Frequently asked questions

An influencer marketing agency plans and runs creator campaigns on a brand's behalf. That covers strategy, finding and vetting creators, negotiating fees and usage rights, briefing, managing approvals, keeping content compliant and reporting on results. At FYI we source creators through talent agents, PR agencies and our own direct relationships, so you deal with one point of contact however many creators are involved.

For most brands, yes, if there is an audience that follows creators for advice or inspiration in your category. It works well for launches, building awareness, reaching new audiences, generating content and driving sales. It works less well without a clear objective, so the first step is deciding what you want it to achieve.

Not always. If you are running a handful of gifting relationships with creators you already know, going direct can work well. An agency earns its fee when you need several creators at once, access to talent managed by agents, properly negotiated usage rights, compliance oversight or consistent reporting across a campaign.

A platform gives you a searchable list of creators and leaves selection, negotiation and management to you. We do the curation. We shortlist creators against your brief, check their audiences, negotiate on your behalf and run the campaign end to end. You get a considered recommendation with the reasoning behind it, rather than a directory to work through.

Brands of all sizes and sectors that want creator campaigns handled properly, from single product launches to ongoing multi creator programmes. Clients include Aldi, ITV Love Island, Amazon Publishing, Frenchic Paint and WADA. We specialise in the UK market.

It depends on what you want to achieve. Paid campaigns give you control and guaranteed content. Gifted campaigns are a low cost way to build awareness and goodwill. UGC campaigns give you content for your own ads and channels. Events campaigns create a burst of content and real relationships in a single day. Many brands combine two or more, and we will recommend the right mix on your discovery call.

Creators are paid a fee to make and post agreed content on their own channels. Because there is a contract, you get guaranteed deliverables, set posting dates, approval over content and the option to buy usage rights for your ads. Paid campaigns suit launches, key sales moments and any campaign where you need certainty over what goes live and when.

Creators receive your product for free, with no fee. It is a cost effective way to get your product into the hands of relevant creators, build relationships and generate genuine reactions, and it works best with nano and micro creators. The trade off is certainty: without a fee, posts are not guaranteed. Gifted content must still be disclosed, and if you set conditions such as a required post, it must be labelled as an ad.

Creators make content for you to use on your own channels, rather than posting it to their followers. You get a steady supply of authentic photos and videos for paid social, your website, product pages and email, usually faster and at lower cost than a studio shoot. UGC suits brands that need lots of fresh content for ads and creative testing.

We bring a group of creators together at a launch, venue, store opening or brand experience. Creators see, try and talk about your brand in person, which tends to produce enthusiastic, varied content from many creators on the same day. Events also build stronger relationships for future work. Creators attending must make clear they were invited or hosted, and label posts as ads where coverage was agreed.

Gifted and UGC campaigns usually stretch a smaller budget furthest. Gifting gets your product to relevant creators for the cost of product and shipping, and UGC gives you a bank of content for your own channels without paying for audience reach. Paid partnerships with a few well chosen micro creators can also deliver strong value.

Yes, and many of the strongest campaigns do. A common approach is an event or gifting wave to create buzz, paid partnerships with a few creators for guaranteed content, and UGC to keep your ads supplied afterwards. We will recommend the mix that fits your objective and budget.

It is a 30 minute conversation with one of our account leads about your brand and what you want to achieve. We ask about your objectives, audience, products, timings, budget and any past creator work, and share how we would approach it. You leave with a clear sense of whether influencer marketing fits and what a campaign could look like.

No. Many brands come to us with an objective and a rough budget rather than a full brief, and the discovery call is where we help shape it. If you do have a brief, send it ahead so we can come prepared.

It helps to know what you want to achieve, who you want to reach, when you want the campaign to run and a rough budget range. Examples of creators or campaigns you like, and any past results, are also useful. None of it needs to be final.

No. The discovery call is free and there is no obligation to go ahead. It is as much about us understanding whether we are the right fit for you as the other way round.

Not straight away. The right creator depends on your objective, audience, budget, timing and how you want to use the content, so we scope those first. Once your brief is agreed we come back with a curated shortlist and explain why each creator fits.

A good brief covers your objective, target audience, key messages, mandatories and things to avoid, deliverables and formats, posting dates, the approval process, usage rights and disclosure requirements. It should give creators enough direction to deliver what you need, while leaving room for them to make it sound like themselves.

There is no minimum budget. What you need depends on your objective: a few thousand pounds can fund a focused campaign with a small group of micro creators, while multi platform campaigns with larger creators and paid usage need more. We will help you size the budget to the outcome you want.

