The Goat Agency vs SmartSites

Why brands weigh up influencer marketing partners

When you start hunting for an influencer marketing partner, you usually want two things: real sales impact and less stress. That’s why many brands end up comparing The Goat Agency vs SmartSites and trying to work out which one fits their goals.

Both work with social media creators, but they come from slightly different backgrounds and strengths. Choosing between them often comes down to your growth plans, how you like to work, and how much you want to handle in-house.

In this overview, we’ll look at each agency in plain language, using the primary phrase influencer marketing agency choice to frame what matters most when you decide who to hire.

What each agency is known for

Before diving into the details, it helps to understand the reputations and core strengths each team has built over time. That context makes it easier to see where you’ll feel most at home.

What Goat is mainly known for

The Goat Agency is widely associated with social-first influencer campaigns. They focus heavily on creators across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch, often working with consumer brands that want reach and measurable sales.

They tend to present themselves as performance driven rather than just “awareness” focused. You’ll often see case studies that spotlight conversions, sign-ups, and tracked revenue from influencer content.

What SmartSites is mainly known for

SmartSites is better known as a digital marketing agency that covers multiple channels. Influencers can be part of the mix, but their core reputation sits in web design, SEO, and paid media.

For many brands, they act as a broad marketing partner. That can include creators, but also search campaigns, social ads, and conversion focused website builds.

Inside Goat’s approach to influencers

If you’re leaning heavily into creators as your main growth lever, Goat’s structure and culture are built around that space. Here’s how they typically work with brands.

Services focused on social and creators

Goat’s services strongly center on social media and influencers across the full campaign cycle. Common support areas include:

Influencer strategy, concepts, and channel planning
Creator discovery, outreach, and negotiation
Campaign management and coordination
Content approvals and brand safety checks
Reporting on reach, clicks, and tracked sales

They often handle everything from creative direction to final performance reports, which is useful if your team is lean.

How Goat typically runs campaigns

Campaigns often start with clear performance goals. That might mean driving app installs, online sales, sign-ups, or event interest. They then design creator content and posting schedules around those targets.

You’ll usually see a strong emphasis on tracking links, promo codes, and attribution tools. That helps connect influencer activity with real business outcomes instead of only surface-level engagement.

Creator relationships and network

Because Goat focuses so hard on the influencer space, it has relationships with a wide range of creators. That includes micro influencers through to large personalities across many niches.

For brands, this can speed up casting. Rather than starting outreach from zero, the agency can tap into existing contacts and data on who has performed well for similar campaigns.

Typical client fit for Goat

Goat tends to be a good fit for brands that already see social as a main growth driver or want to quickly test it in a serious way. Common fits include:

Consumer brands in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle
Apps, gaming, and tech tools needing user growth
Direct-to-consumer products looking for trackable sales
Brands that want influencer work tied closely to performance

Inside SmartSites and its services

SmartSites, on the other hand, grew up in a broader digital marketing world. They can support influencers, but usually as one piece of a bigger online presence.

Services across digital marketing

While offerings can evolve, SmartSites has been known for services like:

Website design and development
Search engine optimization
Google Ads and other paid search campaigns
Social media advertising and remarketing
Landing page optimization and analytics

Influencer work often connects with these channels rather than standing alone. Think creator content that fuels ad campaigns or funnels people to high-converting pages.

How SmartSites usually runs campaigns

Because they manage multiple channels, SmartSites typically starts by looking at your full online funnel. That includes traffic sources, website performance, and where leads or sales fall off.

Influencers, if used, are then plugged into this wider plan. For example, creators send traffic to a new landing page while search and paid ads retarget those same visitors.

Creator relationships and approach

SmartSites does not position itself only as an influencer specialist. So, creator relationships may be more situational and shaped around your specific needs and niche.

This can work well if you want influencers aligned with your broader content and advertising plans, rather than a standalone social push.

Typical client fit for SmartSites

SmartSites often fits brands that want a single partner for their online presence rather than separate agencies for each channel. Good fits can include:

Businesses needing a stronger website and search presence
Local or service-based brands wanting more leads
Ecommerce stores needing both traffic and site optimization
Teams that prefer a multi-channel marketing setup

How these agencies really differ

Even though both can touch influencer marketing, they come at it from different angles. That shapes your day-to-day experience as a client.

Channel focus and depth

Goat lives almost entirely in the world of social creators, organic content, and performance tracking tied to influencer activity. The depth is in casting, content, and campaign optimization.

SmartSites spreads its focus across many channels. That means less specialization in influencer culture, but a wider view of how creators feed into search, ads, and your website.

Creative style and content tone

If you want creator content that feels very native to TikTok or YouTube culture, a specialist agency like Goat often leans into that style naturally. Their team spends much of their time watching trends.

With SmartSites, creative may feel more aligned with your existing brand assets, email campaigns, and site messaging. That can be an advantage if you want high consistency across channels.

Reporting and what gets measured

Goat’s reports usually double down on influencer metrics: reach, impressions, clicks, code redemptions, and revenue driven. The lens is “did creators move the needle?”

SmartSites tends to look at your full funnel. Influencer traffic becomes one of several sources they track alongside search, ads, and referrals to measure total growth.

Client experience and collaboration style

On Goat’s side, you may interact most with a team focused on social platforms and creators, often moving at the pace of fast-changing trends.

With SmartSites, you’re more likely to work across different specialists such as SEO, paid media, and design, with influencers woven into that bigger mix.

