Written by Lucy Hall and reviewed, fact-checked and signed off by a SocialDay editor before publication. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy. Spotted something wrong? Tell the newsroom.

Separate creator discovery from relationship management, campaign tracking and payments. Buy for the stage that is slowing down the programme.

Influencer marketing software can help find creators, organise relationships and track campaigns. It cannot decide whether a creator is a credible fit for your brand or guarantee that their audience will buy.

Start with the programme you intend to run. A small number of ongoing partnerships may need organised records and reliable communication. A larger international programme may justify dedicated discovery, approvals and payment workflows. The right tool depends on the work and scale.

Map discovery, assessment, outreach, negotiation, briefing, approvals, publishing, reporting, rights and payments. Record what the team handles manually and where errors or delays occur.

If discovery is the problem, test whether the product finds relevant creators in your market and niche. If relationships are the problem, assess shared history and ownership. If reporting consumes days, test the data available for the channels and content formats you actually buy.

Do not assume a discovery subscription includes campaign administration or that a campaign platform handles payment and rights requirements in your countries.

Give vendors the same campaign brief: audience, market, language, category, budget range and content requirements. Ask for a shortlist and independently review the results.

Inspect the creator's recent work, audience conversation, previous partnerships and suitability for the proposed brief.

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