Most agencies vet creators by follower count and engagement rate. We use an 11-point rubric that takes about 20 minutes per creator. Here's the full system — use it yourself or understand how we use it for your campaigns.

// The 11-Point Technical Creator Rubric

Score each creator 0–5 on each criterion. A score of 40+ is a strong candidate. Below 30, pass.

  • 1. Technical Accuracy — Does their content contain real technical depth or is it surface-level? Check their last 5 posts/videos for correctness.
  • 2. Audience Seniority — Are their followers/viewers senior engineers, leads, or CTOs? Check LinkedIn connections or YouTube comments for job titles.
  • 3. Engagement Quality — Are comments asking technical questions? Or just "great video!" Generic praise = low-quality audience.
  • 4. Stack Alignment — Does their content naturally overlap with your ICP's tech stack? A Kubernetes expert shouldn't be promoting a mobile app SDK.
  • 5. Past Brand Collaborations — Have they done brand deals before? Were those posts authentic or obviously scripted? Check FTC disclosures.
  • 6. Community Trust — Are they active in relevant communities (Discord, Slack, HN, GitHub Issues)? Do people tag them for advice?
  • 7. Content Depth — Can they produce a 20-min deep-dive tutorial? Or are they only comfortable with short-form content?
  • 8. Platform Reach — Is their primary platform right for your ICP? YouTube for tutorials, LinkedIn for thought leadership, newsletter for deep reading audiences.
  • 9. Geographic Fit — If your product is priced in USD and your ICP is US/EU companies, a creator with 80% Indian audience may not be the right fit regardless of technical quality.
  • 10. Commercial Experience — Have they shipped products, worked at companies that use tools like yours, or consulted? Real-world experience shows in the content.
  • 11. Risk Flags — Any past controversies? Exaggerated claims in previous sponsored content? Disclosure non-compliance?
A creator with 5,000 highly engaged senior engineers in your exact ICP will outperform a creator with 500,000 general developers every time. Niche beats scale for devtools.

// Red Flags to Reject Immediately

  • Sponsored content where they clearly haven't used the product
  • Comments that are all generic ("Amazing content!") — suggests purchased engagement
  • No technical work to show outside of content (no GitHub, no real projects)
  • Previous FTC disclosure violations
  • Audience that doesn't match your ICP even if the creator seems technically credible