Now’s the time to level up your influencer marketing tools.
Because research says creator campaigns will be the top tactic for brands in 2023 and beyond.
The problem? Running campaigns DIY is tedious and time-consuming if your marketing stack is lacking. From outreach to planning and beyond, there’s so much to do (trust us, we know).
That’s why we put together this list of free influencer marketing tools you can test-drive ASAP.
Below we break down:
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Conducting influencer outreach is bar-none one of the biggest time-sinks for brands.
Crafting pitches. Hunting for email addresses. Chasing follow-ups. It’s a lot to wrangle!
Let’s say you’ve found dozens of creators you’re interested in working with but have limited time. The influencer outreach tools below have built-in features to scale your efforts. These features include engagement tracking, automated follow-ups and bulk emails.
Of course, we recommend personalizing your pitches for the best results. We also acknowledge that sending pitches one by one takes forever. All-purpose templates can work if they’re crafted with care. Likewise, email follow-ups are fair game for one-size-fits-all replies with these apps.
Note: we have outreach email templates for IG and TikTok you can plug into these tools!
GMass is a Chrome extension that transforms your Gmail inbox into a surprisingly powerful marketing platform.
The app lets you send bulk emails with custom, personalized fields. For example, you can send a follow-up message to your influencer list and GMass will automatically fill in the appropriate “name” fields for the email body and/or subject line.
The tool also tracks email engagement metrics like opens and clicks in real-time. That means no more second-guessing whether your influencer outreach emails are actually landing.
For example, let’s say you track your influencer outreach in a spreadsheet. Rather than copy and paste addresses manually, you can import your list of influencers in a matter of seconds.
This is also a great example of how free influencer marketing tools (like Google Workspace below) can work together.
Keep in mind that free GMass accounts can send up to 50 emails per day. Assuming you’re reaching out to vetted influencers, chances are you won’t need to send more than that.
Mailtrack is a Chrome extension that tracks how recipients engage with your emails via Gmail.
The tool is a simple, no-frills app for tracking your outreach. Mailtrack is ideal if you are personalizing every pitch and aren’t interested in sending bulk emails.
Source: G2
Yesware is yet another email tracking tool but is unique as it works within both Gmail and Outlook. Like GMass, Yesware allows you to schedule follow-up sequences. The app also keeps track of your contact history with recipients.
Source: Yesware
The app’s built-in meeting scheduling is a nice added bonus. Although designed with B2B sales in mind, the tool is fair game for influencer prospecting and outreach. Yesware is ideal for marketers that spend a ton of time pitching and want to save time manually tracking results.
The importance of planning can’t be overstated for influencer marketing campaigns. From setting goals to defining the steps of your campaign, there are lots of moving pieces to consider.
And of course, putting your plan into action is a team effort.
Not only do marketers need to collaborate with influencers but also internal stakeholders. The tools below can organize your big ideas and specific campaign tasks alike.
Countless marketers already rely on Google’s suite of tools. Using Workspace as the home base for your influencer campaigns is a smart (and cost-effective!) move.
We ranked Workspace as one of the best influencer marketing tools because of how Google’s apps encourage collaboration. Also, consider the free tools available to run influencer campaigns:
For example, check out a snapshot of our influencer spreadsheet built using Google Sheets.
Xesenio’s platform is designed to help businesses manage their paperless projects in a way that feels hands-on. The tool’s free plan includes three projects with 10MB storage but unlimited collaboration features.
Where Xtensio really shines for marketers is its variety of templates, though.
Source: Xtensio
The app’s persona templates are popular and likewise useful for influencer campaigns. Mapping out detailed audience demographics and desires can help you hone in on relevant influencers to speak to them. Below is an example of a completed persona template:
Source: Xtensio
This template highlights how brands can use free marketing tools for in-depth campaign planning.
Miro’s platform and whiteboarding features are a change of pace from the tools above. The free version offers three editable boards and access to 1,000+ templates.
Source: Miro
There are tons of project management tools out there. That said, ClickUp is one of our favorites and what we actually use here at Statusphere. The app’s free plan offers unlimited team members and tasks to track.
Below is an example of a social media workflow in ClickUp.
Source: ClickUp
With a project management tool, brands can track the duration of their campaigns and keep a pulse on what each individual collaborator is working on. This eliminates bottlenecks and keeps campaigns on schedule. Likewise, nobody has to second-guess the status of any given task.
