In short
- Digital agencies are typically strongest at media buying, funnels and content calendars. Influencer agencies are typically strongest at creator discovery, negotiation, contracts, payments and ASCI checks.
- Your digital agency can run a small creator test, up to roughly ten creators on one platform, if it can show it has done so before. Beyond that, or in a regulated category, bring in a specialist.
- The two meet at creator ads. Settle in writing who secures ad rights, who holds ad access, who owns the ad account and which single metric both teams report.
- Ask both agencies to itemise. Watch for the same job being charged twice, once in each management fee.
A digital marketing agency and an influencer marketing agency do overlapping jobs with different strengths. A digital agency is usually built around media buying, funnels and content calendars. An influencer agency is built around finding, vetting, contracting and paying creators. For a small creator test, your digital agency can probably handle it. For a creator-led programme, you will want a specialist, and the two should agree who owns the ads.
If your current agency has offered to "add influencers" to its retainer, this post helps you decide whether to say yes. It covers who is good at what, when the generalist is enough, how to split creator ads between two agencies and what to ask each. The channel itself is explained in our complete guide to influencer marketing in India, and the creator-ads side in our creator ads and whitelisting service.
Two businesses with similar names
The difference is easier to see in how the work is shaped. A digital agency's day is campaigns, budgets and landing pages: it tunes spend against a click or cost target. An influencer agency's day is people: it finds creators, checks audiences, negotiates, chases drafts and pays invoices. Typically the first is paid for managing media or a bundle of channel hours, and the second for creator-side labour. We have no published benchmark for how digital agencies charge, so ask yours.
Many digital agencies now have an influencer desk, so these are tendencies, not boundaries. The only way to know is to test the individual agency with the same questions you would ask a specialist.
Job by job
| Job | Digital agency, typically strong | Influencer agency, typically strong |
|---|---|---|
| Paid media buying and optimisation | Yes, the core skill | Usually not, outside creator ads |
| Landing pages and funnel conversion | Yes | No |
| Content calendar and brand handles | Yes | Sometimes |
| Creator discovery and vetting | Varies; often a list of familiar names | Yes, the core skill |
| Negotiating fees, rights and exclusivity | Rarely a daily task | Yes |
| Creator contracts and payments, with TDS | Often not set up | Yes |
| ASCI label and claims checks on creator posts | Depends on the account team | Yes, as a step on every draft |
| Creator-led creative that sounds like a person | Brand-style creative is more common | Yes |
| Reporting | Platform and ad metrics | Cost per result per creator, plus post metrics |
The ASCI row matters more than it looks. The ASCI influencer guidelines make the advertiser responsible for ensuring a post conforms to the Code, so someone must check each draft for label placement, claims and, in health and finance, creator qualifications.
When your digital agency can run it
A generalist is enough when most of these are true.
- Few creators. Roughly ten or fewer, in one language and one or two cities.
- One platform. Typically Instagram Reels.
- Creators as ad creative. The goal is fresh content for paid social, not creator reach.
- A track record. The agency can show a sample shortlist, a creator contract and a report from a past creator campaign. The test is the same as for any agency; see how to choose an influencer marketing agency.
- A non-regulated category and no fixed launch crunch.
If you take this route, run it as a pilot with a pass mark, as our post on how to run an influencer pilot explains.
When to bring in a specialist
- Twenty or more creators in a month, or several languages and cities.
- A launch or festive date that cannot move.
- Celebrity or macro creators with contracts to negotiate.
- Product seeding at scale, where logistics and tax on barter need tracking.
- Health, finance or education creators, where qualifications and claims need checks.
- Always-on programmes, where creator relationships compound. See creator ambassador programmes.
Where the two meet: creator ads
The handoff that most often goes wrong is creator ads, also called partnership ads or whitelisting. In a Q1 2026 survey by an influencer platform, 76.6% of brands said they had run partnership ads with influencers, and 23.3% did so regularly. So most brands will need both skills in the same room. The ad rights come from the creator, who is the specialist's contact. The ads run from an ad account, which is the digital agency's tool.
| Task | Influencer agency | Digital agency | Brand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secure ad rights in the creator contract, with days and handles | Writes and agrees them | Tells them how long to test | Approves the scope |
| Collect partnership permissions from creators | Requests and tracks them | Receives and applies them | Holds the list |
| Choose which posts to amplify | Recommends from organic data | Tests as ads | Approves the budget |
| Build and run the ads | Briefs on creator context | Runs and optimises | Owns the ad account |
| Report | Post and creator metrics | Ad metrics | Sees one dashboard |
Two published figures size the stakes. One rate guide puts the whitelisting uplift at 60% to 120% over an organic post, and the media itself at 2x to 4x the creator fee, both low confidence. Our posts on what whitelisting costs and how to set up Instagram partnership ads cover the money and the permissions.
Three places agencies collide
- Metrics. A digital agency optimises cost per click, and an influencer agency optimises content quality and trust. Pick one shared result, such as cost per first order, and report both teams against it. Our guide to influencer marketing attribution shows why last-click credit starves creators.
