1 Pro and 3 Cons of Using a Free Influencer Database

Influencer marketing can be a highly effective way of getting your company’s name out there, but only if you collaborate with the right influencer. This means finding someone with the right reputation, on the right platforms, who knows what they’re doing. But it also means finding someone who is the right fit for your brand and understands what you want to achieve with your campaigns. And this can be difficult without the right tools and software. 

Many brands choose to use a free influencer database to find influencers for their campaigns. Although this is obviously the most cost-effective solution, it is far from being without its risks.

Let’s take a look at 1 pro and 3 cons of using a free influencer database to help you decide if it’s the right tool for your business.

Pro of Using a Free Influencer Database 

The most obvious benefit of using a free influencer database is that it won’t cost you anything. This can be a good way of testing the water if you are new to influencer marketing. You get access to an aggregator directory that lists basic information about a range of social media influencers. You can then apply filters to help you find a suitable influencer for your brand. 

Generally speaking, though, that’s as good as it gets.

Cons of Using a Free Influencer Database 

As with most things in life, if you want to step things up and make a real impact with your campaigns then you’re probably going to have to put your hand in your pocket. Instead of opting for a free influencer database with limited capabilities, paying a small premium for a comprehensive influencer database can give you access to a range of powerful features that will speed up your search and help you find much higher-quality candidates.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the disadvantages of using a free influencer database to help you understand which of these powerful features you might be missing out on.

Discovery Limitations

With a free influencer database, you’re likely to be restricted to very basic discovery features. For example, free databases are likely to be much smaller than those offered through more comprehensive solutions. You also might not be able to access data from all available social media platforms and encounter geographic restrictions. And you’re far less likely to have access to the psychographic data you need to effectively analyze an influencer’s audience. Plus, many of the free influencer databases on the market don’t vet the influencers they list, so you could potentially be putting your brand’s reputation at risk if you hire someone that doesn’t meet your expectations or whose audience consists of fake followers. And all this is vital information when you are looking to hire an influencer. 

In contrast, with Influencity’s platform, you get access to an intuitive Discover tool where you can apply a range of filters to narrow down your pool according to geographic location, interests, brand affinity, and top hashtags, to name a few. What’s more, we also let you apply filters to an influencer’s audience, making sure that only the creators who reach your target audience appear in your search results. This makes it much faster and easier to find someone who aligns perfectly with your campaign’s vision and objectives so that you can create highly engaging campaigns for your target audience.

Complex Interfaces

A good database needs to be intuitive and easy to navigate. However, you’re not always guaranteed this with a free influencer database. You may find that the web interface is sometimes flaky or slow to load. The user experience may not be as intuitive as a paid solution either, and general customer support may be lacking.

With a solution like Influencity, you get the right balance between simplicity and access to comprehensive data. This makes it much easier to access all the influencer marketing tools you need to find the best fit for your campaign. These features include  a Discover tool, an Influencer Relationship Management (IRM) tool,, campaign management tools, and features for integrations and automation, amongst others.

In addition, Influencity offers a dedicated customer success team, who are more than happy to assist you to make sure you are getting the most out of the platform. Users also have access to a comprehensive knowledge base with user guides for searching for influencers, managing your relationships, and launching your campaigns. That way, you have answers to any potential queries at the click of a button.

Limited Reporting Capabilities

Finally, a free influencer database is likely to have limited reporting capabilities and tools for campaign performance tracking. And this can severely limit the impact of your campaigns as having access to metrics such as engagement, audience impacted, and total earned media value is vital for understanding how well your campaigns are performing. And even if a free influencer database does include reporting capabilities, they will probably be basic, and you won’t be able to customize your reports. 

With Influencity, however, you get access to all the customized reporting data you need to understand every aspect of your campaign, allowing you to measure performance at a post, influencer, social media network, and general campaign level.  . Data is displayed in real-time directly from an intuitive, user-friendly, and customizable dashboard. You can also share these results with your teammates and clients at the click of a button. That way, you can make the right strategic adjustments to your campaigns and boost your overall ROI.