Develop a Foundation to Scale Your Influencer Marketing Program

Every successful influencer program starts with a solid foundation. As you've learned throughout the Field Guide, there are ample tactics and strategies to make informed decisions about the role influencers will play for your brand; the type of program you want to invest in, the influencers you partner with, and the content you choose to book.

But before you start increasing outreach or adding new programs into the mix, you need to ease into it and understand where you can capitalize on your successes so far.

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Align your program efforts with overall business objectives

Let’s face it: Your program is never going to get traction (both inside your brand and out) if it isn’t in lockstep with what your brand is trying to achieve. Are you aiming for increased brand awareness, increased sales, or better product education?

“I find that people get lost in the tactic, which is influencer marketing and social media marketing. That's not a goal. It's just a tactic to achieve a larger goal.”

Lydia Lee, CEO at For the Clout.

Having clear goals for your program will guide your scaling efforts and make it easier to identify where it is you need to focus more time and budget. This will guide hiring decisions, program expansion, incentives—you name it.

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Plan out channel-specific strategies

There’s a reason why the Field Guide splits sourcing, vetting, and booking into platform-specific chapters; even creators in the same niche will function very differently and provide unique benefits between channels—and so too will consumers.

“Who are your consumers? Who are the people that are purchasing your products? The people that purchase you on Amazon isn't gonna be the same person who purchases you on Instagram versus TikTok”

Lydia Lee, CEO at For the Clout.

People are attracted to social platforms for diverse reasons, so you need to factor this in when planning your program growth strategy. Understanding who your target creators and customers are across these channels—and the types of content that are going to appeal to them—is essential for seamless growth.

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Look for small-scale successes

Your program as it currently operates should  provide a model for how it will function once it scales.

Why? If certain processes aren’t working when you’re partnering with 10 influencers,  how they going to cope once you're working with 200, 500, or 1,000 creators?

And if you’re able to showcase success on a small scale to the boardroom upstairs, it’s far easier to put forward a strong proposal for why your program deserves more dollars to grow and provide even better results.

”Once you have those indicators in place where there is some level of validation, you can take a step back and start saying: Okay, what are the pieces that we need to do a better job of optimizing on so that we can scale?”

Molly Savage, Director of Marketing at BOBABAM

So, what are those key areas to look for success and validation? Focus on the foundational processes you rely on to launch and maintain partnerships:

• Are your recruitment processes helping you to source creators that are aligned with your brand and/or your goals?
• What is your onboarding experience?
• Is your creative briefing leading to quality content/output?
• Are you able to maintain relationships with creators beyond a couple of deliverables?
• How are you providing individual support to each creator in your program? How can you continue to be relationship-first?
• Even if you only have a handful of partnerships, can you demonstrate a solid ROI?

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Understand your top performers

If you don’t know what profile of influencer is going to perform best for your brand, your large-scale recruitment efforts are going to be hit or miss. As Kristen explains, you need to hone in on the creators that are consistently delivering results for you:

“I don't think it's worth reaching out to hundreds of influencers until you really know who your superstars are, right? For MaryRuth, we identified that niche-specific influencers work for us. ”

Kristen Althoff, Senior Director of Influencers and Socials at MaryRuth's

In many cases, the influencers that really perform for you won’t fall into a single bucket. Some creators drive excellent direct-response conversions because their audience is the perfect brand fit, while others will accel at ad creative for whitelisted content.

Sometimes, your best program members don’t make content at all (yes, really!) Ambassadors can be your boots-on-the-ground representatives to see if products have hit store shelves at stockists in different cities, check visual merchandising, and help with in-store activations. They can test new products and operate like feedback groups. They are customers, members, and brand evangelists, after all—but most importantly, human.

“On the paid media side, you also have this component where random, super micro creators can pop off just as well as a macro influencer.”

Ryan Waranauskas, Founder and CEO at Volt Agency

Once you understand who your top performers are, it’s much easier to invest in those influencers— and bring in similar creators who can compound that success!

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1, 2, 3….Scale!

Once you have your foundation down, you can start running your program on a much bigger scale and be confident that all of your workflows will hold up with more activity. As Liv puts it:

“It's all about testing and learning and then doubling down into the people that you feel are as happy with you as you are with them.”

