# How to choose an influencer marketing agency

To choose an influencer marketing agency, look at how it selects creators, who actually runs the project, how it handles contracts and ad disclosure, and what it delivers at the end. Ask for case studies in your industry and a proposal built around your goals, not a standard package.

By [Amalia Mariotti](https://amagency.eu/en/about-us/amalia-mariotti/), Founder & CEO · Updated: 26 October 2026 · https://amagency.eu/en/guides/how-to-choose-an-influencer-marketing-agency/

## Start with goals, not followers

A good agency’s first question isn’t “how many followers do you want to reach?” but “what should this campaign achieve?”. Launching a new product, driving footfall to a store, producing content for paid ads, supporting sales during a promotion: these are different goals, and each calls for different creators, formats and metrics.

Large-scale seeding, for example, puts a new product in front of a lot of people quickly; a handful of local creators may be enough to bring visitors into a store during a promotion; a steady social presence needs always-on activity with a content plan. If an agency offers you the same solution whatever the goal, treat it as a warning sign.

## How it selects creators

This is the heart of the job. Follower count on its own tells you little: what matters is who those followers are, how much they engage and how credible the creator is when talking about a particular type of product. Ask the agency what its selection is based on and what data it will show you before the creators are confirmed.

- Audience: age, city and interests that match your customers, not just a big number.
- Engagement: genuine comments and conversations, not just likes.
- Fit: a tone, values and aesthetic close to the brand’s own.
- Recent collaborations: a creator who has just worked with a direct competitor is less credible.
- Integrity: sponsored content always disclosed as advertising.

## Own roster or external creators?

Many agencies, ours included, run brand campaigns alongside talent management (representing influencers and creators). That’s an advantage, because they know the talent they work with every day inside out. But it’s fair to ask how they keep the selection neutral: whether the proposal can include creators from outside the roster, and on what basis each profile was chosen.

## Who actually runs the project

Ask who your main contact will be, who will talk to the creators and who will approve content before it goes live. In a large agency a project can pass through many hands; at a boutique agency communication is more direct, but check there are enough people and processes for the size of your campaign. Seeding with hundreds of creators and a partnership with a single talent need very different set-ups.

## Contracts, usage rights and transparency

Every collaboration should have a written agreement covering what content, on which channels, by when and with what approval process. It should also set out the usage rights – how long and on which channels the brand can reuse the content, including in ads – and any category exclusivity.

Then there is transparency towards the audience. In Italy, promotional content must be immediately recognisable as advertising. The FAQs on influencer rules published by AGCOM (Italy’s communications regulator) call for clear labels such as “Pubblicità” (advertising), “ADV” or “Sponsorizzato da…” (sponsored by…), whereas “in collaborazione con” (in collaboration with) is not enough when the content has been commissioned. A serious agency writes this into the contract and checks it before publication. We cover this in our guide to AGCOM influencer rules in Italy.

## What you get at the end of the campaign

Metrics should be agreed at the start, not cherry-picked afterwards from whichever performed best. When the campaign ends you should receive a report with results against those metrics, an analysis of what worked and what didn’t, and an archive of the published content. Ask to see a sample report before you sign.

## Questions to ask at the first meeting

A short list to take to your first call with any agency.

- Which projects similar to ours have you run, and with what results?
- How do you choose creators, and what will you show us before confirming them?
- Who is our main contact, and who talks to the creators?
- How do you handle contracts, usage rights and exclusivity?
- How do you make sure content is disclosed as advertising?
- Which metrics will we measure, and what goes into the final report?
- How is the quote broken down, line by line?

## Frequently asked questions

### Is it better to use an agency or contact influencers directly?

For a one-off collaboration with a creator you already know, you can handle it yourself. Once there is more than one creator and you need contracts, usage rights, shipping and a report, an agency saves time and reduces risk, because it coordinates everything through a single process.

## Sources

1. [AGCOM, FAQ su Linee guida e Codice di condotta per gli influencer (2026)](https://www.agcom.it/sites/default/files/media/allegato/2026/Allegato_B_operativo_influencer.pdf)

## Related case studies

- [Dolce & Gabbana Beauty: Large-scale seeding](https://amagency.eu/en/digital-marketing/dolce-gabbana-beauty/)
- [Palmanova Designer Village: Local influencers](https://amagency.eu/en/digital-marketing/palmanova-designer-village/)
- [Mondo Convenienza: TikTok strategy and always-on creators](https://amagency.eu/en/digital-marketing/mondo-convenienza/)
- [Bicocca Village: Social media management](https://amagency.eu/en/digital-marketing/bicocca-village/)
- [Centro Palladio: Social content for the centre](https://amagency.eu/en/digital-marketing/centro-palladio/)
- [Franciacorta Designer Village: Creators for new collections](https://amagency.eu/en/digital-marketing/franciacorta-designer-village/)

## Further reading

- [Influencer campaign costs: what drives the price](https://amagency.eu/en/guides/influencer-campaign-costs/): What drives the cost of an influencer and a campaign: creators, formats, usage rights, exclusivity, duration and services. Plus how to read a quote.
- [How influencer agencies and talent managers work](https://amagency.eu/en/guides/how-influencer-agencies-work/): What an influencer agency does for creators, what a talent manager handles, how to join a roster and what to check in a management contract.