Our top pick for most is Influencer Marketing Agency (IMA) because its massive influencer network, experience in dozens of industries, and proven track record. Get in touch to learn more!

The best influencer marketing agencies look the same on the surface. The differences come when you really start digging. Choosing one can be a real pain, so we did the investigative work for you by researching 43 global and boutique influencer marketing agencies and cutting the list to the top 11. We looked at the obvious: proven niche experience, existing audience insights, and the quality of their influencer network.

But we also took it further by evaluating their post-campaign reporting capabilities, reputation protection practices, and adherence to legal regulations in different industries. The result: A carefully curated lineup of trustworthy agencies that produce real, verifiable results.

The Best Influencer Marketing Agencies: Our Top Picks

• Influencer Marketing Agency – Largest influencer network
• IZEA – Best for highly regulated industries
• Obvious.ly – Best influencer marketing for mobile apps
• Open Influence – Best for automotive campaigns
• Clever – Best for consumer packaged goods
• The Influence Agency – Best for full digital marketing services
• The Outloud Group – Best for esports and gaming
• Verde – Best for outdoor sports
• Travel Mindset – Best for travel, destinations, and hospitality
• Ykone – Best for luxury fashion brands
• OTS Marketing – Best for B2B influencer marketing

Is an Influencer Marketing Firm Right for You?

If you need help connecting with influencers, monitoring their activities, handling payments, or managing their content schedules, you’re in the right place.

Suppose you need more than that, like social media management, branding, long-form content creation, visuals, press releases, or other services. In that case, you might be better off choosing a different type of agency that includes influencer marketing partnerships on top of their other services.

• Social media marketing agencies manage your social media accounts
• Content marketing agencies manage your long-form content, like blog posts and videos
• PR agencies can help you get featured in publications and TV segments
• Digital marketing agencies are best if you want to outsource several marketing activities
• Branding agencies can help define your audience and find your voice

Below, you’ll find a review of our top picks, how we narrowed down our list, and what you should consider when picking an agency to work with.

Influencer Marketing Agency – Largest Influencer Network

Since 2010, Influencer Marketing Agency (IMA) has built an extensive network of over 19 million influencers across various social media platforms and niches.

The significant number of influencers translates into an enormous potential audience, allowing you to substantially boost your visibility and engagement. Another reason we love IMA is because they carefully match your brand with influencers that align with your goals.

This precision targeting helps ensure that your influencer marketing campaigns resonate with the right people.

Furthermore, the expansive influencer network gives you (and IMA) the adaptability required to keep up with dynamic markets. Together, you can explore different formats, niches, and platforms to see what works best.

To make your life easy, IMA handles the time-consuming tasks of recruiting, vetting, and managing influencers. Including handling communication.

With their support and hands-on services, you can focus on your business while reaping the benefits of influencer marketing.

With an unparalleled global reach and data-driven campaign management, the Influencer Marketing Agency is the perfect partner for just about any brand looking to extend their reach Powered by its vast network, the agency provides a sophisticated, full-service experience that delivers actual results.

IZEA – Best for Highly Regulated Industries

With over 15 years of experience, 3.9 million collaborations under their belt, and half of the Fortune 50 as clients, IZEA has plenty of expertise in helping companies work through the complex rules of regulated industries, like insurance, finance, pharmaceuticals, and alcohol.

They have a network of over 15 million influencers on platforms from Instagram to Twitch, including creators who understand the nuances of regulated industries.

IZEA’s influencers are experts at communicating authentically with audiences while following guidelines, including those highly-specific to your industry. Their experience in doing so ensures transparency and disclosure, not only protecting themselves but you as well.

Their work with Absolut and Mastercard are proof that they know a thing or two about navigating regulations.

If you’re worried about stunted creativity, IZEA has imaginative, artful influencers who thrive despite rigid rules. Every day, they help businesses like yours navigate the web of industry regulations to leverage influencer marketing like pros.

IZEA offers services from influencer strategy and matchmaking to optimizing paid media for even better results. As a full-service influencer marketing agency, you can focus on other things while they run campaigns on your behalf.

With over a decade of experience, IZEA is an established leader and essential partner for influencer success in strict industries.

Obvious.ly – Best Influencer Marketing for Mobile Apps

Founded in 2014, Obvious.ly has collaborated with over 67,000 influencers to generate 2.5 billion impressions through over 225,000 pieces of content. Aside from impressive numbers, their client list includes Bumble, Lyft, Google, and Square.

