Alex Hendy knows the creator economy from both sides of the screen. As a TikTok personality, he built a following of 5.6 million through pranks and tongue-in-cheek experiments that captured the early energy of short-form video. Now, as co-founder of Stride Social, he’s applying that creator’s intuition to help brands turn influence into measurable returns.

The UK- and Asia-based agency specializes in influencer advertising and talent management, helping brands bridge creator culture and performance marketing. 

“Influencer marketing is one big topic,” Alex says. “Within that, you have different strategies. We don’t call them services. We call them strategies because we’re always working with influencers.”

Stride Social’s most popular approach, he explains, is product seeding, i.e., sending products to 50 to 250 carefully selected creators per campaign, many of them micro-influencers. “It’s a modern gifting strategy,” Alex says. “We send your product to influencers, sometimes even bigger ones with 50,000 followers, and if they love it, they’ll post about it.”

There’s no rigid brief or scripting; the aim is genuine reaction. Creators receive a code or affiliate link and can earn commission if their content converts. According to Alex, the method is less expensive than traditional influencer deals. 

“One of our campaigns produced over $30,000 in revenue from a creator with just 5,000 followers,” he notes. “That’s the power of loyalty. A hundred engaged followers can outperform a million passive ones.” 

Measuring Return Through Micro-Influence

Stride’s approach emphasizes measurable outcomes over vanity metrics. A typical seeding campaign begins with a list of 50 to 250 creators, often within the micro tier. Alex’s team maintains a database of 30,000 to 50,000 creators worldwide, many of whom are reachable directly via WhatsApp and email.

“The goal is to send products to the right people,” he says. “We track every creator who posts, who converts, who doesn’t, and then we invite the best performers into affiliate programs.”

In one campaign for Platterbox, a premium picnic-ware brand, Stride Social mailed 30 packages to lifestyle creators, mostly mothers and outdoor enthusiasts. Twenty-two posted videos; together they generated around $30,000 in sales, with a single micro-influencer accounting for most of the total.

“Micro-creators can convert at insane rates,” Alex says. “You only need five or ten of those to hit $100,000 to $200,000 in sales, and you’ve only spent a few thousand dollars on seeding.”

For brands, the benefits extend beyond revenue. “You’re building relationships,” Alex says. “That influencer might grow to 2 million followers in three months, and because you worked with them early, you already have that trust.”

Seeding also supplies low-cost user-generated content (UGC) for advertising. “Creators charge $200 to $500 per UGC video now,” Alex says. “With seeding, you get that content almost free. And you’re improving SEO on TikTok and Instagram. When people search your brand, they see dozens of honest reviews instead of nothing.”

Inside the China-to-West Pipeline

While Stride Social operates in the U.S. and UK, much of its early momentum came from Chinese tech brands seeking visibility in Western markets. “We’ve worked with companies in China for three to four years,” Alex says. “It’s where we got popular. We did a really good job, and word spread.”

Brands such as Govee, Ugreen, and XGIMI approached Stride Social to help market LED lights, projectors, and other consumer electronics to Western audiences. “They used to only manufacture,” Alex explains. “Now they’re building their own brands, and they need Western influencers who can make that product go viral.”

To serve those clients, Stride built in-house translation and cultural-adaptation capabilities. “Our website is in English and Mandarin,” he says. “We go to the IFA [International Radio Exhibition Berlin] and CES [Consumer Electronics Show] shows in Berlin and Las Vegas, meet with manufacturers, and bring translators. We go above and beyond.”

Operating out of the UK and Asia allows the team to sync with both time zones. “Most of our team is British, but based in Indonesia,” Alex says. “They get the digital-nomad lifestyle – go to the gym at 2 p.m. – work late … It’s about balance.”

Building the Creator Ecosystem

Stride Social’s campaigns fall into three categories: influencer activations, UGC production, and seeding. Activations focus on brand awareness through targeted creator partnerships; UGC production delivers ad-ready creative within 14 days; seeding combines both to generate organic reach and long-term affiliate programs.

The agency manages roughly 500-600 pieces of content per month for certain products. “With the new AI updates on Meta, brands need five times more content than before,” Alex says. “Our job is to supply that volume, quality content at scale.”

To support emerging creators who aren’t yet ready for management, Alex recently launched the Creator Academy, marketed via the UGC Deals Instagram account. The academy offers lifetime access for under $1,000 and includes courses, campaign listings, and AI-driven tools such as a contract reader that flags risky clauses.

“We get 50 to 200 creators a month applying for management,” he says. “We can’t take everyone, so the Academy helps them learn how to create, pitch brands, and maybe join us later. It’s like a football academy: you train first, then move up to the professional team.”

A Pipeline for Scalable Creativity

Stride Social’s model positions it at the intersection of brand performance and creator development. Its revenue comes primarily from management fees under $10,000 per campaign, making it accessible to early-stage brands while still profitable through volume.

According to Alex, about 95% of brands that try seeding continue with repeat campaigns. “If they’re not making revenue, there’s no point working with us,” he says. “The fact that almost all of them stay shows it works.”

The company now employs nearly 20 talent managers and plans to double that headcount next year. “It’s not about chasing massive growth,” he added. “It’s about creating jobs, creating opportunities, and making the creator experience better.”

Next on Stride Social’s roadmap: developing software to make influencer operations more efficient. “We want to build tools that help creators,” Alex says. “Accounting software, AI content tools, platforms that make brand-creator collaboration easier, whatever improves their experience.”

That ambition reflects Alex’s own path from influencer to entrepreneur. “Our mission is simple,” he says. “Improve the creator’s experience through management, improve the brand’s experience through strategy, and help new creators get into the ecosystem. If we can do those three things well, everything else follows.”

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