Most influencer campaigns fail in the setup, not the execution. The creator posts, some traffic arrives, nobody can tell whether it worked, and the campaign is quietly not repeated. Here’s the full process, in the order it needs doing.
Step 1 — Decide what the campaign is for
One goal. Campaigns optimised for two things achieve neither, because the creative, the creator, and the measurement all differ:
- Conversions — you want signups and can attribute them. Favours smaller, high-fit creators and performance-based deals.
- Awareness — you’re introducing a category people don’t know exists. Favours reach and repetition, and needs different success metrics.
- Content — you want assets you can reuse in ads and on your site. Judge on production quality, and negotiate usage rights upfront.
Write down the number that would make this a success before you contact anyone. If you can’t state it, you can’t evaluate the result later, and you’ll end up arguing from vibes.
Step 2 — Get the foundations ready first
Do not skip this. Contacting creators before these exist wastes their effort and your money:
- Tracking that works — a unique link and a discount code per creator, reconciled to the same partner record, with attribution that survives the real path from click to payment days later (how that works).
- A destination page that reflects the creator’s angle and honours any offer they promised. Sending creator traffic to your homepage wastes the reach you paid for (what belongs on it).
- A partner dashboard so creators can see their own results without asking you.
- A brand guide and assets — logos, screenshots, approved claims, and what not to say (how to write one).
Step 3 — Build the creator shortlist
Aim for 20–30 candidates to end up with a handful of partnerships.
Where to look:
- Your own customers first. The highest-converting partner is almost always someone already using the product. Check your user list against social profiles.
- Who your audience already follows — ask customers, or look at who they engage with.
- Search your problem, not your category, on each platform. You want the person teaching the job you help with.
- Competitor mentions. Creators who’ve covered similar tools have a proven, relevant audience.
Screen on audience fit, comment quality, and whether they’d plausibly use the product anyway — not follower count. Nano vs macro influencers covers why size is the least informative signal, and why several small partners usually beats one large one.
Step 4 — Pitch them properly
Most creator outreach is ignored because it’s obviously templated. What works:
- Reference something specific they made, and why it’s relevant to what you built.
- Say what’s in it for their audience, not just for them.
- Lead with the offer. Vague “let’s collaborate” emails get deleted. State the fee range and the commission structure in the first message.
- Give them free, permanent access before any deal is signed. A creator who genuinely likes the product produces content that converts several times better than a scripted read.
- Keep it short. Five sentences.
Expect a low reply rate even when you do this well. Contacting 25 to land 5 is normal.
Step 5 — Structure the deal
The hybrid works best for SaaS: a modest upfront fee plus tracked commission. The fee covers their production time and signals you’re serious; the commission aligns them with results and gives them a reason to mention you again in six months.
Agree explicitly:
- The fee, sized against your target acquisition cost and a realistic conversion estimate — not against their follower count.
- The commission, ideally recurring, with a 60–90 day attribution window. Creator-driven purchases are considered, not impulsive; a 7-day cookie on a considered B2B purchase is a way of avoiding paying.
- Deliverables — format, platform, how many posts, and roughly when.
- Usage rights. Can you reuse the content in ads? Agree now; it’s expensive to negotiate later.
- Exclusivity, if you want it, with a defined window.
- Disclosure, which is non-negotiable — it’s legally required in many jurisdictions and it’s your reputation as much as theirs. Give them the exact wording.
Step 6 — Brief without scripting
The tension: you need accuracy, they need authenticity. A creator reading your marketing copy converts badly because their audience can hear it.
Give them guardrails, not a script: the one-sentence product description, the two or three angles you know convert, the claims they may make and the evidence behind them, and the things they must not say. Then let them write it in their voice.
Ask to review for factual accuracy only. Editing their tone is how you get content nobody engages with.
Step 7 — Launch and support it
- Be responsive on the day. Questions in the comments are sales conversations; answer them fast, in public, from your own account.
- Amplify from your channels — quote, share, reply. Costs nothing and increases the creator’s reach, which they’ll remember.
- Watch your signup flow. A traffic spike is when broken onboarding shows up, and it’s the worst moment to discover it (friction in the conversion flow).
Step 8 — Measure honestly
Tracked conversions are the floor, not the total. Also look at:
- Branded search and direct traffic in the fortnight after publication — often larger than the tracked number.
- Code redemptions, which capture people who didn’t click the link.
- Retention of referred users, which frequently beats paid-acquired cohorts because they arrived with context. If so, you can afford to pay more.
- Cost per activated user, not cost per click.
Give it a fair window. Judging a considered-purchase campaign after 48 hours will make every campaign look like a failure.
Step 9 — Decide what happens next
The point of a campaign isn’t the campaign. It’s finding the two or three creators worth an ongoing relationship:
- Convert the ones that worked into standing partners on commission only. No further upfront cost, and their old content keeps converting.
- Pay a bonus when someone exceeds expectations — the cheapest possible way to secure the next post.
- Drop the ones that didn’t, without over-analysing. Audience fit is hard to predict and some misses are just misses.
This is where the economics get decided. Running a portfolio of standing creator partners only makes sense if the programme itself stays cheap to operate — platforms that take a percentage of partner revenue tax you precisely when this strategy starts working, while usage-based pricing keeps a fifteen-partner roster as cheap as a one-partner one (the comparison).
FAQ
How do you run an influencer campaign for a SaaS?
Set one measurable goal, get tracking and a destination page working first, shortlist creators on audience fit rather than size, offer a small fee plus tracked commission, brief without scripting, and measure over weeks rather than days.
How much should I pay an influencer for a SaaS promotion?
Size the upfront fee against your target acquisition cost and a realistic conversion estimate, then add a commission — ideally recurring. Paying purely on follower count consistently overprices reach that doesn’t match your buyer.
How long should I wait before judging an influencer campaign?
At least two to four weeks. SaaS purchases are considered rather than impulsive, and much of the effect shows up as branded search and delayed signups rather than same-day clicks.
More partnership guidance is in the affiliate & referral guides hub.