You’ve likely heard about influencer marketing and are interested in giving it a try. But running successful campaigns takes skill and effort. Should you just hire an influencer or two yourself? Or is bringing on an expert influencer marketing agency the way to go?
This guide will walk you through the key factors to look for when choosing an agency partner. We’ll outline the pitfalls to avoid and help you find the ideal match to meet your brand’s unique goals.
Let’s first look at what influencer agencies actually do.
What Do Influencer Marketing Agencies Do?
What do Influencer Marketing Agencies Do – InfluencerMarketingHub
Influencer agencies offer end-to-end campaign management services to help brands effectively integrate influencer marketing. Their core responsibilities include:
- Identifying and vetting relevant influencers that match the brand’s target audience, aesthetics, and messaging.
- Developing creative campaign strategies and content plans tailored for specific influencers.
- Managing ongoing influencer relationships, outreach, negotiations, and activations.
- Executing and optimizing campaigns across the full influencer workflow.
- Providing in-depth reporting and analytics on campaign performance.
- Handling legal compliance, contracts, and payment processing.
8 Things You Should Look for in an Influencer Marketing Agency
Let’s explore the most important elements to look for in an agency partner.
- Robust Influencer Network
“71% of consumers trust advertising, opinions, and product placements from influencers”- Nielsen Trust
A quality agency needs deep connections with diverse, authentic influencers in your niche with engaged followers. Consider the size and relevance of their active network. Thousands of qualified influencers is ideal. Look at the strength of their relationships and rapport with each influencer. This leads to better collaboration.
Review the match between their network’s demographics and interests and your target audience profiles.
- Strategic Campaign Management
For every $1 spent on influencer marketing, top marketers get $20 or more, strategy is the key-Hubspot
The agency should demonstrate strategic expertise across the full campaign lifecycle. Look for creativity and innovation within their audience-specific campaign plans and content strategies. Seek out strong relationship management tactics to identify, incentivize and engage the right influencers.
There should be ongoing optimization using performance data to double down on what works and improve what doesn’t.
- Advanced Analytics and Reporting
Benchmarking your influencer marketing performance is important. Image source: Influencermarketinghub
Sophisticated tracking beyond vanity metrics is a must. Look for robust tools to analyze influencer audiences, engagements, and brand fit. This powers smarter activations. Make sure they track authentic engagement rates, conversions, sentiment, and business impact – not just superficial social metrics.
Look for custom reporting aligned with your goals. Bonus if they guarantee ROI thresholds.
- Proven Expertise and Results
“Influencer marketing is now nearly a $5 billion industry in the U.S” – Grin
Validate expertise by reviewing case studies, benchmarks, and guarantees that prove they deliver measurable outcomes aligned with your goals. Look at client tenure, notable past clients, awards, and recommendations that demonstrate credibility.
Seek out any concrete guarantees on results or minimum ROI levels offered. The best agencies stand behind their work.
- Seamless Communication
“Clear communication saves brands from making a wide array of potential mistakes that can have far-reaching effects” – IZEA
Smooth coordination requires skilled communication between teams. Look for responsiveness to inquiries, reliability in updates, and dedicated account management.
The agency should demonstrate the ability to deeply understand your brand angles, narratives and goals by asking smart questions. They should set clear expectations through proposals, contracts and transparent pricing.
- Competitive yet Flexible Pricing
“There is no standard influencer rate, so these prices can vary widely across the board.”-GRIN
Seek value-driven pricing that aligns with your budget. Look for clear fee structures and justification of all charges. Avoid surprise costs. Understand details on included vs. additional cost services. Beware of nickel-and-diming.
There should be a willingness to negotiate pricing models and budgets based on your needs and order volumes.
- Compliance and Ethics
“transparency is essential to the sustainability in influencer marketing”- Forbes
Ensure proper protocols are in place including proper influencer training on disclosures, data practices and copyrights. Look for transparency into partnership terms and payments. You should control final approvals.
Make sure there is a content review before publishing to catch risks, misinformation or harmful material.
- Long-Term Relationship Building
“Long-term partnerships are important for brands that engage in influencer marketing”- CreatorDB
The ideal partner understands your brand deeply. Seek shared vision, values and culture between you and the agency. You should be aligned.
Look for loyalty and commitment demonstrated through tenure, accountability and flexibility. Seek out proactive strategies proposed to build the relationship and results over years. They should invest in your future.
Overcoming Influencer Agency Challenges
Working with most traditional influencer marketing agencies can prove to be challenging since they don’t offer that much control. And with no control over messaging, pushing subpar content, you could actually end up harming your brand more.
To avoid disaster, maintain open and frequent communication with the agency. Clearly define campaign goals, metrics, reporting requirements, and approval processes upfront. Review influencer partnerships and content drafts before launch. Audit campaign results regularly and provide optimization feedback. Craft a detailed contract covering every term to prevent mismatch. Stay involved without micromanaging. With the right agency relationship, you’ll boost brand awareness and sales through influencer campaigns. But neglecting management invites reputational risks and wastes ad spend. Stay vigilant to get the results you want.
The Perfect Agency Partner Awaits
Finding the right influencer marketing agency takes diligence. But it’s worth the effort involved. The ideal partner will integrate seamlessly into your workflows and exceed your campaign objectives.
With PromotionalPact’s niche-centric approach, you just need to clearly define your goals, and the rest will be taken care of. With our measurable ROI and cost-effective marketing, successful influencer activations tailored perfectly for your brand await.
