What are influencer marketing tools?

An influencer marketing tool is software that helps marketers find, engage with and make deals with influencers in their niche.

Instead of going about it the “traditional” way, brands can use influencer marketing tools to reach their goals faster. This includes filtering influencers based on certain characteristics, sending pre-written email pitches and finding online conversations about your brand.

Some influencer marketing tools also offer valuable insights related to your campaigns, influencer interactions and the latest social media trends. This data can be helpful when making important decisions for future campaigns.

Why is it important to use influencer marketing tools?

Influencer marketing tools help you automate tasks, streamline processes and use business intelligence to run more successful influencer campaigns. Here are some benefits of influencer marketing tools:

• Connect with the right influencers. Use AI search, filters and engagement analytics to find the best influencers for your brand.
• Stay on top of trends. Track trending hashtags, topics, music, challenges and more to create viral content with the right influencers.
• Make data-driven decisions. Leverage in-depth analytics to track progress, analyze influencer success and improve future campaigns.
• Analyze the competition. Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and compare your own progress to create better influencer marketing strategies.

How to choose the best influencer marketing tool for your business

Picking the right influencer marketing tool for your business can be confusing, especially when you have so many options. Keep the following factors in mind when choosing one to invest in the right software:

• Ease of use. Marketers have too much on their plate to spend hours learning new software. An influencer marketing tool should make your job easier, not harder.
• Pricing. Choose an influencer marketing software that fits your budget while giving you the features you need. Most tools offer several pricing plans for this reason and you can always scale as you go.
• Features. Does the tool have all the features you need? How many filtering options does it offer to narrow down influencer search? Does it offer analytics and reporting?

Influencer marketing tools for social listening

Social listening is a great way to find potential influencers for your brand. Track conversations to identify influential people who love your brand or offer a better alternative to people unhappy with your competitors.

Here are our favorite influencer marketing tools for social listening:

1. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management platform that offers powerful social listening features. Sprout’s listening tools help you track and analyze conversations, brand mentions and industry trends so you can identify influencers and brand advocates.

Key features

• View visual data and insights on any topic
• Analyze consumer sentiment and brand health
• Track audience reactions to marketing campaigns
• Identify influencers and thought leaders by following or posts
• Engage with brand advocates by responding to comments
• Listening spike alerts to let you know when there is a shift in activity

2. Brandwatch

Brandwatch is a consumer research platform that helps marketers understand their audience, track conversations and monitor brand mentions. You can use it across multiple online channels to keep an eye on specific keywords, phrases and hashtags.

Key features

• Access real-time analytics and reporting
• Monitor your brand across 100 million+ sources
• Analyze consumer sentiment and brand perception
• Get AI-powered opportunity and threat alerts
• Increase reach with multiple language support

Influencer marketing tools for identification

Identifying the right influencers for your brand is key to ensuring successful campaigns. Some tools offer filters and engagement analytics for millions of influencers, which makes the identification process easier.

Use the tools below to find new influencers:

3. CreatorIQ

CreatorIQ is an intelligent influencer marketing platform with a bunch of creator identification features. Brands can use its AI-powered system to find recommended influencer profiles, use filters to narrow down their search, compare profiles and analyze performance metrics.

Key features

• Build a private community of influencers
• View AI-powered creator comparisons and recommendations
• Use advanced search filters with image recognition
• Find potential influencers with existing customer data

4. Heepsy

Heepsy is an influencer marketing tool that helps you find influencers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch. The software lets you filter influencers and check profile analytics for every social network individually. You can also use the fraud detection feature to avoid fake influencers.

Key features

• Use advanced, platform-specific search filters
• Avoid fake followers with authenticity filters
• Create and export lists with selected influencers
• View promotional activity and cost estimates

Influencer marketing tools for outreach

Getting influencers to respond to your emails can be tough. There are thousands of brands competing for their attention, and your pitches need to stand out. Influencer outreach tools can help you automate this process and personalize your messages to increase response rate.

Here are the best influencer marketing tools for outreach:

5. Pitchbox

Pitchbox is a blogger outreach and link-building platform. Brands use it to find influencers, uncover contact details, and send automated pitches and follow-up emails. There’s also an analytics and reporting feature to help you make data-driven decisions.