Need further proof? They sourced and managed more than 700 influencers and produced 19.4 million social media impressions for Lyft, resulting in an exceptional 143% return on their initial investment.

Whether you want to acquire users without spending more than you have to, boost user retention and engagement, or communicate how your app changes lives, there’s no better influencer network.

By working with influencers who deeply understand your target users and market niche, they can authentically demonstrate how your app addresses specific needs and preferences.

Through services like in-depth strategy, influencer management, content creation, and paid amplification to reporting, music licensing, and creative design services, Obvious.ly takes a well-rounded approach that equals actual results. They leverage influencer platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, Pinterest, and Twitter to achieve the best returns. While they can focus on every platform, they specialize in targeting the best ones for you.

While your campaigns run, their proprietary tech provides real-time campaign insights and optimization recommendations to maximize impressions, likes, comments, engagement, and earned media value.

By working with Obvious.ly, your new app can gain significant awareness wins, go viral, skyrocket in the app stores, and ultimately achieve ambitious business goals. As a high-touch, full-service agency, you’ll be in good hands.

Open Influence – Best for Automotive Campaigns

Founded in 2013, Open Influence leverages an AI-powered platform and network of over 150,000 creators to develop highly engaging campaigns that deliver maximum return on investment.

Open Influence’s algorithms use machine learning to match brands with influencers in a way no human could: at scale and with maximum efficiency.

With new vehicles launching every day and other automotive companies constantly promoting their latest products, it takes time to grab the attention of potential customers. Time that you don’t have.

Open Influence tackles this head-on, identifying influencer partners at breakneck speed.

They have a proven track record of helping automotive brands showcase how their vehicles cater to shifting preferences so they can stay ahead of their competitors.

They even work with clients to address concerns around environmental impact or reliability issues by developing campaigns that highlight unique selling points. With a full-service team overseeing every detail from start to finish, Open Influence ensures that each campaign adheres to industry regulations, too.

With a client list that includes Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ford, and Toyota, it’s hard to ignore their expertise in the industry.

Clever – Best for Consumer Packaged Goods

Clever is an established influencer marketing agency with hundreds of happy clients across nearly as many industries. However, their expansive portfolio in the consumer packaged goods space is something we can’t ignore.

Their client list is nothing short of impressive, from Campbell’s, Capri Sun, and Coffee Mate to Dunkin’ Donuts and DiGiorno.

Despite their massive portfolio and impressive results, they’re a relatively small team of fewer than 50 people. Don’t let their size fool you, though – they know the influencer space inside and out since they’ve been doing it since before it was a thing. And influencer marketing is all they do, so you know they’re good at it.

Those big names wouldn’t keep paying them if they weren’t.

A huge part of why their campaigns are so successful is the influencers themselves. Clever does an incredible job vetting for authenticity, engagement, and a dedicated following.

The influencers they work with – mostly nano and micro – have a personal connection with their followers. When people see influencers that are real people, who genuinely like using a product, they want to try it out too.

Just like getting a recommendation from a friend.

Clever’s been dominating the space for years, and it’s easy to see why so many major brands keep coming back to them.

The Influence Agency – Best for Full Digital Marketing Services

The Influence Agency is a powerhouse, providing a one-stop digital marketing shop, including influencer marketing services, for brands looking to dominate in the digital space.

Their integrated marketing approach provides a consistent brand experience across channels. Collaborating with a single agency can streamline communication, save time, and unify your messaging at every customer touchpoint.

And with access to over 100,000 social influencers and content creators across every niche, The Influence Agency can build highly targeted and impactful influencer campaigns.

Beyond influencers, the agency offers a full range of digital marketing services to create cohesive strategies under one roof. From search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising to social media management and email marketing, they do it all.

Plus, they’re certified partners of Google, Meta, and Shopify.

The Influence Agency works with clients in various industries like fitness, automotive, music, beauty, and cannabis. Clients such as Dole, Lowes, Bud Light, and GMC have leveraged the agency’s expertise to build brand awareness, engage new audiences, and increase sales.

Overall, The Influence Agency provides:

• Integrated solutions
• Influencer marketing mastery
• A full suite of digital marketing services
• Valuable data and analytics
• A proven track record of success with leading brands

In other words, the whole package for businesses interested in more than influencer marketing.

