Viral Nation vs IMA

Why brands compare these influencer agencies

If you are weighing Viral Nation vs IMA, you are likely trying to choose the right partner to grow your brand through creators and social content.

Both are established influencer marketing agencies, but they work in different ways, serve different types of brands, and shine in different areas.

This overview focuses on influencer agency choice so you can see how each operates, what they deliver, and which one feels closer to how you like to work.

What each agency is known for

Both agencies focus on influencer work, but their reputations have grown around different strengths and client expectations.

This section stays high level so you can quickly understand where each name usually shows up in marketing conversations.

What Viral Nation is mainly recognized for

Viral Nation is widely associated with large social campaigns, creator talent management, and work on fast moving platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

They are often linked to high visibility brand activations, sports and gaming partnerships, and social-first content that travels quickly.

The agency also talks openly about data, performance tracking, and using technology alongside human teams to guide creator programs.

What IMA is mainly recognized for

IMA, sometimes known as IMA Agency or IMA Influencer Marketing Agency, is typically linked to lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and premium consumer brands.

The firm has a strong European footprint and is often chosen by brands that want visually polished storytelling and curated creator selections.

Many marketers see IMA as a partner for brand image, longer term relationships, and multi-market campaigns across Europe and beyond.

Viral Nation overview

Viral Nation is a global marketing company built heavily around social creators, online communities, and brand partnerships with high reach.

They combine an agency that manages campaigns with a talent arm that represents individual influencers and digital personalities.

Core services from Viral Nation

As a full service influencer partner, this agency typically offers end-to-end support for social driven programs.

• Influencer strategy and creative concepts for campaigns
• Creator sourcing, vetting, and outreach across platforms
• Contract negotiation and rights usage for content
• Campaign management and content approvals
• Paid media amplification on social channels
• Reporting, analytics, and performance insights
• Talent management for selected creators

The focus is usually on scale, speed, and performance, especially when brands want to reach younger or highly social audiences.

How Viral Nation tends to run campaigns

Campaigns often begin with a strong social concept, such as a hashtag idea, a content trend, or a partnership theme around a launch.

The agency then builds creator lists using a mix of existing talent relationships and new outreach based on your audience, market, and goals.

They usually handle creative directions, briefs, posting schedules, and brand approvals so you are not coordinating with dozens of influencers yourself.

Measurement tends to center on reach, engagement, clicks, and in some cases, sales or sign ups when tracking is in place.

Creator relationships and talent side

Because Viral Nation also manages talent, they often have close ongoing ties with a portion of the creators they bring to brands.

This helps when you need fast turnarounds, access to trending personalities, or multi-channel coverage for a big cultural moment.

However, it can also raise questions for some brands about how talent choices are balanced between managed and non-managed creators.

Good transparency on selection criteria usually helps address that concern during early conversations.

Typical brand fit for Viral Nation

Based on public work and case studies, Viral Nation often fits brands that are:

• Launching products with strong visual or social appeal
• Targeting Gen Z or younger millennials
• In gaming, sports, entertainment, consumer tech, or bold lifestyle verticals
• Comfortable with high volume content and fast testing
• Looking for large reach or viral potential over niche depth

Brands that need strict control, very limited creator rosters, or niche expert voices might want to discuss fit carefully before signing.

IMA overview

IMA is a Netherlands-based influencer marketing agency known for working with style-led and design-conscious brands around the world.

They emphasize thoughtful creator curation, visual quality, and longer-lasting brand relationships over just short bursts of activity.

Core services from IMA

IMA usually positions itself as a strategic partner that builds influencer activity into broader brand and content plans.

• Influencer strategy aligned with brand positioning
• Creator selection, outreach, and relationship management
• Campaign planning, from concepts to deliverables
• Content production support and coordination
• Cross-border and multi-market influencer programs
• Performance tracking, reporting, and insights

Some programs from IMA also integrate events, offline experiences, or cross-channel work like social, email, and owned content.

How IMA tends to run campaigns

IMA often begins by clarifying the brand story you want told, the markets you aim to reach, and how influencer content should look and feel.

