The best influencer marketing platforms in 2024 and how to choose the right one

When your business is ready to expand its marketing strategy and test out other tactics, like influencer marketing, you’re likely also looking into software and tools that can help.

This is where an influencer marketing platform comes in. This type of tool can help with a number of tasks related to influencer partnerships—finding the right creators, getting in touch to discuss details, making payments, tracking their posts, and so much more.

However, not all influencer marketing platforms are created equal. Some have certain features that others lack. And others work well for some types of businesses, but not so well for others.

It’s important to find the best influencer marketing platform for your needs. To help you, we’ve put together this guide to choosing the right platform for your business and your influencer marketing plans.

What is an influencer marketing platform?

An influencer marketing platform is a tool, software, or company designed to help marketing teams make the most out of their influencer marketing strategy.

Influencer marketing platforms offer essential help with the influencer marketing process through features like an influencer database, outreach and communication tools, content tracking capabilities, reporting dashboards, and more.

Brands of all sizes, from small one-man teams to large enterprise companies looking to scale their strategy, can take advantage of the right influencer marketing platform.

The importance of finding the right influencer marketing platform

If you conduct just a single Google search for influencer marketing platforms, you’ll be met with a number of different options. Our guide itself has 10 different platforms to browse through.

However, it’s key to find the right influencer platform for your business. What does this mean?

Look at it like this: Not every influencer marketing platform works well for every business. Some may focus on micro-influencer relationships while your large team is looking to work with mega influencers. Some may offer features that help with paid influencers while you need help with product seeding campaigns. And some may be a better fit for large teams rather than your one-person team.

This is why it’s important to shop around, look at reviews, discover each platform’s features, and make a fully informed choice as to which influencer marketing platform will mesh well with your business and its influencer strategy.

What to use an influencer marketing platform for

Influencer marketing platforms can help marketing teams with a number of different tasks. Learn more about the use cases that the right platform can offer your business.

Discovering influencers

Most influencer marketing platforms offer some sort of option for finding influencers to work with. Whether they have their own database of influencers you can search through, a look-alike feature, a browser extension you can use while you browse through social media, or some other sort of matching service, the first step in any influencer execution is discovery.

If you need help finding the best influencers for your audience, make sure influencer discovery is a main feature of the platform you choose.

Influencer analytics

One part of influencer discovery that many tools will include is analytics for each influencer you are considering.

This includes influencer-specific details like:

• Follower count

• Engagement rate

• Audience demographics

• Post count

• Average metrics per post

Analytics like this help you make the most informed decisions about the influencers you’re considering working with.

Managing influencers

Influencer management is typically the bread and butter of most influencer marketing platforms. This is because influencer management is what most brands need the most help with.

This feature, also often called influencer relationship management or an influencer CRM, involves keeping track of all influencers a brand works with on a campaign, if they’ve received their product, if they’ve posted their content, and so much more. Most platforms offer this some level of this—you’ll just want to pay attention to how much management you get access to or how much assistance your team needs.

Managing content

Part of influencer management is content management. This means you get access to a dashboard that houses all of your influencer content. You get to see which content was the most popular and easily save and post the content onto your own pages as a form of user-generated content.

Tracking content

Content tracking allows you to keep track of each campaign post as it comes in so you can keep an eye on performance, make sure each influencer has held up their end of the contract, and keep you from having to constantly monitor Instagram stories for temporary posts.

Where some platforms differ is in their ability to track unpaid influencer content (e.g., the content you get from product seeding, product gifting, or influencer events). Reliability in tracking Stories is another differentiator. So if these are important capabilities for you, be sure to ask about them.

Campaign tracking

Campaign tracking is a similar feature in that it allows you to keep track of the full scope of an influencer marketing campaign. Monitor each post in real time as they come in to ensure you don’t miss anything. Discover the highest-performing influencers. See who hasn’t posted in an instant. Track every aspect of your campaign.

Campaign performance

Get real-time campaign performance updates so you can watch as your influencers’ posts get published and generate interactions. Keep an eye on your campaign performance so you can make any mid-campaign adjustments.

A differentiator here is the frequency of data pulls. Do you want performance updates once per day? Do you want to see updates more frequently? Ask how often influencer content metrics are updated in the system. How fresh is the data?

Campaign reporting

Finally, we have campaign reporting. This comes at the very end of a campaign, where you need to get a good look at all of your results and put together a report to share with your team, client, or team leaders. A good influencer marketing platform should have high-quality analytics and reporting so that you have the full scope of how well your campaign did, which posts performed the best, and which influencers you may want to continue working with in the future.

