How to Choose the Best Brand Content Creator

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To stay competitive in today's market, brands must embrace creator marketing and focus on building partnerships with the best brand content creators. Why? Without a doubt, consumers trust creator content more than brand content.

Studies show that 70% of people trust creator content more than brand content. Moreover, as brand content quality increases, so does its ability to boost sales. This guide will help you improve your creator marketing strategy by introducing you to today's best brand content creators.

Megaphone’s viral on-demand platform can help you achieve your creator marketing goals by giving you the tools to find the right creator for your brand.

What Does a Brand Content Creator Do

Brand Content Creator

Branded content isn’t new, but with so much changing in the marketing world, a refresher on this type of content can be helpful. Here’s why marketing teams like branded content and what audiences get from it.

Branded Content Creator Basics: What Is Branded Content?

Branded content focuses more on brand awareness than sales. Branded content highlights a brand’s values or persona with gentle mentions of a product or service. The content is meant to feel authentic, like something you’d naturally find in your social media feed. Advertising is the opposite of branded content. Its purpose is to push products blatantly.

Branded Content Connects With Emotions

If you can connect with customers’ emotions, you have a better chance of converting them. Branded content allows marketers to tap into the art of storytelling, which, in turn, taps into emotions. A meal kit brand works with a branded content creator to promote new dinner kits. Rather than watching a mom whip up a recipe, you see a mom of four picking her kids up from school, running to soccer practice, and bathing her kids.

Now, she has to make dinner, but she’s exhausted. Luckily, she has the company’s new dinner kit and can quickly get a healthy meal on the table. Customers, especially moms, relate to it. They know precisely how tired that mom is, so customers think positively of the meal kit brand.

Branded Content Generates a Buzz

As a brand, you want people talking about your company and its products. Branded content can create a buzz, especially when several creators participate in a campaign. If a handful of influencers generate branded content and release it simultaneously, suddenly, it’s the talk of the social town.

Collaborative Marketing

How to Get More Views on Tiktok

Content Creator vs Influencer

How to Increase Social Media Engagement

How to Increase Brand Awareness on Social Media

Why Storytelling is Important in Marketing

What Makes a Video Go Viral

Social Media Content Creators

Instagram Collaboration

Creator Partnerships

Benefits of a Brand Content Creator

Brand Content Creator

1. Targeted Reach and Audience Engagement

Collaborating with social media content creators gives brands a unique chance to reach specific audiences and encourage engagement. These creators have developed particular niches and demographics within their follower base, providing brands with a direct connection to their desired audience.

By leveraging these established communities, brands can ensure their messages resonate with individuals more likely to be interested in their products or services. This targeted approach boosts the impact of a brand’s marketing efforts and increases the odds of meaningful engagement and conversions within defined consumer segments.

Example

Dunkin' Donuts launched a successful influencer marketing campaign last year to celebrate National Donut Day. The confectionery brand collaborated with popular social media content creators who shared engaging content featuring Dunkin's sweet treats, expanding their reach and boosting engagement. Dunkin' has been launching this campaign since 2016, when it gained 10 times more followers on National Donut Day than their average monthly followers!

2. Authenticity and Credibility

One of the most significant advantages of collaborating with social media content creators is the level of authenticity and credibility these creators bring to brand promotion. Unlike conventional advertising methods, content creators have built genuine connections with their followers, fostering a sense of trust.

When a creator endorses a product or service, it carries the weight of a personal recommendation, resonating authentically with their audience. This authenticity strengthens brand credibility and instills confidence in consumers as they perceive the endorsement as a reliable and honest testament. This credibility contributes significantly to shaping positive brand perceptions and building consumer loyalty.

Example

In 2023, Cerave, the popular skincare brand, took an innovative approach to boost its credibility by teaming up with dermatologists and trusted social media content creators. By sharing science-backed content and highlighting the expertise of professionals, Cerave tapped into what consumers wanted: products they could trust. This thoughtful strategy struck a chord with shoppers, strengthening brand trust and sparking deeper engagement across their audience.

