Whenever I have to research influencer campaigns, I look at case studies from leading influencer marketing agencies. And I’m often so blown away by the expertise and creativity of those agencies that it makes me want to highlight them instead of focusing on the campaign alone.

With agencies bridging the gap between brands, creators, and communities, they play a key role in campaign success. And today’s leading agencies are no longer just campaign executors but also talent managers and long-term brand partners.

So the best ones need a shoutout – whether it’s for potential brand partners or creators who want to be a part of their roster.

Top 10 Influencer Marketing Agencies (What They Do Right and What They Fixed)

In this post, I highlight some of the best influencer marketing agencies in the world and how they’ve matured over time. These agencies were evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Cultural Fluency: Ability to spot, interpret, and activate cultural moments authentically
• Talent and Brand Balance: Managing both creator relationships and brand expectations sustainably
• Cross-Platform Execution: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, emerging formats
• Proven Track Record: Demonstrated success across industries and markets
• Learning Curve: Evidence of adapting, correcting past inefficiencies, and scaling smarter
• Operational Maturity: Reporting, creator management, negotiation frameworks, and long-term partnerships

And with that, let’s get right into it.

1. The Goat Agency

Agency Snapshot

The Goat Agency is a London-based agency with a decade-long footprint in the influencer marketing industry and a presence across 37 markets all over the world. They’re the first agency to leverage influencers’ media channels to run paid ads for brands. With expertise in multiple industries, The Goat Agency has worked with leading brands like Calvin Klein, IBM, Tesco, and Ford, to name a few.

What They Do Right

The Goat Agency is a pioneer in combining creator-first content with paid media to help brands “influence everywhere.” Their strength lies in data-informed creator alignment, helping brands connect with influencers who truly speak to their community.

For example, their “War Within” campaign for World of Warcraft involved using their data tool to identify crossover niches and creators that aligned with gaming. So instead of speaking to an echo chamber of existing WoW fans, they could tap into a bigger audience outside of the gaming niche.

Errors They’ve Overcome

While The Goat Agency has seen plenty of success over the years, their initial focus on speed would sometimes lead to results that were short-lived and unmemorable. Now that they’ve realized the importance of creative depth, they’ve been able to execute campaigns that authentically connect with consumers who are culturally engaged.

Signature Case Study

The agency’s long-term partnership with NIVEA is a shining example of a campaign that successfully established cultural relevance among a younger audience.

Goal

Shifting brand perception of being “for older people” and building relevance among younger consumers

Approach

• Long-term campaign with approaches that target different customer needs across 12 product categories

• Tapping into creator niches and communities outside of NIVEA’s comfort zone

• Placing the brand at the heart of Gen Z conversations through influencers like Olivia Attwood and Charlie Marlowe

• Expanding to new platforms like TikTok and Pinterest using creator-first content

Results

• 3,000+ pieces of content delivered over a 5-year period
• 65 million engagements generated

• €5.2 billion in sales in 2024 with double-digit growth across all regions and categories
  

2. Obviously

Agency Snapshot

Obviously is a full-service influencer marketing agency that can create an integrated creator network tailored for your brand. With over 150k influencer collaborations under their belt, the agency has expertise across categories like automotive, B2B, retail, healthcare, and tech, among others.

What They Do Right

Obviously’s biggest strength lies in large-scale creator orchestration, helping brands build exclusive creator networks to power their campaigns. For instance, they activated and managed 733 influencers for Lyft.

Errors They’ve Overcome

The more creators you engage, the harder it is to stay on top of their content and ensure that everything remains consistent. This was one of the biggest struggles for Obviously at the start. The brand has since mastered the art of maintaining consistency across hundreds of creators.

In Lyft’s case, for instance, the agency focused on correlating their promotions with the brand’s values to ensure consistency.

Signature Case Study

One of Obviously’s most iconic campaigns involves the #DatingIsLike multi-influencer activation for Bumble.

Goal

Building awareness and driving new users to the Bumble app

Approach

• Fun and relatable campaign involving 32 influencers

• Each influencer created unique and authentic content to describe what #DatingIsLike

• Campaign content seamlessly fit into their usual content style to resonate with their respective audiences

Results

• 355k views with a 3.5% engagement rate
• 3.5k clicks to the app store
  

3. Viral Nation

Agency Snapshot

Viral Nation considers themselves the largest creator agency in the world and the #1 talent representation for digital stars. The agency has spearheaded campaigns for a number of leading brands and particularly excels at tech and gaming activations.

What They Do Right

Viral Nation excels at launching performance-driven global campaigns. For instance, their multi-platform campaign for PUBG’s first Mobile Star Challenge managed to reach millions of people across 15 countries.

