# Humanz Marketer Academy > A free course on creator (influencer) marketing by Humanz, built on the Humanz Creator Playbook. It covers why creator marketing works and how to answer common objections, five campaign principles, the 4S buying behaviours (Stream, Scroll, Search, Shop), advocacy and performance programmes, and an eight-stage campaign workflow from objective to report, with checklists and metric definitions. Built for Humanz staff and accredited agency partners, and open to everyone. Full text of every lesson: https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/llms-full.txt ## Chapter 1: Why and principles Why creators work, and the five rules every campaign should follow, regardless of the brief. - [1.1 What this playbook is for](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/why-and-principles/what-this-playbook-is-for/): Why creator marketing results swing so widely, and the four things every campaign must now implement: the brief, the creators, the metrics and the report. - [1.2 Why creators](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/why-and-principles/why-creators/): Evidence-backed answers to the objections clients raise about creator marketing, from TV and in-house content to celebrities, sales and proving it worked. - [1.3 Five principles for every campaign](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/why-and-principles/five-principles/): The five principles that should hold for every creator campaign and programme, whatever the brief, archetype, behaviour or budget, and how to use them. - [Principle A: Believable beats famous](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/why-and-principles/believable-beats-famous/): People trust a creator who would pick the brand even if unpaid. Why fit and visible love beat fame, with recognition rates by creator size from 239 creator ads. - [Principle B: Plan backwards, run forwards](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/why-and-principles/plan-backwards-run-forwards/): Agree the objective, define the report, build the distribution and content plan, then choose creators: how to plan campaigns backwards and run them forwards. - [Principle C: Posting alone isn't distributing](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/why-and-principles/posting-alone-isnt-distributing/): Organic posts reach only a fraction of a creator's followers. How to coordinate creator timing, amplify the best posts with paid media, and use clipping safely. - [Principle D: Compare creators, not just campaigns](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/why-and-principles/compare-creators-not-just-campaigns/): A small share of creators drives most of the return. Three ways to compare creator performance, and why every report must end with a ranking and a decision. - [Principle E: A number without a baseline proves nothing](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/why-and-principles/a-number-without-a-baseline-proves-nothing/): Every reported number needs a comparison. The five baselines to use for creator campaigns, and the metrics to stop reporting, such as follower count as reach. ## Chapter 2: The choices How people buy now, what to run, and which behaviours go together. - [2.1 How people buy now](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-choices/how-people-buy-now/): The 4S model of Stream, Scroll, Search and Shop, what each behaviour does, the creator's role in each, and how to judge creator work on the right numbers. - [2.2 What to run](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-choices/what-to-run/): The advocacy and performance sides of a creator programme, how to use the loop, and the eight archetypes: what each involves, what creators get, who leads. - [2.3 Where to start: default pairings](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-choices/default-pairings/): Default primary and secondary behaviours for each creator archetype, the core metrics to judge them on, and three rules for changing a default in the brief. ## Chapter 3: The workflow Plan it backwards. Run it forwards. Every stage has its must-dos, a table by behaviour, and a checklist. - [The workflow, on a page](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/the-workflow-on-a-page/): The eight workflow stages on one page: plan backwards from the objective and report to the creators, then run forwards from the contract to the report. - [3.1 Objective and primary S](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/objective-and-primary-s/): Start every creator campaign with a two-sentence objective, one primary behaviour (stream, scroll, search or shop), the archetype and the default pairing. - [3.2 The report we want to show, and resonance](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/the-report-and-resonance/): Write the report's headlines before you choose creators: core metrics by behaviour, goals written as numbers, one thing to learn, and resonance on every post. - [3.3 Distribution and content plan](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/distribution-and-content-plan/): Plan how creator content travels: timing by behaviour, one budget for creator fees and paid media, and a content territory built on a moment, not a script. - [3.4 Creator selection, fair pay and reward](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/creator-selection-and-fair-pay/): Pick creators who are believable and can prove they deliver, run three checks on each, choose a payment model, price against CPE and reward top performers. - [3.5 Contracts](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/contracts/): How to contract creators: price every task, lock the posting window, and put usage, ad permissions, insights, incentives and disclosure in writing. - [3.6 Content review](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/content-review/): How to review creator content: how much say you have on gifted and paid work, what to check for each behaviour, and the brand cues that lift memory. - [3.7 Launch and optimise](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/launch-and-optimise/): Set up measurement before anything goes live, then launch creators together, boost the best posts, remake weak ones and refresh when the reaction drops. - [3.8 Report and learn](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/the-workflow/report-and-learn/): Fill in the report you planned in a set order, rank every creator, log what you learned, and close the loop by sharing each creator's results with them. ## Appendix Definitions, checklists and sources - [A Metric definitions](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/appendix/metric-definitions/): Plain-English definitions of every creator campaign metric, by behaviour: from brand segment reach and resonance to branded search lift and attributable sales. - [B The checklists, in one place](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/appendix/checklists/): Every stage's checklist from the creator campaign workflow in one printable place, from objective to report, plus a learning log for what changes next. - [C Sources](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/appendix/sources/): The studies, industry reports and platform materials behind the playbook, from IPA influencer benchmarking and System1 creative research to Kantar and Google. ## Local edition: South Africa - [Benchmarks for South Africa](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/benchmarks/): Influencer Marketing Benchmarks, South Africa 2026, from Humanz: cost per engagement by industry and category, the fair-value benchmark for pricing creators. - [Creator content is welcome in South Africa](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/creator-content-is-welcome/): 42% of South Africans call creator content welcome, ahead of display, social feeds, online video and streaming, yet creators get about 1% of ad spend. - [Disclosure rules in South Africa](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/disclosure-rules/): The ARB's Appendix K requires paid social content in South Africa, including gifted products, to be obviously identifiable as advertising, a duty brands share. - [Gifts and tax](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/gifts-and-tax/): In South Africa, gifts are income: SARS expects influencers to declare cash and in-kind earnings at fair market value. Flag it to the creator and advertiser. - [Guides for South Africa](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/guides/): South African guides behind the playbook: the Humanz Influencer Marketing Benchmarks for South Africa 2026, and the IAB SA Disclosure Toolkit 2026. - [How people shop in South Africa](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/how-people-shop/): Why online sales under-report creator impact in South Africa: in-store preference, low online share of retail, and failed payments that lose buyers. - [Why online attribution under-reports](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/online-attribution/): Online is under 10% of retail in South Africa, so codes and links see only a slice: report attributable sales as a floor, next to search lift and in-store data. - [Payday and buying moments in South Africa](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/payday-and-buying-moments/): In South Africa, spending peaks around month-end payday and grant payment dates. Plan Shop pushes around them, and around Black Friday and the festive season. - [Pricing in South Africa](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/pricing/): How Humanz prices creator content in South Africa: minimum fees per piece, usage in paid bundles, UGC buyouts, usage fees for gifted content and product costs. - [Sources for South Africa](https://www.humanz.com/marketer-academy/south-africa/sources/): The South African sources behind the playbook's local guidance: Kantar BrandZ South Africa, Stitch payments research, SARS on influencer tax, and the ARB and IAB SA codes.