From there, they build a group of creators whose aesthetics, interests, and audiences align closely with your positioning.

Campaigns can involve slower burn storytelling, seasonal collaborations, or ongoing ambassador programs instead of one-off blasts.

Reporting focuses not only on reach and engagement, but also on content quality, audience fit, and brand sentiment.

Creator relationships and network

IMA emphasizes carefully selected networks, often focusing on creators who match specific lifestyle or design styles rather than raw follower numbers.

They are frequently chosen by brands that care deeply about aesthetics, alignment with brand values, and long-term creative partners.

Relationships are built to last over multiple seasons or product waves, especially in fashion, beauty, travel, and luxury.

This can be ideal if you want consistent faces and narratives around your products rather than constant rotation.

Typical brand fit for IMA

Based on public work, IMA is often a good fit for brands that are:

• Focused on lifestyle, fashion, beauty, travel, or design
• Concerned with brand image and visual storytelling
• Active in multiple European markets or globally
• Interested in long-term collaborations and ambassadors
• Comfortable with curated scale over mass reach

Brands wanting aggressive performance marketing or constant experimentation with trends might prefer a more performance-heavy partner.

How the two agencies differ

On paper both names look similar, but in practice they can feel very different to work with day to day.

The main contrasts appear in creative style, scale, and how they think about brand stories versus speed and reach.

Approach to creativity and storytelling

Viral Nation tends to lean into bold social ideas, trend-based content, and moments designed to trigger wide sharing.

IMA usually leans toward crafted storytelling with consistent visual identity and deeper creator-brand alignment.

If you want big cultural noise, the first may feel more natural; if you want elevated brand image, the second may resonate more.

Scale and type of reach

Viral Nation is often associated with larger creator rosters, big programs, and reach across multiple countries and verticals.

IMA tends to focus on more curated groups of creators, especially within lifestyle and premium segments.

Both can run international work, but their mixes of creators and content style will usually look quite different.

Client experience and communication style

Client experience will vary by team, but common perceptions exist in the market.

Many marketers describe Viral Nation’s approach as fast moving, energetic, and performance minded, especially on newer platforms.

IMA is more often described as collaborative, detail oriented, and sensitive to visual direction and brand tone.

Your internal team’s style and decision speed can influence which partner feels like a smoother match.

Industry and vertical focus

Viral Nation works across many categories, with strong signals in gaming, sports, entertainment, and youth culture.

IMA focuses heavily on fashion, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and consumer brands that prioritize design.

Neither is limited to these sectors, but deeply rooted experience shows up most clearly here.

Pricing and engagement style

Neither agency publishes simple fixed prices, as budgets change widely by region, creator fees, and scope of work.

Instead, both rely on custom quotes based on your needs and the kind of influence and content you are trying to secure.

How influencer agencies usually price work

Influencer agencies typically combine several cost areas into a single budget or proposal.

• Influencer fees for content and usage rights
• Agency strategy and management time
• Creative development and production support
• Paid amplification, if using ads
• Reporting, analytics, and optimization

Both Viral Nation and IMA usually bundle some or all of these elements into project proposals or retainers.

Pricing patterns you can expect

In general, a more performance-driven and large scale campaign approach can create higher media and creator costs.

Heavily curated, long term collaborations can also be significant, especially with premium creators or multi-country work.

Budget ranges are usually worked out during early scoping calls once the markets, deliverables, and creator tiers are defined.

Engagement models: project vs retainer

Both agencies can work on single campaigns or continuing partnerships, depending on your needs.

• Project based: One-off launches, seasonal pushes, or tests.
• Retainers: Ongoing campaigns, ambassador programs, and always-on content.

Retainers often make sense when you want steady influence throughout the year and easier planning for both sides.

Strengths and limitations

Every agency choice involves trade-offs. Understanding these upfront helps avoid misalignment once work has begun.

Where Viral Nation usually stands out

• Strong presence on fast moving social platforms
• Experience with large creator networks and high reach
• Ability to tap into managed talent and existing relationships
• Performance mindset with a focus on measurable impact

A common concern brands share is whether the focus on speed and scale can sometimes reduce fine-grained control over every piece of content.

