| 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
