Frequently Asked Questions

An influencer marketing agency manages the full relationship between a brand and content creators — finding the right creators, negotiating rates, handling contracts, managing deliverables and timelines, and reporting on performance once content is live. Instead of a brand contacting and coordinating with each creator individually, the agency acts as the single point of management for the entire campaign, on both the brand and creator side.

Most agencies follow a version of the same process: understand the brand and its goals, build a campaign strategy and budget, source and vet creators, negotiate rates and contracts, manage content production and approval, and report on results. At AUFSTRO, this process is fixed and consistent — every campaign moves through the same ten stages, from initial inquiry to final reporting, regardless of size.

Pricing varies by campaign scope, creator tier, and deliverables — there isn't a single number that applies to every brand. AUFSTRO's model combines a management fee charged to the brand with a commission structured on the creator side, and we walk through the specific structure for your campaign directly rather than publishing a flat rate that wouldn't be accurate for most brands.

A management fee is what an agency charges to handle the coordination work around a campaign — sourcing, negotiation, contract management, deliverable tracking, and reporting — separate from what's paid to the creators themselves. It's the cost of not having to manage those relationships and moving parts internally.

It depends on your internal capacity and how many creator relationships you're managing. If you're running a single small campaign with one or two creators, doing it directly can make sense. Once a campaign involves multiple creators, negotiation, contracts, and reporting, the coordination overhead grows quickly — that's the point where an agency's management typically pays for itself in time saved and fewer execution mistakes.

Look for clarity on process (can they explain exactly how a campaign runs, step by step), transparency on pricing structure, and how they select creators — audience fit versus follower count is a good indicator of whether an agency understands the actual mechanics of a good campaign. Be cautious of agencies that can't explain their sourcing method beyond "we have a big network."

A platform is typically a self-serve tool where you search a creator database and manage outreach and payment yourself. An agency like AUFSTRO does that sourcing and negotiation work for you, and also manages the relationship, contracts, deliverables, and reporting around it — closer to having a dedicated team than having access to a database.

Through a combination of an existing creator network, active outreach, and vetting based on audience data — not just searching by follower count or hashtag. At AUFSTRO, we source from a network of 200+ creators across nano, micro, macro, and mega tiers, then filter specifically for audience overlap with the brand's target customer before anyone is shortlisted.

Yes, this is typically core to what an agency manages. AUFSTRO issues contracts to every creator involved in a campaign, covering deliverables, timelines, usage rights, and payment terms, so both the brand and the creator have clear, documented expectations.

Most AUFSTRO campaigns run 2–3 weeks from creator sourcing through content going live, though this varies with campaign scope — more creators, more platforms, or more complex deliverables extend the timeline. We give a realistic estimate once the campaign scope is finalized rather than a generic figure upfront.