Do You Really Need An Influencer Marketing Agency?

Actors, singers, writers and illustrators all work with agencies to ensure they have the best representation possible and make money from their creations. And who would’ve thought 20+ years ago that influencers can benefit from similar representation in the form of influencer marketing agencies?!

In the influencing world, getting agency representation is often seen as a sign of hitting the big time!

Unfortunately, not everything is golden (as is life) in the world of influencer marketing and signing with an agency does not automatically mean the money will start rolling in. Influencers and bloggers are experiencing the negative side of expensive and often controlling representation.

There’s even a problem with less scrupulous agencies downright scamming influencers right now. 

That is why if you are a blogger or influencer who is considering entering into a contract with an influencer marketing agency, it’s a good idea to pause and educate yourself on both the pitfalls and potential advantages you’ll find before you make your choice.

Part 1: What Is An Influencer Marketing Agency?

Influencer marketing agencies bring brands, influencers and bloggers together for collaborations that make a great deal of money for all parties. Such deals can include things like: 

• Paid collaborations
• Affiliate partnerships
• Sponsorships
• Gifting

While some marketing agencies may be able to help influencers secure additional profitable opportunities such as book and merch deals. 

In theory, this sounds like a dream for most influencers as the carrot of tripling or quadrupling their current revenue and matching with their dream brands is dangled in front of their face. 

However, there is a great deal of disparity concerning what specific agencies do for their clients from offering only client/creator connections, to seeking out new deals, to helping with execution to full management.

Oh, and usually the more services you make use of the higher the cost of working with that agency will be. 

Many influencers in the industry are beginning to question the value of seeking out representation from a specialised agency altogether. Read on to find the reasons why covered in detail in the section below. 

Part 2: All The Reasons Why You Really Don’t Need An Influencer Marketing Agency! 

Getting signed by an agency in the blogging and influencer world is seen as hitting the big time. It’s the bullseye that every influencer is aiming for. However, there are just as many reasons, if not more to steer clear of working with the often costly and controlling influencer agencies. The most compelling of these are explored in terms of the personal experiences of the influencers below. 

Reason Number 1: Working With An Influencer Marketing Agency Can Be Expensive 

Qualified lawyer and law influencer Kameron Monet with 93.6K subscribers on Youtube and 28.5K followers and 399.2K likes on TikTok, (kameronmonet) makes the valid point that not every influencer needs management from an agency. 

While she does provide a balanced view of both the benefits and disadvantages of working with an influencer marketing agency from an influencer’s perspective.

Monet’s first point is that influencer marketing agency representation does not come for free. Some agencies charge retainer costs which can reach thousands of dollars per month, which is a situation that can quickly become cost ineffective if they are not bringing profitable brand collaborations to the table. Other agencies will demand a percentage of the value of the deals they set up for you, with the industry standard according to Monet being anything from 10-20%. 

While this commission-based structure can be a good way of ensuring an agency stays motivated to find new deals, it can also be costly and galling to the influencer who is doing all the work, only to have the agency cream a huge fee off of their income. 

Reason Number 2: While Management Agency Builds Relationships With Brands, You Don’t! 

Monet also points out that another issue that arises when working with an influencer marketing agency that frequently comes up is that they stay in control of any brand relationships they make. 

Essentially, influencer marketing agencies work as middle-men between the influencer and the brand that wants to work with them. This means they speak to them about their needs, and what they are looking for out of a campaign, and update them on any progress. This relationship is, of course, one of their major selling points as it connects influencers with brands. However, the flip side is that as an influencer working with the same brand again might not be that easy because the relationship they have forged will be with the agency rather than you. 

What this means is that a brand is much more likely to work with an agency again, rather than a specific influencer. Indeed, because nearly all of their connection and trust goes into working with an agency, a situation could potentially arise where an influencer who had previously worked with a brand misses out on opportunities because the agency in question is keen to promote one of their other clients instead! 

Reason Number 3: Your Agency’s Reputation Becomes An Extension Of Your Reputation As An Influencer

Another compelling point that Monet brings up is that when you sign with an influencer management agency, they are representing you to brands. This means that frequency brands will start to associate you as an influencer with this agency. Now, this is not a problem if as recommended by Monet, you thoroughly vet any agency before you join. However, if you do end up signing with an agency that has a bad reputation caused by being difficult to work with, flakey, or untrustworthy it can easily rub off on you, and prevent you from not only getting work now but possibly the future as well. 

Reason Number 4: Not All Agencies Are Created Equally 

Lastly, Monet points out that from her personal experience, not all agencies are created equally. What that means is not only will the quality of the work they do for the influencers on their books differ, but the specific services they offer will too. 

For example, some agencies will specialise in going out and pitching you to new brands, while others will simply manage the deals that are already hitting your inbox. Other agencies will specialise in a particular niche like fashion, meaning that opportunities outside of this niche are likely to be lost for any influencer working with them. Still, others will focus on only one type of marketing like merchandise, but not sponsorships. Again, something that means influencers could be missing out on lucrative deals, based not on their suitability but the niche of the agency they work with. 

Reason Number 5: Scams Are Becoming Frequently Common In The Influencer Marketing Agency Space

No one likes to think of getting scammed, but deceptions with the intent to profit from another are common across an increasing number of spaces, including the influencer marketing agency niche. 

Indeed, there are several articles such as The ‘Talent Agencies’ Hustling Wannabe Influencers from Vice, that bemoan that some agencies operating in the influencer and blogger space are intentionally promising things to clients that they cannot deliver such as 50 brand contacts and other too good to be true opportunities, while happily taking their clients money. 