If you use an e-commerce platform, find out if the influencer marketing platform integrates with it so you can get sales performance data in your reports.

Do you want the ability to compare the current time period to a previous time period? That’s another feature you can ask about. For example, you may want to compare this year vs. last year. Or this quarter vs. the same quarter last year.

Finally, how flexible is the reporting platform if you have to report across multiple brands or clients? Are there any special capabilities for agencies or holding companies?

Considerations when choosing an influencer marketing platform

Other than features and use cases that your team might need, what else should you be looking at when you’re choosing the right influencer marketing software for your business? These factors need to be taken into consideration to make sure the platform you’re looking at will be able to handle the job you need it to do.

Industries

Some influencer marketing platforms work better for one industry or channel over another. For example, some focus exclusively on e-commerce. Others offer expertise in retail and e-commerce. You want the influencer marketing platform of your choice to have a proven track record with businesses like yours. So take a look at case studies and past clients to see if there’s any overlap.

Multiple brands/accounts

If you manage influencer marketing for multiple brands—for example, an influencer marketing agency, a performance marketing agency, a digital consultant, a social media marketer, or a holding company—you need an influencer marketing platform that offers functionality for you.

Make sure the tool mentions that it has multiple brand or account functionality or that it specifically talks about how well it works for agencies. Also understand how the pricing works. Do they make each of your clients sign a contract with them — or are you the client? Do they offer flexible pricing if clients have a seasonal need? Or do they require a yearlong contract?

Types of influencers

The type of influencer can also have a big impact on which tool you choose. Some focus on smaller, nano- and micro-influencers, while others prefer connecting brands with mega-influencers.

The type of influencer you decide to work with will depend on your brand’s size and your budget. Rates can drastically increase as an influencer’s following and engagement levels increase.

Types of campaigns

There are a number of different types of influencer marketing campaigns you can run: paid influencer campaigns, product seeding campaigns, influencer gifting campaigns, etc. Not every tool provides the functionality needed for each type of campaign.

Make sure you see case studies that match your use cases.

Ease of use

No one enjoys a difficult tool. But, if you have many users or frequently train new users, ease of use is even more important.

Reviews are a good place to find ease of use feedback. Free or inexpensive trials are an even better way to find out for yourself.

Integrations

Many tools also offer integrations so they can work seamlessly with your marketing software. If you already have a suite of marketing tools you love, integrations may be the tie-breaker between your shortlist of platforms.

Reliable customer support

You finally have a few minutes at the end of your workday to finish that campaign report. But then the software glitches. Or you have a "how to" question. Is anyone available to help?

A good customer success team: - is available when you are working - responds quickly - listens to its users - implements feedback

TIP: Questions to ask about customer support before you buy: - What days and hours is customer support available for immediate help in your time zone? - How long does it take to get a reply during the immediate help times? - Are there days and times when the customer support team is not available for immediate questions? How long does it take to get a reply during those times?
- What channels can you use to get help? (e.g., email, Slack, phone)

Pricing

Like many other purchases you make, the most expensive option is not always the best. Demos are a helpful way to learn not only about pricing, but about the tools, features, and their differences. If you can pick up the phone and cold call some users, that would also greatly inform your buying process.

Here we'll review 10 popular tools to give you a feel for just how different each platform really is.

1. MightyScout

Best influencer marketing platform for tracking and reporting.

MightyScout is an influencer marketing platform that puts a heavy emphasis on its content tracking and analytics capabilities. If you’re looking for the best possible platform streamline working with many nano- and micro-influencers, to automate capture of all content produced, and compile a comprehensive, custom report at the end of each campaign, give MightyScout a look.

MightyScout is designed for both brands and agencies. In fact, purpose-built features for agencies help address the challenge of managing many campaigns across many brands.

Brands can manage pretty much each aspect of their influencer marketing, from influencer discovery to relationship management to campaign reporting.

If product seeding, influencer gifting, influencer events or Stories are an important part of your influencer plan, you know the pain of tracking. MightyScout excels at tracking content where other platforms struggle. For this reason, MightyScout is commonly used as an add-on to other popular platforms.