Liv Soibelman, Head of eCommerce at Blueprint

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Increase outreach to get more creators in the funnel

Once you have a tight recruitment process and you know what creators are working for you, it’s time to start intentionally scaling your outreach to bring more creators into your program.

This takes us right back to all of those sourcing and vetting tactics we discussed at the beginning of the Field Guide. You want to make sure that you’re not only targeting creators in the appropriate niche, but also cross-referencing with your seeding programs and looking for those influencers who understand your brand AND the best way to communicate this to their audience.

“You need to invest time to do a lot of outreach to ensure you are reaching out to the people that are going to be really excited to share about you and know how to sell as well.”

Lauren Maxwell, Director Of Influencer Marketing at Dreamland Baby

Once you have a really strong mix of creators in your funnel, you can get a lot more granular over who you choose to work with. Some influencers will be a really good fit for certain types of campaigns over others, so you can select partnerships accordingly. Also, this makes negotiations a lot easier when you have numerous options of creators to work with.

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Find the right mix of testing and long-term partnerships

When your influencer program is young, there’s going to be a lot of testing and iteration before you land on a formula that works and is scalable. This is what you want. The more you test, the more you learn. Approach this channel with a high tolerance for experimentation, and never stop being curious.

“The best partnerships are built on a two-way street. Keep an open line of communication with your top creator partners. Share performance and creative insights and brainstorm ways to expand your relationship together. If something is working, look for ways to double down on that success. We spend a ton of time landing one creator partnership - let’s do what we can to make the most of every relationship.”

Lissa Regets, Fractional CMO & Digital Marketing Consultant at Ideabox.

Test with new creators and new types of deliverables as you grow. This way, you can achieve that optimum balance of long-term, reliable partnerships and new activations that can take your program in new directions. Taking a chance on smaller, perhaps newer creators alongside rebooked influencers is a great way to stretch your budget, with the chance of a great payoff:

”In month one, we'd bring in the heavy hitters to validate the program. In month two and three, 10-20 % of the budget is sprinkling in these long shots because they're way cheaper. You want to do what's working, tried and true, but at the same time, always keep the testing budget.”

Ryan Waranauskas, Founder and CEO at Volt Agency

****Remember: Not every influencer collaboration is going to succeed, and that’s okay. Be bold enough to experiment but always maintain a baseline of partnerships that you can trust to deliver the results you need.

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Diversify your programs

Scaling success isn’t just about scaling influencer programs vertically; it’s also about expanding into new types of programs that help you to reach new customers.

When you’ve found success with one type of program—whether that’s a customer loyalty program, an ambassador program, or a paid influencer program—you can begin thinking strategically about where is the next logical place for your brand to expand to.

The truth of the matter is: it doesn't matter where you start. Decision fatigue or fear of the unknown is how many brands never launch with creators:

"We've seen brands [at Superbloom] that launch their brand with the help of influencers, whereas others start with referral & loyalty and take that revenue to invest in paid influencers. Others build an affiliate and paid programs simultaneously—it ultimately boils down to what your brand can afford and what your testing tolerance looks like."

Lily Comba, CEO of Superbloom.

A successful approach to working with creators might be:

Launch a referral and loyalty program: Learn from your customers, and reward them for being brand evangelists. You can also begin testing intentional gifting at this stage focus on feedback and getting your brand out there, for the creators that end up posting, assess their audience's sentiment.

Test with UGC creators: This is a great way for a brand to test the "look and feel" of partnering with creators—do these creator-first ads perform better than in-house ads? UGC creators can also help small social teams by having a few creators you can rely on for different types of social content.

Begin Testing with paid Influencers: Start as low as $5,000 or $10,000 and negotiate your influencer SOWs to get the most out of your budget.

Allow your affiliate program to grow organically: While you can reach out to hundreds of affiliates every week, that is an exhausting effort that doesn't always yield the best results. Affiliates will organically gravitate to your commission-based program once they start seeing their Influencer peers in the space talk about your brand. Focus on finding the top 15% of this program and take care of them for a quality-over-quantity approach.

Scale what's working: Test, analyze, learn, celebrate the wins, celebrate the losses—and keep going!

While building another brand-new program may feel intimidating, this is a very different exercise than the first time around. You’ll be able to repurpose a lot of your existing framework and processes—and even some of your top creator relationships, if they are meeting certain metrics for conversions or referral revenue.

