Ever since the push for brands to work with social media influencers began to ramp up several years ago, companies have been in a manic rush to sign up the brightest, shiniest and most popular influencers without even knowing if they are truly able to deliver.

Brands rarely have a set protocol in place to vet influencers, relying on a business model that requires them to pay influencers large amounts up front and hope, fingers crossed, for the desired boost in sales. Often they end up with influencers who don’t fulfill promises or who produce results that aren’t really results at all, but vanity metrics like number of shares, comments, and likes. It is a business model that has emphasized quantity over quality and favored big-name influencers while bypassing micro-influencers with niche followings who might better serve their brands.

Further complicating matters, social-media platforms are motivated to make influencers seem as popular as possible in order to incentivize brands to pay big to feed platform bottom lines.

The current dynamic between influencers, marketers and conventional social-media platforms does not serve influencers or brands optimally and is long overdue for a tune-up.

A business model in which brands have direct access to influencers — so that neither the brands nor the influencers with whom they are partnering need turn over any profits to middlemen — is a more lucrative and rewarding situation for both companies and content creators.

A sample of Instagram influencer's post.

What’s needed is a platform that enables brands to easily check audience data and vet influencers so that they can confidently choose those who will best represent their brands. Conscious partnerships between companies and creators benefit all stakeholders because brands know they are getting the right influencer fit, and influencers can rest assured that they are promoting a product they feel good about.

A platform that cuts out the middleman enables sincere and dedicated influencers to choose brand partnerships with much greater discretion, since it affords them more opportunities to earn income by other means — like selling products — without having to turn over large portions of their profits to platforms like YouTube, Amazon and eBay.

This type of scenario is also a win for influencer fans because they can enjoy more unsponsored content from their favorite influencers who are now able to create authentic posts without compromising their messages in order to earn a living. Influencers, freed from the fetters of large rent-seeking platforms, can instead earn a living by offering goods and services that are meaningful to their fans as well as to themselves, like specialized products or one-on-one consultations. When they do choose brand partnerships, they can more freely choose those that are most aligned with their voices as an influencers.

For Influencer Marketing, Blockchain is Better

Blockchain-based social media platforms provide the perfect environment for influencers and brands to work with together; one wherein they deal directly with each other, and influencers are paid incrementally as measurable results are produced. This eliminates risk for brands and allows brands and influencers to partner with confidence while earning maximum profits.

There are already quite a few social media offerings running on blockchain technology. Platforms like Sola eschew influencers altogether and reject “the concept of following,” according to their website, opting instead to “spread information like a viral disease to the most interested users,” while Steemitallows users to get paid for posted content as their posts are upvoted.

DApp marketplace BOOSTO is a blockchain platform uniquely equipped to address typical concerns that brands have when selecting influencers to represent them. BOOSTO is an environment created specifically to cater to the needs of content creators. Since content creators and brands rely heavily upon each other, this makes the BOOSTO ecosystem extremely beneficial for brands as well.

First, BOOSTO eliminates any worries merchants may have about paying large sums without getting desired sales results. Companies can purchase tokens to access influencer audience data and interact with influencers directly on the BOOSTO platform, ensuring that their chosen influencers have the perfect niche followings to appreciate their brand. Additionally, smart contract-enabled transactions via BOOSTO ensure that certain predetermined conditions are met before payment is made to influencers. For example, a sponsored link might have to produce an actual sale and not just a like or comment before the smart contract executes payment.

The trustworthy environment of blockchain platforms like BOOSTO ultimately lend credibility to the craft of being an influencer. Those influencers who put their hearts into their business will be taken seriously and aptly rewarded by brands who will have the confidence — backed up by data — to afford them the respect and monetary rewards to which they are entitled.

Top Blockchain/Crypto Influencers

Crypto Beadles

Boxmining

DataDash

Ivan on Tech

Doug Polk Crypto

If you are looking for more crypto influencers, here is a more detailed list of all the crypto / Blockchain influencers.

BOOSTO is an influencer driven decentralized App store, aims to empower global influencers and developers through unleashing the full potential of influencer led communities, by using blockchain as a foundation of trust and tokens as incentives to build various interactive decentralized applications.