The Top 21 tools to Have influencers on Your Radar

With influencer marketing becoming so important to the growth of brands, it’s natural that marketers want to find influencers more easily. After all, influencer discovery is one of the more difficult aspects of the business. Not only that, but you have to figure out which potential influencers are genuine, and which ones aren’t. Fortunately, we marketers have a new tool: influencer marketing platforms. Let’s take a look at this new tool, then identify the best ones available today.

What is an Influencer Marketing Platform

Influencer marketing platforms are a place where influencers and brands can meet each other. Some act like complete intermediaries, helping you interact with and pay the influencer. A few will even let you exchange all the files through the platform, which lets you avoid giving up your email address and other information. On the other hand, others are little more than a database of influencers who offer their services. Each of these platforms have profiles for the influencers listed, no matter their service level.

I have also covered a more broad selection of influencer marketing tools as well as those that are specifically influencer marketplaces on my blog, but influencer marketing platforms are usually more sophisticated influencer search engines which also have the option of additional agency services to help you in your influencer marketing. They usually provide a broader selection of influencers than do influencer marketplaces and can help you in your implementation, becoming a “one-stop shop” for your needs. For that reason, many of them only work with larger brands and agencies and have an enterprise business model versus the self-service influencer marketplaces.

The Benefits of Working with Influencer Marketing Platforms

Working through influencer marketing platforms is beneficial for several reasons. For instance, it reduces your workload in the area of influencer discovery. While you might want to find influencers by going through your social media profiles and using other methods, these platforms enhance your efforts. Just look for influencers using keywords, then engage with the ones you think will be beneficial.

Depending on the influencer marketing platforms you use, they’ll also help you keep track of the results. More comprehensive platforms will offer you analytics tools to demonstrate ROI. Who doesn’t like help with the bean counting?

Let’s Take a Look at The Networks

Now that we can see how useful these platforms often are, let’s take a look at my top 21 picks for you. I’ll show you what is unique about each platform, which networks they cover, how many influencers they have, and what it costs to use them (note that most do not list prices on their website so only those that do are noted below). With this information, it should be easier to pick the perfect one for your brand or agency.

ACTIVATE

Perhaps the biggest thing to notice about this platform is its age: it predates the term “influencer marketing” itself. Once upon a time, Activate was formed to help bloggers monetize their websites. Now, it’s one of the most comprehensive influencer marketing platforms around. Search the database of over 75,000 influencers by niche, locations, audience size, and more. Then, take advantage of the ACTIVATE studio to craft the best influencer marketing campaigns possible. Finally, Activate helps you manage and scale relationships with your influencers.

AspireIQ

Like some other services out there, AspireIQ is one of the more complete influencer marketing platforms. There’s a discovery engine for marketers to find influencers, and you can handle payments over the platform for free.

However, AspireIQ is more than just a platform. Their whole idea is to build a community around your brand . This includes brand employees, influencers, and even fans, the very brand affinity model that I wrote about in The Age of Influence . In addition, AspireIQ will let you use their platform to hold brand events, solicit customer reviews, and much more.

Besides having a lot of features, AspireIQ is compatible with many platforms. These include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and even blog posts. We didn’t see any evidence they’ve worked with TikTok, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.

CLEVER

Clever has a different approach than most influencer marketing platforms, because it’s advertised as a full-service influencer marketing agency. Consequently, this is not a self-service platform. Instead, you engage the company and let them do most of the work to produce “custom content on a massive scale.” In addition, this work is done using primarily micro influencers. That means that Clever doesn’t work with influencers who can get their own clients easily. Rather, they’re a great place to engage with the newer ones.

To accomplish client goals, Clever uses a variety of platforms. In addition to the standard Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, they hire influencers on Pinterest, Vimeo, TikTok, and blogs. Quality and compliance are guaranteed, while you are freed up to do more difficult tasks.