The Outloud Group – Best for Esports and Gaming

Founded in 2008, The Outloud Group works with over 17,000 influencers. They’ve generated 9 billion impressions through 31,000 brand sponsorships across platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram.

With stats like those and unparalleled experience in gaming and esports, they have unique expertise suitable for gaming and esports partnerships.

At best, it’s notorious for the breakneck pace at which new games, platforms, and technologies emerge. The good news is that The Outloud Group has its finger on the pulse of the latest trends, enabling them to adapt marketing strategies and keep your campaigns feeling fresh.

As a unique industry, you face unique challenges, like “ad blindness”—the tendency for gamers to tune out advertising due to overexposure.

For The Outloud Group, that’s no problem – they’ve been helping businesses like yours bead ad blindness and other unique frustrations for over a decade.

They also help brands tackle marketing challenges across different platforms, each with its own rules and audiences. What works on Twitch may flop on YouTube. Still, The Outloud Group knows how to tailor content for maximum impact on every channel. Plus, they have an unparalleled ability to reach niche gaming communities, enabling hyper-targeted campaigns.

Whether you want to engage FPS, MOBA, or retro gaming fans, The Outloud Group is familiar with identifying the right influencers, no matter how niche.

They’re also pros at striking a delicate balance between entertainment and information. They understand the need for fun, entertaining content as well as content that promotes your products and services. More than that, they ensure their influencers strike the proper ratio.

Verde – Best for Outdoor Brands

For over 20 years, Verde has been helping outdoor companies of all sizes authentically spread the word about their products. They’ve worked with brands like Gore-Tex, Outdoor Research, GoPro, and Keen, proving themselves as a small but mighty force.

What makes them unique is that they understand that people who love the outdoors are interested in something other than stiff product placement or perfectly posed social media posts.

Outdoor enthusiasts want to see gear in action, used by real people in actual outdoor spaces. They know this because they’re outdoor enthusiasts themselves. They understand what your audience wants because they are your audience.

Verde has a vast network of influencers, from pro athletes with millions of followers to micro-influencers who love getting outside. Working with influencers who can’t wait to get out and field-test your products means the result is nothing short of magic.

The outdoor industry can be tricky to market since so much depends on the season. Verde is dedicated to helping you navigate these ups and downs by planning strategic campaigns that make the biggest splash when people are most active and brands have the most to gain.

Whether launching a new line of ski gear in the winter or spotlighting a collection of camping essentials in the summer, Verde’s got the timing down.

They also understand how diverse the outdoor world is. They’ve worked with brands in almost every outdoor niche – from backpacking to kayaking to adventure travel and beyond. Verde identifies influencers who are specialists in these areas, enabling hyper-focused marketing campaigns targeting the right outdoor enthusiasts.

And since so many outdoor companies strive to protect the world we live in, Verde chooses influencers with the same values.

Regarding the outdoor industry, Verde is in a league of their own. With their massive network of niche influencers, skill in planning seasonal campaigns, and commitment to authentic storytelling, they help the coolest outdoor brands get in front of the right folks.

Travel Mindset – Best for Travel, Destinations, and Hospitality

Travel Mindset is a boutique agency founded in 2013. Since then, they’ve worked with thousands of travel influencers to generate hundreds of millions of social media impressions for destinations and travel brands worldwide.

Despite its small team of fewer than 10 employees, they punch well above their weight.

They’ve collaborated with major players like Airbnb, Visit California, and Virgin Atlantic as well as tourism boards representing San Antonio, Maine, and Virginia Beach.

One of Travel Mindset’s superpowers is identifying influencers who specialize in sharing positive experiences and highlighting what makes destinations, hotels, and airlines such great accommodations.

By collaborating with their incredibly targeted network of influencers, Travel Mindset even helps clients build trust in their offerings – which has been especially crucial as the travel industry recovers from the impacts of COVID-19.

Travel Mindset also excels and helping clients target specific segments of travelers.

Adventure travelers have different priorities than luxury jet-setters, which differ again from families planning a beach vacation.

Travel Mindset knows how to find influencers with audiences tailored to any niche, no matter how small.

The agency also excels at working with influencers to showcase unique experiences, promote last-minute deals or travel during shoulder seasons, and drive bookings when demand is soft.

With a highly targeted influencer network and data-driven approach, Travel Mindset delivers outsized results regardless of the challenges you face. Though small, this mighty team has mastered the art of influencer marketing for travel, destinations, and hospitality.

