Creator marketing · Cause marketing & CSR

How to start an influencer marketing program: crawl, walk, run

Most first creator programs try to do too much at once. Start with a few creators and one goal, then grow in three stages.

By Victor Ramayrat · October 8, 2026 · Under 2 min read

Finding the right creators is the hard part

In the IAB 2025 creator economy study, a third of brands said that finding the right creators is their biggest problem. More than half named creator reputation (58%) and audience alignment (56%) among their top criteria for choosing creators. Nonprofits are active too: 58% of the nonprofits in the 2026 M+R Benchmarks Study worked with influencers in 2025.

Pick a campaign structure first

The structure tells you what to pay for and what to measure.

Seeding. Send a product, or invite creators to an event. A post is not required. If a creator posts, the post needs a disclosure.
Paid partnership. Pay a flat fee for a set number of posts.
Affiliate or promo code. Pay for each sale or sign-up.
Ambassador program. Creators post for you again and again over months.
Creator fundraiser. Creators ask their followers to give. For #TeamSeas, more than 8,000 creators pledged support for a goal of $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash.
Paid amplification. With the creator's permission, you run ads from their post, with TikTok Spark Ads or Meta partnership ads.

Grow in three stages

Crawl to learn, walk to repeat, and run to make creators a normal part of your work.

Find your starting stage

We have worked with a creator before.
We have a written brief and a disclosure rule.
We track clicks or codes for each creator.
We have a budget to pay creators.
One person owns creator work each week.

Your answers point to Crawl.

When: First 90 days
Creators: 3 to 5 who already post about your cause or product
Structure: One short campaign, one goal, one platform
Pay: Gifts, small flat fees, or unpaid partners who care
Measure: Views, and link clicks with a unique link for each creator
Move on when: You ran one campaign end to end and know your cost for each click or sign-up

Check each line that is true for your team. Pick a stage above to compare.

Show all stages as a table

The three stages of a creator program
Stage	Crawl	Walk	Run
When	First 90 days	Months 4 to 12	After year 1
Creators	3 to 5 who already post about your cause or product	10 to 20, with paid and unpaid partners	An always-on ambassador program, plus AI creator agents for steady updates
Structure	One short campaign, one goal, one platform	Repeat campaigns on key dates, with a standard brief and contract	Always-on posts and 2 to 4 big moments a year, such as a creator fundraiser
Pay	Gifts, small flat fees, or unpaid partners who care	Flat fees plus usage rights. Test paid ads from creator posts	Retainers for top creators, bonuses, and affiliate commissions
Measure	Views, and link clicks with a unique link for each creator	Donations, sign-ups, or sales from links and codes	Impact counts, such as meals funded, and lift tests
Move on when	You ran one campaign end to end and know your cost for each click or sign-up	You know which creators perform, and you can repeat a campaign	Report creator results in your CSR or impact report

Decide six things before you start

One goal: awareness, donations, sign-ups, or sales.
The people you need to reach, and where they are.
A budget, and how you pay.
A disclosure rule for every post.
Who approves posts, and how fast.
How you count impact, such as meals funded.

Common questions

How many creators should a first campaign use?

Start with 3 to 5 creators who already post about your cause or product. A small group is easy to brief, review, and measure. Add more creators when you know your results.

Do I need to pay creators?

Not always. In the 2026 M+R Benchmarks Study, 33% of nonprofit influencer programs used only unpaid partners. Brands should plan to pay. A free product is also a paid relationship, so the post needs a disclosure.

Can a brand run ads with a creator's post?

Yes, with the creator's permission. TikTok Spark Ads and Meta partnership ads let a brand put ad spend behind a creator's post. Agree on the usage rights, the time period, and the fee in the contract.

What is in the free playbook?

The 13-page PDF has six campaign structures, a 90-day crawl plan, steps for the walk and run stages, a brief template, a contract checklist, a compliance checklist, and a measurement plan.

Sources

Creator Economy Ad Spend to Reach $37 Billion in 2025 (2025 Creator Economy Ad Spend and Strategy Report). IAB.
M+R Benchmarks 2026: Social Media and Influencers. M+R.
Cleaning the ocean with #TeamSeas (November 12, 2021). YouTube Official Blog.
About Spark Ads. TikTok Ads Help Center.
Earn from brands: branded content and partnership ads. Meta for Creators.
Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers. Federal Trade Commission.