Pricing approach and how work usually runs

Both agencies are service businesses, so pricing is usually customized. Still, there are common patterns in how costs are structured and how engagements feel over time.

How Goat often prices influencer work

For Goat, budgets are closely tied to creator fees and campaign management. Expect pricing discussions around things like:

Number and size of creators per campaign
Content formats and platforms used
Campaign length and posting frequency
Regions and languages to be covered
Strategy, project management, and reporting time

You might see a mix of campaign-based quotes and ongoing retainers if you want always-on influencer activity.

How SmartSites often prices its services

SmartSites commonly structures pricing around channel management, project scope, and media budgets. Influencer costs, if included, become one more lever in that overall plan.

Factors often include website build complexity, SEO scope, paid media spend, and ongoing optimization. Creator fees get blended into this if they’re part of the plan.

What affects total cost with either agency

Regardless of which team you hire, a few factors usually push budgets up or down:

How ambitious your growth goals are
How many markets or languages you want to reach
Whether you want one-off bursts or ongoing work
Your need for strategy versus just execution
How many internal resources you can contribute

Neither is a “fixed plan” type of service. Expect a discovery call, then a tailored quote.

Strengths and limitations to keep in mind

No agency is perfect for every brand. Understanding where each one shines and where it might not be ideal can save you frustration later.

Where Goat tends to shine

Deep understanding of social platforms and creator culture
Strong focus on performance and measurable results
Large creator networks for faster casting and testing
Experience with consumer brands and fast-moving categories

A common concern is whether influencer spend will actually turn into sales rather than just likes and views. Goat’s performance focus aims to address that through tracking and optimization.

Possible limitations with Goat

Influencer-first lens may be less suited if you need heavy SEO or web work
Budgets can climb quickly with big-name creators
Not always ideal for brands that want slow, steady offline growth

For teams needing a single agency to handle every marketing channel, a specialist can feel too narrow.

Where SmartSites tends to shine

Holistic view of your website, search, and paid media
Ability to tie creator traffic into a stronger site funnel
Useful for brands needing both design and marketing help
Better suited when you want one partner across channels

This broader setup can be powerful if your main weakness is a poor site experience, not just limited reach.

Possible limitations with SmartSites

Less narrowly focused on influencer culture than a pure specialist
Creator campaigns may not go as deep as a dedicated influencer shop
Can feel more like a general digital partner than a social-first team

If your brand lives and dies on TikTok trends, you may want extra depth in the creator space beyond a broad agency model.

Who each agency is best suited for

Looking at your own situation honestly is often the easiest way to pick between these two routes.

When Goat is usually the better fit

You want influencers to be a main growth engine, not a side test.
Your audience spends heavy time on social platforms.
You care deeply about performance metrics from creator campaigns.
You already have a decent website and other basics in place.

If your team is ready to commit real budget to creators, a specialist partner can help you avoid common mistakes and wasted spend.

When SmartSites is usually the better fit

You need a better website and stronger search presence.
You want one team to handle multiple digital channels.
Influencers are a piece of the puzzle, not the whole thing.
You prefer connecting creator traffic to a wider ad and SEO plan.

For many small and mid-sized businesses, that integrated approach can feel simpler than juggling separate agencies.

When a platform alternative may work better

Some brands don’t actually need a full-service agency at all. They just need better tools and some structure to manage creators themselves.

This is where a platform like Flinque can be worth considering. It lets you discover influencers, manage outreach, and run campaigns without signing a large retainer.

You stay in control of creator relationships while using software to track content, approvals, and performance. That can be attractive if you have an internal marketer ready to lead the work.

A platform route often makes sense when:

Your budget is tighter and you’d rather invest more in creator fees.
You want to build long-term, direct relationships with influencers.
You’re comfortable handling strategy and day-to-day coordination.
You prefer flexibility over fixed agency scopes.

If you choose this path, be honest about your team’s time and skills. Tools help, but someone still needs to own creator strategy and execution.

FAQs

Is it better to pick a specialist influencer agency or a full-service team?

It depends on your main bottleneck. If you already have a strong website and ads but need better creator performance, a specialist makes sense. If your whole online presence needs work, a full-service agency can be more practical.

Can I work with both an influencer agency and another digital agency?

Yes, many brands do. The key is clear ownership. Decide who leads creator strategy, who controls budgets, and how results are reported, so you don’t end up with duplicated work or mixed messages.

How long should I test influencer marketing before judging results?

Plan for at least three to six months of consistent activity. That gives you time to test different creators, platforms, and content angles, and to optimize based on early learnings rather than a single campaign.

Do I need a big budget to work with reputable agencies?

You don’t need celebrity-level budgets, but serious agencies usually expect enough spend to test multiple creators and formats properly. If funds are tight, a platform-based approach or in-house testing might be more realistic.

What should I ask on my first call with an influencer agency?

Ask how they pick creators, how they measure success, what a typical timeline looks like, and what they’ll need from your team. Request relevant case studies and clarify how communication and approvals will be handled.

Conclusion

Choosing the right partner comes down to how central creators are to your growth and how much support you need beyond influencers. A specialist agency suits brands that want social and creator work at the heart of their marketing.

A broader digital partner works better if your website, search, and ads also need serious attention. For some teams, a platform gives enough structure to keep influencer work in-house and flexible.

Start by mapping your goals, honest budget, and internal bandwidth. Then speak openly with each option about expectations, timelines, and how success will be measured. The best fit is the one that matches your stage, not just your ambitions.

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.