Posted on

10/4/2024

Top Influencer Agency in the UK

Influencer collaborations give brands unprecedented access to target audiences. Tapping into these engaged and niche communities builds trust and brings attention to your brand. However, finding influencers capable of delivering these benefits and agreeing contracts with them costs significant time and effort.

Influencer marketing agencies streamline the search process by quickly pinpointing suitable collaborations from their pool of influencers. In addition, some agencies provide comprehensive campaign assistance, from creating content to executing paid social media advertising.

While agencies increase the likelihood of delivering a profitable influencer marketing campaign, each offers a unique service and area of expertise. This article details the services of ten of the top influencer marketing agencies in the UK.

influencer agency

Key Takeaways:

What is the function of an influencer agency? An influencer agency primarily matches brands with influencers for partnerships. The agency’s team analyses a brand’s requirements against data about various influencers to ensure a successful collaboration. In addition, the agency can produce creative content and provide campaign guidance to help brands navigate the complexities of influencer marketing.
How does an influencer agency differ from an influencer platform? Unlike an agency, influencer platforms empower brands to discover influencers independently. They provide all the data, from engagement rates to credibility scores, that brands need to identify viable collaborations quickly in-house.
What are the top influencer agencies in the UK? Now that influencer marketing is increasingly important for brands, influencer agencies proliferate. This article details ten leading UK agencies, including The Goat Agency, House of Marketers, and Socially Powerful.

What does an influencer marketing agency (IMA) do?

An influencer marketing agency (sometimes referred to as an "IMA") partners with brands to streamline their influencer marketing efforts. These agencies primarily focus on identifying social media creators for brand collaborations, working like an outsourced influencer marketing department.

An agency analyses a brand’s requirements and pinpoints potential partnerships with candidates within its influencer network. It may also headhunt new talent to match brands with the most suitable creators.

Beyond simple matchmaking, influencer marketing agencies may manage negotiations, oversee campaign execution, produce content, and track campaign performance.

Given the wide range of expertise across agencies, brands must choose one that aligns with their marketing objectives. For instance, some agencies specialise in engaging younger audiences via platforms like TikTok, whereas others offer more comprehensive services across diverse social media platforms.

What's the difference between an agency and an influencer platform?

An influencer agency offers tailored support akin to that of a traditional talent agency, providing hands-on assistance to brands navigating influencer partnerships. However, this personalised service has downsides, including higher costs and access to a more limited selection of influencers.

On the other hand, an influencer platform is a technological software as a service (SaaS) tool that helps brands discover and connect with influencers independently. These platforms provide a wealth of data about influencers, including analytics to assess their reach, credibility, engagement, and potential fit for specific campaigns.

What’s more, Influencer platforms utilise AI to suggest potential collaborations, mirroring the bespoke matchmaking service agencies offer. It can also empower brands with extensions that provide data about various influencers across all social media platforms.

Influencer marketing platforms aim to streamline the process of forming influencer partnerships while also providing tools for managing these relationships, benchmarking against competitors, and generating automated reports based on key performance indicators (KPIs).

Deciding whether an influencer agency or platform suits your brand's requirements depends on multiple considerations, including the scale of your campaign, your internal marketing capabilities, and your desired level of direct involvement in the influencer marketing process.

Agencies serve brands seeking a full-service approach with strategic guidance and tailored campaign execution. Alternatively, platforms empower brands by providing the insight they need to make self-driven choices about influencer collaborations. Typically, platforms are more cost-effective, allowing you to expand your campaigns as you grow and increasing the likelihood of a strong ROI.

If the flexibility and financial benefits of an influencer platform better suit your campaign, you can try a Kolsquare demo today. There’s no need to commit to a subscription right away–simply book a call with one of our platform experts to walk through the features and assess whether they fit your strategy.

Top 10 influencer agencies in the UK

The UK has a dynamic and growing selection of influencer marketing agencies, each with unique offerings and expertise. Choosing an influencer marketing agency that matches your values and campaign objectives will give you the best chance of increasing your brand value.

Let’s look at ten of the most popular agencies in the UK.

Buttermilk - Influencer Agency - London

Agency Profile:

Buttermilk is a versatile influencer marketing agency that specialises in creating comprehensive influencer marketing strategies for brands. This medium-sized business primarily engages younger demographics through TikTok.

