Why more brands are rethinking influencer marketing with gamified micro-creator programs

“It reflects a broader shift from broadcasting to building. The industry is moving past transactional influencer moments toward programs that create real participation and credibility over time,” explained Joe Berean, svp of marketing at Express, which launched its own creator program, The Expressionists.

The company plans on expanding The Expressionists in three areas, according to Berean: sale, integration, and commerce. 

Sephora, which launched its own creator storefront last year, has one of the most developed in-house creator ecosystems, integrating shoppable content, affiliate commissions and year-round engagement.

“A lot of companies are wondering, ‘should we be having ShopMY or LTK or Amazon as a middleman, or can we just create an in-house ecosystem like Sephora?’” said Meghan Vasquez, director of influencer strategy at influencer software company GRIN. “We can own this list of people and this network of people, we can nurture them, we can talk to them and drive meaningful conversations with a very low barrier to entry.”

They can also solve some problems that have emerged as the influencer marketing industry has grown. “Affiliates don’t work on active deliverables… they have full autonomy over what they post, where they post, and how they post it,” Vasquez explained. But calls to action within creator programs can steer UGC in specific directions.

“Now you have a channel that is notoriously hard to control in terms of output, and now you’re controlling the output in a very fun and engaging way,” she said.

In February, American Eagle launched AE Creator Community — a revamped, challenge-focused version of its ambassador program. This marked a departure from “traditional affiliate, transactional program,” said Ashley Schapiro, vp of marketing, media, performance and engagement at American Eagle. The brand was looking to differentiate its output in what Schapiro called a “flooded world,” with so many avenues for creators and affiliates to take.

Schapiro told Digiday the potential for brand-first programs to shape UGC is particularly enticing, especially as KPIs across the affiliate tree show there’s no single formula for approach.

“Everything is an ‘and.’ You need to be on ShopMy and MagicLinks and be in the full creator economy of celebrity down to nano, you need to be working with platforms, you need to have your own community,” she explained. “But what’s cool is now, with this kind of program, you have all these different, wonderful people bringing your brand to life in different ways… the people who are on this really do love your brand.”

Creator programs also allow for more fluidity. As Urban Outfitters’ head of brand marketing Cyntia Leo told Digiday, the newly launched Me@UO program will rely on creator feedback to shape future seasons and potentially even upcoming product releases. Schapiro said American Eagle’s creators could shape challenges, or the program could get tied into its loyalty program.

Jennifer Quigley-Jones, CEO of influencer marketing agency Digital Voices, said the brands who do these creator programs right will embrace fluidity, looking at which content, protects, prompts, and talking points drive the most commercial impact and adjusting accordingly. All of that is about “future-proofing” the brand strategy. 

“You want to have a one-to-one reciprocal relationship,” Schapiro said of the program.

The benefit for creators

For micro-creators looking to break into the industry, creator programs can act as an on-ramp. “It levels out the playing field, allowing emerging creators to shine,” Leo said. 

College student Shanell Rollon told Digiday that working with creator rewards platform Kale provides more money for less work when compared to her two on-campus part-time jobs. Kale partners with brands like Cava, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Sephora, and enlists micro-creators (often college students or moms) to participate in brand-related challenges on their platform. 

“I usually spend six to seven hours a month making Kale content,” Roillon said. “My campus jobs, I usually work 48 to 60 hours.” Those jobs earn her around $1,800 a month, while her brand partnership work (largely through Kale) nets her up to $1,200 a month.

“Kale allows me to have opportunities as a micro-influencer who doesn’t really know how to work into networking with these big brands,” she said.

Creator programs launched by brands give micro-creators a taste of the mega-creator life, like Urban Outfitters’ promise to bring its top 100 Me@UO creators on a brand trip this April. They may even lead to bigger deals with the brands themselves.

“Now you can collaborate with people and get more exposure,” said Keith Bendes, chief strategy officer at influencer marketing platform Linqia. “And if you’re in this program, let’s say for a Home Depot or a Lowe’s, and your content is killing it, what are they going to do? They’re going to pick up the phone and say ‘Can we do bigger things together?’” he added.

Think of it like a paid internship in the creator economy. 

Schapiro told Digiday the company had 643 signups to its AE Creator Community within 24 hours, and after just 24 days they’ve gotten close to 4,000 applications (applicants must be 18- years or older and have at least 1,000 followers on at least one social platform). 

“I think it’s a really cool thing for people who are up-and-coming in the creator space, especially young people…it’s such an interesting kind of starter role for somebody learning about working and creating content, how competitive it is,” she said.”

What’s the catch?

“You cannot run these programs as a one-off. This is life cycle marketing at scale,” Vasquez said. “You need to keep creators engaged, they need to have new launches in-hand, they need to know what’s on sale – you are constantly having to nurture them in a way that we as influencer marketers typically don’t have to.”

Brands might struggle wrangling hundreds of creators and the reams of data they’ll produce, while creators participating in various programs could experience burnout, or a lack of ROI. 

“If no one is making money, they’ll abandon the loyalty program,” Bendes said. “A brand like Lowe’s spent a year building this with the whole internal team, this is real investment on all sides. Everyone is trying to make it work.”

The scale and fatigue problem is where a content-focused company like Kale comes into play.

“We are the base that makes your brand start to build the torso – effectively their revamped ambassador programs,” said Asha Patel, CEO of Kale. 

For micro-creators looking to supplement their income while learning the ins and outs of content creation, Kale offers a low-lift option to work with a variety of brands, rather than individually signing up for different programs and creating content on different platforms.

But for those looking to kickstart a potential career pivot, the “torso” part of the creator economy pyramid is alluring: creator programs in which the brands are much more involved day-to-day and the rewards can include money, access, products, or even brand trips. 

For now, both parties seem poised to benefit from this newer branch of affiliate marketing. 

“You get the trust of bringing in smaller creators into your program, and that’s a surprise and delight for them. Does it make them feel like they’re a part of something bigger? Yes,” Vasquez said. “And those creators are often a little bit more convincing with their storytelling, too.”