Such problems only further confuse the situation for influencers and bloggers, especially those just starting with fewer followers. This leads them (as you can see here) to question (often rightly) the legitimacy of an agency whenever they are approached by them and generally creates an atmosphere of mistrust around the whole idea of working with an agency in the field. 

Reason Number 6: Working With An Marketing Agency Can Limit Authenticity And So The Success Of The Blogger Or Influencer

Another important point concerning working with an agency as a blogger or influencer is that they can exert a huge amount of control over the way you do things. This can be a major issue for content creators such as bloggers and influencers as creative control is central to why they do what they do. 

Also, another problem here is that ‘influence’ thrives on authenticity. Sadly, for creators that are being puppeted behind the scenes by agencies insisting on strict guidelines and scripts in line with what their brands want, much of the genuineness of their content such as the cadence of their speech, mistakes and honesty can be lost. This loss can be more than frustrating for a blogger or influencer creatively and can even lead to the loss of the very things that made the influencer so appealing in the first place. In turn, this leads to fewer likes and engagement, and ultimately less success. 

Reason Number 7: Not Every Influencer Or Blogger Needs, Or Will Benefit From Working With An Influencer Marketing Agency. 

Monet also makes a very salient point when she states that not everyone working in the blogging and influencer space needs to or will benefit from working with an agency. Her point is that because they mainly deal with making connections with brands and negotiating contracts, rather than helping execute the content creation process, an influencer marketing agency may not add enough value to justify the percentage they take. 

Instead, she suggests that if influencers feel they have too much on their plate, they are better off investing in outsourcing or employing other staff instead including: 

• Project managers
• Assistants
• Operations managers
• Editors 
• Videographers
• Social media manager

Additionally, anonymous Reddit user and YouTube streamer dskfjhdfsalks, (this is not a typo..) recounts their experience working with an influencer marketing agency describing that even those that are not scams, provide little value to most people operating in the influencer space. 

Reason Number 8: There Are Other Ways Of Securing Brand Deals Than Working With An Agency 

The final reason why most bloggers and influencers do not need to work with an influencer marketing agency is that there are other ways to get brand deals, sponsorships, and start selling merch. 

Merch, for example, can be relatively easy to set up if you use a print-on-demand service that allows you to dropship via well-established platforms like Etsy or Amazon. You also have the option of setting up a Shopify site dedicated only to the merch from your channels. 

It is also possible to approach individual brands personally and offer your services for collaborations and sponsorships. This can be a bit more tricky, as many of the larger brands are already inundated with offers every day, so standing out amongst your competition can be tough. 

Of course, there are ways you can maximise your chances of getting a meeting with a brand. One option is to make sure you have a great portfolio with high-quality content and plenty of followers on your social media channels. Making sure you customise any prospective emails you send to brands is also crucial as it demonstrates a genuine interest and matches the products they are offering. 

Finally, you can also maximise your opportunity to secure a brand deal by making sure you only approach brands that are actively looking for collaborations. One of the best ways to do this is using an influencer marketing platform, as they are designed to connect influencers and brands, helping them to establish trust and work together. 

Part 3: A Few Exceptions To The No Marketing Influencer Agencies Rule 

While the limitations and potential risks of working with a marketing agency are clear, there may be some particular instances where such a collaboration could be of benefit to an influencer or blogger. 

Instance 1: An Influencer Agency With A Good Reputation May Connect You With Major Brands 

While being approached by an agency does not instantly mean you’ve hit the big time, and there are risks including scam agencies to consider, there are some legitimate agencies, that can offer influencers some profitable opportunities with brands. 

TikTok and YouTube influencer Angelica Pham, who currently has 1.3M followers 45.9M likes on TikTok (angelicapham), and 865K subscribers was signed with an influencer agency in April 2022 and explores this point in her video here.

In particular, Pham notes that working with an influencer marketing agency with a great reputation can open doors that would otherwise be closed, connecting influencers with major brand deals, and even facilitating opportunities for paid travel to attend events and create content for campaigns.

Instance 2: You Are Overwhelmed And Want To Work With An Influencer Marketing Agency To Reduce Your Workload 

Angelica Pham, also highlights that another reason that an influencer or blogger may want to work with a marketing agency is that it can help them save time and effort, allowing them to focus solely on creating content rather than the administration side of the business. 

For those that aren’t so good at the marketing and administration part of influencing, a marketing agency that can do these things for you can be very helpful indeed. As Pham points out, creating content is in itself a full-time job, without all the additional work of reaching out to brands, checking contracts, managing communications, and negotiating fees that some agencies will complete for you. 

However, it is important to remember here that as Monet states in her video linked above, not every influencer marketing agency will complete all these tasks for you. Some will also charge extra for certain things, so it’s always worth carefully checking what is included in the cost of hiring them, as well as comparing this to additional options such as using an influencer marketing platform for a fraction of the cost, or even for free. 

Part 4: Final Thoughts On The Question Do You Really Need An Influencer Marketing Agency?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question – do you really need an influencer marketing agency? 

In some specific cases where the benefits outweigh the disadvantages significantly such as where the creator is already overwhelmed with offers from brands, wants to focus solely on creating content, or where an agency provides high-level contacts to and opportunities with major brands then the cost, and other risks involved may be worth it. Although, establishing this needs to be done carefully on a case-by-case basis. 

However, in most cases, and especially for those just starting out in the field of influencing the costs, and additional risks involved in working with an influencer marketing agency may not be worth any potential return you may get. Indeed, as there are other options to consider such as approaching brands yourself independently, or using a convenient and low-cost influencer marketing platform like ours working with a marketing agency as an influencer or blogger may be something you are better off not doing.