Grin and Upfluence are two of the most recognized names in influencer marketing, and both are very highly rated—and not just by us! A big reason why is they both employ clever Discovery tools that help you uncover the most influential people who are already your customers. No need to worry about authenticity here.
Both platforms bill themselves as end-to-end influencer solutions, and that is true, for the most part. From a high level, they’ll both take you from Discovery to Reporting pretty thoroughly, though each has a noticeable missing piece: Grin lacks a mechanism to pay influencers, while Upfluence’s audience analysis is incredibly basic.
All things being equal, you won’t go wrong choosing either one, but if you’re an e-commerce business looking to boost sales, Grin is the clear choice. It offers integrations with several e-commerce platforms, pushing influencer-created content to your online store while also recording and reporting on sales you make.
Grin takes everything you know you want from an influencer marketing platform and integrates it with your e-commerce platform, unlocking features you didn’t know you needed. Gifting products, tracking sales referrals, and finding influencers from your own customer base extend the use of what is already a full featured product.
Pros and Cons
Easily find new influencers from a pool of your registered customers
Integrate influencer generated content library with e-commerce platform
Understand true ROI with real time tracking of sales/referrals
What started as one of the earliest and most robust search and discovery tools has evolved with the times, offering users multiple ways to uncover new influencers and ambassadors. Easy-to-use campaign tools round out the management offering, while a flexible social listening module works well for all kinds of research.
Pros and Cons
Highly precise search tool on top of a massive influencer database
Multiple passive recruiting tools turn customers into ambassadors
Easy to use, with clear workflows
No audience analysis beyond basic demographics
Can be too complex and overwhelming for IM newbies
