Influencers say Slack is now a 'gold mine' for brand deals. They told us the best tips and groups for success.

When Lissette Calveiro first downloaded the Slack workspace for Women in Influencer Marketing in 2021, she was on the hunt for creators to book.

At the time, she was the director of influencer marketing at advertising company Ogilvy and said she worked under tight deadlines to find talent that fit certain requirements: in those cases, Slack was a "life saver."

Today, she's a creator herself and the founder of talent agency Influence with Impact. That Slack group? She still uses it daily to track down paid opportunities for dozens of influencers she manages.

"People respond so, so quickly when you're on there, and that's usually not the case on other apps," she said. "It's so collaborative, and I've seen a huge return on investment because it's such a great network."

Launched in 2014, Slack has become one of the most popular workplace communication tools because of companies' reliance on features like separate channels for smaller groups of people, emoji options, and "huddles," which are audio and video calls in the platform.

Now, more influencers are catching on to its appeal.

Kristen Bousquet, a micro influencer and creator coach, found out one of her favorite influencer-marketing companies had started a Slack community and joined it to learn more about how brands approach partnerships. The platform quickly turned into a "gold mine" for job opportunities, she said.

Messaging brand executives directly is one of the biggest perks

Bousquet said she's landed a user-generated-content gig for a small tech company through Slack and made connections on the platform with brands like iPad-screen-protector company Paperlike, vinyl-flooring manufacturer Flooret, and Earth Rated, which makes sustainable dog products. She said Slack also allowed her to liaise with brands on behalf of the members of her private membership community, Soulcial Suite, which supports creators as they manage and grow their businesses.

Meanwhile, UGC creator Patricia Redulla said she's joined communities for founders of small- and medium-sized businesses — including the workspaces Limited Supply and Startup CPG, in which she's an active participant.

"It gives me access to many founders who need content, so I sometimes message them directly or reply to a thread they've posted looking for creators," Redulla told BI.

She's found that many startup founders have little to no experience working with creators and influencers and are usually open to brainstorming ideas and pitches to expand their company's presence on social media.

Redulla has also joined UGC-specific Slack communities, like the Adolescent Storyteller Network, where brands usually send out a Google Form, and creators can apply for the work directly through there.

Slacks just for creators are in the works

Calveiro and four other creators said the Slack workspace for the Women in Influencer Marketing community has been particularly helpful for connecting with marketers and other experts in the creator economy.

"I had an influencer who really wanted to work with a certain brand, and I just asked in the channel and immediately got the contact info for the person in charge," Calveiro said.

While many of the other Slack groups creators said they'd used were free, this particular one charges membership fees of $41 per month or $588 a year. Calveiro said the price point might be too expensive for the average creator, even if it means exclusive access to contacts and brand opportunities like the WIIM group provides.

"For a lot of talent agents or marketers, their employers pay for it, but since a lot of creators bear most costs themselves, they have to be willing to pay for the service," she said.

WIIM's workspace organizer Jessy Grossman said that even though the group was originally formed for those in influencer marketing, she's recently noticed more and more creators requesting to join.

"What gives Slack that unique factor is that it doesn't feel so transactional," she said. "There's this one-to-one direct chat environment where I've seen people actually form really meaningful relationships."

She's started working on a creator-focused Slack channel, which she plans to launch soon. She's building the group based on feedback from the core WIIM community, made up of managers, brands, agencies, lawyers, and other creator-economy experts, on what information they'd want to know about potential talent. Like the existing Slack group, this one will also charge users.

"Part of the goal is to teach creators how to more effectively pitch themselves, and connect them with people who would be able to offer input on that," she said. "The engagement on Slack is so high from what I've seen, so I really wanted to create a community just for them to take advantage of that."

Calveiro is excited about this because of the group's potential to create a safe, engaged community where all questions are welcomed.

"I haven't yet seen a truly successful Slack channel just for creators, and I think it's so needed," she said. "There can be a lot of gatekeeping of resources and contacts in this industry, so that would help with accessibility."