Every campaign we run follows the same six stages. The work inside each stage changes with the brief: a 200-creator micro-influencer push looks nothing like a single celebrity launch. But the order, the checks and the paperwork stay the same, which is why our campaigns go live on time and why you can trust the numbers at the end. One strategist owns your campaign from the first call to the final report, and you can reach them on WhatsApp throughout.
If you are new to the channel, our complete guide to influencer marketing in India explains the basics. This page is about how we run it.
The six stages at a glance
| Stage | When | What you get | Your input |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Brief and call | Day 0 | A 20-minute call and a written summary of goals, audience, budget and timeline | Product, buyer, budget, dates, any must-haves |
| 2. Creator plan | Within 48 hours | Strategy, creator mix, content ideas, timeline, a named shortlist with Gully Scores, and a cost estimate | Approve, edit or reject creators |
| 3. Booking and contracts | Week 1 | Negotiated fees, signed contracts with deliverables, usage rights and exclusivity, product shipped | Final sign-off on budget |
| 4. Content and approvals | Week 2 | Creator briefs, scripts and drafts checked for message, claims and disclosure | Approve drafts (2 revision rounds standard) |
| 5. Live and amplified | Week 3 | Posts live on schedule, daily tracking, best performers turned into creator ads | Ad budget for amplification, if any |
| 6. Report and optimise | Weekly, then closing | Live tracker, closing report, learnings and a plan for the next round | Share sales or install data for full ROI |
Stage 1: the brief
Good campaigns start with an uncomfortable amount of clarity. On the first call we ask what you are selling, who buys it, where they live, what language they scroll in, what they believe about your category today and what you need them to do next. We ask about budget early, because it decides whether you should run 40 micro-creators, four macro creators or a batch of UGC for ads.
You leave the call with a one-page summary of what we heard. If something in it is wrong, it is cheaper to fix now than after creators are booked.
Stage 2: the creator plan, within 48 hours
Within 48 hours you receive a plan that answers four questions:
- Strategy: the job influencers are doing in your funnel (discovery, consideration, conversion or content for ads) and the targets we will report against.
- Creator mix: tiers, niches, languages and cities, and why. For most brands that means a base of micro-influencers for trust and coverage, with a few larger creators where reach or a launch moment matters.
- Content: formats per platform (Instagram Reels and Stories, YouTube integrations or dedicated reviews, Shorts), hooks and story angles, and the messages every creator must land.
- Shortlist and cost: named creators with their Gully Score, audience split, recent performance and quote, plus the total budget with creator fees and our fee shown separately.
Stage 3: vetting with the Gully Score
Follower counts are cheap to fake and engagement can be bought by the thousand. So every creator we propose is scored out of 100 before you ever see their name.
| Criterion | Points | What we check | Red flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audience authenticity | 30 | Audience city, age and gender split from insights; follower growth over 90 days; share of inactive or suspicious accounts | Sudden follower spikes, large audiences from countries the creator never addresses, very low reach per follower |
| Engagement quality | 25 | Engagement rate against tier benchmarks, views per follower on recent Reels and videos, saves and shares, comment quality | Generic comments ("nice 🔥"), engagement pods, likes far higher than views |
| Buyer fit | 20 | Overlap between the creator's audience and your buyer; whether their content already touches your category | Great creator, wrong audience: the most common way budgets are wasted |
| Content craft | 15 | Hooks, storytelling, production, and how naturally they integrate brands | Brand posts that perform far below their organic posts |
| Brand safety | 10 | Past controversies, competitor deals, disclosure habits, comment section tone | Undisclosed past ads, recent competitor contracts, hostile comment sections |
We shortlist creators who score 70 or more and explain every score below 80. Anyone below 60 is dropped, however large their following. The engagement rate calculator shows one part of this check; our guide to spotting fake followers shows the rest.
Stage 4: contracts, briefs and approvals
Every creator signs a contract before content is made. Ours cover deliverables and dates, the number of revision rounds, the exact disclosure label, usage rights (where, how long, whether paid ads are allowed), exclusivity windows, what happens if a post is late or taken down, and payment terms. Our guide to influencer contracts in India walks through each clause.
