Influencer marketing helps brands reach new audiences via social media content creators. You can manage the process of working with creators in-house or partner with an influencer agency to plan and execute campaigns. Influencer partnerships played a key role in Dossier Perfume’s early marketing efforts. On Shopify Masters, Founder and CEO Sergio Tache says, “We wanted to create that awareness around our perfumes, and the best way for us to do that was to work with a really wide array of influencers.”
At the beginning, the team didn’t have the capacity to create their own video content. Working with creators in the video space helped them supplement their marketing efforts with high-quality content and connect with a broad audience on video-forward social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Building a successful influencer marketing strategy requires thorough research and good communication. Although Dossier managed their initial program in-house, onboarding an agency can be useful for brands with limited internal resources or those looking to build and scale complex campaigns. Learn more about the role of influencer marketing agencies and how to decide if they’re right for your business.
What is an influencer agency?
Influencer marketing agencies manage relationships between brands and content creators. They partner with businesses to develop and execute creator campaigns by identifying influencer partners, negotiating contracts, and building creative strategies.
Influencer agencies also handle talent management, monitor campaigns, and provide performance analysis services. Engaging and onboarding an agency requires an initial investment, but it may reduce the need to spend internal time and effort building the processes needed to execute and scale an influencer marketing strategy.
Influencer agency vs. in-house team: How to choose for your business
Developing an influencer program from scratch requires research, outreach, contract negotiation, content approval, and payouts. Although small and mid-level brands may be able to manage partnerships with the right suite of tools, larger or more complex businesses may find working with an influencer agency to be more efficient. Here’s how to decide, looking at factors like business goals and available resources:
Review your current program
If you’re already working with content partners, start by evaluating your current influencer program to get a baseline. How are you managing your partnerships? How well are they performing? Take stock of your current investment by assessing how much time your team spends managing relationships and if your dedicated marketing tools are making the overall process harder or easier.
Establish goals
What do you hope to get out of your influencer marketing program? Brands can use influencer marketing to build awareness, drive sales, and lower customer acquisition costs. Establishing clear business goals can help you identify concrete needs and decide what to do next. Businesses hoping to expand a current program to reach new users or boost revenue may need to identify new partners and fine-tune their strategy. Brands hoping to improve efficiency could look for ways to simplify the management process.
Consider your resources
What resources can you dedicate to an influencer marketing program? Review your budget and evaluate internal capacity to determine how much you can invest in both time and money. Hiring an influencer marketing agency requires available budget.
The exact cost varies greatly depending on the nature of your contract. Established influencer marketing agencies may charge monthly retainers ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 for end-to-end management of complex campaigns. Many agencies charge hourly rates for their influencer marketing services. The type of creator you work with can also affect cost. Influencers with large follower counts and strong engagement rates tend to be more expensive.
In-house management can be more cost-effective, but it requires employee bandwidth. Dossier, for example, used an in-house team of 10 to 12 dedicated employees to build their initial influencer marketing program. According to Sergio, this team’s duties included “spending time on the platforms, finding the influencers, reaching out, sending perfumes, and striking an agreement.”
Research agencies and platforms
Researching agencies and influencer marketing platforms can help you understand agency costs, available contract styles, and platform capabilities. Consider getting quotes from several companies to help get a sense of how much it would cost to accomplish your goals with an agency. Test out or evaluate influencer marketing tools to assess whether your team could manage your campaigns without dedicated help.
Tools like Shopify Collabs simplify the process of finding and managing creator partnerships. Collabs users can search a database to select partners or set up an application page for influencers to reach out. Shopify users can also extend invitations, gift products, and manage payments directly within the Collabs app. This free app is included on all Shopify plans except Start and Retail.
If your plan includes Shopify Flow, you can simplify operations even further by using the app’s automation capabilities to execute creator management tasks like payment without employee intervention.
Children’s sleep accessory company Moonboom used Shopify Collabs to improve efficiency and generate more than $1 million through creators. Before onboarding Collabs, the business managed creator partnerships with scattered spreadsheets and multiple costly software tools. Switching to a single, multifunction tool saved the brand time and reduced costs. Collabs made it easier to grow their program; accepting influencer applications through their website via the tool helped the team scale the process of bringing on new partnerships by more than 400%.
Tips for working with an influencer marketing agency
- Set clear goals
- Share your vision and brand standards
- Establish regular check-ins and provide feedback
Agencies are creative and operational partners. They manage creator campaigns on your behalf, but they do need input to properly execute your brand’s vision. Even when working with the best influencer marketing agencies, keep these tips in mind for an effective collaboration:
Set clear goals
Set expectations by sharing your business goals. This helps an agency understand what you’re trying to achieve and design strategic campaigns that align with your objectives. Share key metrics that you want to optimize for, such as reach, clicks, acquisition, or engagement. Your goals can help inform everything from creator selection to content design.
If you’re looking to expand awareness with a younger audience, for example, an agency might focus on finding influencers with followers that fall within your target demographic. If you’re focused on revenue, your team might prioritize shoppable content featuring bestselling products. Be as specific as possible to set your relationship up for success.
Share your vision and brand standards
Share your style guide, mission statement, and information about your target audience to help your agency understand your brand voice and the type of content you’re looking for. Review these documents together and have an open conversation with your agency to make sure they understand your brand voice.
Influencers represent your brand on social media platforms. Partnering with creators that share your brand values can help your brand reach a relevant audience and avoid making a bad impression. Let your team know if there are any topics you’d like to avoid so that they know not to reach out to influencers with the wrong focus. Provide specific guidelines if you’re interested in a specific type or style of content, such as video.
Establish regular check-ins and provide feedback
Plan to meet with the agency on a regular basis. You can use this time to review progress and provide updates about what’s happening at your company. Keeping your agency abreast of any product developments or upcoming initiatives will help them come up with strategic influencer campaigns that align with your current priorities. If you’re introducing new color options or running a sale, for example, your team can help amplify your marketing messages with new influencer content.
Most agencies provide periodic performance reports and retrospectives after the end of creator campaigns. Discussing this information internally and with agency partners can ensure continued creative and strategic alignment. Providing feedback on content style and quality, such as flagging shaky or blurry video content, or noting examples of an off-brand tone, helps keep influencer content up to your standards. Discussing performance issues can help your agency fine-tune messaging and campaign focus.
Influencer agency FAQ
Do small businesses need an influencer marketing agency?
The right influencer marketing agency can help businesses of any size develop and execute successful marketing campaigns. Small businesses may be able to manage basic influencer marketing strategies internally. The decision to hire an agency depends on your resources and goals.
Can you manage influencers without an agency?
Yes. Managing influencers typically involves identifying and contacting partners, developing contracts, sharing content guidelines, and monitoring campaign results. With sufficient resource allocation, businesses can manage their own influencer marketing campaigns.
What is Shopify Collabs, and how does it work?
Shopify Collabs is an affiliate marketing app that helps brands discover and manage content partners. Influencers looking for brand partnerships sign up for a Shopify Collabs account and create a profile. Businesses can search the app for potential partners or create influencer campaign listings and accept applications. Once you’ve established a relationship, you can use the app to send discount codes, manage payments, and track affiliate sales.
