How Skylum Streamlined Collaboration with Digital Creators Worldwide

Users tend to trust the opinions of real people more than the voice of a brand. Naturally, content creators who convey a lifestyle, expertise, worldview, and personal preferences that resonate with their audience gain public favor and become authorities for many. The emotional connection they build with their audience helps creators promote brand products and services more effectively than traditional advertising campaigns.

The trend of a growing creator ecosystem is also confirmed by research from Goldman Sachs. The report indicates that the industry is gaining momentum, and by 2027, its size is expected to double, reaching $480 billion. The primary source of income for content creators comes from brand deals (over 70% of their revenue). Creators help businesses not only gain additional market visibility but also ensure higher loyalty among the target audience and better conversions.

Of course, working within this field is defined individually for each business. However, the principles of interaction remain the same: finding talented creators, establishing trusting partnerships with them, and creating high-quality, resonant content for the brand's audience. 

In this article, I’ll share how collaboration with international creators is organized in the Ukrainian product IT company Skylum and how content makers help develop the brand’s identity.

Key Insights on Working with Creators

Most of our marketing team’s efforts are focused on promoting the AI photo editor Luminar Neo. This software makes photo editing quick and convenient thanks to generative technologies while maintaining professional results. While PPC and affiliate marketing focus on revenue generation, collaboration with creators aims to build the brand itself. This includes enhancing our reputation among the target audience, increasing social media followers, and developing a strong and influential brand community.

When we refer to “creators,” we primarily mean individuals who have made a profession out of creating high-quality photo and video content. We invest a significant amount of time and resources in establishing partnerships with digital creators around the world, as the AI photo editor is used in 176 countries. Given the software nature of the product, we mainly collaborate with content creators in two areas:

• Instagram Creators: These creators often travel, love photographing nature, and lead an aesthetically driven lifestyle. They create Reels with a focus on beautiful visual stories—landscape scenery, panoramic views, urban environments, and lifestyle shots—demonstrating how Luminar Neo adds expressiveness and emotion to their images.

• YouTubers: These creators generate educational and useful content for our YouTube channel. They explain the software functionality and showcase its benefits by editing their own photos, teaching viewers how to get the most out of photo editing.

In my opinion, simply negotiating mutually beneficial terms, creating compelling content, and evaluating the effectiveness of collaborations is no longer sufficient when working with creators. It’s crucial to establish personal connections and friendly relationships, turning them into unofficial brand ambassadors. In this atmosphere of trust, shared values, and common interests, it’s easier to generate unconventional creative solutions—those that can gain widespread support among both the creator’s and the brand’s audiences.

Evolution of the Approach: From Micromanagement to Automation

Launching and managing 15-20 quality collaborations requires a month to a month and a half of constant involvement from one SMM specialist. This includes manually finding creators who align with our values, content style, and target audience. The specialist must introduce them to the product, negotiate the collaboration, manage contract signing, discuss technical requirements, answer follow-up questions, and maintain ongoing communication. While this approach delivers stable and predictable results for a brand that aims to grow and scale, it also limits the rapid development of this promising area for the business.

To reach a new efficiency level, our team decided to launch Luminar for Creators. This platform is designed for content creators—mainly photo enthusiasts, travelers, and digital nomads—who promote our AI photo editor in exchange for three months of free access to the software. Even creators with a small audience (from 3,000 followers) who are willing to creatively integrate mentions of our product into their blogs can apply. We offer them maximum freedom for creativity and self-expression. After 3-4 successful integrations, we provide better opportunities for growth and strengthening their personal brand. For example, we initiate paid collaborations, invite them to participate in photo tours to the most remote corners of the world, introduce them to famous photographers, and promote them in the media and our own social networks.

The collaboration begins with a selection process. Our team evaluates the aesthetic visual content of social media profiles, the types of generated content (especially related to travel and lifestyle), and a general passion for photography. We also analyze the creator’s audience: reach, the ratio of audience size to engagement, the absence of “fake” followers, and whether their audience aligns with our brand, among other metrics. If the expectations don’t align, we make sure to communicate the rejection. In our response, we outline areas the creator can work on to have another chance to join the Skylum community in the future. We strive to respond to every inquiry to minimize negative feedback and maintain a positive brand image.

In just a month and a half of working with minimal promotion (involving three creator-partners and advertising), our database has already grown to over 250 content creators in key regions for our business—USA, Germany, and Australia. Thanks to the platform, we’ve reduced the time spent searching for creators, increased brand awareness among potential partners, and boosted the number of collaborative posts each month (up to 30 integrations). 

Additionally, we’ve optimized the costs of working with content creators, as the majority of collaborations have shifted to a barter system. There are also individual cases where creators with a large audience and a visual style that perfectly fits our brand apply but request payment for their services—in such cases, we seek mutually beneficial agreements to ensure a win-win collaboration.

What Businesses Should Consider When Expanding Collaboration with Creators

It’s essential not to skimp on resources when building partnerships with talented content creators. In practice, this means having a specialist on the team who understands how to strengthen this area of work. While it might not be obvious, many creators have numerous questions about the product, style, and other details both before signing a contract and during content creation. Creators appreciate it when a brand representative has thoroughly researched their profile before reaching out and offers a cooperation model that aligns with their values. They also highly value support in various life situations—whether it’s during professional achievements or personal matters. 

If creators encounter a technical issue or have a proposal for future collaboration, they need to know whom to contact and feel confident that a specific company manager will promptly address their request. For example, most of the content creators I work with have my WhatsApp, and we are in constant communication.

Moreover, transparency in how the brand operates is crucial for creators. This includes signing NDAs and contracts, timely payment for services to official accounts, and adherence to copyright agreements. For many content creators, such conditions are not commonly found in the market, making them appreciate this kind of professional experience.

It’s important to remember that creators are also part of the business’s target audience. They can be involved in focus groups, product improvements, or the development of new brand programs and apps. For instance, before launching a new product, I might reach out to 10-15 familiar creators asking them to test the beta version of the new software. They help by providing meaningful user feedback, which we listen to and use to make the product even better and more user-friendly. In this way, content creators become more than just informational partners on Instagram or YouTube—they actively contribute to the overall development of the brand.

A Few Advice for Creators Who Want to Collaborate with Major Global Brands

First and foremost, it’s important to understand the values, audience, and content style of the company you want to collaborate with. Ensure that your future content proposal conceptually aligns with the brand according to these criteria.

The entry ticket to a successful collaboration is a well-crafted pitch. It should include a brief description of your blog (aligned with the brand’s positioning), up-to-date statistics on your followers, and the average reach of your account. Additionally, it should outline the key idea for the proposed collaboration. Recently, we received such a personalized request from travel creators. Their pitch included a short self-presentation, plans for an upcoming trip and the photo activities they had planned, a beautiful portfolio, information about their total follower count, and potential reach on YouTube. We were so impressed by this case that we asked them to write an article for our blog on how to pitch brands and secure contracts effectively.

In summary, the most important aspects of any collaboration are a genuine desire for mutually beneficial cooperation and the building of strong, open, and trusting relationships. Only in this way is active and quality growth possible.