CreatorIQ

Do you have a larger brand that needs an enterprise-level influencer marketing solution? CreatorIQ is a cloud-based solution for brands that need a lot of influencer marketing support. At the heart of this application is almost exhaustive analytics. These are intended to eliminate many of the problems that surround influencer marketing, such as fraudulent followers, fake engagement, and more.

As for influencer discovery, CreatorIQ focuses on the quality of content. As important as many followers might be in some situations, it’s ultimately the content that gets people to engage or buy. You can pay the influencers through the platform, collaborate, and join hubs. Meanwhile, the app supports you with CRM integrations and a wealth of API options.

You can use CreatorIQ on a variety of platforms. These include YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, Pinterest, and blogs.

ExpertVoice

If you want to leverage the power of product experts, try ExpertVoice. What this platform does is a bit different from typical influencer marketing platforms. People who recommend products regularly, called Experts on the platform, sign up. They demonstrate industry expertise in a number of ways, such as by revealing industry affiliations. For example, a sports equipment Expert might work for a sporting goods store, or they might be a hiker with demonstrated expertise. In return for signing up, the Experts get an advance look at your latest product launches. You’re also expected to provide them with product discounts.

The core idea behind ExpertVoice is simple: influencers and other professionals interact with brands. It’s a sort of consumer education for sales and industry people. In turn, they can become brand advocates in retail, ecommerce, and more, boosting sales. Best of all, they’re working for almost free because you only pay them through discounts. Platforms supported: any, really. You aren’t paying people for influencer campaigns, so they’ll pitch your brand as they have organic opportunities. They might use social media too, but that’s up to them.

Find Your Influence

Find Your Influence (FYI) is a full-service platform that lets you run the campaign yourself or let their staff marketers do it. They also have a talent agency for top influencers called FYI Talent. With Find Your Influence, you can locate influencers and benefit from advanced AI algorithms. There’s one which recommends influencers based on your preferences, a pricing algorithm, pre-approval, analytics, and more. In other words, this is a platform where you can do as much of your own work as you want, but you have digital assistance with influencer selection, engagement, and tracking.

FYI is relatively versatile in terms of compatibility. They have API support for Facebook, Insta, blogs, Pinterest, and more. Platform access plans start at $200 per month and go up to $1,500 per month.

Grin

Grin’s primary claim to fame is its desire to remove the “middle man,” and make it possible for micro – influencers and other social media influencers connected with companies and brands without some of the common roadblocks. Grin combines all of the elements of social networks and influencer marketing platforms to connect potential influencers with brands and companies, and help manage influencer marketing efforts from a single, easy platform. Using Grin to manage your social media influencers, from the social influencers who wield tens of thousands of followers, to the micro – influencers who focus on their engagement rate with a smaller audience allows you to tackle all of the difficult issues that come along with influencer marketing, without commissions and hidden fees.

Unlike most campaign management social platforms, Grin does not offer up-front pricing plans. Instead, people interested in using Grin can view a demo and then request more information from the company.

Heepsy

If you’re looking for largely automated influencer marketing platforms, check out Heepsy. This SaaS platform gives you access to over 7 million influencers, and provides their statistics gathered through AI. Made to help the little guy monetize, Heepsy specializes in Instagram micro influencers who are rewarded with free product. However, the platform is also compatible with other social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and blogs. As a bonus, it’ll help you with influencer outreach and social listening. In practice, this makes Heepsy a great option for small brands and those who are new to influencer marketing. Pricing is highly competitive: there’s a free version, and then paid plans priced between $49 and $269 monthly.

Influence.co

Influence.co is a campaign management tool that focuses most of its energy on providing a comprehensive list of influencers to select from, before allowing users to manage and analyze all relevant influencers’ campaigns. Influence.co allows you to find the perfect influencers for all of your projects, and provides plenty of management tools. Maintaining relationships with influencers is vital to make sure that your influencer network is built on mutual interest in your database of influencers. Influence.co allows you to identify any trends or commonalities between you and relevant influencers to make sure that your influencer relationships are built on far more than passing interest or a split second of connection.

