Working with Clever

Hooray! You’ve decided to work with an agency for your influencer programs! Only… now you have to figure out which agency to work with.  

Of course we think you should work with CLEVER, but let’s take a step back first. 

Here is a comprehensive outline of the factors you should take into consideration when evaluating an influencer marketing partner: Diving Deep: Questions To Ask Your Influencer Marketing Partner (BEFORE You Sign!)

Note: You can also check out an abbreviated version of this at Forbes

Once you have a sense of the varying levels of service and experience agencies offer, we believe you’ll see how CLEVER compares. Some top points for your consideration:

• We were established in 2009, and have probably run more influencer marketing programs than any other agency. It’s all we do, and all we’ve ever done. 
• We’ve worked with hundreds of the world’s best known brands. Here’s a sample of them. 
• We have a near 90% client return rate. 
• Our work is beautiful, consistent, and drives engagement.
• We’ve won a bunch of awards and been featured in most major business publications: both for a) the client work we’ve done, and b) how we run our business in innovative and progessive ways.
• We are vocal about our values, which means you receive thoughtful, high-quality service from a team that centers meaningful work, diverse voices, and social good.  

If you take a look at our Client List, you’ll see that we’ve worked with hundreds of the best known and beloved brands in the world. 

Typically, our clients are in the mid-sized to large range. We also regularly partner with agencies to help them execute large and/or complex influencer programs on behalf of their clients.

Does CLEVER Specialize in any areas?

If anything, we specialize in “sensitive” and challenging brand and program work. What does this mean? Let’s look at WHO we work with.

CLEVER takes a unique, hybrid approach to managing our influencer relationships. Like platforms, we have data-backed access to thousands of influencers, especially micro-influencer and nano-influencers. Like talent agencies, we have relationships with our network of influencers, including micro-influencers, macro-influencers, and celebrities. We’ve figured out how to leverage the best of all worlds.

Closed, Curated Network

Influencers who want to work with us must apply to be part of our network. Their accounts are then reviewed by CLEVER staff members (not algorithms) to ensure that their content is quality, their voice is unique, their followers are real, and their posts aren’t overly sponsored. 

Data Is Authorized

We Can Get Specific... And Personal

Because of our strong relationship with our in-network influencers, we can find just about anyone you’re looking for, even (and especially) regarding sensitive topics. For example, we’ve sourced influencers who are:

• Colorblind and live in Tennessee

• Trying-to-conceive

• Losing hair 

• Audible subscribers

• Elder pet owners

• Willing to “go commando”

• Struggling with mental health issues

• Parents with children who have learning disabilities

…and many, many others!

Emphasis On Diversity and Inclusion

We work with our clients to ensure that programs are diverse and equitable, and elevate influencers of color. 

CLEVER is a progressive organization with these values. Our goal is to co-create a world with our influencer community where all people have what they need to be their most empowered, authentic, and exceptional selves. Please see our statements about our commitment to this work, and feel free to check on our progress towards our aggressive diversity goals for us and the influencer marketing industry.

Building Blocks

After delivering thousands of programs to hundreds of clients, we can say with certainty: no two projects are exactly alike. Nor should they be! 

However, we can — and do! — apply the same building blocks to every program to ensure great results and happy clients.

Campaign Creative: Designing A Program

We work with our clients to determine: 

• Do we need entirely fresh creative or are we supporting existing messaging?

• What channels will perform best given the product, demo, and call-to-action?

• What ideas haven’t been done before? What trends are we seeing right now? 

• What will inspire influencers to produce the best content for this particular campaign?

• What will success look like?

Influencer Profiling: How To Identify The Right Influencer Pool

Who, exactly, is your target demographic? What should your influencers look like? Who should their audiences be? We’ll find the right people based on your needs, or we can help you determine who you’re looking for.

Either way, we’ll leverage our relationship with our network and DASH, our proprietary platform, to find the best influencers for your specific program based on these criteria (amongst others!): 

• Age
• Location
• Occupation, HHI
• Ethnicity
• Affinities, affiliations
• Channel performance (following, engagement)
• Past program performance
• Parental status
• Buying habits 
• Audience breakdowns

Influencer Selection: How We Choose & Contract Influencers

Influencer Program Management: From Launch to Final Post

• Contract with every influencer
• Provide detailed instructions for each influencer, including content prompts, messaging requirements, hashtags, and due dates
• Review every post to ensure they meet requirements
• Send reminders as needed
• Track progress
• Ensure 100% completion

Reporting: “That’s a Wrap!”

In addition to providing you with basic performance data, our Client Services team goes above and beyond to offer comprehensive, thoughtful reporting: not just results, but what the results mean. In a beautiful, heavily visual report, we answer: 

• How your program performed
• How your program performed against benchmarks
• Which facets of your program performed well and why
• Recommendations for leveraging learnings in future programs
• Future programming ideas

Working with our influencers ensures your brand will enjoy both excellent content and widespread reach.

We supplement organic reach with paid reach (sponsored posts and ads) — which can be done in conjunction with or entirely separately from your brand’s promotion of influencer content. Paid support ensures branded content reaches your target consumers and drives additional program impact.

Even better? 

Our (agency) fees are structured on a per-project basis. The overall budget accounts for dozens of program variables, most notable of which are influencer payments (that vary by size, number of influencers, influencer ask/expectations/deliverables, etc.). We typically charge flat program fees — versus per-performance rates — because our results are guaranteed. 

We also offer “always-on” payment structures for clients who want to activate many programs over six or twelve months.