NewGen vs Shane Barker

clock Jan 06,2026

Why brands look at different influencer agencies

When you start searching for influencer help, you quickly run into names like NewGen and Shane Barker’s consultancy. Both promise growth through creators, but in very different ways. You’re usually trying to figure out who will actually move the needle for your brand without wasting months or budget.

This kind of choice often comes down to fit. You want someone who understands your industry, matches your pace, and can work within your budget, not just a flashy list of creators.

Table of Contents

What each agency is known for

Both NewGen and the Shane Barker team live in the same broad world: creator campaigns for brands that want attention and sales. But they tend to show up differently online and in client stories.

NewGen is usually talked about as a younger, trend-driven outfit. You’ll see language around fresh content, social-native storytelling, and leaning hard into platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Shane Barker’s brand is more tied to his personal reputation. He’s seen as a seasoned voice in digital marketing, mixing influencer work with broader digital strategy, content, and search visibility.

If you’re comparing them, you’re really weighing a more agency-style, culture-focused team against a consultancy built around one expert and his network.

Influencer marketing agency overview

The primary theme here is the influencer marketing agency choice brands face. That choice isn’t only about which names appear on a roster. It’s about how much guidance you want, what results you expect, and how closely you want to work with the people running your campaigns.

Most influencer agencies today promise four broad outcomes: attention, content, trust, and sales. The difference is in how they chase those outcomes and the kind of support they give along the way.

Inside NewGen’s style and services

NewGen typically positions itself as modern, fast moving, and plugged into current culture. Think creator trends, short video, and social-native storytelling across platforms where your customers already scroll.

Core services you can expect

While each proposal is custom, NewGen-style agencies usually offer a familiar menu of services around creators and campaigns.

  • Influencer discovery and vetting across social platforms
  • Campaign planning and creative direction
  • Outreach, negotiation, and contract management
  • Content calendar planning and posting support
  • Usage rights guidance for repurposing creator content
  • Reporting on reach, engagement, and basic performance

They often lean into visual-first platforms where trends move quickly, such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, or emerging spaces that favor short, shareable clips.

How NewGen tends to run campaigns

Campaigns from a group like this are usually built around themes, trends, or hooks designed to feel native to each platform. The focus is less on rigid scripts and more on creator-led storytelling.

Instead of making creators read your talking points line by line, they may give loose guardrails and let each creator put their own spin on your product. That often creates more natural content and better engagement.

Creator relationships and network style

NewGen is likely to work with a mix of micro and mid-sized influencers who understand their audience deeply. Many will be niche creators with loyal followings rather than only huge celebrity names.

The agency’s value here is in knowing which creators deliver, who actually posts on time, and who can handle more creative freedom without going off brand.

Typical client fit for NewGen

This kind of agency tends to be a good match if you are:

  • A consumer brand targeting Gen Z or younger millennials
  • In beauty, fashion, lifestyle, gaming, or direct-to-consumer products
  • Comfortable with bold, looser creative that feels like native content
  • Looking for bursts of social buzz around launches or seasonal moments

It can also fit if you have an in-house marketing team but need a specialized partner to handle talent scouting and campaign logistics.

Inside Shane Barker’s style and services

On the other side you have the consultancy led by Shane Barker, built more around one expert voice and a small, close-knit team. The focus stretches beyond just influencers to broader digital growth.

Services focused on bigger-picture marketing

While creator campaigns are a key part, this group is more likely to pair them with other marketing support. That can be helpful if you want a clearer line from content to revenue.

  • Influencer strategy and campaign management
  • Content and SEO planning around your brand themes
  • Conversion-focused landing pages or funnels tied to campaigns
  • Support with tracking, analytics, and performance review
  • Consulting sessions on overall digital marketing direction

The tone is usually more advisory. You’re not just buying execution; you’re buying judgment, experience, and ongoing guidance.