3. Content Variety and Creativity

Social media content creators excel at producing captivating visuals, engaging videos, and compelling narratives, ensuring a multifaceted approach to storytelling. Brands benefit from the fresh perspectives and innovative storytelling techniques employed by content creators, helping them to stand out from their competitors and encourage the creation of User-Generated Content.

This dynamic content strategy helps capture the audience's attention and resonates with different preferences, catering to a broad spectrum of consumers. The result is a marketing strategy infused with creativity that captivates and retains the interest of a diverse audience.

Example

A travel agency could partner with travel bloggers to create vlogs, photo essays, and interactive polls showcasing destinations, appealing to diverse audience interests.

Collaborating with social media content creators goes beyond traditional marketing by leveraging the influential phenomenon of social proof. When a content creator endorses a product or service, their loyal followers perceive it as a compelling recommendation, creating a ripple effect of trust. This social proof, rooted in the authentic experiences shared by the creator, acts as a powerful catalyst for trust building and significantly enhances a brand's credibility.

Example

L'Oréal has always worked with social media content creators for its #WorthIt campaign, but in 2023, they stepped it up by collaborating with a diverse group of beauty influencers. These influencers represented a variety of skin tones, hair types, and age groups, helping L'Oréal connect with a broader audience.

By choosing real people who genuinely reflect their diverse customers, L'Oréal built trust through inclusivity. The campaign felt more like a personal recommendation than an ad, as influencers who genuinely love and use the products shared their experiences. This authenticity helped strengthen consumer trust and made the brand feel even more relatable.

5. Cost-Effective Marketing

Collaborating with social media content creators presents a cost-effective alternative to traditional advertising channels. Unlike the substantial financial commitments required for mainstream advertising, working with content creators often yields a higher return on investment. The inherent efficiency of this marketing strategy lies in a content creator’s ability to reach a targeted audience organically, eliminating the need for extensive paid promotions.

This cost-effective approach is particularly beneficial for brands with limited marketing budgets, allowing them to optimize resources while capitalizing on the influencer’s ability to connect with their audience authentically. The result is a strategic and economical marketing investment that maximizes impact without breaking the bank.

Example

A startup beverage company could collaborate with social media content creators in the health niche to encourage increased brand awareness and sales at a fraction of traditional advertising costs.

6. Community Building and Long-Term Relationships

Finally, collaborating with a social media content creator offers brands the unique opportunity to participate in community building. With their dedicated follower base, content creators provide access to a ready-made community that aligns with the brand's target audience. By engaging with these existing communities, brands can establish a sense of belonging, loyalty, and shared identity.

Cultivating long-term relationships with social media content creators ensures sustained brand visibility within these communities, fostering trust and familiarity over time. This enduring connection enhances brand recall and bolsters the brand's reputation as a trusted and reliable source within the targeted community.

Example

A fashion brand could establish an ongoing partnership with a lifestyle influencer and work on seasonal collaborations that keep the brand top-of-mind among the influencer's followers.

Megaphone is a viral on-demand platform designed to boost your online presence authentically and organically. Our software connects you with influential creators in your niche, helping you grow impressions, followers, and leads without relying on paid ads. Key features include:

A sophisticated engagement network,

Private engagement pod service (coming soon),

Diverse creator partnerships for sponsored posts, X spaces, and newsletter ads (coming soon).

Megaphone caters to startup founders, marketers, emerging creators, and ghostwriting agencies seeking to amplify their digital footprint and social proof. Our complex matching algorithm ensures you partner with your field's most suitable and valuable creators. Go viral today with our viral on-demand platform.

How to Choose the Best Brand Content Creator

Brand Content Creator

1. Define Your Campaign Goals

Before searching for the best brand content creator for your business, clarify your campaign’s goals. Are you looking to drive sales, increase brand awareness, or boost engagement? Establishing clear objectives will help you choose a creator whose content style, audience, and engagement metrics align with your desired outcomes.

