Influencer marketing involves brands or agencies forming relationships with people who have a strong presence on social media and exposing that individual’s audience to the brand’s messaging or content.

According to a recent Business Insider report, the influencer marketing ecosystem is currently worth around USD 8 billion and it is estimated it will almost triple to USD 22 bln by 2020.

In 2018, the Influencer Marketing Hub website reports, 320 more platforms and agencies focusing on influencer marketing were created. These new agencies will have a tough job to catch up with smart pioneers like Post for Rent.

A robust system
 

Post for Rent was co-founded by Gary Csiszar in February 2016. Today, Csiszar, 29, heads up a team of over 25 subcontractors, developers, account managers and art directors that includes co-founder Norbert Kardos.

The company boasts a talent pool of 55,813 influencers who offer content from 2,775 advertisers to 5.3 billion followers. With influencers from 32 countries, it has a global reach and a bricks and mortar presence in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, London, Budapest and Berlin.

Post for Rent exists to provide brand, agency and talent managers with everything they need to easily scale and streamline their influencer marketing needs.

The company’s Private Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) collect data from some of the world’s most powerful influencers and ongoing campaigns for brands that include Nike, Coca-Cola and Hungary’s homegrown Sziget Festival.

A management tool enables brands, agencies and talent managers to keep track of workflow and payments. The company’s app makes it simple for influencers and creators to work with brands, and Post for Rent promises to pay influencers within three days.

Co-founder Csiszar spoke with bbj.hu about his role in the operation.

“My current role is very product development driven and I’ve had to become seriously software savvy, which I really enjoy,” he said.

“I make sure we’re more than meeting the needs of our clients and our platforms are performing perfectly. I handle fundraising; we’ve raised more than EUR 2 million since we started in 2016. I’m also leading our expansion the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Adriatic and Baltic territories.”

Does Post for Rent target specific industries?

“We pretty much do all sectors,” Csiszar said. “We started with FMCGs and clothing brands but now every kind of brand is incorporating influencer marketing into their mix.”

How does the company find influencers?

“We start by inviting them to take part in a practice campaign with us. If they accept, we test their worth. We’ll usually take a couple of influencers from every one of these campaigns.”

We’re being told that influencer marketing is maturing. What does that really mean?

“When we first started, brands chose lifestyle influencers for any campaign. It was more of a scattergun approach. Today, it’s getting harder for people with diverse audiences to be credible. Now, brands look at an influencer’s audience – we help them identify what that is – to take away any elements of uncertainty. We then work with influencers to make sure content is on brand. It’s becoming extremely sophisticated.”

What about the future?

“In the immediate future, the sector will mature and those of us who got in early will become giants. Apart from the sheer monetary growth of the sector, influencer marketing will eventually become another trusted part of the media industry. It will become more and more common for people to base their decisions based on influencers.” And where will Post for Rent be?

“We’ll be the ultimate go-to influencer marketing company, made up of a YouTube certified MCN, a data management tool and an app for influencers, and run by industry experts. We believe that this will make us unique in the industry.”