Why Data is Key to Smarter Creator Marketing 📊

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

TODAY’S EDITION

• How to take a smart, data-backed approach to creator marketing

• Meta showcases how creators can leverage Meta AI

• LinkedIn will use member data to train AI models unless users explicitly opt out

DEEP DIVE

Driving Results With a Data-Driven Approach to Creator Marketing 

The creator marketing industry is set to hit $500 billion by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs. The sheer amount of money flowing into the space reflects the impact creators are having on businesses today and their growing influence on purchase decisions across every demographic.

But as more brands ramp up their creator partnerships and allocate more dollars to creators and content, expectations are rising. Marketers, from in-house brand teams to agency partners, aren’t just being asked to prove reach or engagement anymore; they’re being asked to prove performance. “What’s the ROI?” has become a common question when it comes to creator marketing.

While marketers can sometimes get lucky building campaigns off their gut, a data-driven approach is increasingly a requirement to deliver the performance that budget holders demand. And the best places to start? The briefs you develop, the creators you select, and the content you put live.

Here’s how to take a smart, data-backed approach across these areas to drive results:

1. Smarter Briefs: Turning Creative Direction into Performance

The brief is where campaigns succeed or fail. It sets expectations, provides guardrails, and guides creators toward the kind of content you want. Brands often lean heavily on messaging, aesthetics, and product features but miss the details that actually translate into results. Creators get freedom, but without clarity on hooks, CTAs, or formats, the end product can feel like a gamble.

A data-driven brief solves this by incorporating findings from past campaigns and industry insights. Instead of creators guessing what might work, you can point them toward what’s already proven to deliver.

• Concepts & Formats: Which storytelling formats drive results? Testimonial-style? Demo? Before-and-after? Challenge videos? Sharing data-backed formats gives creators a foundation grounded in performance.
  

• Hooks: The first three seconds often decide if viewers watch or scroll. Use past campaigns or industry benchmarks to identify which openings, visuals, or sounds capture attention. Share these insights so creators aren’t starting from scratch.
  

• CTAs: Don’t just tell creators to “include a CTA.” Highlight which ones historically move the needle for your brand—“Learn more,” “Shop now,” or “Don’t miss out.”

Why It Matters: A strong brief balances creative freedom with data-backed direction. It doesn’t script creators; it empowers them to build on proven foundations instead of starting from zero.

2. Smarter Creator Selection: Beyond Follower Count

Follower count used to be everything. Bigger audiences meant bigger impact. As algorithms evolved and audiences fragmented, follower count has become one of the least reliable indicators of performance.

Instead, focus on metrics that align with your goals:

• Engagement quality: Are followers active? Do they meaningfully interact with content? Comments often matter more than raw numbers.

• Performance history: Creators who consistently deliver above-average CTRs, ROAS, or conversions are stronger predictors of success than audience size alone.

• Format expertise: Some creators excel at storytelling, others at quick-hit trends, others at long-form education. Match creators’ strengths to the formats that historically perform well for your category.

Why It Matters: This moves you from asking “Who looks right for our brand?” to “Who has proven they can deliver results for our goals?”

3. Smarter Content: Testing, Iterating, Scaling

The final piece is the content itself. Data should guide decisions not just post-campaign but in real time. Top-performing brands are constantly testing, iterating, and scaling.

• Test hooks: Run variations of the same video with different openings to see what grabs attention.

• Iterate on winners: Double down on formats or messages that work. Create variations to extend reach and longevity.

• Cut losses quickly: Data tells you fast when something isn’t working. Stop spending on underperforming ads and redirect budget to what’s proven.

Why It Matters: This turns creative from a one-off gamble into a repeatable system. Scaling winners and cutting under performers creates a compounding effect and each campaign gets smarter.

Smarter Creator Marketing Starts Here

The gravitation to data-driven creator marketing makes sense, but where do you actually get the performance data? Building internal tracking systems can take months, and analyzing creator performance manually won’t let you move as fast as today’s market demands.

That’s why Billo has evolved beyond its UGC roots into a full Creator Marketing Stack. With live insights from over 150,000 video ads and more than $280M in tracked purchase value, Billo enables brands to:

• Brief Builder: Enter your product URL to get 4 data-backed brief suggestions for hooks, CTAs, and concepts based on what’s actually driving performance in your category.