Ykone – Best for Luxury Fashion Brands

Ykone is the epitome of an influencer marketing agency for luxury fashion brands that want to boost their desirability while staying ahead of fast-changing trends.

With over a decade of experience and offices spanning the globe, this high-end agency maintains its finger on the pulse of the fashion world.

Though high fashion is an international game, Ykone realizes that effectively marketing luxury brands is about nuance and culture. They identify influencers that embody your brand’s image in a way that that works with diverse audiences.

Not only that but these influencers are storytellers who forge emotional connections with followers around the world.

If you want to expand into new channels or markets, Ykone provides an entry point through influencers with an established presence.

Plus, they continuously assess what’s trending and leverage influencers to test the waters, allowing you to navigate new territories with existing insights into audience preferences.

Burberry, Gucci, Dior, and other couture icons trust Ykone to uphold their prestige. Case in point, Ykone ran a campaign for Armani that generated 17.7 million impressions in a short time – the kind of exposure that keeps a luxury brand coveted while boosting community desire.

From strategy and training to influencer casting and campaign reporting, Ykone offers full-service support. Their exclusive Capaygn platform gives you a bird’s eye view of influencer partnerships and performance.

In an industry where exclusivity is everything, you can rely on Ykone to retain your aspirational status while increasing eyes on your brand. By choosing influencers as carefully as fabric or cut, Ykone ensures that you reach an audience that values craftsmanship and quality.

OTS Marketing – Best for B2B Influencer Marketing

OTS Marketing has worked with over 1,000 influencers in industries from tech to finance to help B2B companies overcome their long-tailed, complex sales cycles and position themselves as thought leaders.

The B2B influencer marketing landscape is unique – business leaders and decision-makers want to see different types of content than an everyday consumer.

The good news is that OTS understands this and has a proven track record of bridging that gap.

After working with OTS, Salesforce saw its organic social reach increase by 60% and over 200,000 engagements on LinkedIn, a notoriously tricky marketing platform.

Reaching niche markets is tough, but not for OTS. They have a knack for identifying influencers who understand the intricacies of B2B audiences inside and out.

They also know how to shift the focus from logic to establishing emotional connections with your customers. Even in B2B, emotional connections are incredibly powerful. By stacking their network with influencers who are adept at sharing personal stories and showcasing your values, OTS’s influencers humanize you along the way.

Plus, they have experience working with brands in manufacturing, agriculture, finance, and beyond.

Whether you’re selling to farmers, software developers, executives, marketers, entrepreneurs, or bankers, they’ve got you covered.

With niche expertise, an arsenal of specialized influencers, and a track record of success, OTS Marketing is one of the few agencies that really gets B2B influencer marketing.

How We Determined The Top Digital Influencer Agencies

We started with 43 influencer marketing agencies, including: August United, Billion Dollar Boy, Carusele, Clever, Collectively Inc., Fohr, Fullscreen Media, HireInfluence, Influencer Marketing Agency, Influencer Matchmaker, Influence Nation, Influencer Intelligence, Intellifluence, Iris, IZEA, Kairos Media, Klear, Komodo, Linqia, Mediakix, NeoReach, Obvious.ly, Open Influence, OTS Marketing, Socially Powerful, Socialyte, Scrunch, Starpower, Summerjax, Takumi, TheAmplify, The Influence Agency, The Outloud Group, The Shelf, The Social Standard, Travel Mindset, Tribe Dynamics, Upfluence, Verde, Viral Nation, Whalar, YellowHEAD, Ykone.

We then narrowed them down to the top 11 using the following criteria.

Proven niche experience

Agencies must understand the key players, influencers, trends, and marketing channels that are most effective for your industry.

For example, an agency with experience in the beauty industry should know which YouTube influencers and hashtags drive the most engagement with makeup fans. Experience like this lets them identify the right partnerships and strategies to optimize your campaigns.

Because of that, we focused on agencies with expertise in specific niches.

Existing audience insights

The most effective influencer campaigns are data-driven, not based on guesses or intuition. Agencies with insights into their network’s audiences and the types of content that perform best for those audiences can craft highly tailored partnership strategies.

For example, an agency might analyze which posts, hashtags, and CTAs drive the best engagement with an influencer’s Instagram followers.

They can then work with the influencer to incorporate more of these elements into content created for your campaign.

The agency may find opportunities to reach valuable audience segments that an influencer still needs to tap into, leading to creation of new content and messaging strategies tailored to those groups.

