An influencer CRM keeps your dealings with creators you already work with in one place: agreements, gifts, outreach and payments. Choose one by what it records per creator, including what they received and whether the post was labelled, and stay on a spreadsheet until you've outgrown it.
Eight creator relationship tools, one line each
Meet the eight first, in no particular order beyond the alphabet. Each is here because it helps you manage people you've already got a relationship with, and none of it's a ranking.
Afluencer
Best for: Brands wanting to post collabs, message influencers and manage each collaboration and relationship from one dashboard, which its site calls an influencer CRM.
Aspire
Best for: Ecommerce brands tailoring agreements, commissions, rewards and payout tiers per creator, alongside finding creators, managing campaigns and measuring results.
Influencer Hero
Best for: Teams combining campaigns, UGC tracking and creator payouts with automated gifting and outreach across email, DMs and WhatsApp.
Insense
Best for: Sending product out for UGC and creator ads, with Shopify-linked product seeding, a bulk download of shipping details and an outreach tool.
Kolsquare
Best for: Campaign teams wanting briefs, approvals, communication and payments in one place, with what its site describes as built-in compliance.
Lefty
Best for: Brands wanting relations management and in-platform payments; its site says you can upload influencers from your own influencer CRM.
Passionfroot
Best for: Go-to-market teams planning, running, paying and measuring creator-led growth, with a creators-to-pay view; its site pitches replacing spreadsheets.
Social Snowball
Best for: Ecommerce brands running creator partnerships next to customer affiliate and referral programs, managed in one place.
A gift nobody asked for still counts
People shopping for this software tend to compare creator databases. The thing they don't compare is the record-keeping, and that's where a small brand can get caught out.
In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority's guidance on recognising ads on social media covers it. It says that whenever a brand gives an influencer "a payment or any other incentive (requested or unsolicited)", any content featuring or referring to the brand "will need to be obviously identifiable as advertising".
Look at the word unsolicited. You don't have to have asked for a post, agreed a brief or transferred any money for this to matter. On that wording, a box of samples you posted out of goodwill is an incentive, and so is a trip you invited someone on.
So here's what I'd want from a CRM, or from a spreadsheet for that matter. Against each creator, log what they received, whether that's a payment, a free product or a gifted trip, then log whether the post that followed was labelled. Here's the trap: gifts sent through a separate seeding tool or by DM won't show up in your CRM unless somebody records them there.
These are UK rules. Other countries differ, this isn't legal advice, and it's worth checking with the regulator wherever your creators and customers are.
Agreements, gifting and payouts compared
Same eight, still alphabetical, this time so you can scan what each one's for.
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| Tool | Kind of tool | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Afluencer | Collabs and creator CRM | Posting collabs and managing relationships from one dashboard |
| Aspire | Creator program platform | Different agreements and rewards for each creator |
| Influencer Hero | Campaign and gifting software | Automated gifting, outreach and creator payouts |
| Insense | UGC creator platform | Product seeding and outreach for UGC and creator ads |
| Kolsquare | Campaign management platform | Briefs, approvals, communication and payments together |
| Lefty | Relations management and payments | Relationship records with in-platform influencer payments |
| Passionfroot | Creator campaigns and payments | Go-to-market teams moving off spreadsheets |
| Social Snowball | Creator and affiliate programs | Creators, affiliates and referrals under one roof |
What each one holds on to
I've grouped these by what they seem built to store, going by how each vendor describes itself. Don't assume any of them logs gifts per creator in the way I've described above. Ask.
- Relationship records first. Afluencer uses the words influencer CRM and centres on one dashboard for collaborations and relationships. Lefty has a section on influencer relations management and also lets you bring in your existing list. Social Snowball holds creator partnerships together with your affiliates and referrers.
- Agreements and payments. Aspire lets you set different terms and rewards per creator. Kolsquare keeps briefs, approvals, communication and payments together. Passionfroot shows which creators are due a payment, with a wallet step.
- Finding and sending, with management added. Influencer Hero combines finding creators with gifting, outreach and payouts. Insense leans towards seeding and UGC, with a place to find creators built in.
If you're still at the finding stage, go to my pages on influencer outreach tools and influencer platforms for small brands first, because they're about search and this one isn't.
My advice for a small brand team
Start with a spreadsheet. If you're working with a handful of creators, one row each will do the job: name, contact, what you agreed, what you sent, the date it went out, the post link and whether it was labelled. It's boring, and it's the record you'll be glad of later.
You've outgrown it when things start slipping. A gift goes out and nobody notes it. Two people message the same creator. A payment gets missed because the only reminder was in someone's head. That's when software earns its place, and by then you'll know which of those problems you're buying it to solve.
Don't buy a big database because the demo's impressive. Search is exciting for a week, then you're left with the daily work of keeping track of people, so buy for that. And whichever tool you choose, make one person responsible for keeping it up to date, as a CRM nobody updates is worse than a spreadsheet someone does.
Questions to put to every vendor
- Can I log what each creator received, including free product and gifts sent outside your tool?
- Can I record whether each post was labelled as advertising, and see which ones weren't?
- Where do signed agreements live, and can I find one in a few seconds?
- How do you handle payments to creators, and does the record sit on the creator's profile?
- If I'm using a separate seeding tool or sending gifts by DM, how does that reach this record?
- Can I import my spreadsheet, and can I export everything if I leave?
- Who on my team can see and change each creator's record?
Vendors who can show you these on screen are telling you more than any feature list. Ask them to use one creator's record as the example, from first message to finished post.
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Frequently asked questions
What is an influencer CRM?
It's a place to manage your relationships with creators you already work with: contacts, agreements, gifts, messages, payments and posts. Finding new creators is a separate job, though some tools do both.
Is a spreadsheet good enough for influencer management?
At first, yes. One row per creator covers a small programme. Move on when gifts go unrecorded, people double up on messages, or payments start getting missed.
Do free products count as payment for an influencer post?
Under UK guidance, any incentive from a brand, requested or unsolicited, means content featuring the brand must be obviously identifiable as advertising. Other countries differ and this isn't legal advice, so check with the regulator.
What should an influencer CRM record for each creator?
Contact details, what you agreed, what they received, when it went out, the post link and whether the post was labelled. Add anything sent through another tool or by DM, as it won't appear otherwise.
How is an influencer CRM different from an influencer marketing platform?
A platform usually starts from search and campaigns, and a CRM starts from the relationship. The line's blurry, as several tools do both, so judge each one by what it stores per creator.
Can an influencer CRM pay creators?
Some of the tools here describe payments or payouts inside the product. Ask how it works for your country and your creators, and whether each payment ends up on the creator's record.
