Influencer marketing agencies play a key role in growing content creators’ careers.

Thanks to them, influencers can focus on what they do best - creating content - while the business side of things is being taken care of. Influencer agencies take the hassle out of finding the right creators to work with on their campaigns for brands, and manage the campaign process usually from start to finish.

So, if you’re a rising social media influencer based in the US, and you want to increase your income from social media, here are 10 top agencies for you to look into.

1. OBVIOUSLY

Obviously is a marketing agency for social media influencers, working across the spectrum from nano influencers, who have smaller but highly engaged followings, through to mega influencers with millions of fans. 

They help influencers find opportunities for brand collaborations, sponsorships, and other monetization opportunities via their dedicated studio. They also provide influencers with tools to create and manage their content, as well as track their performance. 

Obviously handles everything from content strategy, influencer management, product shipping, fulfillment, content creation, paid advertising, through to campaign analytics for brands. Plus, their proprietary dashboard shows brands and creators detailed real time insights at any point of a campaign.

The agency is trusted by some of the world’s biggest brands, including Google, Converse, and Lyft, sometimes working on campaigns with thousands of creators at once. To date, they’ve activated close to 70,000 influencer collaborations, with a total of almost 230,000 individual pieces of content produced, and a whopping 2.7 billion impressions made.

2. IZEA CREATORS

Izea Creators is a platform that connects brands, advertisers and publishers with a broader range of social media influencers and content creators.

Creators who use the platform are as varied as bloggers, journalists, video and photographers, designers, musicians, micro and macro social media creators.

The platform operates like a freelance marketplace, which anyone can apply to, centered around 6 niches: lifestyle, fashion, beauty, entertainment, family, and food.

For brands, services include influencer marketing, paid influencer campaigns, blogger outreach, and more. Izea Creator has worked with major brands such as Subway, eBay, Whole Foods, and Levi’s.

3. YOUTUBE BRANDCONNECT (previously FAMEBIT)

YouTube had previously acquired Famebit, a self-service influencer marketing and branded content platform, back in 2016, which it then rebranded to BrandConnect.

The aim of the new platform is to facilitate fruitful connections between brands and influencers. It’s only available to US-based channels with 25,000+ subscribers for now, so if your YouTube channel meets these criteria, you can sign up here. 

BrandConnect is currently operating on an invite-only basis, with plans to roll out to more creators in the near future.

4. INF AGENCY

INF Agency helps creators maximize their online presence and clout, via social media management, live event booking and speaking engagements, book deals, brand endorsements and ambassador programmes, as well as TV contracts. 

On top of this, they take care of influencers’ inboxes and calendars, ensure their contracts are correctly set up, and payments come through on time.

As a team of millennials and Gen Z themselves, they understand the dynamics and culture behind today’s social media landscape, and have strong links with leading brands, PR firms, marketing and advertising agencies.

INF works with female influencers across Canada and the US, covering lifestyle, beauty and fashion niches. The agency is dedicated to ensuring their influencers get the best deals possible by carefully vetting talent and matching them with the right brand campaigns.

5. SHINE TALENT GROUP

Shine Talent is a full-service influencer marketing agency based in LA and Toronto, that provides reliable and high-value influencers for brand work. 

They specialize in connecting creators to campaigns that are fit for their unique talents and pride themselves on their reputation of quality.

Brands that Shine has worked with in the past include prestigious names such as Reebok, L’Oreal, Starbucks, Google, Nestle and Unilever. You can check out their current talent roster here.

6. CREATIVE TALENT AGENCY

Creative Talent Agency works with a diverse set of small and mid-sized social media influencers across a range of niches. So if you have an impressive Instagram or TikTok page but don't have a huge following yet, you may be a great fit for their roster. You can apply to join the agency by completing this form.

As a full-service agency, they handle everything from talent sourcing to contractual agreements and campaign reporting for brands. They also have a speciality around medical influencer marketing, as well as NFTs and blockchain-related projects.