Errors They’ve Overcome

Since Viral Nation’s client roster mostly consists of major brands, the agency originally struggled to maintain creator authenticity for enterprise-scale campaigns. Over the years, they’ve gotten much better at striking the right balance, especially since they now hand-pick influencers whose content naturally aligns with each client’s target audience.

Signature Case Study

Viral Nation built a standout campaign for MGM Resorts during F1 Week in Las Vegas.

Goal

Driving bookings using high-impact influencer content

Approach

• Three hand-picked influencers to match three key MGM properties

• Personal and meaningful content to resonate with each influencer’s audience

Results

• 16 million impressions
• 537.3k engagements

4. The Influencer Marketing Factory

Agency Snapshot

The Influencer Marketing Factory is a full-service influencer marketing agency with a global team that speaks 11 languages. Their influencer marketing expertise spans multiple industries, including CPG, finance, beauty, travel, food, B2B, and ecommerce.

What They Do Right

The Influencer Marketing Factory has spearheaded campaigns for a number of leading global brands and is particularly known for their TikTok-native activations. For example, their TikTok-based campaign for O-Cedar got so successful that the platform became a top traffic source for the brand.

Errors They’ve Overcome

With the agency striving for virality, they often made the mistake of chasing trends without brand context. This resulted in campaigns that felt forced and out of place. Now they’re focusing more on authentic storytelling, where client products are seamlessly integrated into the daily lives of creators.

Signature Case Study

The Influencer Marketing Factory helped Purito drive global visibility for its new Centella skincare line.

Goal

Drive awareness for the brand’s new Centella skincare line

Approach

• Product seeding involving 100+ creators across skincare, beauty, and lifestyle niches

• Localized messaging across nine countries

• Engaging visual content highlighting the product’s effectiveness and creator first impressions

• Clickable links to drive traffic to the brand’s Amazon storefront

Results

• 1.8 million combined impressions
• 13.1k+ link clicks

5. Jive PR + Digital

Agency Snapshot

Jive PR + Digital is an agency that prides itself on building cult brands where superfans do the marketing for you. The agency offers PR and influencer marketing services to clients across industries like consumer brands, food and beverage, health and wellness, and entertainment.

What They Do Right

Jive specializes in enabling cultural agility and real-time storytelling, allowing brands to effectively scale their presence across global markets. That’s exactly how they helped drive cultural relevance for Zero Latency, with global influencers generating authentic user-generated content around the launch event.

Errors They’ve Overcome

Over the years of being in PR, Jive has learned how to scale campaigns without losing creative intimacy. This often involves letting influencers be their authentic selves so they can effectively connect with their respective communities.

Signature Case Study

Jive PR + Digital’s campaign for Daiya Foods helped the brand drive awareness in a saturated market of dairy-alternative foods.

Goal

Reinvigorate brand awareness and attract new and existing customers

Approach

• Activating diverse creators who can reach an audience that’s interested in plant-based diets

• Encouraging each creator to produce unique and authentic content, implementing Daiya products

Results

• 12.2 million total impressions
• 1.1 million engagements

6. HireInfluence

Agency Snapshot

HireInfluence is all about creating human-to-human influencer campaigns, with tailored strategies to suit each client’s goals and KPIs. The agency has been involved in successful campaigns across fashion, travel, food, beauty, and entertainment.

What They Do Right

HireInfluence’s expertise shines through in campaigns that involve bespoke experiential storytelling. This includes campaigns like the first Taiwan Expo U.S. event, where influencers previewed the venue to build excitement.

Errors They’ve Overcome

With the high cost involved in building experiential activations, HireInfluence has faced limitations related to cost and scalability. The agency has since skillfully adapted their strategies to balance these two elements in their influencer campaigns.

Signature Case Study

HireInfluence’s six-month campaign for Grammarly helped position it as an essential tool for students and professionals across multiple verticals.

Goal

Boosting brand awareness among students and professionals

Approach

• Hiring 130 top-tier influencers across diverse categories like education, sports, lifestyle, daily vlogs, and science and technology

• Creatively showcasing Grammarly’s uses in creators’ everyday lives

• Demonstrating relatability and authenticity to resonate with the target audience

• Sharing content across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram to maximize reach

Results

• 214 million impressions
• 33.1 million video views

7. inBeat

Agency Snapshot

inBeat is an influencer marketing agency that prides itself on producing data-driven creative that performs. The agency has worked with performance driven brands across industries like CPG, ecommerce, health and wellness, and mobile apps.

What They Do Right

inBeat drives authentic storytelling by helping brands produce micro-influencer UGC at scale. For example, they’ve helped brands Nielsen generate multi-lingual content in over 15 languages with the help of 250+ creators.

Errors They’ve Overcome

While inBeat’s strength lies in producing high volumes of UGC, there’s also a risk of quality control issues. So they take the time to build strong briefs and share comprehensive brand guidelines to guide creators.

