The biggest mistake brands make with their first campaign is over-complicating the brief. Influencers receive dozens of collaboration requests. The ones that convert are short, specific, and leave creative room.
Step 1 — Define One Clear Goal
Start by defining exactly one goal. Not 'brand awareness and conversions and engagement.' One goal. If you're launching a product, the goal is: get qualified eyes on this product page. Full stop.
⚠ Note
Multi-goal campaigns confuse influencers and produce unfocused content. Nail one objective per campaign.
Step 2 — Write a Tight Brief
- One paragraph describing your brand (not your company history)
- Exact deliverables: e.g. '1 Instagram Reel, 2 Stories'
- Key message: the one thing the audience should take away
- Hard don'ts: competitor mentions, price disclosures if any
- Content deadline and posting window
Step 3 — Publish and Review Applications
On TickTime, creating a campaign takes less than 10 minutes. Set your niche, your deliverables, your budget range, and your deadline. Publish as public so verified influencers can discover and apply. In most cases you'll start receiving applications within hours.
Evaluating Applicants
When reviewing applications, focus on engagement rate over follower count. A 30k-follower fitness creator with 8% engagement is worth more than a 500k account averaging 0.4%. Check their last 9 posts — consistency matters more than peak content.
💡 Tip
TickTime shows verified engagement metrics directly on influencer profiles, so you're not guessing from a screenshot.