Let’s solve a math problem: according to our survey, influencer marketers work with 30 creators every month on average. And throughout an influencer collaboration, marketers send nearly 25 messages to each creator.

So if you had 30 influencers in your campaign, you’d be sending 750 messages over the course of that campaign. That’s a lot of communication to manage, especially if you’re a one-person department or a small team.

Enter one-to-many channels: newsletters, Slack, WhatsApp, and Discord groups that help you scale influencer communication and cut down on message management each month.

But if not used wisely, one-to-many channels can strain influencer relationships because they can come across as impersonal. No influencer wants to feel like just another cog in the machine (even if that’s not your intention!).

In this guide, I’ll share expert-backed tips on how to use one-to-many communication formats effectively. We’ll cover:

• When to use one-to-many communication (and when to avoid it)
• Which broadcast channel to use
• Four ways to use your broadcast channel
• How to avoid depersonalization in one-to-many formats
  

Let’s go! 👇

When one-to-many communication makes sense (and when it doesn’t)

One-to-many channels make the most sense for communicating with affiliates, brand ambassadors, and long-term influencers. Here’s why:

• Affiliate marketing and brand ambassador programs often involve sharing the same information with each creator (like product/sale details, discount code info, etc.).
  
• If you’re running a large-scale affiliate program, you likely also don’t need to communicate with each influencer individually (if you even have the capacity for it).
  
• Long-term influencer relationships can benefit from group channels (in addition to 1:1 communication) to foster a sense of community, share exclusive perks, and strengthen brand affinity.
  

The bottom line: use one-to-many creator communication when you’re running an influencer program at scale and don’t have the capacity to manage 1:1 creator relationships. Don’t use broadcast communication for partnerships that require a custom brief or feedback, or when you want to leave a memorable impression. Here’s a chart to help make the decision easier:

Over 72% of marketers say they use broadcast channels for affiliates, followed by long-term collaborations and brand ambassadors.

Lee Drysdale gives an example of how to use one-to-many communication formats for affiliates to improve your efficiency:

Lee Drysdale

Senior Influencer and Affiliates Executive, Argento

[One-to-many channels] are the easiest way to let affiliates know if there are any last-minute brand updates, such as “We’re bumping commissions for the weekend” or flash sales, new codes, etc.

Valerija Somi agrees:

Valerija Somi

Influencer Manager, Qure Skincare

It makes the most sense for affiliate collaborations, such as informing partners about a potential opportunity to earn more commission, since we’re likely to get free content in return

By contrast, broadcast channels don’t make sense for paid partnerships or giveaways. In these collaborations, the content should be tailored to the creator’s style and your campaign goals. These partnerships are also far too valuable to rely on broadcast channels alone.

Fernanda Marques hasn’t used broadcast channels for this very reason:

Fernanda Marques

Influencer Marketing Coordinator

I haven’t implemented a one-to-many method like a newsletter or Discord group yet, mainly because my workflow is very manual and tailored to individual conversations. Each campaign and influencer often requires personalized messaging based on their audience, content style, and deliverables.

Matheus Ribeiro ties one-to-many communication formats to revenue representation:

Matheus Ribeiro

Influencer Marketing Coordinator, Cia. Hering

Broadcast channels are useful for partnerships with less revenue representation. Marketers should dedicate more time to influencers who bring good results – in those cases, opt for more personal communication.

It makes sense that if you’ve invested in paid partnerships or giveaways with a creator, you’re likely expecting them to get better results than affiliate partnerships which rely on a performance-based fee only. To get better results from a particular influencer, you might need to spend more time communicating individually – whether that’s giving a custom influencer brief or personalized feedback.

In such creator collaborations, individual communication also serves to make the influencer feel special and important. If you’re partnering with a mega-influencer, for instance, you want to leave a memorable impression – which is hard to do when you’re communicating with many influencers at once. Greta Zacchetti agrees:

Greta Zacchetti

Influencer Marketing Manager, foodspring

For affiliate influencers, [broadcast channels] are the best way to go. Communication doesn’t have to be particularly personalised, and updates are less frequent. For more prestigious creators, communication must be more personal and tailored.

In addition, broadcast modes of communication don’t usually work in short-term collaborations or when you’re experimenting with creators outside your niche. In both situations, creators might have follow-up questions you need to answer privately anyway. Overall, it’s not worth the hassle to set up a one-to-many format.

Which broadcast channel should you use?

There are plenty of options for one-to-many messaging: Slack channels, newsletters, Discord groups, WhatsApp channels, social media networks, and the humble group text. Of all these channels, which one should you use?

Here’s a list of pros and cons for each channel to help you decide:

In general:

• Newsletters are best for situations in which you don’t want influencers to interact with each other but want to share info with them at scale.
  
• WhatsApp and social media groups are perfect for communicating in real time with your influencers and providing personalized replies quickly.
  
• Discord is geared toward specific communities of influencers like gamers or tech creators since they likely already use the app.
  
• Slack is perfect for creators who are comfortable in a corporate setting.

Out of all the channels, newsletters remain the most popular choice among marketers.

Why? Newsletters are simply more convenient because you already have the email addresses of the creators you’re partnering with. Plus, creators are likely checking their inboxes every day. Greta Zacchetti points out that newsletters also protect your influencers’ privacy:

Greta Zacchetti

Influencer Marketing Manager, foodspring

Email is automated and allows me to save time. It also protects everyone’s privacy because influencers can’t see each other’s contact details.

That said, you don’t need to choose newsletters just because everyone else is. Think about the purpose of your one-to-many communication and what channel meets it best.

