# Creator Roster 2x2 Tracker A working spreadsheet template (in markdown, paste into Sheets / Notion / Airtable) for placing every creator you've worked with onto the 2x2 of *performance × relationship*. Run the grid monthly. The actions per cell are baked in. Pairs with the post: *When to re-book a creator vs. find a new one* → https://collabbook.co/blog/when-to-rebook-a-creator-vs-find-a-new-one/ — Dorcas Faleti, CollabBook --- ## The two axes, define these BEFORE you grade ### Axis 1: Performance against the target you actually care about Pick ONE primary metric and stick with it for all deals in the cohort. Engagement rate is NOT on this axis, it's a vanity proxy. - [ ] CAC (most common for DTC) - [ ] Conversion rate (most common for subscription / B2B) - [ ] Direct attributed revenue (most common for one-shot promos) - [ ] Other: ____________________ **Your "above target" threshold:** ____________________ **Your "below target" threshold:** ____________________ **(Above target = beats threshold by 1.25× or better.)** ### Axis 2: Relationship quality, 4 concrete questions, score 0/1 each 1. Did the creator respond within 24 hours throughout the deal? [0 / 1] 2. Did the first draft hit the brief on the first pass? [0 / 1] 3. Did they handle revisions without drama? [0 / 1] 4. Did they hit the deadline? [0 / 1] **Score 3–4 = "smooth." Score 0–2 = "rough."** --- ## The Roster Grid (fill this in monthly) | Creator handle | Platform | Last deal date | Performance vs target | Relationship (0–4) | Cell | Action this week | Re-book by date / Drop date | | -------------- | -------- | -------------- | --------------------- | ------------------ | ---- | ---------------- | --------------------------- | | @example1 | IG | 2026-04-12 | 2.4× target (above) | 4 (smooth) | 1 | Re-book +15% | 2026-05-12 | | @example2 | TT | 2026-04-20 | 1.6× target (above) | 2 (rough) | 2 | Re-book once, tightened terms | 2026-05-20 | | @example3 | IG | 2026-04-05 | 0.7× target (below) | 4 (smooth) | 3 | Watch list, 6 months | Re-eval 2026-10-05 | | @example4 | YT | 2026-04-28 | 0.4× target (below) | 1 (rough) | 4 | Drop, clean message | 2026-04-29 | | @ ... | | | | | | | | --- ## The four cells and what each one means ### Cell 1, Above-target performance + Smooth relationship → **RE-BOOK WITHIN 30 DAYS, +10–15% RATE** - This is your highest-value creator. - Re-book within 30 days. Iterated brief, same product, fresh creative angle. - Raise rate by 10–15%. You're buying continued exclusivity on their content calendar, shortening ramp-up, and signaling you treat the relationship as a relationship. - **Why the 30-day window:** their audience just got exposed to your brand. Land the second message while it's still in the recommendation graph. Brands that re-book within 30 days see the second post outperform the first by 20–40%. Brands that wait 4+ months see parity at best. ### Cell 2, Above-target performance + Rough relationship → **RE-BOOK ONCE, NEW TERMS** - The performance signal is real and rare. Don't drop. Don't re-book naive either. - Have a one-paragraph conversation about what went sideways. Most good creators thank you for it. - Tighter operational contract: shorter revision window, stricter response-time SLA, clearer kill-fee trigger. - If the second deal is also rocky → drop. Otherwise, the second deal under tightened terms is usually the cleanest one in your roster (~⅔ of the time). ### Cell 3, Below-target performance + Smooth relationship → **DON'T RE-BOOK. WATCH LIST. 6 MONTHS.** - This is the most-fumbled cell. "They were lovely, the creative was probably just bad luck." - Math doesn't support it. Re-book of an under-performing-but-friendly creator outperforms the original ~25% of the time. 75% of the time you've spent twice the budget for a sub-target result. - Move: warm, specific "thanks, timing didn't land but enjoyed working with you" message. Put on a 6-month watch list. Audiences shift. The same creator who didn't convert in March can convert in September. - Re-evaluate with fresh eyes at the 6-month mark, not by re-running the same deal. ### Cell 4, Below-target performance + Rough relationship → **DROP. NO SECOND DEAL. NO DRAMA.** - Easiest cell. Most agonized-over cell. - Move: clean, short, professional message, "Thanks for the work, we're going to take a different direction for the next cycle. Wishing you the best." Then move on. - No public callouts, no detailed feedback (it won't be received well in this cell), no leaving the door open. - **Compounding cost most founders miss:** every hour spent agonizing over a Cell 4 creator is an hour not spent finding a Cell 1 creator. Portfolio > any individual relationship. --- ## Re-evaluation cadence (by deal volume) | Your monthly deal volume | Cadence | Process | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | < 5 deals/month | After every deal | Run the 2x2 in 10 minutes per creator. Small roster = each data point matters more. | | 5–15 deals/month | Monthly batch review (60 min) | One sitting. Walk through every active creator. Place in grid. Make all re-book / drop calls in batch. | | 15+ deals/month | Quarterly per cohort, monthly flags | Quarterly deep review. Monthly: flag obvious Cell 1s for immediate re-book and obvious Cell 4s for drop. | **Trap to avoid:** indefinitely deferring the call. Creators in purgatory ("might do something with them next quarter") slowly erode the relationship without producing another deal. Decide. The cost of a wrong call is one deal; the cost of no call is the whole roster going stale. --- ## What a healthy 12-month roster looks like If you've been running this loop monthly for a year on steady volume, the shape works out to roughly: - **5–8 "core" creators** in Cell 1, re-booked 3–5 times each. These do the heavy lifting on your CAC. - **3–5 "tested" creators** in Cell 2 or upgraded into Cell 1, re-booked 1–2 times. Second tier. - **10–15 "tested out" creators** in Cells 3 and 4, no longer being booked. Cost of having a roster at all. - **2–3 new candidates per month** coming in to refresh top of funnel. If you're 12 months in and you have 40 first-time collaborations and zero creators you've worked with more than once, you're running discovery in a loop and treating the roster like a disposable. Stop. --- ## Quick action card (print this and tape it to your monitor) ``` PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP Above target + Smooth → CELL 1 → Re-book +15% within 30 days Above target + Rough → CELL 2 → Re-book ONCE with tightened terms Below target + Smooth → CELL 3 → Don't re-book. Watch list. 6 mo. Below target + Rough → CELL 4 → Drop. Clean message. Move on. ``` --- ## Related templates in this series - Micro-Influencer Discovery Toolkit → /blog/downloads/micro-influencer-discovery-toolkit.md - One-page Creator Brief Template → /blog/downloads/one-page-creator-brief-template.md - Two-page Creator Contract Template → /blog/downloads/two-page-creator-contract-template.md - Escrow vs. Deposit Calculator → /blog/downloads/escrow-vs-deposit-calculator.md - Proof-of-Delivery Checklist → /blog/downloads/proof-of-delivery-checklist.md Want a dashboard that tracks creators on this 2x2 automatically, performance against your target, relationship score, re-book cadence, without you maintaining a spreadsheet? [Join the CollabBook beta](https://collabbook.co/#waitlist).