Much like there are brands scrambling to find influencers, there are countless creators eager to collaborate with companies they love.
The intake form tools below make it easier to build an opt-in influencer list. Likewise, these tools can help you build your affiliate or brand ambassador programs faster.
Typeform’s builder lets brands score style points with their intake forms and surveys. The experience of filling out a Typeform doesn’t feel run-of-the-mill.
For reference, this is what a brand ambassador program application looks like in the app:
Source: Typeform
Below is an example of what building a Typeform looks like:
Source: Typeform
The app’s custom fields are useful for recruiting influencers or accepting brand ambassador applications. For example, you can ask questions related to follower count or preferred social platforms.
Filtering the responses, you can restrict responses to only include specific types of creators. Maybe you want TikTok micro-influencers with 3,000 to 5,000 followers and a 5% engagement rate. Setting these parameters can save you time vetting social media influencers by hand, too.
Typeform’s free plan is limited in terms of how many forms you can accept (just 10 per month). That said, you still have access to their templates and form features.
Jotform’s drag-and-drop form builder makes it a cinch to collect information from applicants.
Source: Jotform
If you do opt for the app’s paid plan, you can also take advantage of Jotform’s secure e-signing features. For example, you could integrate your influencer agreement into the app (see below).
Source: Jotform
Ironically, influencer campaigns require brands to play the role of creators themselves.
How so? Consider the potential creative assets required for any given campaign, including:
Making all of the above can be daunting if you’re not a designer or consider yourself creative. Thankfully, the tools below are surprisingly powerful and easy to use if you need design help.
The popularity of Canva speaks for itself and chances are you’ve seen it in action. That said, the app is consistently rolling out new features and designs.
Desygner offers many of the same features as Canva. That said, Canva’s popularity has led many marketers to explore other options for their designs to keep them looking fresh.
With Desygner, you can experiment with new styles and templates for your creative assets.
Source: Desygner
Visme is yet another creative tool with built-in features relevant to marketers.
The app specializes in creating presentations and infographics. If you’re regularly briefing influencers or you’re an agency managing multiple projects, Visme can help you build and organize them in one place.
Let’s say you’re not using an influencer platform to uncover creators for your campaigns. Much like outreach, simply identifying relevant influencers can be a massive time-sink.
That’s why brands are understandably on the hunt for tools to find influencers faster.
If combing through social profiles by hand feels tedious, we totally get it. The listening tools below provide an alternative way to spot potential influencers in the wild. Not to mention uncover unique hashtags related to your target audience where you might find creators.
Note: we can't guarantee the accuracy of these tools and whether the creators you identify using them will want to be contacted by your brand. Also, be sure to allocate a lot of time to using them. Finding creators (even with the help of search tools) can be time-consuming, which is why many brands opt to save time with creator matchmaking instead.
Inflact is an AI-based hashtag discovery tool built for Instagram. If you have trouble knowing what hashtags to use or search to find influencers, Inflict can do the trick.
Source: Inflact
If nothing else, the app is helpful for brainstorming new tags to find influencers to reach out to.
BrandMentions offers an easy way to tap into recent conversations about your brand. Although not a dedicated influencer listening tool, the app does identify “influencers” via mentions from accounts with large followings.
Source: BrandMentions
Social Searcher is another tool offering a bird's eye view of recent brand mentions on social media. The presentation and organization of the results as a visual feed are a nice touch. While not a true influencer discovery tool, the app highlights highly-engaged accounts and posts for you.
Source: Social Searcher
Whew! The number of free tools available for marketers today is staggering.
If you’re doing creator campaigns the DIY way, the tools above can do some of the heavy lifting.
Just remember: any tool or marketing platform you use should make your life easier. Not to mention improve the performance of your campaigns.
But for most brands, free tools will only get them so far.
This is especially true if your schedule is limited as-is. Influencer campaigns can produce amazing results if you can commit the time.
For brands with tight schedules and a desire to scale quickly, Statusphere can help. Our micro-influencer marketing platform eliminates the need to test-drive a bunch of influencer marketing tools.
In fact, Statusphere’s platform streamlines tasks related to all of the apps above. This includes finding influencers, matching them with your brand and tracking the results of your creator content. Oh, and we also handle fulfillment and shipping.
Want to learn more about how our platform works? Get in touch with one of our specialists to see how we can get more creators posting about your brand.