Key features

• Find contact details for bloggers and influencers
• Rank identified contacts by OEP™ (Outreach Engagement Probability)
• Use smart templates with data and conditional logic
• Automatically follow up with email sequences
• Schedule email delivery for optimal days and times

6. NinjaOutreach

NinjaOutreach is a popular influencer outreach tool that lets you find email addresses, social profiles, and more in any location or niche. You can also schedule emails and follow-ups, keep track of conversations and manage influencer relationships through the platform.

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Key features

• Find influencer contact info and social profiles
• Schedule outreach emails with up to 2 follow-ups
• Use editable influencer outreach templates
• Edit profile cards to fix any missing or inaccurate data
• Add notes, instructions and details for each lead
• Use Smart Tags or create your own lists to find contacts
• Track influencer relationships and email performance

Influencer marketing tools for management

Managing influencer relationships and campaigns can be a hassle, especially if you’re working with multiple creators on various platforms. Influencer marketing management software can help you assign briefs, stay on top of communication, track progress, analyze results and more.

Below are our favorite influencer marketing tools for management:

7. Influencity

Influencity is an all-in-one influencer management software that helps you find, analyze and organize influencers. Brands can also use it to manage campaigns, set up workflows and forecast and measure results.

Key features

• Find local influencers by setting target market percentages
• Compare influencer fees and price histories
• Organize influencers into lists and share with your team
• Use predictive analytics to identify the best influencers
• Project management to create and share influencer assignments
• Analyze campaign progress with detailed insights and reporting

8. Upfluence

Upfluence is a one-stop influencer management solution that provides influencer identification, analysis, campaign management, product seeding, affiliate management, and various other services. You can also manage influencer payments from within the platform.

Key features

• Find influential customers and brand advocates
• Integrate with Gmail and Outlook to contact influencers
• Send and collaborate on campaign briefs and drafts
• Keep track of campaign progress and price negotiations
• Manage influencer payments in 135+ currencies
• Measure real-time performance and calculate ROI

Marketplace influencer marketing tools

Influencer marketplaces are ideal for brands looking to buy influencers or packaged services. It’s faster and more cost-efficient if you have a project in mind and you’re okay with giving creators more control.

Use these influencer marketplaces to buy creator services:

9. Collabstr

Collabstr is an influencer marketplace specializing in Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can purchase pre-packaged services from influencers in various niches and locations. It’s a quick and easy way to create viral content for your brand.

Key features

• Find vetted influencers with packaged services
• Pay influencers directly through the platform
• Use instant chat to interact with influencers
• Generate influencer campaign briefs and contracts

10. Trend.io

Trend.io is an influencer marketplace that works a bit differently. Instead of buying pre-packaged services, you can create projects and have influencers apply. It’s ideal for brands that already have a project in mind and are just looking for talent to work with.

Key features

• Create free projects with specific goals
• Review and approve influencer applications
• Send products to creators and track shipments
• Use built-in messaging to chat with influencers
• Download approved content with complete licensing rights

Influencer marketing agencies

Influencer marketing agencies offer managed influencer marketing services. These companies typically have existing influencer relationships and access to industry-leading tools. And while they’re more expensive, they handle most of the work so you can focus on running your business.

Here are some of the best influencer marketing agencies for your business:

HireInfluence

HireInfluence is a full-service influencer marketing agency that helps with strategy, talent sourcing, content creation, execution and performance tracking. The agency also takes care of influencer payments, contracts and briefs.

HireInfluence specializes in a variety of industries, platforms and campaign types so you know your brand is in the right hands.

Key features

• Existing relationships with vetted influencers
• Support for on-site promotional events
• End-to-end content production services
• Product curation, packaging design and fulfillment
• Paid media management and facilitation
• Customized analytics and reporting based on client KPIs

NeoReach

NeoReach is an influencer marketing agency that also has its own software. You can either go for their managed services or purchase only the platform and API. The company offers full-service influencer marketing, from strategy to execution to reporting. NeoReach also offers a customizable enterprise platform for big brands that need more scalability.