people monetize more than just influence: it could be things like guitar skills or artistic talents. But, they also let brands pay for sponsored content as well. They also offer the opportunity for people to get cash back or discounts on online shopping. In other words, there are many options to choose from.
Pricing: no information is available without emailing sales.
How would you like to get rewarded for reviewing your favorite products? Influenster is a consumer forum where everyday people try and review products, so you can also learn about new things. If you are a successful reviewer, then you might get a VoxBox full of free stuff to try (and review). Cool stuff means less money spent buying stuff, right?
The great thing about this one is that reviewers don’t need to have large social media followings, because the reviews are posted on the website. Therefore, this option is available even to someone who doesn’t want to become a social media influencer. A wide variety of products is discussed across many industries, so there’s something for everyone.
Pricing: Parent company Bazaarvoice handles the brand end of Influenster, no prices listed.
MNFST, pronounced “manifest,” is a platform that helps people monetize their influence for the first time. This means that you don’t have to be a professional influencer to get cool brand collaborations. You can gain experience while your social media following grows. Manifest touts the benefits of working with people like you and makes it cost effective: even a cup of coffee is considered an appropriate reward, as it is for many micro-influencers. Fun on the cheap, anyone? No indication how this is policed.
Pricing: no subscription info given.
If you have ever been told you “look great” and “should be a model,” check out Model Now. Here, you are matched up with brands that need models. Both paid gigs and those given in exchange for prints are offered, making the price of admission low. The nice thing about this one is that you can give fashion and similar brands the opportunity to work with you as a fresh face. There’s somewhat less pressure than the in-person modeling agency.
Pricing: $19.99 for introductory plan, then $74.99 and up monthly fee for continued coverage.
Octoly is a moderated platform with over 30,000 influencers in North America and Europe. They work in the fashion and beauty spaces only, using Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. So, if you are an ace video producer, this is a great option for finding paid collaborations. Possibilities include custom content, reviews, and brand events. You can even get paid to post reviews as an everyday consumer. For paid social media content, you aren’t expected to have a very large following. Content and reviews are rewarded with free product, given out up front. Finally, Octoly helps you with analytics so you can brag about successes later on.
Pricing: only available on contacting sales.
If you want to monetize your influence on some of the lesser known platforms, or if you run a blog, check this one out. Popular Pays has a network of over 60,000 influencers in a wide variety of niches. They can help you find work for small niche products all the way to big brands (some are listed). This means you can find appropriate collaboration partners here even after your presence grows significantly. Another option is to create content that brands request, the sell the rights for them to post on social media themselves. Manage the relationships yourself or let them do everything. It’s your choice.
Pricing: no numbers available.
With REP, you may have clients that want to work with you directly, or who work through the in-house content agency. Here, you can collaborate with brands in many different industries. Unlike some apps, you can communicate with any other member, and there’s a low bar for entry. This means that brands might choose you even if you’re just starting out. The basic idea is that parties should have freedom to collaborate the way they want to. Another unique feature is the opportunity for participating in giveaways. Here, you can post branded content to be entered into a drawing. The app also handles payments, relationship management, and even analytics.
Pricing: App is free, but they take a commission on engagements. Fully managed campaigns have a higher commission rate.
With Social ladder, the aim is to turn fans into brand ambassadors. In practice, this means that brands are looking for collaborations with the people who already like their products. We marketers refer to this as “brand affinity.” Actually, brands that use Social Ladder will try to find out what you like by tracking the things you mention on social media. It brings those brands right to your door. Finally, they might ask you to join a branded community that helps promote (and discuss) their products.
For marketers, the app brags that they are a well-integrated influencer and ambassador relationship management system. This means that they’ll use the app to keep track of how you are doing with the collaborations. Since Social Ladder is integrated with most social media networks, and with WordPress, this is a tool that almost anyone can use. Even we writer types can benefit. Finally, they keep track of analytics for you.
Pricing: No information available online.
Unlike some other apps on here, TRIBE is a Facebook-approved marketing partner. It is also primarily used on Instagram, a subsidiary of Facebook. With TRIBE, there are two main ways that brands might collaborate with you. In the first, they can ask you to make content that they will publish on their social media. In other words, you basically become a temporary part of their design team. their other option is a typical influencer marketing campaign where they pay for sponsored content on your social channels. You get paid through their escrow system once work is approved. Also, the app lets brands work with existing customers who have bought the product themselves or send out samples.
Pricing: Free for content creators. Membership based for brands.
This app advertises itself as a place for anyone with a message to pay for getting the message to the right audience. That means you might work with more than just brands: even artists and people with tutorials can take advantage. The way it works is simple: Clients log on and designate the audiences they want to reach, then give TribeFluence the information you need to succeed. TribeFluence will contact you if they think you’re a fit for a particular campaign. You might work on your own, or with a team of other TribeFluence members. TribeFluence is usable on several networks: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Pricing: The app is free. Brands pay per campaign, and TribeFluence pays you.
Especially when starting out, brand collaborations can seem intimidating. This is true both for influencers and brands. Fortunately, with the help of these influencer apps, the whole process can be much easier. As a content creator, the apps will often let you do what you love and take care of the rest.
Photo by Joshua Rondeau on Unsplash
Neal Schaffer is a leading authority on helping businesses through their digital transformation of sales and marketing through consulting, training, and helping enterprises large and small develop and execute on social media marketing strategy, influencer marketing, and social selling initiatives. President of the social media agency PDCA Social, Neal also teaches digital media to executives at Rutgers University, the Irish Management Institute (Ireland), and the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland). Fluent in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, Neal is a popular keynote speaker and has been invited to speak about digital media on four continents in a dozen countries. He is also the author of 3 books on social media, including Maximize Your Social (Wiley), and in late 2019 will publish his 4th book, The Business of Influence (HarperCollins), on educating the market on the why and how every business should leverage the potential of influencer marketing. Neal resides in Irvine, California but also frequently travels to Japan.