Your influencer marketing strategy: go for an agency or an in-house team? 

So, you’re looking to amp up your influencer marketing strategy. Do you go all-in with your internal team or do you partner with an influencer marketing agency? Here’s a guide to help you decide. 

What do agencies bring to the table? 

Typically, brands will send influencer marketing agencies a creative brief that communicates details about influencer campaigns they would like to run, with the goal of improving conversions, traffic, brand awareness, or other metrics. After the agency is chosen by the brand to produce content on its behalf, the agency has a slew of responsibilities. Some of these tasks include: 

    • Formulating the content and creative strategy
    • Producing a comprehensive campaign timeline 
    • Conducting research on competitors, the industry, and target audience
    • Finding and contacting creators for the campaign
    • Managing the content creation process with creators
    • Reporting on campaign performance


Things to keep in mind

    • Your agency likely has commitments to other clients
    • Your agency’s close relationship with influencers doesn’t necessarily extend to you, which could affect your strategy if you ever want to split
    • Agency partnerships can be high-cost
    • The back-and-forth between you, your agency, and your creators could result in time constraints


What are the benefits of bringing the power in-house? 

If building an in-house team is more aligned with your brand’s vision for your influencer marketing strategy, there are plenty of benefits in doing so. Not only does this route give your brand more creative control, but the relationships your team forms with creators can be invaluable for building a curated ambassador roster and promoting customer loyalty by extension. 

The more your team consistently works with the same creator partners, the easier it is to identify long-term opportunities and nail down a timeline that works for all parties. Not to mention that a dedicated team employed by your brand means that the individuals working directly with creators are experts in your brand’s specific vision and can adjust to new campaigns on the fly.

Things to keep in mind

    • Building an internal team is time-consuming and a high-cost endeavor
    • Influencer marketing is a full-time commitment that requires hands-on management and attention


Can you split the difference? 

Maybe you’re new to the influencer marketing game and want to bridge the gap of an in-house team handling the work, so you partner with an agency while your team gets up to speed. Maybe your team is overrun with other tasks, but you can’t afford to fully justify agency cost. 

That’s why lots of agencies offer services on a smaller scale that allow internal teams to outsource some of their influencer marketing work. This is a nice middle ground that enables brands to maintain creative control while getting help in the areas that would otherwise reduce their efficiency and take away from other projects.

Key points
    • Depending on your brand’s influencer marketing needs, hiring an agency to manage your creator strategies can be a time-saving way to take labor off of your internal team. 
    • For brands who want more creative control and the ability to build a custom list of influencers for consistent, long-term outreaches, it’s more beneficial to grow and harness an internal team.
    • Some brands may opt to do a combination of both by working with an agency for a set amount of hours.
    • At Mavrck, we put power back in the brand’s hands (and agencies, too) with an integrated platform that helps you manage your influencer marketing campaigns – and we offer purchasable hours with our professional services team, too. Schedule a demo today!