Features:

• Influencer tracking (paid and unpaid collabs, events)

• Search/discovery/vetting

• Outreach/DMs

• Shipping & gifting

• Audience demographic reports

• Relationship management

• Content management

• Campaign reporting

• Analytics

• Social listening

Pricing: MightyScout offers flexible pricing options with a 30-day money-back guarantee, no contract requirement, and enterprise plan offering if needed.

• Starter: $249/month

• Growth: $399/month

• Professional: $749/month

• Enterprise: Custom pricing

2. Grin

Best influencer marketing platform for brands needing an all-in-one solution.

GRIN is an all-in-one influencer marketing platform that helps brands manage all aspects of their influencer campaigns. However, there isn’t one feature that’s particularly strong. Instead, it’s a basic tool that enables companies of all shapes and sizes to use this single tool for their campaigns.

With GRIN, brands can sift through influencer profiles to find the right fits, manage influencer relationships, pay their creators, and compile results at the end. One of the biggest perks that GRIN offers is its arsenal of completely free tools that anyone can access regardless of if they’re a GRIN user or not.

Features:

• Discovery suite

• Content management

• Reporting & analytics

• Relationship management

• Creator payments

• Influencer gifting

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

3. Upfluence

Best influencer marketing platform for finding influencers.

Upfluence is another great influencer marketing platform for brands to try, especially if they need a lot of help finding the right influencers. Conduct a seamless search based on your criteria (think content type, audience, hashtags, etc.) and get thousands of vetted influencers in your results. Another major selling point Upfluence has is its AI-powered communication tools. Get ChatGPT to help you craft personalized influencer outreach messages so the process goes much more smoothly.

Features:

• Influencer search

• Influencer analytics

• Outreach automation

• Influencer gifting

• Payments

• Campaign analytics

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

4. Traackr

Best influencer marketing platform for campaign optimization.

Traackr offers a number of unique features for its users, one of the biggest being its campaign optimization tactics. While any brand using any software can optimize its campaigns either while they’re running or in between running different campaigns, Traackr offers features specific to optimization to help its users get the most bang for their buck. These optimization features include budget allocation, performance analytics, spend efficiency improvement, and cross-campaign clarification. Furthermore, Traackr offers features to help brands scale, making this a great option for larger brands looking to run massive influencer campaigns.

Features:

• Influencer search

• Influencer analytics

• Onboarding

• Relationship management

• Product seeding

• Content collaboration

• Influencer payments

• Campaign management

• Content tracking

• Affiliate marketing

• Benchmarking

• Budget allocation

• Campaign analytics

• Spend efficiency improvement

• Cross-campaign clarity

• Team roles

• Campaign compliance

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

5. Tagger

Best influencer marketing platform for Sprout Social users.

Tagger is an influencer marketing platform that was recently acquired by the social media management tool Sprout Social. This makes it the perfect tool for a lot of brands, but especially those already using the Sprout Social suite of tools.

Tagger’s arsenal of features include strategy building, influencer discovery, and campaign management. However, Tagger also has a team of account managers that can help with services like influencer activation and performance media buying for interested brands.

Features:

• Strategy building

• Influencer discovery

• Campaign management

• Hands-off influencer marketing services

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

6. Later Influence

Best influencer marketing platform for Later users.

Later Influence is another influencer marketing platform that is run by a social media management tool. Later Influence is powered by Mavrck, a previously standalone influencer marketing tool that was acquired by Later. Later now has three main facets of software offerings that work well together: social media management, influencer marketing, and a link-in-bio tool. Any brands already working with Later’s other tools would do well to invest in Later Influencer on top of them.

Features:

• Influencer search

• Campaign management

• Relationship management

• Influencer payments

• Content syndication

• Influencer analytics

• In-house influencer marketing services

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

7. Captiv8

Best influencer marketing platform for paid amplification.

Captiv8’s influencer marketing platform focuses on a mixture of both organic and paid influencer content. While most influencer platforms mainly help with working with influencers on organic content, Captiv8 offers additional features for paid amplification to get even more eyes on your influencer content.

If your brand has the budget and wants to further amplify your content, Capiv8’s features could be the perfect solution for you. The tool also has features to help with strategies like affiliate marketing to further boost reach and sales.

Features:

• Creator discovery

• Social insights

• Creator management

• Campaign management

• Reporting

• Affiliate marketing

• Creator hub

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

8. Aspire

Best influencer marketing platform for full-service influencer marketing.

Aspire is an all-in-one influencer marketing platform that also has an agency aspect, offering full-service influencer marketing services. If brands are looking for a completely hands-off approach, they can easily get help from Aspire’s team.