How campaigns tend to be structured

Campaigns run through this kind of consultancy often start with your broader goals. They may look at your current traffic, email, and content before suggesting how influencers can fit in.

The work can feel more like a partnership with your leadership team. You’ll probably talk about lifetime value, repeat purchases, and brand search growth, not only likes and views.

Creator relationships and sourcing

Because this setup is more advisory, creator sourcing may draw from a flexible network rather than a fixed “roster.” That can be useful if you care less about specific names and more about matching the right audience and message.

The upside is a more tailored search process. The tradeoff is that it may take a bit more time to shape the ideal lineup, especially if your niche is narrow.

Typical client fit for the consultancy

Shane Barker’s brand often appeals to teams who want depth over volume, such as:

  • B2B and SaaS brands that still want influencer support
  • Ecommerce brands focused on lifetime value, not one-off spikes
  • Marketers who want a sounding board for bigger digital decisions
  • Founders who want direct access to a known expert, not just an account manager

If you’ve tried influencers before and weren’t sure what worked, you may lean toward this style of engagement.

How their approaches really differ

On the surface, both options help with creators. Under the hood, their paths to results can feel very different when you’re the client paying the bills.

Style of collaboration with your team

NewGen-style groups usually operate as a production partner. You brief them, they shape a concept, handle creators, and bring campaign ideas back for approval.

The consultancy built around Shane tends to feel more like a strategic advisor. You might spend more time in working sessions, adjusting direction as performance comes in.

Focus: buzz versus broader growth

Agencies anchored in youth culture often shine at short-term attention: launches, product drops, social moments, and viral content attempts.

The consultancy may be more focused on weaving influencers into the long-term machine: content libraries, search visibility, email growth, and repeat buyers.

Scale and volume of creator work

A social-first agency can usually spin up large batches of creators for a big push, especially if they’re used to fast-moving consumer campaigns.

The expert-led consultancy often prioritizes fewer relationships but with deeper integration into your sales and tracking setup. You trade volume for precision and learning.

Communication and reporting feel

Expect more structured reporting and campaign decks from an agency that runs many concurrent campaigns. They’ll have set formats for performance summaries.

The consultancy’s updates may feel more like detailed conversations about what the numbers mean, and how to adjust creative, offers, or funnel steps to improve.

Pricing approach and how work is scoped

Influencer agencies and consultancies rarely post fixed numbers because budgets depend on your goals, niche, and creator pool. Both options almost always work on custom quotes.

Common ways agencies charge

NewGen-type agencies often structure deals in a few main ways:

  • Project-based fees for specific campaigns or launches
  • Monthly retainers covering ongoing influencer activity
  • Budget ranges that bundle creator fees and management

Your total cost is usually a mix of what creators are paid and what the agency charges to plan, manage, and report on everything.

How the consultancy may price work

The Shane Barker team is more likely to blend advisory and execution in their pricing. That might include:

  • Retainer fees for strategy, calls, and ongoing support
  • Separate budgets for creator payments and content
  • Occasional one-off sessions for brands that want advice only

This structure can work better if you prefer continuous help rather than isolated bursts of activity.

Main factors that influence your budget

No matter who you choose, a few things will always move the price up or down:

  • Number of creators and their audience size
  • How many posts, videos, or stories you want
  • Whether you want paid usage rights for ads and whitelisting
  • How tightly you want content controlled versus creator freedom
  • Your industry and how competitive it is for creators

*Many brands underestimate how much usage rights and revisions can add to the final cost.* Clear scopes and expectations help keep surprises down.

Key strengths and possible limitations

Every partner comes with tradeoffs. The goal is not perfection, but a mix of strengths that matches what you actually need this year.

Where NewGen-style agencies shine

  • Strong sense of culture and trends on youth-heavy platforms
  • Experience handling multiple creators at once for big pushes
  • Systems for creator outreach, contracting, and coordination
  • Ability to generate lots of content your brand can reuse

Potential limitations include a heavier focus on top-of-funnel buzz and less emphasis on deep analytics or your long-term content and search plan.

