A brief on Monday, a shortlist by Wednesday
A skincare client wants a TikTok and Instagram campaign aimed at a particular age group in the UK, with mid-tier creators, a clean content style and no creators who worked with a named competitor in the last year. Your account manager needs a shortlist with rates and audience data by Wednesday.
They open last quarter's campaign spreadsheets, scroll through the team's shared "creators" sheet that stopped being updated months ago, search the platforms, and message colleagues to ask who worked well on the haircare campaign. A creator the agency used successfully a year ago is forgotten because their details were in someone else's tracker. Another is suggested who, it turns out, fell out with the agency over payment terms.
Why shortlisting starts from zero every time
The agency knows a lot about creators. The knowledge just is not kept anywhere searchable.
- Creator details are spread across campaign spreadsheets, inboxes and DMs.
- Notes on reliability, content quality and past issues live in people's heads.
- Rates and audience data are from different dates and nobody knows how current they are.
- Competitor work and exclusivity periods are not recorded against the creator.
- Each account manager keeps their own favourites list.
What rebuilding shortlists costs
Account managers spend days on each shortlist, which is time not spent on strategy or the client. Proposals go out later than competitors'. Good creators from past campaigns are not rebooked, while creators with known problems are suggested again. And when a client asks why a creator was chosen, the answer is often "we liked their content", rather than evidence from your own campaigns.
There is a risk side too. A creator who posted something a client would find unacceptable, or who missed deadlines on your last campaign, can end up on a shortlist because the person building it did not know. The knowledge was in the agency; it just was not where the shortlist was made.
And when an account manager leaves, their spreadsheet of trusted creators and their notes on managers leave with them.
A creator database built from your own work
- We gather your existing creator records from campaign spreadsheets, contracts and reports into one database, matching duplicates by handle across platforms.
- Each creator has profiles for the platforms they use, niche and content style tags, contact route (direct or manager), and rate history.
- Audience data the creator has shared with you, with its date, is attached, so you know how current it is.
- Past campaigns with the agency are linked: deliverables, results you recorded, and notes from the account manager on reliability and working style.
- Brand work and exclusivity periods are recorded, so competitor conflicts show up when filtering.
- For a new brief, the account manager filters by platform, niche, audience, rate range and conflicts, and the database suggests a longlist with reasons.
- The shortlist is exported in the client-facing format you use, with the fields the client expects.
| Filter | Comes from | How current |
|---|---|---|
| Audience age and location | Creator's shared insights | Date shown on record |
| Rate range | Rate history from past campaigns | Most recent quote shown |
| Competitor conflicts | Contracts and brand work records | Updated when contracts are logged |
| Past performance | Your campaign reports | Per campaign |
| Reliability notes | Account manager notes | Dated |
Shortlisting from what you already know
The skincare brief comes in. The account manager filters for UK audience, the age group, the niche and mid-tier, excluding anyone with the competitor in the last year. A longlist appears, including the creator from the haircare campaign whose results were strong. They add a few new names from platform searches, which are added to the database for next time. The shortlist goes to the client on Tuesday, with the evidence behind each choice.
Is this how your agency shortlists?
- Every shortlist starts with scrolling old spreadsheets.
- Good creators from past campaigns are forgotten.
- Competitor conflicts are found late.
- Rates and audience data are of unknown age.
- Each account manager keeps their own creator list.