Influencer Marketing Agencies: Why, Why, Why?

Key Takeaways

• In 2024, the influencer industry continues to evolve into  a creator economy, with approximately one billion creators expected in the next five years.
• Influencer marketing agencies offer your brand access to an established network of key opinion leaders (KOL) and can open up new markets for you with their expert knowledge.
• Identifying the right influencers is critical to the success of campaigns. Agencies help you to find and approach KOLs who have the same values as your brand.

The trend toward a creator economy is really picking up steam in 2024. Over the next five years, around one billion people will identify as content creators and the influencer marketing industry will grow to $15 billion by the end of the year. At the same time, 66% of brands plan to further increase their budget for influencer marketing.

You can also read our Trend Report, which summarizes analyses and forecasts for the coming year 2024. Here you can download the report for free.

• Interview with Martin Leroy, founder of the agency House of Stories

A study by Creator IQ surveyed hundreds of agencies, most of them in the U.S., with 75% of their client base being brands. While agencies have specific priorities and strategies, they overwhelmingly represent four or more goals.

Influencer management: the benefits of marketing agencies.

Working with agencies has several benefits for brands and companies:

• Contact with KOLs: Agencies for influencer marketing usually have an existing network of KOLs they have already worked with. Therefore, they know about the strengths and weaknesses of the creatives and can  help  to identify the suitable Influencer.
• Diverse communication channels: An agency’s network not only makes it easier to identify suitable influencers, but also to approach them. In-network KOLs  may be easier to convince or win over for a campaign than outsiders.
• Resource management: Agencies specialize in influencer marketing and/or  Instagram marketing. Brands can save time and effort and  launch successful influencer campaigns.
• Insider knowledge and experts: The agencies know the industry  well and are experts in the IM market. This way, your campaigns are sure to jump on the trend bandwagons and you’ll never pay too much for influencer partnerships again. In addition, agencies can help you expand into a market that is unknown to you as they know the respective audiences. Finally, agencies are aware of the latest regulations and laws and can advise you accordingly  in this regard.

What does influencer marketing involve? Booking the right influencers

Identifying the right influencers is one of the most difficult and important tasks for brands. As already mentioned, influencer marketing agencies help to ensure that the values of the brand match those of the KOL. This not only increases the success of campaigns, but also protects the reputation of your brand.  

1. Relevance and credibility: When influencers have a real connection to the brand, they appear authentic and their audience is very likely to follow their recommendation.
2. Audience engagement: This automatically increases audience engagement as they are more likely to interact with your brand and products.
3. Consistency and brand image: Successful pairings and the resulting collaboration helps your brand, especially in the long run. On the other hand, if it’s not done right, it can do lasting damage to your reputation.
4. Targeted Reach: One of the classic benefits of influencer marketing is the direct outreach to a specific target audience, especially young people who don’t sit in front of a linear TV today but instead scroll on TikTok. Unless there’s audience overlap, you’re not wasting resources  but addressing the right people  through precise targeting.
5. Improved conversion rates: If you regularly measure results, you’ll realize how effective influencer marketing is. Whether you work with a boutique agency or full-service agency, the increase in CR is bound to happen.

How do agencies for influencer or Instagram marketing work?

From a survey conducted by CreatorIQ we can gain important learnings about the state of influencer marketing for agencies.

• Customer retention = priority: the agencies surveyed say their top priority is customer retention.
• Onboarding of new clients: Onboarding clients is equally important to agencies. However, half of the agencies surveyed found both onboarding and retention to be somewhat challenging.
• Workflow: During many agencies’ hiring processes for new employees, workflow is one of the biggest challenges for all teams. As such, approximately 57% had difficulty streamlining workflow.
• Understanding from the executive level: although the industry has proven to grow and many brands are already proving the effectiveness of influencer marketing, some executives still need convincing. However, this is essential for successful campaigns.
• Learnings and ROI: Agencies know the importance of measuring a campaign’s learnings and overall return on investment (ROI). Standardization will help not only agencies but also brands in the future.

Agencies are looking for best practices just as much as to improve influencer marketing results. Real-time data, which you can get  through our Chrome Extension or classic A/B tests during campaigns will help. You can download the Kolsquare Analytics Sidebar for free and immediately track the performance of your campaign on Instagram and TikTok. In fact, 93% of agencies already use software to manage campaigns for their brands. You can always book a free demo of the Kolsquare platform here.

Graphic by Creator IQ Trend Report 2023