• Top-Performing Creator Matching: Get suggestions for creators with proven ROAS, CTR, and Hook Rate in your category. All stats are benchmarked against industry medians.

• Ad Performance and Iterations: Once your ads are live, Billo tracks their performance against each other and industry standards to provide you with iteration suggestions and improvements. 

NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS

Meta to Launch New Creator Marketing APIs Next Month

Meta is launching new APIs for its creator marketing solutions. Instagram’s Creator Marketplace API launches October 1st, followed by Facebook’s Creator Discovery API on October 5th. These APIs allow platforms and agencies to search for creators using keywords and filters, access account-level data such as audience demographics and average rates, and (on Instagram) receive recommendations for similar creators.

Why It Matters: APIs are becoming a critical part of the creator marketing landscape. They enable influencer platforms and agencies, who often manage campaigns on behalf of brands, to integrate directly with platforms like Meta and access first-party data. These new APIs will further streamline the workflow for discovering, evaluating, and activating creators across sponsored content and Partnership Ads on Instagram and Facebook.

Meta Highlights Six Ways Creators Can Use Meta AI

Meta highlighted six ways creators can use Meta AI, its AI Assistant. Examples include brainstorming niche-specific ideas with hooks and angles, developing content series, drafting outreach emails for potential brand partners, and creating checklists to stay organized and on task.

Why It Matters: Meta is fully committed to AI, especially with its new trio of AI smart glasses. This roundup shows creators how to leverage the AI Assistant for their creator business, boosting productivity, creativity, and saving time. While many creators already use tools like ChatGPT and Claude, guidance like this encourages more creators to tap into Meta’s own AI tools.

YouTube Adds AI Stickers and Image Stickers for Shorts

YouTube is rolling out AI Stickers and Image Stickers for Shorts. AI Stickers let creators generate a sticker based on a prompt, while Image Stickers let creators turn photos from their camera roll into stickers.

Why It Matters: Creators now have more ways to add personality, context, or creativity to their Shorts. AI Stickers enable quick, on-the-fly content creation, while Image Stickers let creators seamlessly incorporate personal or brand visuals. Expanding the sticker library brings YouTube closer to Instagram-style interactivity, helping creators make Shorts more engaging, visually dynamic, and shareable.

LinkedIn Curates AI Tools to Help Professionals

LinkedIn has curated a set of AI tools to help professionals across Development/Coding, Design/Marketing, and Career Coaching. Each tool comes from a verified company with a dedicated product page that highlights its full capabilities. Notable tools include Microsoft Copilot, LinkedIn Interview Prep, Canva, Squarespace, Descript, and Lovable.

Why It Matters: Members get a trusted, curated list of AI tools to support their work—from job searching and content creation to building solutions. Featured companies gain visibility and a new way to reach LinkedIn’s 1 billion plus members, aligning with LinkedIn’s mission to empower the global workforce.

LinkedIn Is Updating Its Terms of Service to Share More Data for AI Training

LinkedIn announced it will update its Terms of Service on November 3rd. The update allows LinkedIn to share data with its affiliates, including its parent company Microsoft and subsidiaries, for advertising purposes and to use data for AI training. This includes profile information, such as past work experience and education; job-related data, like resumes and responses to screening questions; and member content, including posts, articles, and comments. Users have the option to opt out.

Why It Matters: Data—especially for advertising and AI—is one of the most valuable assets for social media platforms today. Expanding data sharing with its parent company can help LinkedIn make ads more relevant and improve AI-powered tools. However, users already have concerns about how platforms use their data, and this update may raise additional privacy questions, particularly for creators who share content on the platform.

THANK YOU

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here to receive the next edition directly in your inbox.

Support: If you're getting value and want to support, you can do so in a few ways: share it with a colleague, Buy Me a Coffee, or upgrade to the paid tier.

Stay Connected: For more content and updates, visit my website and follow me on LinkedIn, Threads, and Instagram.

Work With Me: I'm available for consulting, advising, brand partnerships, and speaking. Let's connect here.