Influence.co offers two tiers: a free option and one that requires reaching out to the company to connect with relevant influencers and start your influencer relationship management process.

Influencity

Like other social media channels’ management systems, Influencity allows you to manage all of your social channels from a single site. It allows you to browse influencer profile lists, evaluate campaigns by viewing audience demographics and other data points, and subsequently manage your influencer programs with ease. Influencity offers all of the influencer relationship management tools you need in a single space, and does so without sacrificing ease of use or functionality in its program design. With plenty of influencer lists allowing companies to contact active influencers and begin developing a content library, Influencity can be a truly valuable influencer relationship management tool.

Influencity has 4 pricing tiers, based on functionality. The program starts at $48 per month, then escalates to $98, $298, and $698. All tiers provide basic management techniques, with the more substantial plans offering more reports and storage.

IZEA

With IZEA, you can do as much, or as little, as you want using their platform. This is because their services range from just paying for access to their database, all the way up to full-service marketing campaigns made to order. With Discovery Suite, you get access to profiles of over 5 million influencers. Alternatively, check out the Unity Suite, which is really a form of campaign marketing software. Lastly, you can choose managed services, where everything is done for you. IZEA influencers work on all the major social media networks, TikTok, and blogs. Pricing: Discovery suite is $149 per month, with other services having custom pricing.

Klear

For brands that want access to information on a truly massive 900 million influencers (who knew there were that many, anyhow?), Klear is a great choice. Not only does the platform help with influencer discovery, but it also has advanced analytics and relationship management tools. That includes keeping track of all the correspondence, including contracts and payments. That way, everything to do with a Klear influencer can be found in one place. Handy. Unfortunately, Klear is limited to just YouTube and Instagram, so it isn’t as versatile as some other platforms.

Mavrck

Unlike some other influencer marketing platforms, Mavrck is designed specifically for enterprise-level Unlike some other influencer marketing platforms, Mavrck is designed specifically for enterprise-level brands. They also are comprehensive, with end to end campaign management. They’ll even work to help you find brand advocates that are enthusiastic, but don’t cost much to work with. Mavrck goes beyond traditional influencer marketing to allow for loyalty promotions and referral marketing. It works with literally any social media platform, in addition to industry boards, blogs, and websites. In other words, this thing is comprehensive.

NeoReach

NeoReach is a real time management tool that allows brands to target influencers for large-scale marketing campaigns. What sets NeoReach apart from its competitors is its focus on using teams to find a company’s target audience and implement social media post schedules and affiliate links. NeoReach also offers fraud detection and integration options. NeoReach is designed for larger clients, such as established Ecommerce brands and Fortune-500 companies, rather than smaller companies or brands that are just starting out. NeoReach also offers real-time analytics and content performance review tools, all of which are essential for successfully creating marketing campaigns.

Because NeoReach is designed to find the target audience and influencers for larger companies, its pricing policy is not immediately transparent. Instead, you must reach out to the company and go over the details of what you might need from your social media management platform.

Shoutcart

Although Shoutcart is more of an influencer marketplace, I include them on here because of their sheer popularity and as a way of showing the difference in working with more of a marketplace than a platform. On Shoutcart you find an influencer you like using their search engine, place an “order,” and get the exposure you want. It’s kind of like ordering from a catalogue. Shoutcart does the payment processing, and holds the money in escrow until the influencer has done what you asked for. Then, Shoutcart keeps track of an influencer’s analytics from purchased services. This helps you and other marketers decide if you want to use that person. It should be noted that Shoutcart is primarily a platform for engaging with Instagram influencers.

