Start with the audience, not the creator
Before looking at any creator, define who you want to reach: age, location, interests and what they need from a product like yours. Then ask every creator for their audience insights and check how closely they match.
A creator with 15,000 followers who are exactly your customers will often outperform one with 500,000 who aren't.
Look at engagement quality
Likes are easy to inflate; real conversations are not. Read the comments. Are people asking questions, tagging friends and replying to the creator? Sudden jumps in followers or generic one-word comments can be warning signs.
Check the brand fit
Watch a creator's last 20 to 30 posts. Do their tone, values and visual style suit your brand? How many sponsored posts do they publish, and do those posts perform as well as their usual content? Too many ads can reduce trust.
Mix creator tiers
Different creators do different jobs:
- KOCs and micro-creators build trust and authentic reviews at a lower cost.
- Mid-tier creators balance reach and engagement.
- Top-tier KOLs create big moments for launches and awareness.
Many successful campaigns combine all three.
Agree everything in writing
Before content is made, agree deliverables, posting dates, review rounds, fees, disclosure of paid partnerships and usage rights, including whether you can reuse the content in ads and for how long.
Then track results with unique links or discount codes so you know which creators actually drove sales.
Want this handled for you? Our KOLs & Influencers team finds, contracts and manages creators, and reports results per creator.
