CREATOR MARKETING: HOW TO EVOLVE A CREATOR PROGRAM WITH A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH

Every creator marketing program eventually reaches a crucial question: which creators are capable of generating long-term value for the brand?

Most influencer and creator marketing programs are launched, grow and deliver satisfactory results. As these projects mature, their natural evolution leads brands to question whether the composition of the community, the content being produced and the way collaborations are managed remain aligned with brand objectives, platform algorithm updates and emerging trends. This is far from a trivial question. It means challenging an ecosystem that already works in order to understand whether it could work even better.

This reflection led to the initiative developed by OPPO Italia together with Intarget: a programme of analysis, optimisation and creator support that demonstrates how data can become a practical tool for improving the quality of a creator program without compromising its authenticity.

When data becomes a decision-making tool

The OPPO Crew is OPPO Italia’s micro-creator program. For around three years, it has brought together creators who integrate the brand into their everyday lives, building a consistent and recognisable presence through authentic content and an ongoing relationship with the product.

At the beginning of 2026, the objective was not to rethink the project, but to assess its level of maturity. Using the Kolsquare platform, an in-depth analysis of the community was conducted to identify strengths, areas for improvement and opportunities for evolution.

The analysis revealed a solid programme, while also highlighting several areas requiring attention. Of the 59 creators involved, more than half showed high performance levels in terms of both quality and consistency of content production. At the same time, content distribution was heavily concentrated on Instagram Stories, which accounted for 83.6% of the total, while Reels represented 5.9% and TikTok still played a marginal role.

Other indicators also highlighted room for growth. Average audience credibility stood at 64.5%, while Italian followers accounted for 40% of the audience. Considered individually, these figures did not represent critical issues. Analysed together, however, they pointed to a clear opportunity: making the Crew more closely aligned with the brand’s objectives and the dynamics of social platforms.

From creator selection to content evolution

The work developed along two complementary directions. The first focused on the composition of the Crew. Using the indicators available on Kolsquare — quality score, audience credibility, geographical affinity and consistency of production — an optimisation process was defined to build a more cohesive group, better aligned with the objectives for 2026, while progressively improving audience quality and the relevance of the Italian audience.

In parallel, a creative tutoring programme was launched to support creators in evolving their content.

The initiative included continuous monitoring of platform trends, regular feedback based on actual content performance and collaborative work on the development of new formats. The objective was not to standardise creators’ styles, but to help them enhance their own distinctive language while developing content that was more consistent with the native dynamics of TikTok and Instagram Reels.

This resulted in a clear editorial direction: reducing the weight of purely demonstrative content, encouraging more natural storytelling, increasing the video component and creating content capable of retaining value beyond the moment of publication.

The results of the first activation

Between February and May 2026, the new Crew configuration involved 33 creators, who published a total of 767 pieces of content, generating 5.54 million impressions and more than 24,600 interactions.

Beyond the quantitative metrics, the most evident change was in the quality of the output. The content was more consistent with the brand’s positioning, more closely aligned with the language of each platform and better designed to stimulate conversation and participation rather than simply deliver message exposure.

This confirms an increasingly relevant principle in creator marketing: performance does not depend exclusively on the size of the community or the number of creators involved, but on the quality of the ecosystem built around the brand.

What this project teaches us

The OPPO Crew experience highlights two aspects that apply to any creator marketing program. The first is that data only creates value when it informs decisions. Having access to detailed metrics is not enough: brands need the ability to turn them into selection criteria, operational priorities and continuous improvement actions.

The second concerns the role of creativity. In a landscape where content production is increasingly accessible and supported by artificial intelligence, what truly differentiates a creator is still the ability to build an authentic relationship with their community.

For brands, this means investing not only in selecting the most suitable profiles, but also in developing the creative and storytelling skills of the creators they work with. An effective creator program does not come from simply managing collaborations. It is the result of a balance between data, strategic direction and ongoing support: three elements that can transform a creator community into an increasingly recognisable and long-lasting communication asset.