With a database of creator information at its disposal, Buttermilk not only utilises existing talent but also actively searches for new, emerging creators to ensure brands remain at the forefront of social media trends. Through data-driven analysis, Buttermilk excels in pinpointing the ideal influencers for each brand, fostering strong partnerships, and conducting content audits to achieve brand-specific objectives.

Founding Year: 2016

Location: Based in Great Eastern St, London (In addition, it has offices in Miami and Dubai)

Core Services: Buttermilk is a full-service influencer agency that supports brands with all types of social media management, including advertising, content creation, relationship management, and campaign design.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: Buttermilk launched a global social media gifting campaign collaborating with influencers with 1,000 to 10,000 followers, resulting in 670,000 new followers in two years. Buttermilk has also worked with Elizabeth Arden and Swarovski.

Client Testimonials: “We’ve loved working with Buttermilk over the past ten months. They were super easy to onboard and adapted to our way of working quickly. We are seeing consistent growth in our followers and engagements and we can’t wait to see where the brand goes in the future!” Alex, Brand Manager at PZ Cussons - from Sortlist

The Goat Agency

Agency Profile: The Goat Agency supports brands throughout their influencer marketing campaigns, from idea to delivery. It’s open to working with brands in various industries and works with all the major social media platforms.

Boasting a substantial database of over 100,000 influencers, The Goat Agency possesses sufficient diversity to match brands with influencers capable of delivering effective collaborations. Central to their strategy is creating engaging campaigns that use storytelling to resonate with audiences.

With a team of over 350 employees, The Goat Agency is one of the most prominent agencies in the UK.

Founding Year: 2015

Location: Red Lion Square, London (Plus an additional office in the US)

Core Services: The Goat Agency offers influencer marketing support across many social media platforms. It also helps brands develop data-driven marketing strategies, including PR and experiential events tailored to enhance engagement. It will also help with paid ads across social media, managing social media accounts, and producing content.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: The Goat team developed a YouTube series, “Living in my Skin“, featuring popular influencers for NIVEA. It received close to 100% positive customer sentiment. The Goat Agency has also worked with Tesco and Kraken.

Client Testimonials: “The best paid social agency I have worked with in terms of delivering hard KPIs with relevant content!” – Michael Oliver - Google Review

We Are Social

Agency Profile: We Are Social (also known as “WAS”) is a prominent and established advertising agency with over 1,300 employees worldwide. It offers a variety of digital marketing services and provides creative, media, and technical support for brands. Its influencer marketing strategies are designed to cultivate a modern voice and build authentic connections.

Operating globally, We Are Social can support brand campaigns on any social media platform. The agency's approach is nuanced, considering cultural nuances, industry specifics, and audience demographics to tailor strategies that resonate and engage effectively.

Founding Year: 2008

Location: Finsbury Square, London (However, it has 19 offices spanning four continents)

Core Services: We Are Social provides a wide range of influencer marketing services, including strategy, creative direction, distribution, and detailed reports. In addition, they offer creative studios for producing impressive campaigns, specialised sports and gaming services, and brand strategy.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: We Are Social UK collaborated with Adidas to promote its Predator boot. Their campaign targeted Gen Z with a 24-hour promotion through content creators and influencers, which led to 5.5 million content views. We Are Social has also worked with eBay and Uber Eats.

Client Testimonials: “Love their work.” – Syd Eats – Google Review

Disrupt

Agency Profile: Disrupt is an influencer marketing agency targeting millennials and Gen Z across various social media platforms. With a passion for youth culture, Disrupt collaborates with creators in the UK urban scene. It’s run by former Made In Chelsea star and influencer Stevie Johnson.

Disrupt’s team helps brands identify influencers who fit their campaigns. They also offer content creation services, including video, GIF, and graphic production.

Disrupt match brands with large numbers of creatives, artists, and influencers to build awareness and create cultural impact. Backed by data, Disrupt evaluates which influencers are positioned to maximise revenue and resonate deeply with targeted demographics.

Founding Year: 2014

Location: Charterhouse Square, London

Core Services: Disrupt offers influencer marketing that connects brands with creators who foster genuine and authentic communities. In addition, Disrupt offers paid social campaigns, social media strategy, and content production, including photography, copywriting, and video production.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: Disrupt helped TOMs engage a Gen-Z audience through a targeted social media campaign. It leveraged its deep knowledge of Gen-Z creators to create a campaign that resulted in 1.9 million impressions and 157,000 engagements. Disrupt has also collaborated with household names like Disney and EVRi.

