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Agency comparison · Updated August 13, 2026

HireInfluence vs IMA: Which to Pick

Two full-service influencer agencies that both run campaigns for household names. One is an independent American shop that sells closeness. The other is a European agency inside a large holding group that sells reach. Scale against attention.

Short answer: pick HireInfluence if you want a hands-on US agency with senior people close to the work. Pick IMA if you want a global agency with the resources of a large group. Or pick Flinque if you would rather find and vet creators yourself at a flat price you can start free.
See Flinque pricing
4.9/5 across 2,000+ reviews10M+ verified creatorsUsed by Vodafone, Hyatt and Abbott
The 5-second answer

Which one is right for you

Three buyers, three picks. Find the column that sounds like your team.

Choose HireInfluence if

  • You want senior people staying close to the work
  • Your campaign is US-led across TikTok and Instagram
  • You want an independent agency, not a group division

Choose IMA if

  • You want genuinely global campaign reach
  • You want the resources of a large production group
  • You are a fashion or consumer brand working internationally
Free, no card

Choose Flinque if

  • You want to find and vet creators yourself with no sales call
  • You want flat published pricing you can start free
  • You want to run discovery in-house, not hire an agency
Side by side

HireInfluence vs IMA vs Flinque

Fourteen factors across all three, from service model to ownership. Flinque is the flat-price software option on the right.

FactorHireInfluenceIMABest valueFlinque
Best forUS brands wanting hands-on serviceGlobal consumer brands wanting scaleTeams running discovery in-house
TypeFull-service, white-gloveFull-service global agencySelf-serve software
HeadquartersLos Angeles, CaliforniaAmsterdam, NetherlandsRemote, serving 25+ countries
OwnershipIndependentInside Monks, formerly S4 CapitalIndependent
OfficesLA, New York and AustinAmsterdam and globalRemote, 25+ countries
Service modelHands-on, senior-ledGroup-scale deliveryYou drive the software
Platform leanTikTok, Instagram and YouTubeGlobal, not a fixed set4 platforms
Reported clientsHonda, McDonald's and the NFLDiesel, Tommy Hilfiger and NiveaSelf-serve, no client gate
ReachUS-centredInternational25+ countries
Creator poolAgency relationshipsAgency relationships10M+ verified creators
Published pricingNoneNoneFree $0, Starter $49, Enterprise $150
Self-serve searchNoNoYes
Free tierNoNoYes, no card
Data per creatorNot publishedNot published200 data points reported

How we compared: Engagement models and minimums come from each agency's own site and public reporting and client reviews, cross-checked and dated June 2026. Where an agency hides its pricing we say undisclosed rather than guess a number. The verdicts are ours, not the agencies'.

The detail

What each agency actually does

What is HireInfluence

Los AngelesWhite-gloveUS officesNamed clients

HireInfluence sells attention, in the service sense. It is a full-service agency working from Los Angeles with offices in New York and Austin, founded originally in Houston. Its calling card is white-glove delivery across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. White-glove is a claim about how close senior people stay to the work rather than about capability, so the honest test is who is on your account in month six, not who pitches it. Ask that plainly and get the answer in writing.

Reported clients include Honda, McDonald's, MTV, the NFL and Adidas, a spread of large American brands whose approvals and brand governance are demanding. An agency used to that scale has systems for it, which saves time on a big campaign. The flip side is the floor: machinery built for Honda rarely flexes down cheaply, so a smaller brand should ask directly what a proportionate engagement costs before assuming the service model suits its budget.

What HireInfluence does well

  • Hands-on service with senior people close
  • Offices in three named US cities you can verify
  • Reported clients are major American brands
  • Independent rather than a group division

Where it falls short

  • Built for large brands, so the floor is likely high
  • White-glove is a service claim that needs testing
  • US-centred rather than genuinely global
  • No published pricing and no self-serve search

What is IMA

AmsterdamInside MonksGlobalGroup scale

IMA answers the same brief from the opposite direction: scale rather than closeness. The Influencer Marketing Agency runs global campaigns from Amsterdam and sits inside Monks, the group S4 Capital built after absorbing it into MediaMonks in 2019 and rebranding to Monks in 2024. That ownership is the defining fact, because it means production capacity and international reach a standalone shop cannot fund, at the cost of your account being one of many the group holds.

Reported clients include Diesel, Tommy Hilfiger, Nivea and Samsung, a coherent run of international consumer brands. One caution belongs on the page: published descriptions of IMA's creator network vary a great deal depending on the source, so treat any headcount figure you are quoted as a claim to verify rather than a specification. What the group genuinely buys you is the ability to run a campaign in several markets at once, which is exactly what HireInfluence, for all its polish, is not built to do.