Creative Talent Agency has placed talent on campaigns for smaller beauty, fashion, consumer goods and medical businesses.

7. CEG TALENT

CEG is a national influencer marketing agency that assists their talent in a number of ways, including: negotiating contracts for TV appearances, securing book publishing deals, launching their own podcasts, and handling admin tasks such as juggling calendars and inbox enquiries from brands and advertisers.

The agency’s core priority is to grow the personal brands of social media influencers into sustainable, thriving careers. You can check out their application form here.

Back in August 2022, the company acquired talent agency Rolen Group, which focuses on managing YouTube creators via a more holistic approach. The team at Rolen unlocks varied opportunities for their creators spanning brand partnerships, new product lines, film and TV licensing, intellectual property development, as well as music publishing. This is a great addition to what CEG can offer its talent.

As the founder of Rolen Group commented: “Their approach to talent management and our specialty in YouTube content creation will add to CEG's proven ability to develop unique cross-platform strategies, servicing their dynamic family of brand clients." 

8. SHADE

Shade helps “creators of color make a living from their talent and influence”, and works with a diverse group of influencers, including bloggers, speakers, and entertainers.

As an influencer, Shade offers 3 levels of representation, depending on whether you wish to remain independent or be represented on an exclusive basis: 

• Squad (a casting roster whereby the agency will send you relevant opportunities that match your personal brand);

• Rep (where you get to remain independent but the agency will proactively pitch you for new brand work, as well as negotiate brand deals); and 

• Partner (for creators who want to take their personal brands to the next level by entering new ventures, such as TV appearances, product launches, speaking engagements, publishing deals, etc.).

In any case, Shade handles creative briefs and contract negotiations, reaches out to brands to land new work, provides content strategy and legal advice, as well as reporting capabilities.

Notably, Shade is an agency that welcomes newcomers. When applying to join their roster, the agency will look at the quality of content, years of experience and other factors alongside follower count with a minimum of only 5,000 to be considered. You can apply by filling out a form on their website, and here’s a selection of their talent roster.

Shade has partnered with an impressive range of brands, including Marriott, SoulCycle, McCafe and Tidal.

9. MOSTLY SUNNY

Mostly Sunny's proposition is simple: “get paid to tell captivating stories for awesome brands”. 

The agency has an impressive network of over 50,000 influencers of all sizes, from nano to mega influencers and celebrities, largely from the US and Canada. 

The company uses AI to automatically vet creators when they apply. It then lets approved creators individually pick brand projects based on their interests, and manages contract negotiations whilst providing strategic advice and helping creators grow their personal networks.

The process is easy. The company pitches talent to potential brands based on their needs. Dedicated account managers then send influencers creative briefs that match their skills, niche, location and relevant demographic criteria. Influencers can then accept or reject the briefs from within the platform based on their preferences. This way, creators have more control over what opportunities they get to work on.

Mostly Sunny has completed over 10,000 projects to date and works with companies across industries, from consumer goods and beverages, through to health and beauty, lifestyle, and luxury brands.

10. SOCIALYTE

Lastly, Socialyte partners with both established and emerging influencers, providing bespoke brand activations with a focus on developing “authentic careers that last a lifetime”. 

They’re a selective agency representing a fairly large roster of top-tier social media influencers across multiple niches including beauty, lifestyle, activism, health and wellness.

The agency collaborates with some of the world's most prestigious brands, such as Airbnb, American Express, Amazon, Ralph Lauren and Oreo via a sister agency, Lytehouse.

Wrapping up

As a solo creator, you may be at the point in your career where you want to grow your income from social media, or have someone source and filter deals on your behalf so you can focus on the creative part.

Any of the above US-based influencer agencies will be a great pick. Get in touch with those you feel best meet your needs, but don’t rush into anything, especially if they work on an exclusive basis. Talk with their existing talent, look at the type of campaigns they’ve delivered, and understand how their contracts work before joining.

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