Influencer marketing software is a hell of a lot of confusing. There are platforms that do everything … help you find, prioritize, analyze, select, book, contract, collaborate, review, measure and even pay creators. Then there are softwares that do just one of those things. And some that do 2-3 of those tasks.

Then there are managed services that will do all or part of the full process for you.

But then there are derivations of all that that only do one platform, like TikTok or Instagram, but nothing else. Then some that do millions of influencers. Others that have a database of just hand-picked creators. Others that are only micro-influencers.

Then those can be broken down by network or feature.

It’s maddening.  

One such derivative of influence marketing software that I’ve never really been a fan of is marketplaces. This is where a brand can go post their influence or creative need like they would on Craig’s List. Wanted: Online content creators with X numbers of followers to post about this brand for Y dollars. Creators plugged into that marketplace can apply. You don’t normally get big audience, or even highly relevant creators, but you can go grab a bunch of willing participants if you like.

Tinashe Chopanda runs a marketplace, of sorts, but certainly knows the influencer space well. He is a former creator and influencer in his own right. He built a nice YouTube following with Okay Tinashe … which was a reaction channel to K-Pop videos and such. Funny, engaging stuff. You can go look that up if you like.

But he got into optimizing videos and digital ad campaigns. He started pitching brands to be on his channel as sponsors. Then he realized being behind the camera and development of brand deals and partnerships was where his passion really laid. 

Today, he’s the man behind Sosani, and influence marketing agency that connects content creators with brands to tell stories and create great content. Part of Sosani is a bit of an influencer marketplace so I pushed on him a bit to convince me marketplaces are worth my time. We talked about his process and thoughts around building better influence campaigns and content. And I asked him if he had to do it all over again with Okay Tinashe, what would he do differently.

Good stuff from a former big shot YouTuber turned influence marketing strategist and agency owner Tinashe Chopanda, on today’s episode of Winfluence.

This episode of Winfluence is presented by Tagger, a complete influence marketing software solution. Check them out for a demo today at jason.online/tagger.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices