I built a creator program from zero, then ran the whole feed.
EatStash, a meal-planning app, had no creator program and a quiet social presence. I signed 7 creators in the first month, found out which ones drove installs, then took over Instagram, TikTok and Reddit.
- Creator sourcing
- Creator management
- Rate negotiation
- Content strategy
- Monthly reporting
- Community management
creator partnerships in month one, against a goal of 5 to 10
creators researched
Instagram reach, May to July
TikTok views, May to July
Chapter 01
The ten months
Two jobs on one contract.
- Oct 2025Hired to build the micro-influencer program
- Nov 107 creator partnerships confirmed
- Mar 2026Social audit, then I took over Instagram, TikTok and Reddit
- May to JulReach, profile visits and views climb
- Aug 2026Contract ends with a 5.0 review
Chapter 02
Act one
Finding creators who would say yes.
I started with a pool of 100+ creators and filtered for audience fit and engagement. Fifteen personalised emails brought 5 positive replies, and 92+ further contacts followed. Some emails never reached inboxes because of SPF, DKIM and DMARC problems, so I moved outreach to Meta Creator Marketplace and sent 300+ invites there. By Nov 10, 7 creators were confirmed.
Chapter 03
The finding
More engagement did not mean more tracked installs.
Two creators from the same campaign, with only four tracked installs between them. This is a small comparison, not a general performance benchmark. Pick a measure.
Chapter 04
The ranking
Scoring creators on what they could convert.
I built a formula: followers x engagement rate (capped at 20%) x 1% conversion. The cap stops one viral spike from skewing a score. Scores sit in four tiers: Low 0 to 9, Medium 10 to 49, High 50 to 149 and Top 150 and up.
Chapter 05
The paperwork
The documents behind the program.
Tap a document, then tap a page to enlarge it.
Sent to every creator. Written from campaign learnings: AI voiceovers, late publishing and posts that felt too promotional all underperformed.
The deck that presented the creator campaign.
One row per creator: status, reach, engagement, audience and rating. Names blurred.
Chapter 06
Act two
Then I took over the feed.
In March 2026 I audited the accounts and took over Instagram, TikTok and Reddit. The audit found that the top 16 posts were all creator-led, Reels drove 98.9% of views, and Stories and community engagement were weak. I rebuilt the plan around that.
Chapter 07
The reporting
An audit, then a report every month.
Where the accounts stood in March: what worked, what did not, and a 30-day plan.
Real metrics, what shipped, what did not and why.
Chapter 08
Results
May to July, side by side.
Visibility moved faster than app downloads, which is the next thing to work on.
Agboola ran our micro-influencer program and then took over as our social media manager. He sourced and vetted creators, handled the contracts and rate negotiations, and managed our Instagram, TikTok and Reddit presence with very little oversight from me. His monthly reports were some of the best I've gotten from a contractor: real metrics, what shipped, what didn't, and why. Quick to respond, hit his deadlines, and easy to work with. I would recommend Agboola!