Creators then receive a brief that is short enough to read and specific enough to follow: the product truth, the one message that must land, the claims they may and may not make, mandatory links or codes, the disclosure label, and examples of what good looks like. We review every script or concept and every draft before it reaches you, checking the message, the claims and the disclosure. You sign off on the final cut.
Stage 5: live, tracked and amplified
Posts go live on a schedule built around your launch dates and the platform's best hours for each creator's audience. We track each post from the first hour: views, reach, engagement, link clicks and code redemptions. We also watch the comments for questions your team should answer and for anything that needs a response.
The best-performing posts rarely stay organic. With the creator's permission (agreed in the contract) we run them as creator ads through partnership ads on Instagram and Facebook, or as UGC in your own ad account. This is often where the lowest cost per click of the whole campaign comes from.
Stage 6: reporting that answers "did it work?"
You get a live tracker from the first post and a closing report within a week of the last one. The metrics depend on what the campaign was for:
| Campaign goal | Primary metrics | Efficiency metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Views, reach, unique accounts reached | Cost per 1,000 views (CPV), cost per engagement |
| Consideration | Saves, shares, comments with purchase intent, profile visits, branded search lift | Cost per save or share |
| Conversion | Link clicks, code redemptions, installs, sales | Cost per click, cost per install, cost per sale, ROAS |
| Content for ads | Hook rate, hold rate and CTR when run as ads | Cost per asset, ad CTR against brand-made creatives |
The closing report ranks every creator on cost per result, explains what worked and what didn't, and recommends who to rebook, who to drop and what to test next. For how to set these numbers up before launch, read how to measure influencer marketing ROI.
Compliance is built in, not bolted on
Every post we run carries a clear disclosure label, placed where viewers see it before they scroll past (in the first lines of a caption, and on screen in videos). Health and finance creators are checked for the qualifications the ASCI guidelines require, and claims are checked against what your brand can substantiate. Creator payments go out with TDS deducted. Our ASCI influencer guidelines explainer covers the rules in detail.
How you work with us
- One strategist, named in the plan, who owns delivery and answers on WhatsApp during working hours (10:00 to 19:00 IST, Monday to Saturday).
- A shared tracker with every creator, deliverable, date, approval and result.
- A weekly check-in of 20 minutes during live campaigns, more often around launches.
- One invoice covering creator fees and our fee, shown separately. Our pricing page explains the models.
Ready to see a plan for your brand? Send us a brief and you'll have it within 48 hours.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an influencer campaign take from brief to launch?
A creator plan reaches you within 48 hours of the brief call. A micro-influencer campaign usually goes live two to three weeks after you approve the plan; gifting and UGC can move faster, and celebrity deals often take four to six weeks because of negotiation and legal review.
Do I approve the creators before they are booked?
Always. You see every name, their Gully Score, audience data, past brand work and quote. Nothing is booked, and no money moves, until you approve the shortlist.
Do I get to see content before it goes live?
Yes. Creators share scripts or concepts first and then drafts. We check them for your key messages, claims and ASCI disclosure, then send them to you for sign-off. Two rounds of revisions are standard in our contracts.
What do you report on?
Whatever the campaign is for: views, reach, engagement, saves and shares for awareness; clicks, code redemptions, installs and sales for performance; plus cost per view, per engagement and per result. You get a live tracker during the campaign and a closing report with recommendations. See how to measure influencer ROI.
Who pays the creators?
We do, after deliverables are verified, with TDS deducted under section 194R or 194J as applicable. You pay us against a single invoice, so you don't manage dozens of creator payments. Read TDS and GST on influencer payments.
What happens if a creator misses a deadline or posts something wrong?
Our contracts set dates, approval steps and remedies. If a creator misses a slot we reschedule or replace them at no extra cost; if a post goes live without approval or disclosure, we have it corrected or taken down and withhold payment until it is fixed.