Reviews
Part of How to run influencer agencies reviews fairly
Influencer agencies selection checklist for England
Use this influencer agencies selection checklist for an England campaign: assess gates in order, record PASS, HOLD or FAIL, and stop at the first FAIL.
| Decision case | PASS | HOLD | FAIL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contracting party | Dated identity, authority, payment, service and conflict records agree | Evidence or a decision is missing | An unresolved mismatch or no authority to contract |
| Creator evidence | Field sources, permitted uses, contact authority and suitable safeguarding are evidenced | Records or ownership are missing | Authority or arrangements cannot meet the brief |
| Quote and outcome | Dated itemised costs reconcile; the brief sets a threshold, measure, source and period | Details are missing or unagreed | A charge is unexplained or reporting is refused |
| Content and permissions | Claims are supported, advertising is recognisable, uses are permitted and accessibility checks pass | A required check is absent | A mandatory requirement fails |
| Data and recovery | Roles, communication routes, access, security and exit checks are evidenced | Evidence is missing | A required check fails or evidence is refused |
| Terms and reviewers | Terms cover the agreed service and named reviewers have signed their decisions | Terms or sign-offs are missing | Terms prevent a mandatory requirement being met |
Applying the comparison to a campaign
Apply every row to one defined England campaign and the exact service under contract. Turn each assurance into a dated evidence request and a stop rule, then assign PASS, HOLD or FAIL. A HOLD prevents preference scoring. At the first FAIL, record the failed row and end appointment assessment.
Keep evidence gates separate from later preferences with the review methodology. A strong commercial score cannot cure a failed mandatory condition. The comparison records evidence status, not supplier quality in the abstract, and its result applies only to the campaign and service fixed for this decision.
Confirming who can bind the supplier
PASS depends on dated records agreeing on legal and trading identity, signing authority, payment, service boundary and conflicts. Missing evidence or an undecided point is HOLD. An unresolved inconsistency, or lack of authority to contract, is FAIL, so appointment assessment stops.
- Record registered and trading names, company number where applicable, contracting jurisdiction, signatory and proposed payment account. Check current filings at Companies House through the GOV.UK company information service. Registration proves neither quality nor authority. If the agency claims Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) membership, confirm it with IPA; membership is not supplier approval.
- Attach a dated service schedule naming the advertiser, product, England geography, creator population, platforms, formats, deliverables, exclusions, media payer, data access, support and exit.
- Ask for ownership, parent and subcontractor details, talent relationships, rebates, commissions, referral arrangements, supplier incentives and conflicts. Treat disclosure as evidence to assess, not automatic clearance.
- GOAT, Billion Dollar Boy, Socially Powerful and The Social Shepherd are possible shortlist leads for an England campaign, not recommendations. For each, verify the current contracting entity, England service scope and authority to contract. Stop if the contracting party, authority, service boundary or money flow cannot be reconciled.
Checking creator records without inference
PASS requires sourced field information with permitted uses, established contact and agreement authority, and safeguarding arrangements suited to the brief. Missing records mean HOLD. Absent authority, or arrangements unable to meet the brief, mean FAIL; a profile alone does not prove what the supplier has not evidenced.
- For every creator field, require its source and permitted use, who asserted it, its definition, check date, correction route and platform limitation. Do not infer age, location, identity, protected traits or audience composition from a profile.
- Obtain proof of the agency or talent manager authority for the proposed contact and agreement. Verify creator assent, exclusivity and conflicts separately.
- Route work involving children to a named safeguarding reviewer. England material on children in entertainment describes licensing and supervision questions but cannot decide an individual campaign. The relevant local authority is the licensing authority: check whether a licence is required and, if so, obtain the application form from that authority.
Reconciling money with the outcome
A quote qualifies as PASS only when it is dated, itemised and reconciled, with inclusions and exclusions visible. The brief must also name a campaign-specific performance threshold, measure, source and period. Missing or unagreed details are HOLD; unexplained charges or refusal to report against the agreed measure are FAIL.