Rates vary widely with audience size, engagement, niche, platform and format. As a rough guide, nano creators charge around £20 to £150 per post, micro creators £80 to £1,500 and macro creators £4,000 to £8,000 or more. Usage rights, exclusivity and extra deliverables all add to the fee, which is why two creators of similar size can quote very differently.

Typically creator fees, usage rights for any reuse of the content, product and shipping costs, any paid amplification, and our management fee. Some creators also charge for exclusivity, meaning they agree not to work with competitors for a set period. Your proposal sets all of this out upfront so there are no surprise costs later.

We charge a management fee on top of creator costs. Creator costs are shown separately in your proposal, so you can see exactly what goes to creators and what covers our work: sourcing, negotiation, contracts, campaign management, compliance and reporting.

You receive your proposal straight after the discovery call. It sets out our recommended approach, the platforms and creator tiers we suggest, deliverables, timeline, KPIs and a full cost breakdown including creator fees, usage and our management fee.

We start with audience, not follower count. We look at who actually follows a creator, where they are based, how they engage, and whether the creator's content and values fit your brand. Comments, saves, shares and consistency tell you far more than headline numbers. A smaller creator with the right audience will usually outperform a bigger one with the wrong one.

Definitions vary, but a common guide is nano under 10,000 followers, micro 10,000 to 100,000, macro 100,000 to one million, and mega above one million. Each tier does a different job. Smaller tiers tend to bring higher trust and engagement, larger tiers bring reach and fame.

It depends on your objective. If you need trust, niche relevance and conversion, micro creators usually deliver better value. If you need fast, broad awareness, for a launch for example, macro creators make sense. Many campaigns use both: a few larger names for reach, and a wider group of micro creators for depth and credibility.

Choose by objective, not habit. TikTok is strong for discovery and reaching new audiences quickly. Instagram suits lifestyle content and ongoing brand presence. YouTube is best for longer, in depth content that supports research before purchase. Most campaigns work best across two platforms, each doing a different job.

We audit before recommending anyone. That means checking for sudden follower spikes, engagement that is too low or too high for the audience size, generic or repetitive comments, and audiences based in the wrong country. Where possible we also review the creator's own audience insights rather than relying on public numbers alone.

Yes. We present a shortlist with our reasoning, and you approve every creator before we contract them. If a recommendation does not feel right for your brand, we replace it.

UGC (user generated content) creators make content for your brand to use on your own channels and in ads. Influencers share your brand with their own audience. UGC buys you content; influencer marketing buys you reach and trust. Depending on your objective, your campaign may use one or both.

We do. We negotiate with each creator or their agent and hold the creator contracts. Before anything is signed, you review and sign off the key terms: fees, deliverables, dates, usage rights and exclusivity. You get full visibility without having to manage every contract yourself.

Gifting can work with nano and some micro creators, particularly when the product has genuine value to them and you are not asking for a guaranteed post. Once you require specific content, deadlines or usage rights, expect to pay a fee. Gifted content that comes with conditions counts as advertising and must be labelled.

A creator's fee usually covers posting on their own channels. Using that content in your ads, on your website, in email or in print is a separate licence, priced by channel and duration. Paid social usage and whitelisting are usually the most expensive. It is cheaper to agree usage at the start than to buy it after the content has performed.

In most agreements the creator keeps copyright and grants you a licence to use the content in agreed channels for an agreed period. Full buyouts are possible but cost more. We set out usage clearly in the contract before any content is made.

Exclusivity means a creator agrees not to promote competing brands for a set period around your campaign. It protects your investment but adds to the fee, and the longer and broader the exclusivity, the more it costs. Most campaigns only need it for direct competitors over a short window.

Most campaigns go live two to four weeks after the brief is agreed. That covers sourcing, negotiation, contracts, getting product to creators, content creation and approvals. Larger or seasonal campaigns can take longer, so plan key dates early.

You ship product directly to the creators, and we provide the delivery details once each creator is confirmed. Build shipping time into your plan, as content cannot be made until the product arrives.

You can, but it rarely performs as well. Audiences follow creators for their own voice, and heavily scripted content is easy to spot. The better approach is clear key messages and mandatories, with the creator free to deliver them in their own words.

Yes, we build approval into every campaign so you can check content for accuracy and brand fit before it is published. Worth knowing: approving or directing content means it is treated as advertising under UK rules, so it must be clearly labelled as an ad.

