How To Find The Best Instagram Influencer Marketing Agency

Instagram is the third-largest social media platform in use today. While Facebook and YouTube are larger when counting the total number of users, Instagram’s simple and direct format makes it invaluable for brands wanting to create an immediate connection with their target audience.

From fashion to food and a plethora of niche interests, Instagram allows for hyper-targeted content that drives unmatched engagement.

The most common marketing method for brands to tap into this potential is to use Instagram influencers. This strategy allows for instant access to an established niche audience that has significant overlap with your brand’s target customer.

While that may seem simple enough, jumping into influencer marketing can have a steep learning curve. Whether it’s contracts, deciding on payment terms, or just finding the right influencers with real follower numbers, the process can seem overwhelming.

This is why many brands turn to established Instagram influencer marketing agencies to help them navigate this lucrative advertising channel.

But which Instagram influencer agency is right for your brand?

Below, we’ll take you through the steps you’ll need to find the best Instagram influencer agency to help you reach your goals.

What Does An Instagram Influencer Marketing Agency Do?

Like most services, influencer agencies come in various shapes and sizes depending on your needs and budget.

One important distinction when searching for Instagram influencer agencies is the difference between influencer platforms and full influencer agencies.

Instagram Influencer Platforms

An influencer platform is a web-based software platform that is used to connect influencers with brands in a type of open marketplace. You can think of it as similar to Offerup or eBay. But instead of being a marketplace for used goods, it’s for influencers and brands to come together.

These platforms generally also offer tracking services for different campaigns in addition to providing metrics for each influencer.

Influencer marketing platforms for Instagram are mostly self-service in that you need to create your own ideas for a campaign and do all of your market research ahead of time.

The platform simply offers a list of influencers and it’s up to you to choose the right ones to align with your brand and marketing goals.

For businesses already familiar with creating successful social media influencer campaigns, this can be a quick way to find new influencers to scale their efforts.

This is also for businesses or brands that already have an in-house marketing team dedicated to social media influencer campaigns on platforms like Instagram.

Advantages Of Using An Influencer Marketing Platform

• Streamlined acquisition of influencers for your campaigns.
• All of your contracts and payments in one place makes for easier management.
• Tracking of campaigns from a centralized location (although the accuracy and type of tracking can vary between platforms)

Disadvantages

• No personalized help with campaign creation, influencer vetting, or individual contracts.
• Metrics and stats are all dependent on the platform’s own internal data capture methods, which may not be entirely accurate.
• Less agile when responding to shifting social media trends or updates.

Full-Service Instagram Influencer Agencies

Full-service influencer agencies provide your brand with more personalized services to help you build and optimize your campaigns for maximum results.

Most agencies will have their own internal platform to help you manage and track campaigns, but they also handle most of the tasks associated with the campaign so you can focus on your core business.

One mistake brands make is to believe that full-service influencer agencies are only for larger brands with huge budgets. While it’s true that large brands do use full-service agencies, many smaller brands take advantage of their services as well.

The reason is that not all influencer campaigns are successful. If you’ve ever watched a creator mention a product or service in a way that made your eyes roll, you were likely watching an unsuccessful campaign.

An Instagram influencer agency understands how to build authentic campaigns that feel organic and relevant to the influencer’s audience. This maximizes engagement, brand loyalty, and the desired customer behavior.

Advantages Of A Full-Service Influencer Agency

• Experience crafting authentic and compelling influencer campaigns that deliver results.
• Help with the entire campaign creation process from ideation to execution.
• More thorough vetting of each influencer and content tailored for specific influencers.
• Thorough analysis of your target audience.

Disadvantages

• Can be more costly initially compared to creating your own campaigns
• Need to find an agency with experience that matches your brand and industry to get the best results.

Instagram Influencer Marketing Success Story

Award-winning influencer agency HireInfluence partnered with Paw Patrol and Nikolodean to promote an exclusive new line of DVDs and merchandise available only at Wal-Mart stores.

