How marketers, creators vet influencer agencies as the creator economy continues to expand

“I look for a team that’s flexible, collaborative and genuinely invested in helping solve problems as they arise — going beyond just executing tasks to acting as true strategic partners,” said Amy Moussa, manager of social media and digital partnerships for restaurant company Qdoba Mexican Eats, which works with creator marketing agency Open Influence.

Unilever isn’t alone in its plans to increase influencer marketing spending. (The CPG giant recently said it would devote half its ad budget toward creators through social media.) Some 93% of brands say they plan to increase their creator budgets or creator roles in their overall marketing strategy, per research by shopping and creator app LTK and Northwestern University, which also found that 41% of those brands now budget at least half of their digital marketing spend to creators and influencers.

For the most part, brands, as they weigh their spending options, can’t juggle deadlines and keep track of content on their own. So marketers are seeking partners that are in it for the long-haul, understand creators and their audience and provide insight into a niche or community rather than a transaction or “quick wins,” said Mike Vannelli, creative director of video production company Envy Creative, which works with brands (like Paw.com and Cape Cod Select) to make commercials and ads.

“The agencies we vibe with are the ones investing in creator growth, not just campaign reach,” Vannelli said. “If they’re offering strategy workshops, creative coaching or platform-specific insights that help creators evolve? That’s gold.”

For influencer agencies facing more competition in the space, the focus to attract brand investments becomes about offering more personal access to creators and influencers. And that comes through developing more extensive partnerships or adding targeted services, like college campus activations or funding an industry experience at Cannes Lions to foster that creator growth.

Creator support and connection

In March, Billion Dollar Boy and its platform and membership program FiveTwoNine launched a Creator Fund to provide financial aid for 20 U.S.- and U.K.-based creators to attend industry events, starting In June with Cannes Lions, an official partner of the grant. The winners of the creator passes (each worth $1,300, purchased by the agency) will be announced on April 24, with criteria consisting of strong engagement and more than 20,000 followers on social platforms.

“[People want to] get a seat at the table,” said Becky Owen, global head of FiveTwoNine, a creator platform, and global CMO of influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy. “A lot of times it just feels so perplexing to them, how this industry is run.”

Creators are selected by a panel of creator industry experts, including Jamie Gutfreund, founder of Creator Vision; Mazviona Madzima, senior strategic partner manager at YouTube; and Jasmine Enberg, vp and principal analyst at eMarketer. The Creator Fund is actively seeking brand partners, like airlines to provide miles and points, and others to offset costs and accommodations. More than 100 creators have applied through the April 15 deadline, and many of them are based in the U.S., per Owen.

Of the 20 creators that are selected to go, Billion Dollar Boy will provide a festival pass. The agency said it is still in talks with brand sponsors. If it is unable to get sponsors, then creators will cover their own travel and lodging (which were part of the application agreements).

For many creators, attending Cannes Lions can be a financially out of reach — passes started last year from 4,000 euros (or more than $4,400) up to more than 10,000 euros. Still, for creators, Cannes provides industry networking and access that could help their careers grow.

Mom creator and consultant Tina Cartwright said she is selective which industry events to attend, whether as a speaker or as a creator to build connections. “You don’t have a lot of power,” said Cartwright, who isn’t currently working with an influencer agency. “Even though so many brands need creators, it’s going to be super, super important to show up as industry leaders and experts in your space.”

It’s also a two-way street when creators are picking agencies: They value agencies that can prioritize their long-term growth, as opposed to just deal brokers.

LGBTQ and lifestyle creator Timur Tugberk (@timurdc) said working with an agency cannot be “one and done” and that the relationship has to provide support, like these community-building opportunities, product collaborations and mentorship. Tugberk works with creator companies including Upfluence, CreatorIQ and Mavn.

“[I want] someone that I can bounce ideas off of and someone that can guide me in the right direction when I’m needing to pivot in the industry,” said fashion and travel creator Hunter Vought, who has 1.1 million followers on Instagram and works with influencer management company G&B Digital Management.

For Owen, the creator support differentiates BDB because it demonstrates that they are actually doing the work to support creators and better understand their challenges. The free (for now) membership through FiveTwoNine, launched last April, also gives some 1,600 creator members access to events and workshops, physical space and one-on-one consultations with financial advisors and lawyers specializing in the creator and influencer sector.

“[Creators will] come, hang out in our club and work from there,” Owen said. “They want a place where they can host community gatherings and community events, and that’s amazing for us … because we want to be around creators and we want to listen.”

Expanding the niche markets

Where one agency is increasing its creator presence at Cannes, another is upping its presence on the college campuses as a way to access a wider, targeted market that is vetted in one place.

Influencer platform and company Linqia in March added Linqia Campus, a program connecting brands with college-aged influencers. The influencer shop is working with REACH, a network of college content creators, and Home From College, a career platform with a large student community, on everything from social media campaigns and product sampling to on-campus activations.

“My entire career there’s been a marketer’s focus on younger generations,” said Keith Bendes, chief strategy officer of Linqia. “The college market has massive buying power, is incredibly social-first and are the buyers for the next 50 years for most brands.”

Linqia’s platform Resonate, which plugs into the social media platforms directly, can access millions of searchable creators; this partnership will combine the two networks to include some tens of thousands of students and athletes at more than 75 universities, Bendes said. Its platform can also access up to 1.5 billion data points on vetted creators.

But it’s not just about data and reach — agencies also have to deeply understand an influencer’s audience and community, not just their content style or brand aesthetic in order for brands and creators to continue working with them.

The ones that attract attention in a crowded space tend to be specialized agencies focused on specific niches, like athletes for example, as is the case with cold bath brand Louce Corporation, said founder and CEO Valentin Pechot.

“Honestly, managing influencers directly burned us out,” Pechot said. “We switched to an agency that was laser-focused on our niche: Athletes. When you’re planning a product launch and everything has to go live at the same time, there’s no room for chaos.”