Beluga

What is Beluga?

Beluga is a creator marketing platform that positions itself as a way to run creator marketing like paid ads. It offers a fully managed service where clients set the target and budget, and Beluga handles sourcing, negotiation, contracts, payments, and tracking. The service is designed for companies that want to scale creator marketing without building an in-house team.

How Beluga works

Beluga operates on a three-step process:

1. Share your goals: Clients tell Beluga their audience, budget, and what a good outcome looks like. Beluga builds a creator strategy around those goals.
2. Pick your creators: Beluga sources and vets creators whose viewers match the client's target audience. It provides a shortlist with audience fit scores (e.g., 94% fit, 91% fit).
3. Watch results come in: Beluga tracks every creator with a unique link, so clients can see exactly who drives clicks and signups. Clients get access to the same dashboard Beluga uses to run the campaign.

Beluga handles all operational aspects: sourcing and vetting, pricing and negotiation, contracts, content briefs, draft reviews, and creator payments. It also provides per-creator tracking links and live reporting.

Main features

• Sourcing and vetting: Beluga finds and vets creators whose audiences align with the client's category.
• Pricing and negotiation: Beluga models the value of each placement and compares offers on implied CPM, claiming to have saved clients over $100k in negotiations.
• Contracts, content, and payments: Beluga manages contracts, briefs, draft reviews, and creator payments. Clients approve content.
• Tracking and analysis: Every creator gets a unique link, and clients see a dashboard showing clicks and signups per creator.
• Direct access to account lead: Clients have direct communication with a dedicated account lead.

Pricing

Beluga charges a transparent fee: the client's creator budget goes 100% to creators, and Beluga adds a +20% fee on top. There are no retainers, annual contracts, or minimum commitments. The service is month-to-month and can be canceled anytime.

Common use cases

Beluga is used by companies looking to launch or scale creator marketing campaigns. A case study highlights Codebuff, a company that used Beluga to relaunch with better agents and needed developers to see it. Beluga matched the launch with YouTube creators who review AI coding tools, tracked each creator with unique links, and helped grow daily active users from ~200 to 1,200.

Limitations

• Fee structure: The +20% fee on top of the creator budget may be higher than other platforms, though it ensures the entire budget goes to creators.
• Managed service: Beluga is not a self-serve platform; clients must rely on Beluga's team for execution.
• Limited information: The page does not provide detailed pricing tiers or a full list of supported platforms beyond examples like YouTube and TikTok.
• No guarantee of results: While case studies show success, results vary by campaign and market.

Summary

Beluga offers a managed creator marketing service that aims to simplify the process for brands. It handles the entire workflow from sourcing to tracking, with a transparent fee model. It is best suited for companies that want to run creator campaigns without building an in-house team, and that value data-driven negotiation and tracking.