Where the Shane Barker consultancy stands out

  • Blending influencer work with content, SEO, and conversion focus
  • Access to a clear, named expert for guidance
  • More space to tailor strategy around complex offers or funnels
  • Better fit for brands that want education alongside execution

Limitations can include less emphasis on massive creator volume and a slower ramp-up if you need a huge social wave immediately.

Common concerns brands mention

*A frequent worry is getting lots of “nice-looking” creator content that doesn’t turn into trackable revenue or repeat customers.* That can happen with any partner if measurement and follow-up offers are ignored.

To avoid that, push both sides to connect campaign ideas to specific actions: signups, trials, purchases, or at least warm leads.

Who each option is best for

Instead of asking which name is “better,” it’s more useful to ask which one matches your stage, goals, and comfort with risk.

When a NewGen-style agency is likely the right fit

  • You want to make a splash on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube.
  • Your product is visual and impulse-friendly, like beauty or fashion.
  • You’re launching something new and want fast awareness.
  • You prefer a strong done-for-you partner handling creator wrangling.

This path is also attractive if your team is younger, social savvy, and excited by experimentation, but too busy to manage the influencer side in-house.

When the Shane Barker consultancy may be better

  • You care about tying influencer work to search, content, and funnels.
  • Your sales cycle is longer, or your product is higher ticket.
  • You want advice from someone who has seen many different industries.
  • You expect deep conversations about strategy, not just execution.

If your leadership team wants more explanation and education along the way, this style of engagement tends to feel safer and more grounded.

When a platform like Flinque may fit better

Sometimes neither a trend-driven agency nor a heavyweight consultancy is quite right. You may already have a strong internal team and just need better tools.

In that case, a platform like Flinque can be useful. It lets you discover creators, manage outreach, and track campaigns, but without committing to full service retainers.

This option makes sense if you:

  • Have staff who can handle day-to-day work with creators
  • Want direct control over who you work with and how
  • Prefer spending more of the budget on talent, not agency fees
  • Need to test influencer marketing at smaller budgets first

You trade off expert hand-holding in exchange for flexibility, data access, and lower ongoing costs, assuming your team has time to manage the details.

FAQs

How do I know if I’m ready for an influencer agency?

You’re ready when you have a clear product, an audience in mind, and budget you can afford to test. If your brand story is still fuzzy, focus on sharpening that before bringing in outside partners.

Should I pick an agency just based on creator lists?

No. Creator rosters change constantly, and most good partners can find new talent. Focus on process, reporting, and how they think about your goals, not only on the names shown in pitch decks.

How long does it take to see results from influencer work?

Expect at least one to three months for setup, outreach, and first campaigns. Real learning usually comes after a few cycles of testing, refining messages, and reusing the best content in ads or emails.

Can smaller brands work with these kinds of agencies?

Yes, but smaller brands often start with narrower scopes, fewer creators, or shorter projects. Be honest about your budget and ask which engagement models fit brands at your stage.

What should I ask before signing with any agency?

Ask how they pick creators, measure success, handle contracts, and manage changes if performance is weak. Request examples of past work with goals similar to yours, not just high-level success stories.

Finding the right fit for your brand

Choosing between NewGen, Shane Barker’s consultancy, or a platform option is really about your working style, budget, and timeline. There is no single winner that fits everyone.

If you want splashy social content fast, a culture-driven agency may be ideal. If you care about stitching creators into your entire marketing engine, an expert-led consultancy can be better.

And if your team has the time and skills, running campaigns yourself through a platform can keep costs down while you learn. Start from your goals, your appetite for involvement, and how you want success to be measured.

Disclaimer

All information on this page is collected from publicly available sources, third party search engines, AI powered tools and general online research. We do not claim ownership of any external data and accuracy may vary. This content is for informational purposes only.

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