creator-casting-tool

name

creator-casting-tool

description

Find the right creators for any brand campaign, activation, or ambassador program. Takes a campaign brief (brand, vibe, category, budget, audience), searches Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Substack, and returns a castable shortlist with stats, content examples, rate estimates, and brand conflict checks. Use when casting creators for campaigns, sourcing influencers for a brand, building ambassador shortlists, finding creators for events/activations, or matching talent to a brief. Triggers on: 'find creators for,' 'cast for this campaign,' 'who should we use for,' 'source influencers,' 'creator shortlist,' 'casting list,' 'find talent for [brand],' 'ambassador search,' or any request to match creators to a brand or campaign brief.

Creator Casting Tool

Find and shortlist the right creators for any brand campaign, activation, event, or ambassador program.

Who This Is For

• Brand marketing teams casting influencer campaigns
• PR and comms agencies sourcing talent for clients
• Casting directors for events, activations, content shoots
• DTC brands building ambassador or affiliate programs
• Creative agencies staffing content productions

Prerequisites

• web_search tool (required) — for cross-platform discovery, rate research, conflict checks
• web_fetch tool (required) — for reading profiles, articles, and content
• gram CLI (optional but recommended) — for Instagram discovery, engagement data, and content analysis. If unavailable, web search is used as fallback.

Check gram:

which gram

Workflow

1. Collect Campaign Brief

Ask the user for (or detect from context):

Parameter	Required	Description
brand	yes	Brand name and brief description
campaign_type	yes	Content, event, activation, ambassador, gifting, UGC
category	yes	Fashion, beauty, food, fitness, lifestyle, art, tech, travel, wellness, home, luxury, music, gaming, comedy, parenting, finance
vibe	yes	Aesthetic/tonal direction (e.g., "minimalist, editorial, elevated" or "playful, bold, Gen-Z")
audience_demo	recommended	Target audience age, gender, location
budget_range	recommended	Per-creator budget (e.g., "$1K-5K" or "$10K+")
num_creators	10	How many to return
platforms	all	Which platforms matter: instagram, tiktok, youtube, substack
follower_range	10K-500K	Min and max followers
geo_focus	US	Geographic focus for creators
exclusions	none	Competitor brands, creators to avoid, agencies to skip
deliverables	optional	What the creators would produce (e.g., "1 IG Reel + 3 Stories")

2. Discover Creators

Search across platforms for creators matching the brief. Cast a wide net (40-60 candidates) to filter down.

Instagram (via gram CLI if available):

gram search "[category] [vibe keyword]" --limit 20
gram explore "[category]" --limit 20
gram hashtag "[relevant hashtag]" --limit 20

If gram unavailable, use web search:

"[category] [vibe] instagram creator" [geo]
"[category] influencer" aesthetic [vibe keywords] 2026
site:instagram.com "[category]" "[vibe keyword]"

TikTok:

"[category] tiktok creator" [vibe] [geo] 2026
"[category] tiktoker" [audience_demo keywords]
"best [category] tiktok" [vibe] creators

YouTube:

"[category] youtube creator" [vibe] [geo]
"[category] youtuber" [audience_demo] subscribers

Substack:

"[category] substack" [vibe] newsletter writer
site:substack.com "[category]" "[vibe keyword]"

Also search for:

"[brand name] type creator" OR "[competitor brand] influencer"
"[vibe] creators to watch 2026"
"[category] creators for brand campaigns"
best "[category] [vibe]" influencer lists 2026

Listicles and round-ups (great for discovery):

"[category] influencers to watch 2026"
"[vibe] creators" brand campaign
"best [category] content creators" [geo]

3. Gather Creator Profiles

For each candidate, collect:

From gram (if available):

gram user info [handle]
gram user posts [handle] --limit 12

From web search / web_fetch:

"[creator name]" [platform] followers engagement
"[creator handle]" brand partnership OR sponsored
"[creator name]" rate OR pricing (for rate estimates)

Build a profile for each:

• Name / handles per platform
• Follower counts per platform
• Engagement quality (like-to-follower ratio, comment quality, saves if visible)
• Content style and aesthetic
• Audience demo indicators (comments, content topics, stated location)
• Recent brand partnerships (last 6 months)
• Content quality notes (production value, editing, originality)

4. Check Brand Conflicts

This is critical. For each candidate, check if they're currently working with or recently posted for a competitor.

"[creator name]" "[competitor brand 1]" OR "[competitor brand 2]"
"[creator handle]" sponsored "[competitor category]"

From gram (if available):

gram user posts [handle] --limit 30

Scan recent posts for competitor brand tags, #ad/#sponsored with competitors, or gifted product from competing brands.

