I haven’t worked much in this space, but it I found this article insightful on how to develop deeper relationships with influencers. https://www.yotpo.com/direct-to-consumer-ecommerce-marketing/influencer-marketing/

Hey, itsstevie, 

In my experience with influencers, it depends on what your goals are. 

Collaborating with creators can be a one-off campaign or strategic partnership. Choosing the right influencers will also depend on your target audience and industry. You can check the “Influencer Tiers for the Influencer Marketing Industry.” article on the different influencer tiers and average rates. But the information is pretty generic, so take it with a pinch of salt. 

That said, one budget way to reach out to creators is by sending them a free sample of your product. This type of outreach works best when the brand is in an active campaign - launching a new product, holiday promo, CSR initiative, etc. 

Best of luck! 

Savina 

We’re in the process of vetting some companies / platforms for influencer campaigns in general. The first thing that struck me was the price. It was significantly more than I expected for what amounts to self-managed campaigns. 

We’ve found one that’s attached to our affiliate platform but it’s not adequate for our needs and most of the other platform representatives we’re talking to don’t have much in the way of “teeth” - i.e. the influencers have little to no responsibility to follow through on creating posts or representing the brand with any consistency.

I’d love to gat some additional community feedback on what platforms are being used and your experience with them.