Influencer Marketing Software Guide

By 2025, 86% of all brands are expected to use influencer marketing, up from 64% in 2020, according to Statista. Influencer marketing software helps marketers ease their workload, streamline processes, and gain decision-making metrics. 

You’ll find dozens of influencer marketing software solutions available, but how do you pick the right one? Our guide will help you navigate your options.   

What is influencer marketing software?

Influencer marketing software can help you find influencers, launch campaigns, and measure success. Most software works in tiers, meaning you can access basic features for free, but paid subscriptions come with added features. 

Influencer marketing software is usually a form of subscription-based software known as software as a service, or SaaS. 

Types of influencer marketing software

A recent study shows 200 million creators are all vying for their spots as influencers, and over half say they’ve made money on their content in the last year, according to Linktree’s 2023 report. While a large pool of eager influencers benefits brands, finding the right creator to work with is a challenge.   

Marketers face additional challenges with measuring performance, tracking influencer activity, and automating the engagement process. 

While there’s no “one-size-fits-all” option when it comes to influencer marketing software, many programs do help marketers overcome the most common challenges.  Here are a few examples of the types of software that are out there:

Databases

An influencer marketing database puts the names and details of influencers at your fingertips, solving the number one challenge marketers face. 

Some databases let you contact the influencers directly while others provide you with the influencers’ contact information.

Influencer marketplaces

An influencer marketplace is similar to a database in some ways, but offers more features. For example, you can not only find influencers through a marketplace, you can also initiate contact with them, send payments to influencers, and manage content approval.

Publisher software

What if you already have influencer campaigns planned but need a way to build campaigns, create and send contracts, manage payments and distribute content? 

Features to look for in influencer marketing software

Although the exact features you’ll need from an influencer marketing software program will vary based on whether you’re an agency, a brand, or a talent network, there are generally a few features that can benefit all users. Here’s a short list of the most important features your software should offer:

Influencer discovery with extensive filters

Influencer marketing software should provide a searchable database of experienced creators. However, you also want to narrow your search results quickly, so look for software that lets you filter results by demographics, location, and follower count. 

Influencer profiles to review

As part of the vetting process, influencer profiles are a helpful way to ensure you’re making the right choice. Profiles can highlight things like an influencer’s social channels, content examples, brand mentions, and important metrics like audience makeup and engagement rates.  

Contracts and communication

Once you find ideal influencers, software like IZEA Flex can facilitate making a contract and negotiating terms. Overseeing progress should be simple and straightforward. You should be able to make bids and receive counter-offers from influencers.

Campaign management tools

Your software should allow you to monitor and manage your influencers from pitch to placement. Look for software that gives the freedom to take the reins. This is especially important when working with multiple influencers across various campaigns. A contacts tab can help you keep track of all creators, legal representatives and managers you work with. A CRM feature to store important documents is also a plus. 

Seamless influencer transactions 

A platform like Flex offers a seamless influencer transaction experience by allowing you to send payments directly to a creator’s PayPal account for a flat fee of just $2. This is significantly more affordable than many other platforms in the market. With IZEA Flex, not only do you benefit from the convenience of direct payments, but you also save on transaction costs, making it a win-win solution for both parties involved.

Content management

Influencer platforms provide a comprehensive content management system, allowing you to store content from creators and associate them with the respective creators, payments, and integrations. This feature is particularly useful for tracking campaigns and understanding the return on your investment. One of the integrations in Flex includes Google Analytics, which provides valuable insights into the performance of the content, helping you make data-driven decisions. Furthermore, Flex features ContentMine, where you can store visual inspiration. This function is a repository for creative ideas and inspiration, ensuring you have a wealth of content ideas at your fingertips. 

Detailed analytics reporting

You need to track the performance of influencer-generated content. With the right software, decision-making metrics are provided for you. You should look specifically for software that not only quantifies ROI, but can quantify ROI by influencer so you can build continued relationships with effective creators. 

Influencer marketing software solutions provided by IZEA

IZEA, the leader in influencer marketing, offers several solutions that can help brands launch and execute campaigns. We give you control. Whether you simply need help finding influencers or are looking for a more comprehensive solution that supports the entire campaign, you can choose between these options:  

IZEA Marketplace

IZEA.com gives your brand the ability to search for and connect with influencers. You can run a search for niche influencers and use advanced filters to get a list of creators that are ideal for your brand. 

When a creator joins our network, they a profile that contains links to their social channels, highlights published content, and provides metrics like follower count and engagement rate. 

Within profiles, creators can produce a listing to sell content directly to brands. Simply put, you could find influencers, review their profiles, and see how much they charge for content all in one place.  

If your brand would rather receive influencer pitches, create a Casting Call. Explain the scope of your project, and review eager applicants who are ready to endorse your product. 

AI tools

Interested in trying AI tools for content creation? With IZEA’s FormAI, your brand can collaborate with influencers to create new and unique content. From AI-generated images and Talking Portraits created from an influencer’s image to Mixers that train AI on faces, characters, and objects for endless generative images, AI tools can elevate your next campaign.

In addition, IZEA recently introduced IZZY, an AI assistant that’s built to streamline influencer campaigns. Marketers can speak to IZZY, asking it to perform tasks like pulling audience data, comparing influencers, and reviewing comprehensive influencer profiles. 

IZEA Flex

For brands looking for more support, IZEA Flex can streamline campaigns. You get all of the features in IZEA’s Marketplace, but you also get access to customizable contracts, tracking links, and in-depth metrics. 

Every influencer agreement requires a contract. Rather than having your lawyer draw one up, you can rely on pre-made, editable contracts in your dashboard. 

When you’re ready to launch a campaign, you can create individual URLs for each influencer. By doing so, you can track interactions by the creator.

Marketing teams are expected to maximize their budget, which means they need to prove that selected tactics are effective. With IZEA Flex, you’ll have access to a comprehensive dashboard that quantifies ROI and ROI by influencer.   

Influencer marketing is effective but time-consuming. Since many marketing teams are stretched on time, using influencer marketing software is a worthy investment. Whether you need help finding influencers or would like assistance throughout the entirety of campaigns, you have many options to choose from. Consider your needs, research options, and use this guide to make an informed choice.