The landscape of influencer marketing tools is wide and varied. We’ve talked to some of the software company executives here on the show. The IZEAs, Onalyticas and Mavrcks of the worlds are large databases with a high-touch managed services that sit on top of them. I’ve used several of them and they’re great. There are others, like ApexDrop, that are more about product distribution and micro-influencer engagement. Still more are just do-it-yourself databases like HypeAudtior that help you find, but you do a lot of the work. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Trend is a relatively new entry into the space and it’s a bit of a hybrid of an influencer marketing discovery platform and a creator marketplace. But it has a slightly different spin than most of the others. It’s an application and invite only platform of highly curated influencers.

Jay Desai is the head of growth at Trend. He joined me to explain a little more about what distinguishes the platform, what they vet influencers for to ensure it’s a strong offering and Trend-specific topics. But more broadly we talk about the current state of the influencer space, the different philosophies in approach, both for brands and for software companies, and more. 

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