Classify as:

• Clear — No competitor conflicts found
• Potential conflict — Posted competitor product but unclear if paid
• Active conflict — Currently in a paid campaign with a competitor → FLAG prominently

Also check for:

• Controversial content or past brand safety issues
• Alignment between creator's personal brand and the campaign brand

5. Estimate Rates

Based on follower count, engagement, platform, and niche, estimate per-creator rates:

Follower Range	IG Post	IG Reel	IG Story Set	TikTok	YouTube
10K-50K	$250-1K	$500-2K	$150-500	$300-1.5K	$500-2K
50K-100K	$1K-3K	$2K-5K	$500-1.5K	$1.5K-4K	$2K-5K
100K-250K	$3K-7K	$5K-10K	$1.5K-3K	$4K-8K	$5K-10K
250K-500K	$7K-15K	$10K-20K	$3K-5K	$8K-15K	$10K-25K
500K+	$15K+	$20K+	$5K+	$15K+	$25K+

Adjust estimates based on:

• Niche premium: Luxury, finance, tech command higher rates
• Engagement quality: High engagement = higher rates justified
• Content production value: High-quality production = premium
• Exclusivity: If campaign requires exclusivity, add 30-50%

Cross-reference with web search:

"[creator name]" rate card OR pricing
influencer rate calculator [follower count] [platform]

Note: These are ESTIMATES. Always flag them as approximate.

6. Score & Rank (1-100 Campaign Fit Score)

Signal	Points
Aesthetic/vibe alignment with brief	+25
Audience demo match	+20
Engagement quality (not just rate — comment quality, saves, shares)	+15
Brand safety — clean history, no conflicts	+15
Within budget range	+10
Multi-platform presence (amplification potential)	+10
Past brand campaign experience (knows how to deliver)	+5

Deductions:

• Active competitor conflict: -30
• Potential competitor conflict: -10
• Low engagement relative to following: -15
• Inconsistent posting: -10
• Content quality below brief standard: -20

7. Output Format

# Creator Casting Report

**Brand:** [brand name]
**Campaign:** [campaign type and description]
**Category:** [category]
**Vibe:** [vibe description]
**Budget:** [per-creator range]
**Platforms:** [target platforms]
**Geo:** [geographic focus]
**Candidates Screened:** [total reviewed]
**Shortlist:** [number returned]

---

## Shortlist

### 1. [Creator Name] — Fit Score: [X]/100
**Handles:** IG @[handle] ([X]K) · TikTok @[handle] ([X]K) · YT [channel] ([X]K)
**Engagement:** [avg likes/comments per post, engagement rate if available]
**Content Style:** [2-3 sentence description of their aesthetic and content approach]
**Why They Fit:** [Specific reasons this creator matches the brief — reference vibe, audience, content style]
**Recent Brand Work:** [List 2-3 recent partnerships if any, or "No recent sponsored content visible"]
**Conflict Check:** 🟢 Clear / 🟡 Potential conflict with [brand] / 🔴 Active conflict with [brand]
**Est. Rate:** $[X]-[Y] for [deliverable type]
**Content Examples:** [Link or describe 2-3 posts that demonstrate campaign-relevant content]
**Notes:** [Anything else relevant — representation status, availability signals, negotiation notes]

---

### 2. [Creator Name] — Fit Score: [X]/100
...

---

## Budget Summary

| Creator | Est. Rate | Fit Score | Conflict |
|---------|-----------|-----------|----------|
| [Name] | $[X]-[Y] | [score] | 🟢/🟡/🔴 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
| **Total Est. Range** | **$[min]-[max]** | | |

## Casting Notes
- **Best value picks:** [creators with high fit score relative to rate]
- **Premium picks:** [highest fit score, may be above budget]
- **Safe bets:** [proven brand campaign performers with clean histories]
  [smaller but high-momentum, great for long-term ambassador programs]


 Platforms searched: [list]
 Search queries run: [count]
 Candidates screened: [count]
 Excluded (conflicts): [count]
 Excluded (poor fit): [count]
 Instagram data source: [gram CLI / web search]
 Rate estimates are approximate and based on publicly available data + industry benchmarks

Error Handling

Issue	Action
gram not installed	Use web search for all Instagram data; note reduced accuracy in engagement metrics
Vague brief	Ask clarifying questions before searching. Minimum: brand, category, vibe
No budget given	Return creators across ranges, flag estimated rates, let user filter
Very niche category	Broaden to adjacent categories, note limited pool
Can't find enough creators	Lower follower minimum, expand geo, broaden vibe interpretation. Report what you found.
Rate data unavailable	Use benchmark table, flag as "estimated based on industry averages"
Competitor list unclear	Ask user to confirm top 3-5 competitors to check against
Creator has no recent posts	Flag as "potentially inactive" with last post date

Tips for Best Results

• Be specific with the vibe. "Elevated minimalist with warm tones" yields better results than "fashion"
• Include competitor brands in exclusions — this prevents embarrassing casting overlaps
• For ambassador programs, prioritize creators with owned audience (newsletter, podcast, Substack) over pure social
• Smaller creators (10K-50K) often deliver better engagement rates and are more responsive to briefs
• Always verify shortlist manually before presenting to a client — this tool finds candidates, humans close deals
• Run quarterly for ongoing programs to catch rising creators before they price up
• For events/activations, factor in location — a creator's city matters for in-person work