Eligibility Guidelines for Creators

CTCollab.com is Connecticut's social media influencer directory, designed to connect businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, destinations, and organizations with influencers for paid and in-kind collaborations.

CTCollab is specifically intended for social media influencers whose primary offering is creating social media content on behalf of, or in partnership with, other organizations.

The goal of the platform is to help businesses identify potential influencer partners for marketing campaigns and collaborations.

To be listed on CTCollab, applicants must:

• Maintain an active presence on at least one social media platform
• Regularly create and publish original social media content
• Have an established audience and demonstrate engagement with that audience
• Have demonstrated experience with paid and/or in-kind partnerships
• Have experience creating content in partnership with brands, businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, destinations, or other organizations — or demonstrate a clear intent to do so

Examples of eligible applicants include:

• Travel and tourism influencers
• Food and restaurant influencers
• Family and parenting influencers
• Lifestyle influencers
• Outdoor recreation influencers
• Arts and culture influencers
• Connecticut-focused social media personalities

For example:

✅ A food influencer who partners with local restaurants to create sponsored content.

✅ A travel influencer who collaborates with tourism destinations, hotels, attractions, or municipalities.

✅ A family influencer who works with nonprofits, events, or consumer brands to promote programs and products.

These creators use their social media platforms to collaborate with organizations and help them reach new audiences.

CTCollab is not intended for individuals or businesses that use social media primarily to promote their own products, services, or organization.

Examples of Ineligible Applicants:

❌ A Health Coach with a large social media following whose primary business is Coaching services.

❌ A restaurant promoting its own menu and events.

❌ A retail store promoting its own products.

❌ A municipality promoting its own services and programs.

While these organizations may have strong social media audiences, they are not using their platforms to provide influencer marketing services or create sponsored content for other organizations.

The following are also not eligible:

• Marketing, advertising, public relations, or creative agencies
• Talent management firms or creator representatives
• Organizations seeking to promote only their own products, services, or mission
• Production-only vendors who do not maintain an active audience on their own channels

For purposes of CTCollab, a "brand partnership" is any collaboration in which an influencer creates content to promote or highlight another organization.

This may include partnerships with:

• Private businesses
• Restaurants
• Tourism attractions
• Nonprofits
• Municipalities
• Events
• Educational institutions
• Economic development organizations

Both paid and in-kind collaborations are acceptable.

We recognize that the digital creator landscape continues to evolve, and there are many valuable forms of content creation beyond social media influencing, including podcasts, blogs, newsletters, music, and other digital media.

CTCollab is an evolving platform, and we are actively investing in its growth and long-term development. As the program expands, we may explore opportunities to include additional types of creators in the future.

At this time, however, CTCollab is exclusively focused on social media influencers who create content for brand partnerships and marketing collaborations. This focus allows us to maintain a clear, consistent, and effective directory that meets the current needs of businesses and organizations seeking influencer marketing support.

We appreciate the interest from a broader creative community and will continue to evaluate how the platform may grow over time.

Contact us at C4Support@ct.gov.

Please note that we have limited staff resources and currently have one dedicated team member monitoring this inbox. Please allow 5 business days for a response.