- Separate the agency fee, creator cash, gifts or services, commission, paid media, production, software, expenses, internal labour, specialist review, remediation, VAT and other tax questions. Obtain current units, inclusions, exclusions and quote date; invent no average. The hidden-cost review and budget template can record quantities and approvals.
- Define each measure by event, eligible population, numerator, denominator or unit, period, timezone, source or query version, exclusions and missing-data treatment. Name the threshold owner. A blank or unagreed threshold is not a pass. Keep platform credit separate from reconciled value and causal impact.
- Apply the same checklist to the in-house manual baseline and record its full economic cost.
Clearing assets before release
Release earns PASS only when evidence supports every claim, advertising is recognisable in the final asset, intended uses are permitted and the buyer stated accessibility checks pass. An absent check is HOLD. Unsupported claims, unclear advertising, insufficient rights or a failed required check are FAIL.
- Request the product evidence file, exact proposed claims, approval owners, creator briefing, disclosure decision, final-render review, monitoring and correction route. Apply ASA and UK CAP Code rules on recognisable advertising, including ASA social-media guidance. The CMA publication Social media endorsements: being transparent with your followers covers businesses using creators and intermediaries; neither source approves a supplier. Check the non-broadcast CAP Code and the applicable advertising rules.
- Link each asset, music track and performance to its owner and permission, covering edits, territory, term, channel, paid amplification and archive treatment. GOV.UK copyright guidance shows why licence boundaries matter.
- Set requirements for captions, audio description, text alternatives, contrast, reading order and accessible destination testing for the actual formats. The WCAG text alternatives criterion is a standards reference. Assign a specialist rather than accepting a general accessibility statement. Reject release if an objective claim lacks evidence, an advert cannot be recognised, intended use exceeds permission or the final journey fails the buyer stated accessibility rule.
Demonstrating access and exit
PASS means data roles and communication routes are documented, with agreed access, security and exit checks evidenced. Missing proof is HOLD; failure of a required check or refusal to provide evidence is FAIL. Stop where data origin, role, route, access control or recoverable exit cannot be demonstrated.
- Map advertiser, agency, creator and platform purposes, then determine roles from actual decisions. Use the ICO data protection principles and controller and processor guidance as the regulator starting point, and assess the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. For privacy review, consult the ICO data protection impact assessment guidance.
- Record lawful-basis advice, transparency, minimisation, special-category considerations, transfers, retention, rights support and deletion. Review creator outreach, tracking and electronic communications separately under the ICO PECR guide.
- Keep accounts and assets buyer-owned where required. Test least privilege, approvals, logs, incident escalation, recovery, revocation and export using synthetic records. NCSC social-media security guidance supports access and audit questions. The data protection checklist offers related buyer checks.
Making the decision ready for signature
PASS requires signed terms that match the agreed service and named reviewers recorded decisions. Missing clauses or sign-offs are HOLD, while terms that block a mandatory condition are FAIL. An agency assurance cannot substitute for the decision of the reviewer responsible for that requirement.
- Contract for references, service evidence, change, correction, suspension, payment disputes, ownership, rights, export, deletion, account revocation, continuity and termination. Check the commercial contract terms and quality checklist against the agreed service.
- Keep one record pack with evidence behind each status, unresolved decisions and named owners. Include current company details, contracting-authority evidence, payment details and the dated service schedule; record mismatches for resolution. Retain ownership, subcontractor, talent-relationship and conflict disclosures, plus evidence for any claimed IPA membership.
- Retain creator-field source and permitted-use records, contact authority and agreement, and safeguarding review evidence. Keep the product evidence file, exact claims, approval owners, disclosure decision, final-render check, rights permissions and accessibility test results. Preserve data-role and communication-route decisions, security test results, access records, and recovery or export test evidence.
- Appointment remains HOLD until every mandatory row is resolved and each named reviewer signs the relevant decision. For accessibility and safeguarding, identify each reviewer role and relevant competence or experience. Required reviewers cover procurement, advertising, privacy and PECR, IP, accessibility, safeguarding, security, tax, contract and evaluation. Resolve every HOLD before preference scoring; stop at the earliest FAIL and do not assess later rows for appointment.
