Want to work with influencers but not sure where to start? A practical guide that turns the brand-influencer collaboration process into a 5-minute setup flow.
To find influencers for your brand quickly, use an influencer marketplace: open a brand account, fill in a template brief, filter creators by platform, niche, audience and price, then send direct offers or publish an open call. Setting all of this up takes about five minutes, compared with the weeks that DMs, agency searches and manual research can take.
"I want to work with influencers for my brand, but I don't know where to start" is the sentence we hear most often from new customers. This guide walks through the steps to launch your first brand-influencer collaboration today.
Steps 1 and 2: Open a brand account and write your brief
Open a brand account (about 60 seconds). On Influencer Marketplace, use the "Sign up as a brand" flow. Your brand name and a few basic company details are enough to get started. You can then invite colleagues from marketing, brand and purchasing into your organisation, and manage every approval and payment from one panel.
Create a brief (about 90 seconds). The core fields for a first campaign, shown here with an example for a clothing brand in Türkiye:
- Campaign title: "New Summer Collection Launch"
- Brand message: "Fabric that breathes in the heat"
- Target audience: women aged 22–35 in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir
- Format: 1 Reel + 2 stories
- Budget range: 8,000–15,000 TL per influencer
- Number of influencers: 5
- Publishing window: 15 days
- Do's: use the discount code, tag the brand
- Don'ts: no competitor brands, no exaggerated claims
The marketplace provides template briefs, so you do not have to write from scratch; filling one in rarely takes more than 90 seconds.
Step 3: Filter influencers
Marketplace filters include:
- Platform (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube)
- Niche (fashion, food, parenting, gaming and more)
- Follower range
- Minimum and maximum engagement rate
- City and language
- Gender
- Past campaign performance
- Price range
Once you apply filters, matching influencers are listed with their prices, engagement rates and recent campaign examples, so you can judge fit before you contact anyone.
Step 4: Send offers or open applications
You have two options.
A) Direct offer (fast). Send offers to the 5–10 influencers you like with a single click. Responses typically come back within 24 hours.
B) Open call (wider pool). Publish your brief openly on the platform. Interested influencers apply, and you rank and choose among them. An open call brings you a wider set of applicants than a handful of direct offers.
For new brands, option B is usually more efficient because it lets you compare many candidates against the same brief.
Steps 5 and 6: Contract, escrow payment and content approval
Contract and escrow (about 60 seconds). The contract with your chosen influencer is signed digitally. Payment goes into escrow and is released to the influencer automatically after they deliver the content and you approve it. This protects both sides:
- The brand does not lose money if the content never arrives.
- The influencer knows payment will follow once the content is delivered.
Content approval and publishing. The creator uploads the content to the panel, and you approve it or request a revision. Approved content goes live on the agreed date.
Step 7: Performance report
After publication you receive an automatic report covering:
- Reach
- Engagement
- Story taps
- Link clicks (via UTM)
- Estimated ROI
Use this data as a data library for future campaigns: which creators, formats and messages worked, and which did not.
What happens if you go manual instead?
| Stage | Manual time | Marketplace time |
|---|---|---|
| Finding influencers | 8–15 hours | 1 minute |
| Price negotiation | 3–5 days | None (prices are visible) |
| Contract | 2–7 days | 5 minutes |
| Payment process | 1–3 days | Instant escrow |
| Reporting | 4–8 hours | Automatic |
In total, the manual process takes 2–4 weeks; the marketplace process takes 3–7 days.
Three practical tips for new brands
- Don't play big in your first campaign. Start with five micro influencers instead of one mega influencer; you will learn faster.
- Use UTM links. At the very least, you will know how many clicks each influencer brought.
- Plan a three-month test. A one-off campaign is too short to shape brand perception. Fifteen pieces of content spread across three waves leave a stronger mark.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to start an influencer campaign on a marketplace?
Setting up takes about five minutes: open an account, fill in a template brief, filter creators and send offers. From brief to published content, the marketplace process typically takes 3–7 days, compared with 2–4 weeks when done manually.
Should I send direct offers or publish an open call?
Direct offers are faster when you already know who you want. Open calls bring a wider pool of applicants and let you compare them, which is usually more efficient for new brands.
How does escrow payment protect my brand?
Your payment is held in escrow and released only after the influencer delivers the content and you approve it. If the content never arrives, you do not lose the money.
How many influencers should my first campaign include?
Start small: around five micro influencers rather than one mega influencer. Use UTM links to compare them and plan follow-up waves over about three months.
You do not need an agency appointment, long email chains or manual research to find influencers for your brand. Create your brand account, open your first brief and start receiving applications.