Campaign Key Metrics Upon Completion

• Over 10 million impressions during the campaign
• Over 580K engagements
• 16% increase in Paw Patrol sales during the campaign timeframe
• 84% capture of Paw Patrol sales during the campaign

The Campaign Concept

Hire Influence created a campaign based on a specific theme to keep the audience engaged throughout the entire multi-stage content roll-out.

The theme was “Race Across America” with characters from Paw Patrol delivering fun “missions” to each influencer and their family. 

The influencer would complete the missions while using Instagram Stories to showcase their progress and interaction with the campaign.

After each successful mission, the influencer and their family received one of the exclusive items from the product roll-out and then announced the next stop in the Race Across America tour.

All of the stops along the tour built up excitement for the final stop at the NASCAR race in Richmond, Virginia.

For the final stop, HireInfluence partnered with influencer Samantha Busch and her husband, 2X Nascar Champion, Kyle Busch.

Applying These Concepts To Your Brand

While this campaign worked with well-known brands and corporations, HireInfluence can use these same successful concepts for partners of all sizes.

The key was creating a campaign that drove engagement and had a specific goal in place that could be measured via metrics and KPIs.

Overall, it’s this type of complete campaign experience that a full-service agency can bring to your brand.

Choosing The Right Instagram Influencer Marketing Agency

Selecting the right agency will directly impact how successfully your brand can have similar results to the case study above. The right agency can make all the difference in showcasing your brand to the right audience.

When deciding on an influencer agency, keep the following ideas in mind to help narrow down your choices to aid in the selection process.

Specific Experience With Instagram Influencer Marketing

Some agencies tend to specialize in certain social media platforms. For example, certain agencies may be most comfortable with TikTok’s short format while other agencies are adept at YouTube campaigns spread across multiple influencers and content types.

Make sure the agency you’re considering has the experience and specializes in Instagram influencer marketing. Understanding the platform, its users, and the metrics involved will help them create an authentic campaign for your brand.

Past Successful Instagram Campaigns

Any influencer agency you select should have no issues showing you past successful examples of campaigns they’ve created. Some of these can be case studies with formal metrics while others may simply be descriptions of the campaign that you can look up for yourself.

The key here is to look for engaging campaigns with a theme or message that instantly communicates the brand’s goals.

Extensive List Of Instagram Influencers

Influencers are at the heart of any campaign and your agency should already have extensive relationships with a diverse list of Instagram influencers.

This includes various audiences, influencer audience sizes, and other demographic considerations to match your brand’s target audience.

Comprehensive Performance Reports

Ask what type of metrics and performance reports the agency offers. This includes both during the Instagram campaign and afterward so you can assess how well the campaign met its goals.

On a related note, these metrics should include reliable sources including the use of the social media platform’s API, not just screenshots or other less accurate measures.

Also, top influencer marketing agencies should use some form of internal measurement and metrics that go beyond the standard publicly available sources.

Ability To Extend Campaigns

A successful campaign is great, but you also want to be able to extend or scale the campaign as it approaches its end.

This can include bringing in new influencers to target new audiences or activating new content creation. Your agency should have these contingencies already in place so you can quickly extend a campaign or add to an existing campaign with minimal lead time.

At HireInfluence, we use a credit/token system, so new content activations can be made quickly to take advantage of existing campaigns or time-limited events.

Transparency And Disclosure Policies

Influencer campaigns need to follow many of the same FTC guidelines as other forms of advertising. Each social media platform may also have its own disclosure requirements above and beyond these FTC regulations.

Ask about the agency’s policies to ensure your brand and image don’t suffer reputational damage or even fines due to undisclosed promotional techniques.

The Right Influencer Agency For You

Today, new influencer agencies and platforms are entering the market at a rapid pace. But some simply don’t have the experience required to deliver the results your brand needs.

Make sure you look past the buzzwords and hype and choose an agency with a proven track record of Instagram influencer success.

Partnering with the right agency will help you achieve a level of audience engagement and excitement that isn’t possible with many other marketing options.

Using the tips in this guide and asking the right questions during your search will ensure you find the perfect agency to propel your brand to the next level.