- RESEARCH -
We started with a wide open canvas for this project. There was too many potential space to work on. We narrow down our scope by finding answers to these two questions:
Define project scope
Is the collaboration really a problem?
We had very limited time frame to find our topic. First, we found some news talking about collaboration issue in influencer marketing, but it do not mean the problem is widespread enough that worth the effort to design something to solve it.
To quickly verify whether this is a problem worth solving, I decided to lead the team to :
look into some survey result of influencer marketing,
look into Reddit and Facebook groups to see if there are any complain about it.
We found that various social media posts reveal the problems faced by creators:
• According to a recent Deloitte survey, on average, 45% of creators , find some aspect of brand collaboration somewhat or very difficult.
• There are many online reviews indicate that many conflicts arise during the collaboration process, and collaboration is one of the biggest challenge between creators and brands.
Domain research
Are current products solving the problem?
Other than literature review, we looked into both US and China markets to examine wether existing products are helping to solve the collaborations problems.
We foud that:
Most existing products in the market primarily focus on before and after collaboration, especially for creator matching, outreach, campaign management, and evaluation. However, features for collaboration process is often neglected in these products.
in China’s influencer market, the intention of two major products is to benefit both parties, thus there are features to support the cooperative processes, such as process management, editing and uploading, modification, review, etc. But in reality, after matching two parties, the collaboration process always leave the current platform，happen through emails or DM messages. The reason that users do not use the platform because they think the platform doesn’t friendly support the functions they need.
In the US influencer marketing, the existing popular products are focused on before and after collaboration, and tailored to the business side. like robust influencer discovery and outreach features, comprehensive campaign management tools. Even there is a communication function, it is mainly designed for influencer outreaching. However, there is nothing much that are designed from the perspective of creators.
Thus, we aim to create a platform that is designed with creators in mind, offering them comprehensive support throughout the entire collaboration process -- from initial matching to ongoing communication and negotiation -- to foster more productive and successful partnerships with businesses.
Define users
Narrow down target users — mid-tier influencers
Based on our research, we decided to set our target group as mid-tier influencers (Follower 10k-100k).
Compared to micro-influencers, mid-tier influencers have a more stable source of income through influencer marketing and established partnerships. However, they often encounter more challenges when collaborating with businesses than top-tier influencers. Mid-tier influencers typically have a small team and fewer resources to manage their collaborations, making the process more time-consuming and challenging. Additionally, they may not have the same level of leverage in negotiations with businesses, which can lead to unfair terms and conditions.
To narrow down our user group, we started by looking at different tiers of influencers，
By creating a platform that caters to the needs of mid-tier influencers, we can provide them with the necessary tools and support to overcome these obstacles and establish more successful partnerships with businesses.
User interview
Uncover more details
After secondary research, we wanted to uncovering more details from conducting user interviews. Our goals are:
We interviewed 7 mid-tier creators, ranging from 2 - 9 years experience collaborate with brands marketing campaign. Here is the link to our interview script.
Interview notes
Affinity diagram
We found that:
all interviewers complain that they had experience being asked for multiple revisions, even after delivering their final work, which is very frustrating and takes up a lot of their time. some changes are unprofessional.
there can be misaligned expectations between creators and brands, as brands may prioritize their own advertising goals over the creator's vision and quality, which can harm the creator's reputation with their audience.
creators always feel being in a weaker position during collaborations, and brands often take advantage of them. For example, by starting collaborations without a formal agreement or upfront payment, making excessive demands for revisions, setting unrealistic deadlines, delaying payment, and more.
None of the existing platforms can well-support the entire process from start to finish. Creators often use platforms to match with brands, and then move the collaboration to a third-party platform for all communication, negotiation, feedback. This lack of full support from platforms is one of the reasons why creators may feel insecure and unsupported in their collaborations.
Persona & User Journey
What’s not working in existing collaboration process?
With a comprehensive understanding from user interview, we visualize the collaboration process by a user journey map. By doing so, we were able to better empathize with our users, and tried to look at the problems from their points of view.
Synthesis insights
Key insights learned from the research
Through a combination of primary and secondary research, we were able to synthesize and generate three key insights that highlight pain points experienced by content creators in collaborations with brands. These insights were then used to inform the development of key features in later design.
01
Influencers find it is time consuming to get on the same page of aligning expectations, visions, and details with brands
Although there are all kinds of communication tools, creators and brands often find it challenging to effectively communicate their needs, preferences, and expectations. Brands may not provide sufficient details on their requirements and expectations upfront, leading to misalignment in the middle of their collaboration. This results in a lot of back-and-forth negotiation and editing, which can be time-consuming and frustrating for both parties. As a result, many collaborations end up being unpleasant experiences.
“It is frustrating because negotiating takes a good amount of time, and you get your hopes up, all for it to lead to nothing.” - Kanoelani Graham, full time creator
02
Influencers feel insecure being put at a disadvantage in the partnership, because they are not protected to get fair compensation from the business
Our research has shown that unfair partnerships are common in the industry, such as starting a collaboration without a formal contract, brand doesn’t offer a fair compensation, or the brands do not make timely payments. In some cases, brands may even abruptly terminate a collaboration. Creators may feel powerless in these situations, but are forced to comply with the brand's requirements in order to receive their payments.
"It's frustrating when brands try to take advantage of my position and make unreasonable demands. I often end up having to give in just to get paid." - Jane Doe, content creator
03
It is frustrating for influencers to deal with brands' endless requests for revision on content they’ve created
One common frustration among creators is the repeated requests for revisions from brands, even after delivering the final version. This may be due to brands having a specific vision for the content that they want to see realized, which can take multiple iterations to achieve. However, some brands, have no idea about the influence market, may also be overly demanding or have unrealistic expectations, which can lead to a prolonged revision process that takes up significant amounts of the creator's time.
“The most annoying thing is that the video has already been edited but the brand still ask for updates” - Kanoelani Graham, content creator