- Money. If either agency's fee rises with spend, it has an incentive to recommend more spend. Ask each how it earns, and what it would recommend if the budget halved.
- Credit. When a creator post drives searches and an ad then converts them, both teams claim the sale. Tracked codes and links per creator give you a way to settle it before the report, not after.
A responsibility sheet to paste
Two agencies on one campaign need one page that says who owns what. Fill it in at kickoff and review it monthly for the first quarter.
| Task | Plans | Does | Approves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign goal and number | You | You | You |
| Creator mix and shortlist | Influencer agency | Influencer agency | You |
| Creator contracts, rights and payments | Influencer agency | Influencer agency | You |
| Creator briefs and drafts | Influencer agency | Influencer agency | You |
| Ad account access and permissions | Digital agency | Digital agency | You |
| Ad creative selection | Both | Digital agency | You |
| Budget and bids | Digital agency | Digital agency | You |
| One shared report | Both | Influencer agency compiles | You |
The feedback loop most teams skip
Ads teach you things creators can use. If a partnership ad for one creator holds viewers for the first three seconds and another does not, that is a finding about hooks, and it should flow into the next creator brief. Likewise, organic posts reveal which angle gets saved and shared before any media is spent.
That loop needs a weekly 20-minute call and a shared sheet, not a new tool. Without it, each agency optimises its own metric and the brand pays twice for lessons it never reads.
What to ask each
Your digital agency
- Have you run a creator campaign before, and can I see the report?
- Who finds and vets the creators, and how?
- Do you sign contracts with creators, and can I read one?
- Who pays creators, and who deducts TDS?
- Who checks drafts for the ASCI label and claims?
- What would you charge for this, line by line?
- Would you tell me if a specialist was a better fit?
A specialist agency
- How do you work with our existing agency on creator ads?
- Will you share creator rights and permissions in a form our media team can use?
- Which one report will we see?
- What do you not do, so we can fill the gap?
- How do we avoid paying two management fees for the same job?
What it costs
We have no sourced benchmark comparing a digital agency's influencer work with a specialist's, so we will not print one. The practical risk is double charging: the digital agency adds an influencer management fee, and the specialist charges its own, for overlapping work such as creator coordination and reporting. Ask both to itemise. Our guide to influencer marketing agency fees shows what a fee should cover, and the cost calculator sizes the creator side.
A short decision table
| Situation | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| 10 creators or fewer, one platform, creators as ad creative | Your digital agency, as a pilot |
| 20+ creators, several languages, or a fixed launch | A specialist, with the digital agency on media |
| Health, finance or education category | A specialist, with the digital agency on media |
| Creator ads are the main goal | Both: specialist for rights and posts, digital agency for media |
| Your digital agency has no creator track record | A specialist, or a paid pilot with the generalist first |
If you already have a digital agency, send us your brief and tell us who runs your ads. The creator plan we return within 48 hours will show where the handoff to them sits. See our pricing for how we charge.
Sources
- India influencer marketing research report (brand behaviour survey, Q1 2026), Influencer platform research page (vendor estimate) (undated, accessed 31 Oct 2026)
- Influencer marketing pricing in India 2026: rate card, agency fee models and minimum budgets, Indian digital agency guide (low confidence) (20 Apr 2026, updated 16 Sep 2026)
- Guidelines for influencer advertising in digital media, Advertising Standards Council of India (accessed 31 Oct 2026 (Addendum II dated 6 Mar 2025))
Frequently asked questions
Can my digital marketing agency run influencer campaigns?
For a small test, yes: a handful of creators on one platform, used mainly as ad creative. Ask for a sample shortlist for your brief, a creator contract and their last creator report. For 20 or more creators, several languages, a launch date or a regulated category, a specialist is safer. See our how we work page for what the specialist work involves.
What is the difference between an influencer marketing agency and a digital marketing agency?
A digital marketing agency runs a mix of channels, usually paid media, content, SEO and web. An influencer marketing agency does one thing in depth: finding and vetting creators, negotiating fees and rights, writing contracts, checking disclosure, paying creators and reporting results per creator.
Should I hire a separate influencer agency if I already have a digital agency?
Hire one when creators become more than a side test: many creators at once, creator-led launches, several languages, or ASCI-sensitive categories. Keep the digital agency for media and funnels, and agree who handles creator ads. A short written responsibility sheet avoids overlap.
Who should run creator ads, the influencer agency or the digital agency?
Usually the digital agency buys and optimises the media, while the influencer agency secures the ad rights in the creator contract and picks the posts worth amplifying. The brand should own the ad account. Our guide to Instagram partnership ads setup shows the permissions involved.
Is it cheaper to use one agency for both?
Not necessarily. We have no sourced benchmark comparing the two. One agency can save coordination time, but the creator work still needs hours, so check that its fee covers sourcing, vetting, contracts and payments. Ask for an itemised quote and compare it with a specialist's.
How do two agencies avoid overlapping on influencer work?
Write a one-page responsibility sheet: who plans, who picks creators, who contracts them, who approves drafts, who sets up the ads, who reports. Agree one shared metric, such as cost per result, and one dashboard. Review it monthly for the first quarter.