Let’s say you want to use your broadcast communication to build an interactive community. Discord or WhatsApp would work better than a newsletter because they have features geared for groups.

To give you another example, Cheyanne Pettyjohn uses the Close Friends feature on Instagram because that’s where her creator partners are the most active:

Cheyanne Pettyjohn

Director of Influencer Marketing, Rookie Wellness

We utilize a Close Friends story on Instagram, as most of our influencers do the majority of their work on that platform, and therefore, they stay more updated there than anywhere else.

To begin with, poll your influencers and brand ambassadors about which broadcast channels they use frequently. Choose the channel that a majority of your creators already use.

It’s also best to pick a channel you are already active on. If you aren’t in the habit of opening Discord, for example, the influencer group will only collect dust. The right influencer broadcast channel is one:

• your influencers use regularly
• you are active on (or can get active on)
• that contains features which suit your purpose

Once you’ve landed on the medium, move on to the message.

What to use one-to-many channels for (and how often)

You’ve created a broadcast channel for your influencer partners. What kind of messages should you send here? We found there are four common use cases:

• Sneak peeks and info about new product lines: You want your long-term creators, affiliates, and brand ambassadors to promote any new product lines. Use your broadcast channel to take your creators behind the scenes – offer them sneak peeks into a launch, for example, and educate them about a new product. This will allow your creators to prepare accurate and timely content for your campaign.
  
• Events, sales, or promotions: Use your broadcast channel to announce sales or share about company events. One-to-many formats enable you to inform creator partners at scale and ask for help with promotions. This is especially true for affiliates and brand ambassadors who might want to capitalize on your brand’s promo calendar to earn a few extra bucks.
  
• Updates or changes to your influencer program: If you’re updating any terms and conditions in your program – like commission structure or payment methods – use one-to-many channels to keep your creator partners in the loop.
  
• Marketing or branding updates: Similar to influencer program changes, if anything changes in your branding guidelines, you can use broadcast channels to keep your influencer partners up to date.
  

One-to-many channels are excellent for sending messages to all your creators in a campaign. They’re efficient, and this way, you’re less likely to miss updating any creator about important info.

But there’s a caveat to using broadcast channels: don’t overwhelm creators with too many messages – it’ll only dilute the latter’s purpose. Over 45% of marketers we spoke to said they used one-to-many channels monthly, and 27% said they used them only quarterly.

Noor Ahmed sums it up:

Noor Ahmed

Influencer Marketing and Partnerships Manager, Mad Kicks

Stay organized. Never spam creators with messages, and only send the most important updates.

If you send too many messages, a creator could miss important information. Send them only when necessary to share critical updates, and avoid spamming the channel. And if possible, organize your channel by topic. For example, in Slack, you can use one thread for payment guidelines, another for marketing updates, and a third for sales info. This way, your creators will know exactly where to find what they need.

How to avoid depersonalization in one-to-many messaging

The biggest risk of one-to-many broadcast channels is that your comms feel transactional compared to 1:1 messages. Here are three ways to avoid depersonalization:

1: Remain authentic in your communication

Don’t button up your words just because you’re communicating with your creator partners at scale. Lee Drysdale says it should feel like a message from you, not a robot:

Lee Drysdale

Senior Influencer and Affiliates Executive, Argento

I tend to avoid any corp jargon when writing to influencers and managers as they don’t talk like this day to day. I always try to make them feel like they’re getting an email from a bestie.

How to do this practically? Don’t overthink it – Cheyanne Pettyjohn suggests showing your personality and communicating like a human, not a brand:

Cheyanne Pettyjohn

Director of Influencer Marketing, Rookie Wellness

Even in our broadcasts, we show a lot of personality to help partners feel closer to us as a brand. I recommend being as authentic as possible, and just enjoy communicating with the people on the other end.

Small details can go a long way: voice notes, memos, behind-the-scenes photos of your team. All these things add up to make your message feel personal and authentic – instead of just a corporate blast.

2: Use names and personalized details in email newsletters

If you’re using an email marketing tool as your broadcast channel, you can still personalize the greeting as well as segment messages to different subgroups of influencers. Greta Zacchetti shares how she customizes her broadcasts:

Greta Zacchetti

Influencer Marketing Manager, foodspring

Keep your messages standardized, starting with a tailored intro using their name. Then, shift into a clean, structured briefing template that includes campaign context and objectives; deliverables and deadlines; links; codes; and product and contact info.

You can also use email templates to save time if you need to send regular updates to your creator partners. Templated messages are also available on many social media channels (like Instagram).

3: Invite responses and feedback

One-to-many doesn’t have to be one-way, after all. Inviting responses can make creators feel more connected and heard. You can make the communication much more interactive by asking for replies and reactions, running polls, etc.

This will increase your workload a bit though, as you have to manage and respond to replies, so use this suggestion only if you have the capacity to run a more active creator community.

Efficiency shouldn’t make you lose connection

One-to-many communication with your influencer partners can be much more efficient than speaking to each creator individually. But it’s worthwhile to remember that influencer marketing is all about relationships. Broadcast communication shouldn’t strip away the human touch from your creator communications – especially with influencers you want to keep around. Use them to scale smart, not soulless.

If you worry that adding a broadcast channel will thin your connection, start by automating other aspects of your influencer marketing strategy that have nothing to do with 1:1 relationships – like finding influencers, reaching out, following up, and tracking influencer content. Modash can help you do all that and more! Take it for a spin, no strings (or cards) attached, for 14 days.