Planning to use creators to promote your new brand, feature, or offer? Here are a few proven tips we’ve learned from working with marketers and running campaigns ourselves.
1. Choose active Creators.
Look for creators who’ve posted recently — ideally within the last 3 months.
Active creators are more likely to deliver timely and relevant content about your brand.
It’s also a good sign they’re consistent and care about maintaining their audience.
—
We ran a survey, in a group of 800+ marketers, and 16% (every 2 out of 10) of our respondents mentioned they would only work with a creator that has posted within the last 1-12 weeks
2. Go for niche-focused Creators.
Prioritize creators who consistently post within 1–5 clear niches that align with your product or service.
Niche creators usually have a loyal audience that trusts their recommendations — and that means better conversions for you.
—
In our survey within a group of 800+ marketers, 16% (every 2 out of 10) of respondents would only work with a creator that has 1-5 well defined niches.
3. Check engagement, not just followers.
Don’t be blinded by large numbers.
A creator with 5,000 loyal followers and strong comment sections can outperform one with 50,000 silent ones.
Look for authentic engagement: comments that show interest, discussions, or questions about their content.
—
We ran a survey, in a group of 800+ marketers, and 26% (every 3 out of 10) of them would work with a creator that has high engagement and not necessarily a large following
4. Review content quality and brand alignment.
Check the creator’s content style, tone, and values.
Would their typical posts naturally fit your brand?
A mismatch in tone or audience can make even great creators underperform.
—
We ran a survey, in a group of 800+ marketers, and 16% (every 2 out of 10) of respondents would only work with a creator whose content style, tone and values matches their brands.
5. Look for creators who tell stories — not just sell.
Creators who weave your brand into real stories or experiences perform far better than those who just post an ad.
Authenticity always wins.
Scroll through their past brand collaborations to see how they talk about sponsored products.
—
In our survey of 800+ marketers, 22% (every 2 out of 10) of them would only work with a creator that advertises using storytelling & doesn’t simply jump into talking about products
6. Communicate early and clearly.
Before hiring, share your brief clearly — deliverables, timeline, payment, and content rights.
Creators appreciate transparency, and it helps you avoid revisions or miscommunication later on.
7. Track reliability and collaboration attitude.
Responsiveness says a lot.
Creators who reply quickly, ask smart questions, and suggest creative ideas are more likely to deliver great results.
Those who ghost or delay responses early usually do the same during the campaign.
8. Favor creators who’ve worked with FEW similar brands.
If you find a creator who has promoted products in your category (tech, beauty, food, etc.), they already understand your target audience and what content converts.
—
Note: this has a tipping point.
If a creator has worked too frequently in your industry or on too many similar brands, it might reduce the likelihood that their audience trusts them to recommend a winning product in that industry, thereby reducing their performance and your ROI.
At Creator Gigs Africa, we’ve seen brands get their best results when they apply these principles — focusing on real connection, niche alignment, and consistency, not just big numbers.