Paid ads cost more every year, yet they convince fewer people. That's a big reason top outdoor, travel, and adventure brands are investing in creators.

A creator program puts your product in the hands of real people your future customers already trust. And when you invest in a network of ambassadors, that trust compounds over time. You keep building on the same relationships season after season instead of paying for attention all over again with every campaign.

The numbers behind the bet on creators

Three data points explain why so many brands are building creator programs right now.

• Acquiring customers keeps getting more expensive. According to SimplicityDX research, ecommerce merchants lost an average of $9 for every new customer they acquired in 2013. By 2021, that number was $29, a 222% increase in eight years.
• People trust people. Nielsen found that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know more than any form of advertising. The best creators earn that same kind of trust with their audiences.
• Creator content keeps paying back. The IPA Effectiveness Databank found influencer marketing has the highest long-term multiplier of any media channel it measured, at 3.35. Its long-term ROI index is 151, compared to 77 for paid social.

That last point matters most for how you build. A creator program that keeps paying back over months rewards brands that invest in lasting relationships with creators, rather than one-off posts.

Why people trust people

Trust doesn't come from a follower count. It comes from someone who reads as a peer: the person who is camping 100 nights per year, or the person going for the first time and sharing their experience.

That's especially true in the outdoors. Your future customers want to see how a tent handles a windy ridge or how boots hold up after a real season on the trail, from someone who actually spends their time out there. Instead of chasing the biggest account you can find, look for creators whose everyday life already overlaps with how your product gets used.

A creator program that lasts comes down to three things:

Community

Start with a curated network of outdoor, travel, and adventure creators who already live the lifestyle and apply to work with brands like yours. With Popfly's creator network and campaign management tools, you can find the right people, run campaigns with them, and keep the best ones around as long-term ambassadors.

Infrastructure

Gifting, affiliate links, storefronts, payments, and content licensing should all be managed in one organized hub instead of across spreadsheets, email, and DMs. That includes:

• Automated gifting to get product to creators fast
• Affiliate tools and creator storefronts so creators can earn on the sales they drive
• Partner payments handled in one place
• Specialty retail connections that link creator demand to the shops where your customers buy

Measurement

Social listening, sales tracking, and ROI reporting show you what's working and what's worth scaling. With performance and ROI data in one place, you can see the full creator funnel end to end, from the first post to the final sale.

Ready to see what a creator program could do for your brand? Hit up our team and we'll connect you with creators in the Popfly network who already live the lifestyle your customers do.