Where IMA usually stands out

• Deep experience with lifestyle and premium brands
• Strong focus on aesthetics and visual coherence
• Curated creator selection and long-term ambassador style work
• Comfort running cross-border European campaigns

Some brands, however, may worry that heavy curation and visual focus could slow experimentation or limit content volume.

Possible limitations to keep in mind

With Viral Nation, you may need very clear brand safety rules, creative guidelines, and review steps to maintain control at scale.

With IMA, you may need patience for careful selection and planning, which can lengthen timelines compared with rapid-fire trend campaigns.

In both cases, alignment on expectations, reporting, and decision-making is critical before contracts are signed.

Who each agency is best for

Rather than asking which agency is “better,” it helps to ask which one fits your stage, category, and ambitions.

When Viral Nation is often a better fit

• You want to tap into gaming, sports, entertainment, or youth culture.
• Your goal is fast growth on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube.
• You are launching products or campaigns that benefit from mass exposure.
• Your team is comfortable with bold creative and lots of moving pieces.
• You value performance metrics and are open to testing multiple angles.

When IMA is often a better fit

• You work in fashion, beauty, lifestyle, travel, or luxury.
• You care deeply about how content looks and feels in detail.
• You want a stable group of creators who grow with your brand.
• You run or plan to run multi-country campaigns, especially in Europe.
• You prioritize long-term brand perception over short bursts of attention.

Questions to ask yourself before choosing

• Is my main aim brand image, sales, reach, or a mix of all three?
• How hands-on do I want to be in creator selection?
• What internal resources do I have for creative and approvals?
• Do I prefer volume and speed, or refinement and depth?
• What markets and languages matter most in the next 12 to 24 months?

When a platform like Flinque makes more sense

Full service agencies are not the only path to running influencer campaigns. Some brands prefer more control and lower ongoing fees.

This is where a platform based option, such as Flinque, can sometimes be more practical.

How platform based options differ from agencies

A platform like Flinque focuses on helping you discover creators, manage outreach, and track campaigns inside one environment.

Instead of an external team running everything, your in-house marketers use the software to coordinate collaboration more directly.

This reduces reliance on large retainers while still giving structure to your outreach and content approvals.

When a platform may be the better fit

• You have internal staff who can manage creators daily.
• Your budgets are modest or spread across many smaller campaigns.
• You want to build direct relationships with influencers.
• You prefer paying for software access instead of agency markups.
• You are willing to learn and refine processes over time.

If your team is small or highly stretched, a full service agency might still be the more realistic route, even at a higher price.

FAQs

How do I choose the right influencer agency for my brand?

Start with your goals, markets, and budget. Decide whether you prioritize reach, brand image, or sales. Then look for case studies in your category and speak with each agency about process, reporting, and fit before committing.

Can I work with both agencies at the same time?

It is possible, but you should clarify territories, product lines, or campaign scopes to avoid overlap. Clear agreements, separated responsibilities, and internal coordination are essential to prevent confusion with creators and messaging.

Do these agencies only work with large brands?

They often highlight big brands in public work, but may still consider mid-sized companies with serious budgets. If your budget is limited, a smaller agency or a platform-based solution might be more realistic and cost-effective.

How long does it take to launch an influencer campaign?

Timelines vary. Simple projects with smaller groups of creators might launch within a few weeks, while complex multi-country efforts can take several months. Creator contracts, approvals, and content production all affect how fast a campaign can go live.

Should I ask agencies about their creator selection process?

Yes, this is one of the most important topics to discuss. Ask how they find creators, what data they use, how they check for fake followers, and how much say you have in approving final selections before content is produced.

Conclusion

Choosing between these two influencer agencies really comes down to your goals, style preferences, and resources.

If you want large scale, fast moving campaigns and are chasing big social impact, Viral Nation may feel closer to your vision.

If you want carefully crafted storytelling with a strong lifestyle or premium focus, IMA may align better with your brand.

For teams ready to be more hands-on, a platform based route such as Flinque can offer flexibility and cost control.

Whichever path you choose, be clear about expectations, budgets, and how success will be measured before you sign anything.

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.