Picking the wrong creator isn't just a mismatch — it's money spent for nothing. Choosing well comes down to looking at two different things: how well a creator fits your brand, and what the numbers actually say about their audience. Most brands only check one of the two. You need both.
Start with fit (the qualitative side)
1. Does the creator actually match your product?
If you sell baby products, look for someone who already reviews baby products or regularly posts about family life — not just someone who happens to have kids. Their followers are there because they like that kind of content, so a natural product mention lands. A creator whose audience never signed up for family content won't deliver the same result, even if the creator personally fits the demographic.
2. Look past the broad category
"Food reviewer" isn't one thing. Some focus on street food, some on upscale cafes, some on food while traveling — and each one has a different audience with different expectations. Match the specific niche to your brand, not just the general category.
3. Match the content format to your goal
Most creators are strongest in one of three formats:
- Photo carousels — good for reach; viewers swipe at their own pace and absorb information quickly.
- Voice-over reviews — the creator talks through their honest take. Best for building trust.
- Visuals with music, no voice-over — polished and stylish. Works well if your business has a strong visual identity or atmosphere to show off.
4. Check the basics
Location, gender, and age of the creator's audience still matter. Layer everything above together, and you'll land on the creator who genuinely fits your brand — not just the biggest name available.
Then check the numbers (the quantitative side)
View count alone doesn't tell you much — a video can be widely seen and still move nobody to act. Likes aren't much better; they're cheap, low-effort taps that don't reflect real interest anymore.
What actually matters is saves and shares. A save means someone wants to come back to this later — maybe to buy, maybe to visit. A share means someone found it worth sending to a friend. Both are deliberate actions, unlike a like.
That's the basis of what we call an Engagement Score:
Engagement Score = (Saves + Shares) ÷ Views
This tells you what share of viewers were moved enough to actually do something — not just watch and scroll on.
A few things to keep in mind when reading it:
- KOLs tend to score lower here, simply because their reach is so much larger.
- KOCs tend to score higher — their smaller audience is more loyal.
- If a creator's views or followers are very low, the score can be skewed upward by friends and family engaging. Don't rely on the score alone at that scale.
- Never judge from a single post. A single post can spike or flop based on timing or luck. Look at the last five review-style posts and average the score across them for a realistic picture.
How Star KH fits in
This is exactly the evaluation we run before recommending anyone. Every creator in our network is assessed with the same Engagement Score criteria, across both KOLs and KOCs, so you're not starting from a blank spreadsheet. Browse our current creators or get in touch and tell us what you're trying to achieve — we'll help you find the fit.