Client Testimonials: “Thanks to Disrupt’s extensive network and data-driven approach, we have observed that influencer campaigns. Alongside other market activations, have contributed to the growth of our brand awareness in the UK.” Galana Enyaeva –Social Media and Influencer Marketing Manager, Wizz Air

Kairos Media - Influencer Agency - London & Manchester

Agency Profile: The digital communications agency Kairos Media specialises in genuine campaigns backed by data. Incorporating storytelling into its content, it champions creativity and matches brands with influencers capable of captivating their target market. Its team works with brands in many industries, from beauty to travel to sports.

Kairos Media uses KPIs to design marketing strategies that fit each brand's requirements. From there, they assess the influencers and style of content required to design an effective strategy. After they deliver the end-to-end campaign, they produce detailed reports to inform brands of its progress.

Founding Year: 2016

Location: High Holborn, London | Peter Street, Manchester

Core Services: Kairos offers a comprehensive suite of social media marketing services powered by its Klab technology, including influencer marketing and content production, alongside unique tools and platforms designed to enhance brand engagement and audience insights.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: Kairos have worked with many popular brands, including Pepsi, Cetaphil, and Sony. It helped Pepsi achieve a 313% boost in brand sentiment and an 187% increase in mentions with a strategy spanning Instagram, TikTok, and X. Its campaign focused on creating a positive and self-aware voice through influencer marketing.

Client Testimonials: “Fantastic results driving performance for the game.”— Lida Oksanen, Performance Marketing Manager - Rovio Entertainment

LTK (formerly rewardStyle and LIKEtoKNOW.it)

Agency Profile: LTK is a comprehensive social campaign management agency that specialises in facilitating connections between brands and influencers, designing campaigns, and evaluating KPIs. LTK primarily focuses on lifestyle niches such as family, home, and travel but is open to collaborating with any brand that maintains a current social media presence and website.

With 12 years of experience in the industry, LTK has accumulated a rich database of actionable insights, enabling precise matchmaking between brands and influencers. Its extensive background in research and data analysis empowers LTK to assist brands in navigating the social media landscape effectively, ensuring tailored and impactful marketing strategies.

Founding Year: 2011

Location: LTK is a large business with over 700 employees based in the US, China, Korea, Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, and the UK. Its European headquarters are in London.

Core Services: LTK’s primary offering is data-driven influencer marketing based on over a decade of industry experience. It also provides brand consultations to help brands navigate influencer marketing, executes end-to-end influencer marketing campaigns, and reports measurable, trackable results to assess the ROI.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: LTK helped Abercrombie & Fitch gain 3.9m views, make a 4.1x ROI, and drive sales by more than 56% year on year by identifying influencers who were driving sales for their competitors and negotiating rates to work with them. It’s also worked with Harvey Nichols, River Island, and Matches.

Client Testimonials: “Driving brand awareness has been a priority for us, and our work with LTK has gone a long way in achieving this. From our previous work with the team we knew to expect strong results. Needless to say, LTK delivered again for us this year.” – Hanne Fiksdal -, Senior Marketing Manager - EMEA Affiliates

Socially Powerful

Agency Profile: Socially Powerful is a data-driven agency that links influencers with brands across many sectors, including sports, gaming, and fashion. This medium-sized business uses comprehensive data analysis to ensure that brands are paired with influencers who can achieve their specific marketing objectives.

Socially Powerful focuses on narrating brand stories via social media while staying up-to-date with the latest trends.

Founding Year: 2016

Location: Fleet Street, London

Core Services: Socially Powerful transcends traditional agency roles, offering customised influencer strategies with its AI platform, Aria. It also helps brands create paid ads and shopping experiences across social media. Socially Powerful Studios creates compelling social content, from omnichannel campaigns to TV commercials.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: Socially Powerful helped Tefal sell out product lines, dominate the European market, and reach younger demographics by collaborating with influencers on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. It has also assisted The Gym Group and IT Cosmetics.

