Features — Brand / Hirer Side

Covers brands, businesses, agencies, and individual marketing contacts — collectively "hirers."

Discovery & Search

Creator search & filters: category/niche, platform (Instagram/YouTube/TikTok/LinkedIn/etc.), follower range (nano/micro/mid/macro/mega), engagement rate range, price band, location, language, verified-only toggle.
Creator profile view: full portfolio, rate card, reputation, past brand collaborations (where public), audience demographics.
Saved creator lists/shortlists: build a shortlist across sessions before reaching out — mirrors how real campaign planning works (batch discovery, then batch outreach).
Compare view: side-by-side comparison of 2–4 shortlisted creators on rate, engagement, reach, reviews.
AI/recommendation-assisted discovery (Phase 2, see 09-discovery-matching.md): "find me creators like X" or brief-to-creator-list matching.

Post a gig (open marketplace): write a brief, set budget (fixed or range), deadline, and deliverable spec; creators apply/pitch; hirer reviews applicants and selects one (or several, for multi-creator campaigns).
Direct hire: browse profiles, send a direct offer to a specific creator with a proposed brief/rate — skips the open-applications step for when the hirer already knows who they want.

Guided brief builder: structured fields (objective, deliverable type & count, content platform, key messaging points/dos-and-don'ts, brand assets to provide, usage rights needed, deadline) rather than a freeform text box — reduces scope-creep disputes later and helps first-time hirers (persona: Rohan) not miss anything important.
Budget guidance: suggested rate ranges by follower tier and deliverable type, sourced from aggregated platform data — helps hirers price fairly without market knowledge.
Gig templates: common gig types pre-filled (single Instagram Reel review, YouTube integration, UGC content license pack, event coverage) to speed up posting.
Multi-creator campaigns: post one gig intended for multiple creators (e.g., "hiring 5 micro-influencers for a product launch"), track each creator's deliverable independently under one campaign umbrella.

Campaign dashboard: every active/past gig, grouped and filterable by status, budget spent, and creator.
Applicant review: see all pitches on a posted gig, compare rate/timeline/portfolio, message before deciding.
In-platform messaging per gig, with brief/scope always visible alongside the conversation.
Approval workflow: review submitted deliverables, approve (releases escrow) or request revisions (within agreed revision cap) or dispute.
Usage rights tracking: what the brand is licensed to do with the content (organic repost only vs. paid amplification/whitelisting vs. full buyout) — set at brief time, enforced/recorded at delivery time.
Content library: all delivered assets from all campaigns, organized and downloadable, so a brand doesn't lose creative assets in old email threads.

Fund escrow on hire (see 08-payments-escrow.md for full mechanics) — the money is committed and visible to the creator before they start work, which is the platform's core trust promise to creators.
Payment methods: card, UPI, net banking, wallet balance (platform credit from refunds/top-ups).
Spend dashboard: total spent, spend by campaign, spend by creator — exportable for the hirer's own accounting/reporting (persona: Kavita, agency reporting to clients).
Invoicing: platform-generated invoices for every transaction (needed for business expense accounting).
Budget caps/approval limits (Phase 2, agency/team accounts): spend limits per team member before requiring approval.

Creator reviews: rate and review after every completed gig — feeds the creator's public reputation and the platform's overall data quality.
Verified brand badge: business verification (registered entity, verified payment method, verified domain email) — creators can see who they're dealing with before accepting, same trust logic in reverse.
Dispute initiation: raise a dispute against non-delivery, off-brief delivery, or missed deadlines, escalating to platform mediation (see 07-trust-safety.md).

Business profile: company name, logo, website, industry, verification status.
Team seats (Phase 2): multiple team members under one brand account (e.g., a marketing manager + a founder both need visibility) with role-based permissions (post gigs / approve payments / view-only).
Agency/multi-client workspace (Phase 2): separate campaign and budget tracking per underlying client, for agencies managing several brands (persona: Kavita).