Awareness Goals

To increase brand awareness, look for creators with a large, engaged following who can amplify your message to new audiences.

Engagement Goals

Focus on creators with high interaction rates rather than follower count to boost engagement. We see micro and mid-tier creators drive the best engagement.

Sales Goals

To drive sales, collaborate with creators whose audiences trust their product recommendations. Look for creators with links in their bios that lead customers to a storefront.

2. Understand Your Target Audience

Your chosen creator should resonate with the audience you’re trying to reach. Research your target demographics—age, interests, location, and behaviors—and identify creators whose followers overlap with this profile. Tools like Popular Pays can help analyze audience demographics and engagement metrics.

3. Choose a Creator Persona That Matches Your Brand

Creators come in many forms, each bringing unique value to a campaign. Here are some popular creator personas to consider:

The Spokesperson

Polished and professional, these creators excel in representing brands with authority and credibility.

The Everyday Hero

Relatable and authentic, they connect with audiences by sharing real-life experiences.

The Expert

They're highly knowledgeable in a niche and perfect for brands needing thought leadership.

The Funny Sidekick

Comedic creators bring a playful, light-hearted approach to your messaging.

The Busy Parent

Great for family-oriented or convenience-focused brands, they relate to parents juggling it.

The Tech-Savvy Millennial

Perfect for innovative or trendy brands targeting younger audiences.

Choose the persona that naturally aligns with your brand voice and values.

4. Evaluate Authenticity and Engagement

A creator’s follower count is important, but their authenticity and engagement levels matter more. Look for:

Authentic Content

Do they create content that feels natural and not overly advertised?

Engaged Community

Are their followers liking, commenting, and sharing their posts?

Brand Alignment

Do they create content that aligns with your brand values and style?

5. Review Performance Metrics

Go beyond vanity metrics to assess a creator’s potential. Key metrics to review include:

Engagement Rate

Indicates how involved their audience is with their content.

Reach, Impressions, and Plays/Views

How effectively does a creator reach unique users, and/or how many typical views do they get on videos?

6. Match Your Budget with Creator Tier

Creators fall into different tiers based on their following size, each offering unique benefits:

Nano Creators (1K–10K followers)

High engagement, hyper-localized influence, and cost-effectiveness.

Micro Creators (10K–100K followers)

Niche expertise with scalable reach.

Macro Creators (100K–1M followers)

Broad appeal and professional-level content.

Mega Creators (1M+ followers)

Broad reach with celebrity-like influence.

Choose a tier that fits your budget while meeting your campaign goals.

7. Consider Long-Term Relationships

While one-off collaborations can yield results, building long-term relationships with creators ensures consistency and trust with their audiences. Returning partnerships create a deeper connection between the creator and your brand, enhancing authenticity.

8. Leverage Tools and Platforms

Platforms like Popular Pays streamline finding, evaluating, vetting, and managing creator partnerships. With robust data analytics, on-platform vetting, l, and creator directories, you can identify the perfect fit for your brand in less time.

Where to Find Good Content Creators for Your Brands

Brand Content Creator

1. Utilize Megaphone to Connect with Content Creators

A sophisticated engagement network,

Private engagement pod service (coming soon),

Diverse creator partnerships for sponsored posts, X spaces, and newsletter ads (coming soon).

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn can be great places to discover creators. Use platform features like Instagram’s “Explore” or YouTube’s “Recommended” to identify and hire social media content creators within your niche.

3. Hashtags and Trends: Find the Right Creators

Search relevant hashtags (for example, #veganbeauty, #fitnessmotivation) or look at trending topics in your industry to find and hire social media content creators actively discussing related subjects.

4. Google and Other Search Engines: Find Creators with Keywords

Identify the right keywords for creator search. Use the keyword as the search alert on Google or any other search engine.

5. Competitor Brands' Tags and Mentions: Discover New Creators

Follow the titles and comments on your competitor’s social media platforms. Keep checking people posting stories for other brands in your respective industries.