Client Testimonials: “James’ and Majid’s knowledge of the influencer industry is really impressive. They are an awesome influencer marketing agency, who have gave us some phenomenal results. Will definitely be using them again.” – Mark Jones - Google Review

House of Marketers - Influencer Agency - Nottingham

Agency Profile: House of Marketers is a small marketing agency solely dealing with TikTok. Its co-founder, Ingio Rivera, previously worked as a Strategy and Managing Director for TikTok, giving her unmatched insight into how to grow and engage audiences on the platform.

House of Marketers is a macro and micro-influencer agency that collaborates with TikTok creators of all types to drive campaigns that produce a strong ROI.

Founding Year: 2020

Location: Arnot Hill Road, Nottingham

Core Services: House of Marketers offers comprehensive, end-to-end TikTok influencer marketing campaign services. Its teams support brands with extensive planning, research, and creative consultancy to craft impactful influencer marketing strategies and produce engaging TikTok content. House of Marketers also helps brands deliver paid ads on TikTok.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: House of Marketers’s influencer marketing strategy for Freetrade sparked thousands of signups with a 6.71% conversion rate. In addition, they have worked with KFC, Halfords, and Hilton.

Client Testimonials: “House of Marketers has been the only partner that has truly helped us develop a performance-driven, strategic and global approach to TikTok. It’s refreshing to see how the team works with transparent communication, competitive fees and amazing content in efficient deadlines.” – Nicolas Arias, Global Team Lead - HelloFresh

The Social Shepherd - Influencer Agency - Bath

Agency Profile: The Social Shepherd is a medium-sized business that connects brands with influencers who have real and engaged followers in their target audience. Working across various platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, they direct brands towards the platform that suits their marketing goals.

The Social Shepherd creates space for the brand to bond with the team managing their campaign for a close-knit and invested approach. It produces trackable results through affiliate discount codes and UTM parameters.

Founding Year: 2018

Location: James Street West, Bath (Plus, they have an office in the US)

Core Services: Social Shepherd specialises in helping brands build dedicated social communities, developing social strategy, managing communities, and creating content. It also offers end-to-end paid influencer campaigns, including influencer matching, paid socials, and paid search.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: Bio-Oil sought to engage target audiences and drive sales by collaborating with a range of influencers to create authentic and unfiltered video content that builds strong connections. The campaign reached 9.4 million users. It has also boosted engagement for Lumene and Vivense.

Client Testimonials: “Social Shepherd makes me more productive and gets the job done in a fraction of the time. They were a pleasure to work with, from start to finish. I'm glad I found them.” – Melissa Ashurst, Co-Founder - Lumene

Navigate - Influencer Agency - Bristol

Agency Profile: Navigate is a specialised agency focused on enhancing brands' social media strategies, particularly in the tourism sector. As their name suggests, Navigate helps brands find their way by providing an extensive network of bloggers, creators, and influencers for collaboration.

Navigate supports brands from the inception of a campaign to its culmination. This includes the design and execution of marketing initiatives across various media types. As a BCorp-certified organisation, Navigate is committed to making a positive impact on the world.

Founding Year: 2005

Location: Colston Street, Bristol

Core Services: Navigate offers a comprehensive suite of campaign management solutions, including creative development, strategic direction, tactical execution, and results-driven approaches.

Notable Influencer Campaigns: Navigate is working with the Minack Theatre in Bath to deliver a cutting-edge marketing campaign that drives engagement. It also runs strategies for Leeds Castle, the Ocean Conservation Trust, and the RSPB.

Client Testimonials: "Navigate's creative work for the launch of Duty-Free was exceptional and has been an integral part of the success of the reintroduction of Duty-free. The range of creativity and activation tactics have been brilliant, and it's really helped to drive us further ahead than we expected." – Stephen House, Head of Campaign and Product Manager - DFDS Europe

What is the largest influencer agency?

We Are Social is by far the largest influencer agency of our selection. It's a comprehensive agency that offers a full range of advertising and marketing services.

How to Find Influencers for Collaborations?

For brands, the goal is not just to find influencers but to cultivate positive, mutually beneficial relationships. However, this can be challenging.

Choosing to work with an influencer platform or agency may determine whether you will have a successful campaign with a strong ROI. Platforms are excellent tools that give you all the insights you need to reach targeted audiences and increase your brand value.

About Kolsquare

Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.

Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.

With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.

As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare leads the way in promoting Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.

Since October 2024, Kolsquare has become part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private tech companies in Europe, and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together over 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.