How Babbel runs 50+ influencers a month and keeps performance high
TL;DR
- Babbel runs 50+ influencer partnerships monthly without outsourcing.
- Instagram = fast ROI (24–48 hours). YouTube = long-tail conversions.
- Real stories beat polished ads – authenticity converts.
- One viral campaign can transform your creator pipeline – Babbel now has creators actively seeking partnerships
- Every campaign starts small. Only top performers get scaled.
- Nano-creators fuel months of paid performance at a fraction of the cost.
How Babbel built an in-house engine for influencer growth
Most brands treat influencer marketing like a checklist: hire an agency, get a few posts, and hope for the best.
Babbel doesn’t.
Instead of outsourcing, they run influencer marketing in-house – and manage 50+ creator partnerships every month. No chaos. No burnout. Just real ROI.
In a conversation on AppsFlyer’s Influence Unpacked podcast, Salome, Babbel’s Paid Social and Influencer Marketing, revealed the strategies that helped Babbel build one of the most efficient influencer programs in the edtech space – including how one viral YouTube video changed everything.
The anti-agency approach: Why Babbel keeps it personal
While most brands at Babbel’s scale outsource to agencies, Salome’s team deliberately chose the opposite path. They maintain direct, one-on-one relationships with every creator in their network.
“We try to approach influencer marketing on a personal basis,” Salome explains. “We don’t outsource our efforts to any external agency. We try to keep this one-on-one contact with influencers.”
This approach seems almost impossible when you consider the numbers:
- 50+ active creator partnerships monthly
- Individual negotiations for each campaign
- Personal content approvals and performance measurement
- Direct relationship management across multiple time zones
Yet according to AppsFlyer Benchmarks 2025, apps that maintain direct creator relationships see 40% higher engagement rates than those using intermediaries. The personal touch pays off—literally.
Platforms that perform: Instagram and YouTube lead
Babbel doesn’t put all its eggs in one platform basket—they’ve tested TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, even Twitch. But when it comes to campaigns that actually drive conversions, two channels consistently deliver: Instagram and YouTube.
Instagram: fast feedback, full visibility
Instagram is where Babbel moves quickly. Stories are their go-to format, delivering measurable results within 24 to 48 hours. By pairing every story with UTM-tracked links and personalized landing pages, Babbel gets full visibility into performance—right down to the conversion.
Instagram Stories present a unique challenge: 24-hour visibility windows and wildly unpredictable view counts. Salome’s solution involves aggressive CPM negotiation and content authenticity.
Average CPMs by region:
- Germany: €50
- Italy: €20
- Spain: €25-30
But here’s the twist—even when stories underdeliver on views by 50%, the right content approach can still drive profitability. The secret lies in personal storytelling.
“Just sharing a personal story—that’s what works best. Influencers talking straight to camera, sharing their personal journey, then connecting this to the app.”
YouTube: slow burn, long tail
YouTube is where Babbel plays the long game. Some integrations might take weeks to convert, but when they hit, they keep hitting.
One creator featured Babbel as part of a “10 daily life upgrades” video—mid-roll, no hard sell. Over a year later, that single video is still driving new subscriptions.
“It felt so natural,” Salome explains. “Even if I didn’t know it was a paid placement, I would’ve clicked.”
The contrast is clear: Instagram drives urgency and instant results. YouTube builds trust and long-term payoff.
Why Babbel bets big on nano creators
While competitors chase macro influencers, Babbel discovered a more profitable approach: nano creators (under 10K followers) for content buyouts.
The economics are compelling:
- Content creation cost: €200-500
- Usage rights: 6 months
- Distribution: Paid social campaigns
- Control: Complete audience targeting and budget management
This aligns with a16z’s thesis on the “passion economy”—smaller creators often produce more authentic content precisely because they haven’t been overexposed to brand partnerships.
Creator content that converts
Forget polished product demos. Babbel’s highest-converting content follows a specific emotional arc: personal vulnerability → relatable problem → authentic solution.
“Sharing a personal story—that’s what works the best when it comes to Instagram stories,” Salome explains. “It’s more like influencer becoming personal with their journey, more open and a bit vulnerable, and then there comes the product.”
The timing matters critically. For Stories, mention the product by the 30-second mark in a 45-second piece. For YouTube, middle placement works best—not too early (feels salesy) or too late (viewers drop off).
When a campaign goes viral, everything changes
Babbel doesn’t chase virality…but when it hits, it moves the needle across the board.
“Once or twice a year, you get one of those campaigns,” says Salome. “The kind where other creators start reaching out to you.”
For Babbel, it was a German YouTuber’s video titled “10 Tips to Level Up Your Everyday Life” where learning a new language with Babbel was tip #3.
The integration was so seamless that viewers couldn’t distinguish it from organic content. The results:
- Immediate conversion spike within 48 hours
- Continued revenue generation 12+ months later
- Flood of inbound creator partnership requests
- Transformed Babbel from hunter to hunted in creator relationships
“After this campaign, we received so many other creators coming to us asking to collaborate,” Salome shares. “Now we have this huge pool of creators who want to work with us.”
The testing framework that prevents expensive mistakes
Babbel doesn’t gamble when it comes to creator partnerships. They test like performance marketers.
The strategy? Start lean. Scale what works. Cut what doesn’t.
“Don’t start with usage rights or long-term deals,” says Salome. “Try the cheapest format first. See how it performs. Then decide what’s worth investing in.”
That usually means kicking things off with Instagram Stories; cheap, fast feedback, clear ROI. Within 48 hours, they know if the content is moving the needle. If it is, they’ll negotiate usage rights and put paid media behind it. If not, they move on without wasting budget.
Once they find a winner, they scale smart:
- Germany → other core European markets → global
- Organic → paid → cross-platform amplification
The KPIs that matter most? ROI and revenue. Not just views or clicks. Babbel measures everything down to the sale.
“ROI tells us if a campaign worked or not. Simple as that.”
AppsFlyer tip: Use cohort analysis to go deeper than first-touch. In Babbel’s case, YouTube-driven users tend to show higher retention over 90+ days, a key insight that helps them choose the right channels for long-term gains.
Performance Measurement: The Make-or-Break Infrastructure
Without proper attribution, influencer marketing becomes an expensive guessing game. Babbel’s measurement methodology:
For Instagram Stories:
- Custom landing pages with UTM parameters
- Individual attribution links per creator
- Real-time conversion monitoring
For YouTube:
- Description box links
- Extended attribution windows (30+ days)
- Long-tail revenue measurement
For Feed Posts (Reels/TikTok):
- Content buyouts for paid amplification
- Spark Ads and Partnership Ads
- CTA buttons added through paid distribution
AppsFlyer Tip: AppsFlyer’s unified dashboard consolidates all creator performance data, making it easy to identify top performers and optimize budget allocation across 50+ monthly partnerships.
Key takeaways: What you can steal from Babbel’s playbook
- Personal relationships outperform agency management – Direct creator communication drives authenticity and performance
- Platform selection matters – Instagram and YouTube consistently deliver the highest ROI for app subscriptions
- Nano creators offer hidden value – €200-500 content buyouts can fuel months of profitable paid campaigns
- Testing prevents expensive mistakes – Always validate creator performance before long-term commitments
- Viral moments create compound benefits – One successful campaign can transform your entire creator acquisition funnel
- Attribution infrastructure is non-negotiable – You can’t optimize what you can’t measure
Babbel proves influencer marketing doesn’t have to be chaotic or bloated. With the right relationships, smart testing, and platform strategy, it’s scalable and sustainable.
Watch the full episode on Influence Unpacked
Want to build a strategy that works like this? Read the full influencer marketing guide