Every creator contract includes two rounds of revisions. Your feedback comes through us and we manage it with the creator, so changes are clear, fair and on time.

It is your choice. We either source a replacement creator or refund the fee for that creator. Deliverables and dates are set out in every contract, and we manage any issue directly so you do not have to.

The creators post on their own channels, on the dates agreed in the plan, and each post appears on your live campaign dashboard as it goes up. For UGC, content is delivered to you to publish on your own channels.

Yes. If a creator receives payment, free products or any other incentive from a brand, or has a commercial connection to it, content about that brand must make clear it is advertising. This is required under consumer protection law, enforced by the CMA. Where the brand also has control over the content, the ASA can act under the CAP Code. The safest label is “Ad” or “#ad”, placed upfront.

Only when the product was genuinely given with no strings attached. If a brand gifts something with no control over whether or what the creator posts, the creator should still make the gift clear, and “gifted” is appropriate. If the brand asked for a post, set a date, required a hashtag or approved the content, it is an ad and needs “Ad” or “#ad”.

Yes. If a creator earns commission or any other benefit from a link or code, the content is advertising and must be labelled as such. A discount code on its own does not tell the audience the post is an ad.

Best practice is to use both. Platform tools such as Instagram's paid partnership label help, but they can be easy to miss depending on where and how content is viewed. UK guidance is to use the platform tool and also label the post clearly with “Ad” or “#ad” where people will see it immediately.

Everyone involved: the brand, the agency and the creator share responsibility. A brand can be found in breach even if its brief told the creator to disclose. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the CMA can now fine businesses directly for consumer law breaches, up to 10% of global turnover. The ASA can also publish rulings naming those responsible.

Disclosure requirements are written into every brief and every creator contract, so each creator knows exactly how to label their content before they start.

Yes, as long as you have the right licence. There are two main routes. You can run the content from your own ad account, or run it from the creator's account through whitelisting, using tools such as Meta partnership ads and TikTok Spark Ads. Both need usage rights agreed with the creator, and the ads must still be clearly labelled.

Whitelisting is when a creator gives a brand permission to run paid ads through the creator's own account. The ad appears under the creator's name, which usually feels more native than a branded ad. It needs the creator's agreement, a defined time period and usage terms in the contract.

Spark Ads let a brand boost an existing organic TikTok post, including a creator's post, as a paid ad. Engagement counts towards the original post, and the ad keeps the creator's handle and native look. The creator must authorise it, usually for an agreed period.

Often, yes. Organic posts reach a creator's audience for a short window. Putting paid behind your best performing content extends its life, reaches new audiences and lets you target precisely. The best approach is to post organically first, see what performs, then amplify the winners.

By agreeing KPIs at the brief stage that match your objective. Awareness campaigns track reach and views. Engagement campaigns track saves, shares and comments. Consideration and conversion campaigns track clicks, code redemptions, affiliate sales and revenue. We report across the full picture rather than leaning on one flattering number.

Through tracked links, unique discount codes and affiliate links. These capture direct sales, but not everyone buys through a link, so we also look at wider signals such as branded search, site traffic and uplift during the campaign window.

Yes. You get access to a live dashboard throughout the campaign, so you can see posts and performance as they happen and spot early which content is worth amplifying.

Within 30 days of the final post. Most views and engagement build in the weeks after content goes live, so we give it time to settle before reporting final numbers.

A PDF report with results against the KPIs agreed in your brief, broken down by creator, platform and piece of content. It covers reach, views, engagement, clicks and sales, plus what worked, what did not and our recommendations. We take you through it on a report call.

Earned media value (EMV) estimates what the reach and engagement from a campaign would have cost to buy as advertising. It is useful for comparing campaigns, but it is an estimate, not revenue. Treat it as one indicator alongside real outcomes such as clicks and sales.

Yes, within the usage rights agreed in the contract. If you want to use content for longer, or in new channels such as paid ads, we can negotiate an extension with the creator. The best performing content is often worth licensing for longer.

For most brands, long-term partnerships deliver more. Audiences trust a creator who talks about a brand repeatedly, and creators often discount for ongoing work. A one-off still makes sense for a launch, a seasonal moment or testing a creator before committing.

Yes. The report shows which creators performed best, and rebooking them is often the fastest route to stronger results. We can also turn successful one-off partnerships into ongoing ambassador relationships.

Every campaign ends with a report call where we review the results together and agree what to carry forward, whether that is scaling what worked, testing new creators or platforms, or planning your next campaign.