What IMA does well

  • Genuinely global campaign reach
  • Group production capacity behind it
  • Reported clients are international consumer brands
  • Amsterdam base suits European and global work

Where it falls short

  • Inside a group, so your account ranks against others
  • Published network-size figures are inconsistent
  • Less hands-on than an independent white-glove shop
  • No published pricing and no self-serve search

HireInfluence vs IMA head to head

This is a genuine choice rather than a mismatch, because both run big-brand influencer campaigns competently. The axis is scale against attention. HireInfluence keeps senior people close and works US-first, which suits a brand that wants to feel looked after and runs mainly in one market. IMA brings group resources and international reach, which suits a brand running several markets at once and willing to be one account among many to get that. Decide which you value more before the pitches blur the difference.

Both keep the creator pool behind a managed relationship and neither publishes pricing, so what you can verify in advance is limited. Flinque is the opposite on that point: 10M+ verified creators across 4 platforms, each with a fake-follower score and 200 reported data points, at $0 to start and $49 a month after, with the limits published rather than quoted.

By scenario

Which should you actually pick

Forget the pitch decks for a second. Match the partner to the situation you are in.

You want to feel looked after

Senior people close to the work and a US-first campaign. That is what white-glove service is meant to deliver, so test who stays on the account.

→ Pick HireInfluence

You are running several markets

International reach with production capacity behind it. That is what sitting inside Monks actually buys you.

→ Pick IMA

You just want the creators

No white-glove markup, no group overhead. Flinque indexes 10M+ verified creators with a fake-follower score on each, free to start with no card.

→ Pick Flinque

You want to verify before committing

Both quote against a scope and publish little. Flinque reports 200 data points per creator so a shortlist rests on data, not a pitch.

→ Start with Flinque
A third option

Flinque: verified discovery at a flat price

If both feel like too much retainer and too little control, Flinque does one job and does it well. Find and vet real creators yourself, fast, then run the campaign in-house. No pitch deck, no monthly retainer, no discovery call to learn the price.

  • 10M+ verified creators
  • 4 platforms: IG, YouTube, TikTok, X
  • 200 data points per creator
  • 12 search filters
  • Fake-follower check on every profile
  • Free, $49, $150, published
Watch

See Flinque in action

Short walkthroughs on pricing, discovery and vetting from the Flinque team.

Influencer Discovery Platforms That We Made Easy and Affordable

Find Influencers for $49 a Month: Flinque vs Modash and HypeAuditor (2026)

FAQs

Common questions about HireInfluence and IMA

What is the difference between HireInfluence and IMA?
HireInfluence is an independent US white-glove influencer agency working from Los Angeles with offices in New York and Austin, running big-brand campaigns on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. IMA is an Amsterdam agency inside Monks running global campaigns. One sells hands-on closeness. The other sells scale and international reach.
Which suits a global campaign?
IMA, on both ownership and reach. Sitting inside Monks gives it production capacity and the ability to run several markets at once, with reported clients that are international consumer names. HireInfluence is US-centred, so a genuinely global brief would stretch it beyond the market its service model is built around.
What does white-glove mean for HireInfluence?
That senior people stay involved after the pitch rather than handing the work to juniors. It is a claim about attention rather than skill. It is also easy to assert. The practical test is asking who attends the weekly call in month six and getting that written into the engagement rather than promised in a meeting.
Who owns IMA?
S4 Capital absorbed it into MediaMonks in 2019. That group rebranded to Monks in 2024. The IMA name survived the deal and it still trades under it inside the group. What changes is that resourcing sits at group level, so ask which people are committed to your account and what happens when a bigger client in the group needs the same team.
Can I trust IMA's network-size figures?
Treat them carefully. How large IMA's creator network is depends entirely on which source you read. The numbers do not agree. Ask for the current number in writing and what counts as being in the network, since definitions differ more than the raw counts do.
Which is better for a smaller brand?
Probably neither without care, since both are built for large brands and quote against a scope. HireInfluence's white-glove model and IMA's group overhead both tend to carry a high floor. A smaller brand should ask each directly what a proportionate engagement looks like before assuming the service fits its budget.
How much do they cost?
Neither publishes pricing and both quote against a scope. A group-owned agency and a white-glove independent both tend toward higher rate cards, for different reasons. Bring the same brief to both so the comparison is about the work rather than the service model or the corporate structure.
Is there a software alternative to both?
Yes. Flinque is self-serve software covering discovery and vetting, indexing 10M+ verified creators across 4 platforms with 200 data points per creator reported on each profile. There is no demo and no annual lock-in. The Free Plan is $0, Starter is $49 a month and Enterprise is $150.

Written & reviewed by Flinque Research Team

Influencer Marketing Research · View team →

Our research team specialises in influencer marketing strategy, creator analytics and platform comparisons. Details on this page were verified against agency sites, public reporting and client review platforms in June 2026.

Disclaimer: Information here is collected from publicly available sources, third-party review sites and vendor pages. Pricing and features change, so confirm current details with each provider before buying. This content is for informational purposes only.

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