First off, what is Influencer Whitelisting?

Influencer whitelisting is the process of influencers and creators granting advertising permissions to brands or partners to use their handles, content, and audience targeting to unlock a new media and acquisition channel.

The process of influencer whitelisting ultimately allows brands to work with influencers who create compelling content and who connect with an audience that is receptive to social recommendations.

To simplify the term “influencer whitelisting” the influencer is granting advertiser access to their Instagram account and Facebook page, allowing brand partners to optimize paid media behind influencer content. Granting these permissions can be done manually through Facebook’s Business Manager, or can be made simpler with technology like Lumanu. Read more on how to whitelist influencers here.

After the influencer has granted permissions, their Facebook page and Instagram account identities will be readily available for advertisers directly in their Facebook Ad’s Manager and they can start running dark posts .

How does influencer whitelisting benefit advertisers?

As with any marketing initiative, you only want to put the time, resources, and money into something if it is going to benefit your brand and if you see the ROI. As organic reach on influencer posts continue to drop across all platforms, influencer whitelisting is necessary to deliver ROI from influencer marketing programs. Here are a few benefits you’ll find:

1. Influencer whitelisting gives your brand the ability to Dark Post: Dark posts are paid Facebook and Instagram ads that do not show up on influencer feeds, but do appear as ads to the users you are specifically targeting. The ability to create dark posts allows your brand Influencer dark posts allow brands to optimize influencer content across target audiences. What this really means is that advertisers no longer have to rely on organic posts to deliver results.
2. Influencer whitelisting gives your brand full control over targeting: It allows you to achieve your brand’s media objectives, whether that involves getting a certain amount of reach, brand lift, page views, or purchases. This also means you can measure the tangible return on investment in your influencer campaigns and content to justify future investment in influencers.
3. Influencer whitelisting gives your brand the ability to test and learn: Whitelisting allows you to compare influencer performance within audiences and see how well individual influencers are performing against your marketing objectives. These important insights can help you understand whether your investment is justified and inform marketing budgets. It’s also beneficial to see how your influencer content is performing compared to your brand ads.

And what about benefits for creators?

Whitelisting for creators can be opening a door to new and exciting opportunities. Creators see the following benefits from whitelisting:

1. Extended reach of the creators' content giving the content new eyes and allowing the creator to expand their audience. Since these posts are not required to be on the influencer’s feed, these dark posts increase the content’s shelf life and the account’s reach.
2. Creators get to stick to doing what they love (creating content) and do not have to create the ads themselves.
3. Reduced audience fatigue for organic content. Because the influencer is not required to post the dark posts on their feed, this opens up the opportunity to take on more branded work without exhausting followers with an organic feed full of sponsored content.
4. Whitelisting opens the opportunity for influencers to earn more money - no matter if they are micro-influencers or have a big time following. Whether it is expanding and growing their media kit or keeping tabs on how the content is performing and improving, whitelisting allows them to grow their business, drive results, and help increase a brand's awareness.

‍