Why Smaller Creators Are Your Secret Weapon

Most brands scaling creator programs make the same expensive mistake: they only chase big names with 100K+ followers.

Here's why your best ROI is sitting with creators who have 5K-50K followers, and how to actually build a program that works with them.

This newsletter is brought to you by Archive. Archive is AI that helps brands scale creator programs infinitely.

Archive is the social listening + creator discovery platform that captures what your community posts and automates reporting, gifting, and usage rights.

Their AI watches video, listens to audio, and reads text—not just tags or metadata. They turn every detected post into searchable, brand-safe data.

Here's what happens when brands chase only the big names:

1. You're competing with everyone else
That creator with 500K followers? They're getting 50 other brand pitches this week. Your offer needs to be significantly better just to get noticed. And even if you do get them, you're one of dozens of brand deals they're managing.

2. The authenticity tax
When creators post sponsored content constantly, their audience stops caring. It's white noise. That 500K follower count means nothing if engagement is at 0.5% because their audience has learned to scroll past anything that looks like an ad.

3. You're paying for past performance
That creator built their following doing something different than what you're asking them to do. You're betting that their audience will care about your product as much as they cared about the content that built the following in the first place. Sometimes it works. Often it doesn't.

Now let's talk about what happens when you include creators in the 5K-50K range:

Lower competition, higher commitment
These creators aren't drowning in brand deals. When you reach out, you're not competing with 49 other offers. They have time to actually understand your product, create thoughtful content, and build a genuine relationship with your brand.

Hungry and resourceful
Smaller creators are still in growth mode. They're testing, iterating, and hustling. They'll put in more effort because they're trying to prove themselves. They want case studies for their portfolio. They want to build long-term partnerships.

Niche audiences that actually care
A creator with 15K followers who talks specifically about sustainable fashion has a more valuable audience for a sustainable brand than a general lifestyle creator with 200K followers. The smaller audience is there because they care deeply about that specific topic.

Better economics
You can work with ten 20K creators for the same price as one 200K creator. Now you're getting diverse content, multiple audience segments, and built-in A/B testing. You're spreading risk across multiple partnerships instead of betting everything on one big name.

When you invest in smaller creators early, you're not just buying content. You're building relationships with people who will grow.

That creator with 15K followers today? They might have 150K next year. And when they do, they'll remember who supported them when they were small.

Brands that built relationships with creators early get loyalty, authentic advocacy, and continued partnership as those creators grow. Meanwhile, brands that only chase big names get transactional relationships and forgettable content.

Here's why most brands don't do this: it's harder.

Managing 10 smaller creators takes more work than managing one big creator. You need:

Most brands don't have this infrastructure. So they default to working with fewer, bigger creators because it's operationally simpler.

But that's like saying you'll only hire senior executives because managing entry-level employees is harder. You need both. And if you're not willing to build the systems to work with smaller creators, you're missing the majority of the opportunity.

This is why I like Archive. Archive is the infrastructure that you can build a creator program on.

I'm not saying you should only work with smaller creators. You need a mix. Big creators provide reach and credibility. Mid-tier creators provide solid performance. Smaller creators provide authenticity, engagement, and future potential.

The creator economy is evolving fast. The creators with 5K followers today could be the creators with 500K followers in two years. The question is whether your brand will have a relationship with them or whether you'll be trying to break through to them when they're fielding offers from 50 other brands.

Early investment in smaller creators is like early-stage venture capital. Most won't become massive. But the ones that do will provide outsized returns. And even the ones that don't will give you better engagement and more authentic content than most big creators.

Your move.

Want to scale your creator program? Explore Archive here.