· 4 min read · Jason Youngjin Koh
Thirty creators in six months
One celebrity post buys a day of attention. Thirty micro creators posting every month buy something more useful: a steady supply of content that sells, and evidence of which voice your customers trust.
Recruit micro-influencers in batches, give them clear creative direction instead of scripts, and run their best content as paid ads from their own accounts. Aim for thirty active creators over six months. Out of that group a few will consistently sell, and one may become the brand ambassador.
Why micro-influencers over one big name?
They cost less per post, so one big name fee funds many creators. Their audiences trust them more, because they still reply to comments. And thirty creators give you thirty tests of which face, voice and angle sells your product, where one big name gives you a single data point.
In Vietnam the category splits into KOLs, people with reach and authority, and KOCs, everyday consumers who review what they buy. Both earn their place. KOC content often converts better as an ad because it looks like a customer talking, which is exactly what it is.
How did this work for TinhHoa?
TinhHoa is a Vietnamese perfume brand we built from zero. Creator content was a core part of the growth: a steady run of creators, each briefed on what to show and what to say, with the strongest posts turned into ads. Monthly revenue went from nothing to $25,000.
6x
Return on ad spend for TinhHoa, a Vietnamese perfume brand taken from $0 to $25K a month
How do you choose the creators?
- Audience over follower count. Check who comments, where they live and whether they look like your customer.
- Engagement that reads as human. Real questions and conversation in the comments, not a wall of emojis.
- Content they already make. A creator who already films street interviews or product comparisons will make yours well.
- Willingness to take direction and to grant rights to run their content as ads.
Should you script creator content?
Direct it. A script makes a creator sound like an advertisement, and their audience notices immediately. Give them the one thing the product does better, the proof behind it, what to avoid saying and the format that has worked, then let them say it their way.
The direction comes from what is already winning in the market. An agent collects the creator formats gaining traction in the category, such as blind tests, street interviews, first reactions and get ready with me videos, and each brief tells the creator which format to try. I review the direction; the creators make it.
How do creator posts become ads?
Through partnership ads. Meta lets a brand run ads through a creator's handle with their permission, so the ad appears from the creator. TikTok's Spark Ads do the same thing. These ads carry the creator's credibility and usually beat the same video posted from the brand's own account.
That turns the program into a creative engine. Each month's new posts are tested in the ad account, winners get budget, and the creators behind the winners get more briefs.
What does a six month program look like?
| Months | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Shortlist and recruit the first ten creators, brief them, collect the first content |
| 2 | Test that content as ads, then recruit ten more based on what worked |
| 3 to 4 | Recruit the final ten, rebrief the winners, retire creators whose content does not sell |
| 5 to 6 | Concentrate spend on the creators who consistently sell, and choose an ambassador from the strongest |
Do paid creator posts need disclosure?
Yes. Paid posts are labelled as paid. Australia's consumer regulator and advertising code expect clear disclosure, and Vietnam's amended advertising law puts direct obligations on the people who advertise, influencers included. Use the platform's paid partnership label every time. The reach lost to a label is small; the trust lost to a hidden ad is not.
Can an in-house team run this?
Yes, once it is set up. The part that takes experience is the first two months: choosing, briefing and reading the results. After that it is a system. We train the in-house team to find, brief and manage creators the way we did for TinhHoa, and the program keeps running without us in every conversation.
Creators bring new customers in. The next article covers bringing them back. Selling again to customers you have