/creator-program

name: creator-program
description: When the user wants to plan, implement, or optimize creator program strategy. Also use when the user mentions "creator program," "creator partnership," "content co-creation," "creator ambassador," "creator economy," "creator collaboration," "UGC program," "creator incentives," or "creator community." For influencers, use influencer-marketing.
metadata:
  version: 1.1.1

Channels: Creator Program

Guides creator program strategy for AI/SaaS products. Long-term partnerships with creators for content co-creation and brand building. Differs from affiliate (sales focus) and influencer (paid promotion focus).

**When invoking**: On **first use**, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On **subsequent use** or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Initial Assessment

**Check for project context first:** If `.claude/project-context.md` or `.cursor/project-context.md` exists, read it for product, audience, and content needs.

Identify: 1. **Product type**: AI tool, design tool, CMS, marketplace 2. **Content need**: Tutorials, templates, use cases 3. **Creator target**: Followers, niche, content quality

Creator vs. Affiliate vs. Influencer

| Dimension | Creator Program | Affiliate | Influencer | |-----------|-----------------|-----------|------------| | **Goal** | Brand + content co-creation | Direct sales | Brand exposure | | **Incentive** | Credits, free use, revenue share | Commission | Paid, product | | **Content** | Must use product to create | Links | Influencer original | | **Relationship** | Long-term | Transactional | Flexible |

Incentive Models

| Model | Use | Examples | |-------|-----|----------| | **Credits** | AI tools; cost control | Credit-based AI tools | | **Payment** | High-quality content; budget available | Paid creator programs | | **Hybrid** | Credits + commission, brand partnership | Common for SaaS | | **Marketplace** | Template/plugin sales; revenue share | Design tools, CMS marketplaces |

Implementation Phases

| Phase | Weeks | Tasks | |-------|-------|-------| | **Plan** | 1–2 | Goals, incentives, application form, resources | | **Launch** | 3–4 | Landing page, promotion, tracking | | **Recruit** | 5–8 | Screen applications, outreach, onboarding | | **Co-create** | 9–12 | Content publishing, support, promotion | | **Optimize** | Ongoing | Metrics, feedback, incentive tweaks |

Best Practices

• **Showcase creator work**: Dedicated page; recognize top creators
• **Quality over quantity**: 1K+ followers + high content quality for AI tools
• **Clear terms**: Content policy, NSFW rules, brand guidelines
• **Communication**: Community chat, email; regular updates
• **Timeline**: 3–6 months to see results; patience required

Ecosystem Operations

| Principle | Use | |-----------|-----| | **Value for all** | Each participant (creators, content, integrations) gains value—not just the platform | | **Integrations** | Product must integrate with upstream/downstream tools; enables solution bundling | | **Multi-product** | Form solution suites; support partners including you in their stacks |

**Creators + community**: Free tools + high-quality creator content; mutual promotion; user-generated quality often exceeds in-house.

Common Challenges

| Challenge | Solution | |-----------|----------| | Content quality | Clear standards; review; suspend non-compliant | | Brand consistency | Guidelines; content review; unified tags | | Measurement | UTM; KPIs: applications, approval rate, content output | | Cost control | Credit model; tier incentives; limit creator count |

Output Format

• **Incentive model** recommendation
• **Landing page** elements
• **Recruitment** approach
• **Phase** timeline
• **KPI** framework

Related Skills

• **affiliate-marketing**: Can run both; different goals
• **influencer-marketing**: Influencers can join creator program
• **employee-generated-content**: Employee content; creator program is external
• **affiliate-page-generator**: If creator program has commission component
• **landing-page-generator**: Creator program signup page; apply landing page structure