Aspire can be used for a number of influencer marketing tactics, like ambassador marketing, affiliate marketing, product seeding, and user-generated content curation.

Features:

• Influencer search

• Creator marketplace

• Campaign management

• Relationship management

• Content management

• Sales generation

• Measurement & reporting

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

9. CreatorIQ

Best influencer marketing platform for large and enterprise brands.

CreatorIQ is a large-scale influencer marketing platform directed at large and enterprise-level companies. Its features are dedicated to helping brands create influencer campaigns at scale, making it the perfect tool for big companies—like its existing users Airbnb, Calvin Klein, Disney, H&M, and Unilever—to work with influencers.

This tool also offers features for each stage of an influencer marketing campaign—discovery, activation, optimization, and conversion.

Features:

• Creator discovery

• Creator management

• Campaign management

• Creator payments

• Team collaboration

• Benchmarking

• Campaign analytics & reporting

• Ecommerce

• Paid ads

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

10. Meltwater

Best influencer marketing platform for Meltwater users.

Meltwater is another influencer marketing platform that’s part of a much larger suite of tools. Though unlike Sprout Social and Later, Meltwater offers even more services than just social media management. With Meltwater, brands can get help with social media marketing, influencer marketing, social listening, media relations, and consumer intelligence. Brands that prefer to work with a single tool for all their needs might be better off taking a look at Meltwater.

Features:

• AI-powered influencer search

• Influencer outreach

• Relationship management

• In-app contracts & payments

• Real-time reporting

• Ecommerce integrations

• Team workplaces

Pricing: Custom pricing available upon request.

How to choose the best influencer marketing platform in 2024

Let’s cover a few last minute tips for choosing the best influencer marketing platform for your business, your team, and your needs.

Determine whether you’re ready to invest in an influencer marketing platform

Influencer marketing platforms are incredibly useful for teams looking to ramp up their influencer efforts. However, if you run a small team or are a one-man-show and you’re just getting started with influencer marketing, you might not want to allocate any of your budget to software or tools yet. Once you’ve run a few campaigns, you’ll have a better idea of what to look for in a tool so that you can make a more informed choice. Deciding if your team is even ready to invest in an influencer marketing platform is step one.

Decide whether you want an all-in-one solution or a stack of tools

Some influencer marketing platforms offer a robust all-in-one solution—but an enterprise price tag often goes with it. Other tools are more affordable, but they may not offer all of the features you’re looking for.

Consider if an all-in-one tool is right for your team, or if you only need help with a few different areas so that you can save some of your budget for influencer fees. If you choose the latter, you can find a tool that offers just what you need—or create a stack of a few integrated tools that are still more affordable.

Try before you buy

Before you commit your team to using a tool for a very long time, make sure you allow them to take it for a test drive. This is where you’ll find out the limitations of the tool. Like many other industries, the highest priced tools are not always the best tools for you.

Pay attention to your biggest pain points

If one of your biggest pain points is analytics and reporting, find a tool that puts a heavy emphasis on its reporting feature. If you struggle with finding the right influencers, focus on a tool with great influencer discovery capabilities.

Putting your biggest pain points front and center can help you stay more focused as you choose the best tool for your business.

Keep your budget top of mind during your search

This is always going to be the deciding factor. Even if you’ve found your dream tool and it offers everything you could ever want in your influencer marketing endeavor, you can’t hit the “Sign Up” button if it’s way out of your budget.

Before you fall in love with a tool, ask about pricing information so you can narrow down the list to platforms that you can actually use.

Ask yourself the right questions

Finally, ask yourself the right questions throughout the process. Keep this checklist on hand to make sure you’re getting all the answers you need to make a fully-informed decision.

• How complex are our influencer marketing campaigns?

• What is our budget for a platform?

• Do we need an influencer analytics platform that can handle everything?

• What’s the skill and experience level of members on the team?

• How important is ease-of-use and speed to get started?

• What specific influencer analytics data and metrics are most important to us?

• What level of customer support will we need?

• Do we need a tool that can help us scale/ Do we need a tool that can scale with us?

Get started with your new influencer marketing platform

Use our guide to make the best decision about the right influencer marketing platform for you. As for us, we hope you give MightyScout a try. Perfect for agencies and in-house teams, we offer flexible, transparent, and affordable pricing for our tool.

Book a demo with our team to learn more about how we can be the perfect software partner for your business.