The big name
Lifestyle profile, 500,000 followers
- Cost of the story
- €2,000
- Reach
- 50,000 views
- CPM on paper
- €40
Of which in your audience
- 15% of views
- 7,500 parents
You pay for the rest too
Real CPM in your audience€267
Comparison
Ad Specialist vs. a Traditional Influencer Agency
Many agencies sell individual campaigns, booked on reach and intuition. We build a channel where each booking builds on the last and is measured against your target CAC. Here's the difference.
The comparisonat a glance
This page describes an agency model, not individual competitors. Good agencies exist in every category. What matters is the goal they work towards.
Kriterium
Goal
Creator selection
Creator size
Campaign approach
Reporting
Way of working
Paid amplification
Exclusivity
When the fit isn't right
Ad Specialist
New customers at a target CAC, month after month
Selected using conversion data from over 20,000 campaigns
Creators whose community is your target audience
Three phases: potential analysis, testing roadmap, scaling
Revenue, CAC, ROI and CLV per placement in IDA
Proactive: a recommendation backed by numbers before you ask
Creator content distributed as partnership ads on Meta
One brand per category
Negative potential analysis: we stop, with no retainer
Traditional influencer agency
Reach and content for individual campaigns
By follower count, aesthetics or the agency roster
Big names with broad, unfocused reach
One-off campaigns that don't build on each other
Reach, views, engagement, comment screenshots
Reactive: you ask, they book
Separate, manual process
Arrangements vary
The campaign still goes ahead
Three lines that shouldset off alarm bells
We hear them in almost every first call about previous agencies. Whoever says them is selling you reach, not new customers.
“Influencer marketing is a branding channel”
Translation: we can't measure performance. Yet every creator gets their own code and UTM link, and sales flow from the store into the dashboard every day.
“We'll get you the really big names on board”
Big profiles reach broadly. You pay for all of that reach, but only the share that matches your audience can buy. The maths is right below this section.
“Attribution for creators is simply impossible”
Codes per creator, UTM links, QR codes on YouTube and tests that switch creators on and off show exactly what a single placement really delivers.
The real mathsReach vs. audience
A product for parents, booked with a lifestyle profile with 500,000 followers. The price per thousand views looks cheap. What matters is what a contact in your audience costs.
Niche creators
Baby brand: 40 micro creators, all new mothers
- Cost per campaign
- €1,000 to €3,000
- Effective CPM
- €23
Result
- Prices negotiated on a conservative reach forecast
- 0.25% conversion rate on new customers, not on traffic
- Over 70% new-customer share
- Cost per new customer 35% below Meta
Cost per new customer€21
Worked example and anonymised client case from the video above. What's possible for you is assessed upfront in the potential analysis.
Booking servicevs. performance partner
Many agencies have creator contacts, scouting tools and a clean booking process. That's infrastructure, not strategy. The difference doesn't show in the pitch, it shows day to day.
Booking service
Books by follower count, aesthetics and gut feeling
Reports reach, views and comment screenshots
Waits for your brief, then sends creator suggestions
Every campaign starts from scratch
Performance partner
Gives a data-based reason for every creator
Reports new customers, CAC and CLV per creator
Comes with numbers and a recommendation before you ask
Every campaign learns from the last
Don’t just ask usAsk our clients
How we build the channelIn six steps
We use the same approach for every brand scaling with us. After three to six months you have solid numbers on whether, and how far, the channel carries.
- Potential analysis
Audiences and verticals
We don't start with creators but with your most profitable customer segments. They define clear creator profiles.
- Potential analysis
Market and CPM forecast
Before any budget is spent, we calculate the CPM you can afford at your target CAC and how far each niche can scale.
- Testing roadmap
Structured tests
Several matching creators per vertical, measured cleanly. Whoever doesn't deliver is dropped.
- Testing roadmap
A brief with guardrails
Hook, pain point, personal experience, reason why, call to action. Clear guardrails, creative freedom within them.
- Testing roadmap
Tracking from day one
UTM links, codes, QR codes and post-purchase surveys work together. Results are measured, not estimated.
- Scaling
Scale what works
Budget, creator mix, formats, briefs and platforms are adjusted continuously. We only scale what has proven itself.
Six questionsfor your next agency
If an agency can't answer them, it's selling you reach. That goes for us too.
Why exactly this creator and not another one?
Every booking needs a reason based on conversion data from similar campaigns.
What was our creator CAC in the last quarter?
And how does that figure compare with what a new customer costs you on Meta?
Which types of creators converted the best?
Without that answer, the next test round is planned no better than the first.
Do the new customers we won buy a second time?
Repeat rate and CLV decide when a new customer from creators actually pays off.
What does the channel bring beyond the last click?
Many buy days later via Google or retargeting. Good tracking captures that too.
What happens to CAC if we double the budget?
An agency that can really scale has a clear and well-founded answer to that.
Ask us the six questions on a call
- 50 minutes
- Analysis & strategy
- Investment & outcomes
Book a call
300+ stores successfully scaled
by turning creators into a reliable acquisition channel
Results that matterBeyond reach
New customers, CAC and revenue from real client campaigns. From a single placement to a channel delivering a fifth of all new customers.
275,102 € revenue from a single placement
„Working with Ad Specialist has been a great decision for us. Few agencies combine such deep expertise with an ego-free approach to adapting strategies to the client. They are flexible, and their goal is always the greatest possible growth.“
Fabienne FreundMarketing Manager DACH, Upway
- 275,102 €Net revenue
- 2.5mViews
- 6.8xROAS
Umgesetzt auf
Upway liegt vorn.
Your questions answered
Set up properly, it's one of the most profitable new-customer channels. Every creator gets a code and UTM link, on YouTube we also measure QR code scans, and sales flow from the store into IDA every day. What doesn't run through a link or code, such as later purchases via Google, we factor into the forecast using benchmarks and tests.
Only if campaigns aren't predictably bringing in new customers, or you can't tell whether they are. Can you see revenue and CAC per creator? Does every campaign build on the last? If not, the potential analysis shows what's possible before budget is committed.
Whoever's community is your target audience. Often that means specialised micro and nano creators, because less reach goes to waste. We book big names when the numbers support it.
Not at the same time. We represent one brand per category, keeping creator relationships, prices and data exclusive.
There is no universal figure; we assess every case individually. A typical starting point is €5,000–€10,000 in monthly creator spend plus our retainer. We assess the potential before any budget goes to creators.
With IDA, our own analytics software. It combines codes, UTM links, store data and platform reports, breaking each placement down into CAC, ROI and CLV at creator level. That tells us who deserves more budget.
We stop there. You receive the findings — response rates, verticals and audiences — and an honest recommendation, even if it is not to build the channel yet. No retainer, no commitment.
No time for a call?Tell us a little about your business
Tell us what you sell, where you are today and what you want to achieve with creators. We will review your store and email you an initial assessment.
- No meeting required
- Initial assessment by email
- A reply within 24 hours