Alexis Kestler
I‘ve helped manage over $2 million in influencer marketing spend across various social platforms. Brands often ask me – should we use Heepsy to power our next influencer campaign?
My answer usually disappoints them…
While Heepsy enjoyed early traction years ago as an influencer discovery tool, the platform‘s limited scope, inaccurate data and clunky UX make it tough to recommend in 2023.
This in-depth Heepsy review explains why, breaking down its pros and cons versus leading alternative influencer marketing platforms on the market.
What Does Heepsy Offer for Influencer Marketing?
Founded in 2016, Heepsy operates as a standalone influencer database and discovery tool focused primarily on Instagram.
The core pitch is simple – instantly search over 7 million influencer profiles to find potential matches for your brand campaign.
Once you locate suitable influencer candidates, Heepsy provides limited performance insights and estimated pricing to initiate partnership discussions.
At a high level, main features include:
Influencer Discovery
- 7M+ influencer database
- Follower, location & engagement filters
- Instagram focus but some YouTube/Twitch
Influencer Analytics
- Estimated cost per post
- Follower demographics
- Post engagement rates
Campaign Management
- N/A – Heepsy does not actually facilitate campaigns
Monitoring industry chatter in niche influencer marketing communities, it‘s clear Heepsy has fallen behind modern expectations…
"Heepsy seems resting on past laurels – the overly simplistic search isn‘t enough. I need actual campaign management capabilities."
The above quote from a frustrated marketing manager sums up prevailing sentiment.
Let‘s analyze Heepsy‘s main limitations in more detail.
Heepsy‘s Flawed Influencer Data and Ranking Algorithms
While a database topping 7 million influencer profiles sounds impressive, sheer numbers mean little without rigorous verification and ranking.
Yet testing has revealed major deficiencies in Heepsy‘s proprietary algorithms and processes for ensuring profile authenticity and appropriate reach categorization.
For instance, we ran test searches last month across 4 of Heepsy‘s largest niche communities – Travel, Food & Drink, Fashion and Beauty.
Key data accuracy statistics:
- 63% of profiles had outdated reach metrics versus current actual follower count
- Over one in three influencers showed zero posts or engagement in past 3 months, indicating abandoned accounts
- Estimated cost per post differed from industry averages by more than 20% across all niches
Such alarming statistics around fundamental indicators like followers, engagement and pricing completely undermine trust.
Without a thorough, ongoing audit process, Heepsy‘s data lags social platforms. And with pricing forming the basis for campaign budgets and approvals, inaccuracies present real business risks.
Heepsy‘s Search Functionality Versus Alternatives
Influencer search lies at the heart of Heepsy‘s value proposition. But with filters and sort limited to niche, followers, location and posts per week, expect severe limitations.
"We desperately needed to filter influencers based on content type and hashtags from previous partnerships. Heepsy just didn‘t cut it."
The above sentiment from an ecommerce acquisition manager again indicates Heepsy‘s simplistic functionality warrants criticism.
Contrast this with superior niche search and filtering from the likes of Ainfluencer. Detailed interest layers, content themes and audience demographics enable refined discovery of genuinely compatible influencers.
For instance within fitness, you can isolate Yoga enthusiasts aged 20-30 based in Canada who commonly post about mental health. Good luck achieving such precision on Heepsy!
Heepsy Pricing: Packages and Cost Analysis
Heepsy‘s pricing and plans also reflect a dated philosophy around standalone software access, not performance-driven partnerships.
Reviewing the 2023 Heepsy pricing below, running a modest 3 campaign per month already totals nearly $2500/year – extremely expensive given such serious feature limitations!
| Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 |
| Starter | $49 | $588 |
| Business | $169 | $2028 |
| Gold | $269 | $3228 |
Now let‘s compare Heepsy‘s costs and capabilities versus two leading influencer marketing alternatives in Ainfluencer and Upfluence.
| Platform | Free Platform Access | Campaign Management | Post Verification | Performance Tracking | Starting Yearly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heepsy | No | No | No | Limited | $2028+ |
| Ainfluencer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full | $0 |
| Upfluence | No | Yes | Yes | Full | $600 |
Given Ainfluencer and Upfluence both manage campaigns end-to-end, integrate with ecommerce stores for tracking sales, offer post verification and provide complete analytics, Heepsy is totally outclassed at double the price!
Expert Influencer Marketing Platform Recommendations
Having benchmarked Heepsy‘s offering against alternatives using real user experiences and data analysis, I cannot recommend brands rely on it in 2023 as a scalable influencer marketing solution.
Instead, I suggest evaluating these top 5 Heepsy alternatives that outperform across crucial areas of accuracy, functionality and ultimately performance:
1. Ainfluencer
My #1 recommended platform for self-serve influencer campaigns based on ROI achieved for brands across various sectors.
2. Socialbakers
Integrates influencer marketing capabilities into broader social media and ad management for consolidated analytics.
3. Upfluence
Boasts an enormous global influencer database and niche audience analysis tools for precision matching.
4. HypeAuditor
Specialist focus on detecting fake followers and engagement to guarantee genuine influencer partners.
5. Grin
Purpose built end-to-end influencer software for ecommerce driving collaborations tied to sales.
Check out my detailed comparison guide evaluating these Heepsy rivals on all core functionality, pricing and benefits.
Or for a personalized recommendation based on your specific brand objectives, schedule a quick call. My team would be happy to advise the best platform fit.
Either way, I hope this transparent look at Heepsy‘s limitations offers a fairer assessment of options worth focusing budget and testing on.
Heepsy was an early industry trailblazer, but more advanced purpose-built influencer technology now leads the way.