Socialbakers

More comprehensive than typical influencer marketing platforms, Socialbakers is an all-in-one solution. It starts by helping with influencer discovery, but it focuses on more than just the paid variety. Rather, they aim to find existing brand advocates as well. With the power of AI, Socialbakers helps you define your overall social media marketing strategy, and lets you craft influencer marketing campaigns in that context. Part of this includes social listening and consumer analytics. Then, they help you avoid influencer fraud and many of the other headaches inherent in this mode of marketing. It isn’t clear how many influencers they work with, but they are compatible with Facebook, Insta, Twitter, and YouTube. Essential pricing starts at $200 per month, with custom plans having different pricing.

Tagger

For those that want a tool that’s both comprehensive and easy to use, Tagger is one to check out. They’ve combined analytics information about 3.5 million influencers in 70 countries and taken stock of their audiences. With Tagger, you can use efficient search filters that help you find just the person for your brand. Next, manage all your communication with influencers in the platform. Along with analytics and social listening, you can see all the numbers at a glance. Check out reviews from other marketers and manage contracts without using another program.

TapInfluence

TapInfluence is an all-in-one management tool that allows you to not only find the influencer you need to partner with, but to also schedule all of your content created in partnership with your influencers, from a blog post to a social post, all within a simple, self-serve platform. TapInfluence also acts as a CRM, pairing brands with suitable influencers, offering detailed reports, and making sure that all relevant aspects of the influencer marketing process are contained within a single program. Suitable influencers can be searched for, communicated with, and managed, all from within the TapInfluence program. Making sure that the influencer marketing process is contained to a single app can help streamline marketing campaigns and ensure that comprehensive reports provide a robust picture of what is and is not working in your marketing efforts.

Like most larger influencer marketing hub options, TapInfluence pricing varies according to individual needs. Reaching out to the company in question will yield a breakdown of potential pricing options.

trendHERO

trendHERO simplifies the ‘common’ features of influencer marketing platforms – influencer discovery, fake followers detection, audience analysis, influencer marketing campaign and growth tracking – and adds new ones to make promotion by influencers available for all sizes of companies. For example, there is an Ad Post feature – a huge database of posts with mentions, so you could see influencers’ integrations history or find out competitors’ activities. You can even see your brand mentions from Instagram opinion leaders. These ‘additional’ features are: Ad Post, Audience Overlaps, Ads Effectiveness, and 500 Similar Accounts. So you get an advanced tool with great discovery and analysis + unique features. Pricing starts at $15,99 per month with a free trial available.

TRIBE

Efficiency is the name of the game with TRIBE. With thousands of influencers to select from, TRIBE helps brands partner with suitable influencers who provide high-quality content with a quick turn-around time, allowing companies and brands to establish a consistent and reliable influencer marketing strategy. TRIBE is an all-in-one influencer marketing platform that allows you to see an ROI for all content creators as quickly as possible. Campaign analytics allow you to evaluate all of your channels for influencer marketing and their respective campaigns to make sure that your content creators are continually moving your business forward. By dividing the different affiliate campaigns into specific categories, TRIBE more quickly allows companies and browse to parse through hundreds of thousands of influencers to locate the affiliate marketing team that will most effectively drive additional sales to your business.

There are four pricing tiers available with TRIBE, each of them identified and subsequently delivered through direct contact with the company.

Upfluence

Want to see who’s already in your corner? Upfluence claims to be the only platform that helps you identify influencers who are already excited about your products and services. This is because they trawl through organic social media content in addition to taking registrations. However, that’s not to say they don’t have a lot of people. In fact, there are over 3 million influencers on Upfluence. Another one of their claims is that they literally work with all platforms to some extent, taking registrations from anybody with verifiable influence. After that, analytics help you pick the right people and run your campaigns efficiently. They’ll even give you reports to help you measure your influencer marketing ROI.

Influencer Marketing Platforms Summary

As you can see, there is a wide variety of influencer marketing platforms available. Some are little more than a database that helps find verified influencers, while others will do the entire campaign for you. Most are in the middle. By looking through this list of 21 different influencer marketing platforms, you should be able to find one or two that fit your needs.

Hero photo by Humphrey Muleba on Unsplash

Influencer Marketing Platforms FAQs