”I think the idea of creating an ambassador program out of some of these relationships you've already built to help you scale can be a really good sweet spot for brands.”

Molly Savage, Director of Marketing at BOBABAM

Likewise, you can leverage your most collaborative creator partnerships to make some forays into testing whitelisted content, if this is an area of interest for your brand. You’re more likely to get more favorable rights by approaching your long-term partners, so keep this in mind for even just one or two influencers to get the ball rolling.

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Scaling your team

Your influencer program is only going to keep growing so long as you have the team to support it! Sourcing, vetting, contracts, and briefs (basically, everything we have covered in this guide) is a LOT to juggle, even when you have good processes and software in place to lessen the load.

“Influencer relationships and conversations are time-consuming. So, make sure that you have a team prepared to handle as many relationships as you are willing to invest in.”

Rebecca Beach, Influencer Marketing and Creator Relationship Manager at VERBfluence Agency

Continuing to expand partnerships and add new programs without adding to your headcount runs the risk of breakdowns in communication and neglecting relationship management, which will only hurt your program in the long run. So, what are the key steps to scaling an influencer marketing team?

“There’s no one way or right way to build your team as every organization is different. I’m a big fan of hiring at least one full-time, in-house influencer champion. Leading an effective creator program is a full-time job and then some. It’s a great idea to budget for additional support - whether it be additional headcount, contractors, agencies, or a combination of resources. Once your program starts to perform and grow, it will become clearer what support will need to look like over time.”

Lissa Regets, Fractional CMO & Digital Marketing Consultant

If expanding permanent headcount is a challenge, consider leveraging agencies to outsource some of these functions and free up time for more complex partnership management in-house.

As your influencer marketing programs grow, you'll need to balance creativity with data-driven decision-making. Successful scaling requires marketers to take a multi-faceted approach: you need to see a small scale before investing in growing your program initiatives; identify and nurture your top performing influencers, bring in robust testing and optimization processes, and make that your outreach and communication strategies can cope with a higher number of creators. If the coast is clear, this is time to begin scaling your program—or expanding into new types of programs or strategies which can further your goals.

Remember: Scaling isn't just about increasing numbers; it's also about enhancing the quality and effectiveness of influencer partnerships. By focusing on long-term relationships, aligning with business objectives, and staying open to new opportunities, you can create a program that not only grows in size, but continues to drive meaningful results for your brand.

And that brings us to the end of the Influencer Marketing Field Guide (for now! 👀) Thank you so much for spending this time with us and immersing yourself in the fun, dynamic (and sometimes a little chaotic) world of influencer marketing and creator partnerships.

Just a heads up: The Field Guide is an evolving resource where new Mentors and topics are continually being added over time; keep on an eye on your email to find out when the next section is launching!

How can I align my influencer program with business objectives?

First, remember that influencer marketing is a tactic to achieve larger goals, not a goal in itself. Consider how your influencer partnerships will contribute to objectives like increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or educating consumers about your products. Understand your target audience for each platform and sales channel, as they may differ and require different types of creators and content to achieve different goals. By connecting your influencer efforts to specific business outcomes, you'll ensure that your program contributes meaningfully to overall company success.

What strategies help scale influencer marketing programs?

Start by casting a wide net to test various influencers and identify top performers, so you know what types of partnerships you want to scale. Consider allocating a portion (e.g., 70%) to proven partners, and the remainder to testing new influencers or strategies. Focus on building long-term relationships with top performing influencers, offering them unique value and support to stand out from competing brands. Invest in growing your team—whether that’s in-house or turning to agencies to outsource—to efficiently handle an increasing number of influencer relationships. Continuously test and refine your approach, staying flexible and open to new opportunities for growth.

How do I identify top-performing influencers in my program?

To identify top-performing influencers, look for creators who excel in two key areas: driving revenue and creating high-quality content. Revenue drivers are influencers whose audience closely matches your target customer, resulting in strong conversion rates. Skilled content creators can produce UGC that aids your paid media efforts, which can limit the need to outsource to agencies or freelancers. Pay attention to influencers who consistently deliver results over time, as well as those who show a genuine enthusiasm for your brand beyond contractual obligations. Remember: success can come from unexpected sources! Maintain a testing budget to discover new top performers while continuing to invest in your proven partners.

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