Agencies with a deep understanding of influencer followers and the content they respond to can forge those connections and drive real impact for your campaigns.

Existing audience research and insights separate average agencies from those that excel at influencer marketing.

Their influencer network

Established relationships with influencers in a specific niche take time to build. We focused on agencies that already have these connections so they can activate influencers as fast as possible.

Agencies tout the size of their influencer networks, but what matters most is how well those influencers align with your products. An agency may have 10,000 influencers in its network. But the size is irrelevant if only 20 are a good fit for your campaign.

Quality over quantity.

Post-campaign reporting

It’s not enough for an agency to run an influencer campaign—they must provide detailed reporting on key metrics like reach, impressions, engagement, and conversions.

Campaign reports should provide actionable insights to optimize future initiatives.

Robust reports include quantitative metrics (impressions, reach, and clicks) and qualitative feedback on what types of content and messaging resonate with different audiences.

The best agencies analyze what works and what doesn’t so they can optimize future campaigns around past key performance indicators.

Agencies that go beyond surface-level numbers to provide analysis and recommendations demonstrate a proper understanding of executing and optimizing influencer campaigns.

Reputation protection

Influencer marketing requires trust between your brand, agency, and its influencers.

Proactive steps like influencer vetting, disclosure policies, and monitoring are invaluable to upholding that trust. But agencies also need to be able to handle crisis management.

Influencer campaigns carry risks, and issues like offensive content, fraud, legal missteps, or other problems are always possible. Proactive policies and rapid, strategic crisis response plans inspire confidence in a brand-agency partnership and ensure the potential rewards of influencer campaigns outweigh the risks.

Agencies demonstrating a commitment to transparency, legal compliance, and reputation management assure that your trust is well-placed.

The ability to safeguard a brand’s reputation and deftly handle crises makes the best agencies… the best.

Legal compliance

There are laws around influencer marketing, disclosure, and native advertising that everyone publishing content online must adhere to.

Non-compliant campaigns can lead to legal trouble for agencies and damage your credibility.

As such, agencies should be well-versed in FTC guidelines for influencer campaigns and require influencers to disclose partnership details adequately. However, compliance isn’t just about checking a box—it requires ongoing education on the latest regulations and monitoring future campaigns.

How to Choose the Right Influencer Marketing Company for You

Our strict methodology ensures that all the agencies on our list are partners you can trust. However, some things depend on your situation. Use the following considerations to help you create a shortlist of agencies that will fit your business and goals.

1. Long-term partnership potential: The most successful influencer campaigns tend to be ongoing partnerships rather than one-off initiatives. However, it entirely depends on what you’re looking for. If a long-term agreement is what you’re after, prioritize agencies interested in cultivating relationships with the brands they partner with. Agencies that take the time to gain insight into your brand over time will craft more impactful partnership strategies and better results. Based on past data, they are also better equipped to adapt your campaigns over time.
2. Geotargeting: Want to target specific locations or languages with your influencer campaigns? Look for agencies with experience doing so – they should have insights into working with influencers and developing content that resonates with local audiences, keeping in mind the culture of those areas. They should also have the technology and monitoring capabilities to ensure geotargeted campaigns achieve maximum reach in your desired locations. For multilingual campaigns, the agency you choose should partner with influencers fluent in your critical languages to translate content for each region.
3. Alignment with brand values: For long-term success, influencer campaigns should align with your image and values. Look for agencies willing to develop a deep understanding of your values. Those that take the time are better at helping their influencers create content that’s true to your brand persona, messaging, and priorities. Alignment ensures influencer campaigns enhance a brand’s identity rather than compromising it for views or traffic.
4. Platforms they specialize in: Choose an agency experienced with the social channels critical to your audience and goals. For example, if you want to tap into Gen-Z audiences, expertise with TikTok and Snapchat is essential. However, those platforms are irrelevant for B2B audiences. Agencies specialized in your key platforms will have valuable insight into the types of content and influencers that perform best on those channels. They’ll also stay on top of platform trends, and algorithm changes to optimize your campaigns.

Want to Run Your Own Influencer Marketing Campaigns?

Check out our favorite influencer management platforms.

Then, check out our guides on how to make influencer marketing work, how to leverage micro influencers, and how to market your small business on social media.

Source: quicksprout

The 11 Best Influencer Marketing Agencies (Curated by Experts)