How Campaigns Work on CollabDesk: The Complete Brand Guide

Running an influencer campaign on CollabDesk follows a clear, step-by-step process — from finding the right creators to reviewing their content and releasing payment. This guide walks through every stage so you can run your first (or fifth) campaign with confidence.

Step 1: Create a Campaign

Every campaign starts in DRAFT status. To create one, go to Campaigns → New Campaign and fill in:

• •Title and description — what the campaign is about
• •Category and sub-category — the niche this campaign targets (e.g. Fitness → Yoga)
• •Deliverables — exactly what you want from each creator (e.g. "2 Reels", "3 Stories", "1 Post")
• •Brief — your full creative direction, key messages, dos and don'ts, mandatory inclusions
• •Budget (optional) — the total campaign spend you're planning
• •Deadline — when all content should be live

You can also upload requirement files — moodboards, brand guidelines, product spec sheets — that creators can download before accepting. Files can be attached at any point while the campaign is still in DRAFT.

Step 2: Discover Creators

Once your campaign exists, head to the Discover page to find creators. You can filter by:

• •Followers (min/max range)
• •Engagement rate (min/max) — filters by their actual verified engagement, not estimates
• •Average likes per post (min/max)
• •Niche (category and sub-category)
• •Location — country, state, city, or locality (partial match)
• •Age range

Results show each creator's verified Instagram stats — follower count, engagement rate, and average likes — pulled directly from Instagram, not self-reported. If you add your campaign's deliverables to the filter, CollabDesk also shows you an estimated price per creator based on their rate card, so you can budget before you invite.

You can bookmark creators for later. Bookmarked profiles appear in your saved list so you can build a shortlist across multiple discovery sessions.

Step 3: Invite Creators

From any creator profile or the discovery results, you can add them to your campaign invite list. When you send invites:

• •You can invite multiple creators in a single batch
• •Each creator sees the campaign brief, deliverables, and their estimated payment
• •A dedicated campaign chat thread is automatically created for each creator — you can start the conversation right away
• •You can optionally set a locked price (override the auto-calculated rate) and an invite expiry window (24–96 hours, default 48h)

The moment you send your first invite, the campaign moves from DRAFT to EVALUATION status. You can continue inviting more creators at any time during the evaluation phase.

Step 4: Evaluation Phase — Managing Responses

During evaluation, creators accept or decline your invite. You can track every creator's status in the Campaign Summary:

You can remove creators who haven't yet accepted, adjust your invite list, or send additional invites. Use the campaign chat for each creator to answer their questions, share extra context, or negotiate details before they accept.

Step 5: Launch the Campaign

Once you're satisfied with who has accepted, you launch the campaign. Launch requires at least one creator in ACCEPTED status. When you launch:

1. 1CollabDesk calculates the total cost: sum of each accepted creator's locked price + 15% platform fee
2. 2The full amount is immediately debited from your CollabDesk wallet and held in escrow
3. 3Each accepted creator's deliverables are locked — they see exactly what they need to deliver
4. 4Submission deadlines are set (3 days before your campaign deadline, minimum 1 day from launch)
5. 5Creators are notified that the campaign is live and they can start creating

If your wallet balance is insufficient at launch, CollabDesk will show you the shortfall and block the launch until you top up. This is a hard requirement — no campaign can launch without fully funded escrow.

Step 6: Review Creator Drafts

Before any creator posts on Instagram, they must submit a content draft for your approval. You'll receive a notification when a draft is ready. For each draft, you can see:

• •The media file (image or video)
• •Their proposed caption
• •Any collaborating accounts they want to tag
• •Notes from the creator about their creative choices

You can approve the draft (clearing the creator to post) or request a revision with specific feedback. Each deliverable allows up to 2 revision rounds. After 2 rounds, the creator must post or escalate to the campaign chat — use your revision requests wisely by giving clear, actionable feedback.

Tips for Good Draft Reviews

• •Review drafts within 24–48 hours — creators have deadlines too
• •Be specific in revision requests: "Change the caption to mention [product name] in the first line" is better than "improve the caption"
• •Approve drafts that meet your brief even if they're not exactly what you imagined — authentic creator voices outperform scripted content

Step 7: Review Final Submitted Deliverables

After a draft is approved, creators post on Instagram and submit the live post URL. CollabDesk automatically verifies each submission:

• •Ownership verification: Confirms the post belongs to the creator's registered Instagram account
• •Caption match: Checks that the posted caption is at least 70% similar to the approved draft
• •Analytics pull: Fetches real post metrics (likes, comments, video views) within minutes of submission

Once verified, the submission appears in your review queue with all analytics visible. You can approve it or request a revision (up to 3 rounds per deliverable). When you approve a submission, the creator's approval count goes up and they're one step closer to payment.

Step 8: Complete the Campaign and Release Payments

When all deliverables from all accepted creators are approved, you'll see a prompt to complete the campaign. Completing it:

• •Releases payment to every creator who has at least one approved submission
• •Refunds the payment (including platform fee) for any creator who had zero approved deliverables
• •Moves the campaign to COMPLETED status — no further changes possible

If you don't manually complete the campaign within 7 days of all deliverables being approved, CollabDesk auto-completes it and releases payments automatically. This prevents payment delays caused by brands going quiet after receiving the content.

How Escrow Protects You as a Brand

Escrow doesn't just protect creators — it protects you too. Here's what the escrow system guarantees:

• •You only pay creators whose deliverables are approved. If a creator submits content you reject (and they don't resubmit), they are not paid and you receive a full refund for their portion
• •If you cancel the campaign after launch, all escrowed funds are refunded to your wallet — you never lose money on a campaign you shut down
• •Payment amounts are locked at launch and cannot be changed retroactively — creators can't invoice you for more than agreed
• •Platform fee (15%) is included in the escrow amount, so there are no surprise charges at the end

Cancellation and Dissolution

Campaigns can be cancelled from DRAFT, EVALUATION, or LAUNCHED status. Cancellation always triggers a full escrow refund if funds were locked. If your campaign is in EVALUATION and all invites have been rejected or expired, you can also dissolve the campaign — a clean close that notifies all involved creators.

The Complete Campaign Timeline at a Glance

What Happens to Creators You Don't End Up Launching With

Creators in REJECTED or EXPIRED status at launch time are simply not included. Their campaign chat remains visible (so you can read your conversation history) but no deliverables are created for them and no payment is ever held for them. Only ACCEPTED creators are funded and included in the launch.