Influencer CRM: how to manage creator relationships
An influencer CRM keeps every creator in one place: who they are, where each deal stands, what you agreed, what they posted, what it earned and what you owe. Here is what to track, a pipeline that works, and the number most tools leave out.
By Nick Jaffrey, founder · Last updated
What to track for each creator
Record the views a creator's posts typically get, not only their followers: it is the number every later decision rests on (why views, not followers).
A pipeline that works
Give every creator exactly one stage. Seven is enough for paid deals:
- Shortlisted
- Contacted
- Negotiating
- Agreed
- Scheduled
- Posted
- Reviewed
- Shortlisted. You think they fit; you have checked their views and audience.
- Contacted. First message sent, from your own inbox.
- Negotiating. Fee and deliverables on the table.
- Agreed. Terms signed; fee fixed.
- Scheduled. A month or date for the post.
- Posted. Live, with its link and views.
- Reviewed. Results against the fee; rebook, pause or part ways.
Gifting runs on its own, shorter track: asked, address received, shipped, posted or not. Keep the two apart, so a gift never reads like an unpaid deal (the seeding guide explains why).
When a spreadsheet stops working
A spreadsheet is fine for a handful of creators. It breaks when deals overlap: a stage nobody updated, an agreed fee buried in an email thread, a discount code you have to match to orders by hand, a creator contacted twice by two people. When you cannot answer “what did this creator earn us?” in under a minute, it is time for a tool.
Habits that keep creators coming back
Write from your own inbox, as a person. Put every term in the agreement, not the chat. Pay when you said you would. Share the results with the creator: most never hear how their post did, and the ones who do are easier to rebook. And rebook the creators whose posts earned their fee before you look for new ones.
The number most CRMs leave out
Most influencer CRMs track engagement and campaign metrics. Few tell you what a creator is worth to your store before you agree a fee: their views turned into orders with your own conversion rate, order value and costs. That number is what separates a good relationship from an expensive one. How to calculate influencer ROI walks through it with an example.
How Acurrate handles it
Every creator in a campaign sits in one of five stages: comparing, negotiating, accepted, planned and delivered. Until a post goes live you see its forecast for your store next to the fee; once it is delivered, the actual revenue and profit. Outreach is drafted for you and opens in your own Gmail or Outlook; Acurrate never sends it itself. Agreements go out for e-signature, you can see when an agreement or gift link was first opened, and each creator can have their own page with every deal, link, sale and gift. Gifting runs on its own track with a zero-cost draft order in your Shopify store. Each deal carries a tracked link and code, so revenue is credited to the right creator. Flat fees are paid to creators through Acurrate; revenue-share commission is shown by month in Payments and, for now, paid outside the app.
Common questions
What is an influencer CRM?
Software that keeps every creator you work with in one place: contact details, where each deal stands, what you agreed, what they posted, what it earned and what you owe. It replaces the spreadsheet, the inbox search and the notes app once several deals run at the same time.
Can I use a spreadsheet as an influencer CRM?
Yes, for a handful of creators. It starts to fail when deals overlap: stages go stale, the agreed fee lives in an email thread, and nobody can say what a creator earned without matching discount codes by hand. That is the point to move to a tool built for it.
What should an influencer CRM track?
Who each creator is (including the views their posts typically get, not only followers), the stage of each deal, the agreed terms, whether the agreement is signed, what they posted, the orders and revenue it brought in, what you owe them, and notes for next time.
Should outreach go through the CRM or my own inbox?
Creators reply more readily to a person than to a platform, so many brands send from their own email. A good setup drafts the message for you, opens it in your inbox, and still records that it was sent and opened.
What do most influencer CRMs leave out?
What each creator is worth to your particular store. Most track engagement and campaign metrics; few turn a creator’s views into a forecast with your own conversion rate, order value and margins, which is the number that tells you what to pay.
Start with what a creator is worth
Paste a handle into the free ROI calculator and see the most that creator is worth to your store, from the views their posts really get.