Signature Case Study

inBeat helped American Dairy plan and execute the viral #GotMilk challenge on TikTok.

Goal

Building brand awareness to reach a Gen Z audience

Approach

• Activating 100+ young influencers to appeal to Gen Z audiences

• Creative and entertaining content unique to each creator

Results

• 4.3 million+ views
• 102k+ interactions

8. OpenInfluence

Agency Snapshot

OpenInfluence is a global influencer marketing agency that’s successfully launched creator marketing campaigns across 70+ countries. These campaigns span verticals like entertainment, automotive, finance, and even public sector/government.

What They Do Right

OpenInfluence is mostly known for their narrative-driven creator matching, such as the aspirational, creator-led celebration showcased in the campaign for Mercedes Benz Dream Days event.

Errors They’ve Overcome

With major enterprise brands in their roster, the biggest struggle for OpenInfluence has been managing their operational complexity at scale. They’ve since overcome this with years of experience building and overseeing narrative-driven campaigns.

Signature Case Study

OpenInfluence helped DICK’S Sporting Goods launch a winning brand awareness campaign for the holidays.

Goal

Building brand awareness and inspiring audiences to shop at DICK’S during the festive season

Approach

• Getting professional athletes to transform five Texas stores

• Short-form video series giving viewers a tour of the decorated stores

• Star influencer Allison Kuch hosting the series to further maximize visibility

Results

• 6.4 million+ total views
• 94k total engagements
• 38k total shares

9. The Shelf

Agency Snapshot

The Shelf is a data-first influencer marketing agency with a global team spread across 10 countries and speaking 16 languages. They’ve used this local expertise to craft winning campaigns that resonate across industries like CPG, food, fashion, lifestyle, and entertainment.

What They Do Right

The Shelf prides itself on providing psychology-led audience insights to inform their campaigns. This helps them build messaging that resonates with specific target audience groups. For instance, they built a campaign for Ello where the content provoked feelings instead of highlighting features.

Errors They’ve Overcome

The agency originally struggled to balance longer planning cycles with clients’ speed to market goals. They’ve since built a four-stage process that allows for smarter and more efficient campaign iterations.

Signature Case Study

The Shelf helped Savers/Value Village pull off a winning go-to-market activation to coincide with the opening of 23 new stores.

Goal

Create community buzz around the store openings and drive foot traffic

Approach

• Activating a diverse mix of influencers across different tiers, with a focus on creators who have strong local followings, along with deep thrift credibility

• Immersive “shop with me” content highlighting store offerings through in-store hauls, DIY projects, and thrifted outfit styling

Results

• 148.8 million total impressions
• 366k+ total engagements
• 4.9k link clicks
• 6.7k sticker taps

10. The Outloud Group

Agency Snapshot

The Outloud Group delivers world-class marketing campaigns with a specialization in podcast marketing. They’ve been involved in over 42k brand sponsorships with clients in gaming, lifestyle, automotives, and more.

What They Do Right

The Outloud Group establishes long-term performance partnerships, which also translates to long-term client relationships. For example, companies like Sunday have partnered with the agency for over four years.

Errors They’ve Overcome

Over the years, The Outloud Group learned to balance experimentation with ROI discipline. They’ve consistently delivered creative campaigns and high-quality traffic for high-growth brands.

Signature Case Study

The Outloud Group helped Magic: The Gathering successfully engage new and lapsed fans.

Goal

Attract new fans and encourage them to learn, play, and collect cards, as well as drive fans to participate in game events

Approach

• Activating non-enfranchised creators who didn’t primarily create content around Magic

• Brand ambassador program with 70+ creators developing monthly content coinciding with new card set launches and event schedules

Results

• 93 million paid influencer impressions
• 21 million campaign views
• 883k campaign engagements

Finding Influencer Marketing Agencies That Fit Your Brand Needs

The best influencer marketing agencies didn’t get everything right from day one. What sets them apart in 2026 is how they learned from mistakes, systemized success, and built sustainable creator ecosystems.

For brands, choosing the right agency is no longer about who can deliver the biggest names — it’s about who can build trust, relevance, and performance at scale.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the top five influencer marketing agencies?

The Goat Agency, Obviously, Viral Nation, The Influencer Marketing Factory, and Jive PR + Digital are some of the top five influencer marketing agencies.

How does one join an influencer agency as a creator?

A creator can join an influencer agency by applying to be a part of their talent roster/creator marketplace.

How do creator agencies work?

Creator agencies represent influencers and connect them with brands that are aligned with their respective values. They help negotiate deals and manage contracts that are beneficial for the creator.

What should brands look for in an influencer marketing agency?

Brands should look for an influencer marketing agency whose values are aligned with theirs. Besides this, their credibility, previous campaign success, tech stack, and pricing are other factors to consider.