Creator agencies have embraced AI, but is the tech changing marketers’ minds?

GroupM influencer agency Goat, for example, uses an AI search tool called “Ibex” to find suitable creators for client campaigns. Leaders, which was acquired by Stagwell back in July and boasts Coca-Cola, Estée Lauder, and Superdry among its clients, similarly provides an “AI-powered” database of 300 million creators.

“Influencer agencies and vendors are spinning up AI features and functions quickly,” said Gartner analyst Nicole Greene in an email, noting that creator discovery, workflow and campaign optimization, and content production had emerged as typical use cases.

Thomas Walters, chief executive officer, Europe at Billion Dollar Boy, told Digiday that prospective clients often come to the agency asking how they might manage their influencer activity at a larger scale – and how they can do so efficiently. Its tool Companion, which incorporates a number of third party AI tools, is part of the agency’s answer. The agency uses it for creator discovery, campaign tracking and creative asset management. “Whatever little bells and whistles we can provide, the better,” Walters said.

It’s a typical approach among creator agencies. At Open Influence, for example, Aynsley Moffitt, director of product and growth told Digiday: “We utilize [AI] so that we can focus on the more important aspects of the campaign.”

There was a “real ambition” among clients “for things to be scaled [and] always on, which brings a need for optimizations and efficiencies,” said Sammy Albon, influencer strategy lead at PrettyGreen, an agency that works with brands such as Hasbro and Nerf.

Major brand advertisers might require 50 to 200 creators per campaign, Albon said, a requirement that was driving the focus on automation at agencies. 

Despite rising investment in influencer marketing, practitioners bear doubts about the usefulness of AI in the space. In some cases, that comes from a wariness of AI itself. Concerns over bias and privacy still dog most applications of the tech some two years on from the launch of ChatGPT.

Mae Karwowski, founder of influencer agency Obviously, said her agency has encountered marketers eager to embrace the cutting edge, and those cautious regarding AI technology’s use. “It runs the gamut,” she said.

In others, it’s skepticism about the place of AI tech within a field of expertise that relies, perhaps more so than other marketing specialisms, upon an understanding of what makes audiences tick and creators worth working with.

Though its marketing strategy readily utilizes influencers, for example, insurer State Farm has thus far held off from using AI. A spokesperson told Digiday that: “At this time, we are not meaningfully leveraging AI tools as part of our marketing mix,” adding that the firm was “closely tracking the value and implications of generative AI.”

One brand marketer with knowledge of the client-agency procurement process, who exchanged anonymity for candor, told Digiday: “The AI piece [has] a buzzy appeal for a lot of people who might not have deep experience. It’s a big sell for people who don’t have experience being in the weeds with campaigns.”

They were “skeptical” of the use of AI tools for creator discovery or brief-writing, adding that such solutions detracted from influencer marketing best practice. “My opinion is that really good influencer marketing shouldn’t be 100% automated. There is a human element that belongs there,” they said.

AI usage — and the way agency experts pitch it to clients — differs from agency to agency. For some, it’s a major part of their appeal to clients; for others, a note played in the minor key. Karwowski was careful to note that the agency doesn’t present its AI usage as a fully automated service. “You’re not trading in your client services team for a robot,” she said. “It’s just making the process smarter and more efficient, so we can spend more time focused on strategy.”

Still, marketers are right to be skeptical, according to Greene. “We’re seeing a lot of ‘AI-washing’ right now, so it’s important to understand if and how AI is being used across the most common use cases in influencer marketing — creator discovery, content creation and performance monitoring,” she said.

Moffitt said that for most clients, AI wasn’t currently a deciding factor in whether to work with the shop. 

Questions about the tech featured during the pitch process, but primarily as a means of gauging the shop’s tech savvy. “[They] want to make sure that they’re working with a modern agency, and us utilizing AI, I think that’s how they translate it,” he said. 

Greene advised clients not to ignore traditional points of differentiation between agency partners: Proven results and strong client relationships. “While AI is a draw, it should complement other factors like the agency’s reputation, industry expertise, and client service,” she added.