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Agboola Sodiq
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A creator program built for a UK curl care brand

Clean Curls makes affordable, clean curl care for the whole family. Creator work was running through agency platforms with no database the brand owned. I audited what was live, set the rules for who is worth paying and built a creator program the brand could own and run.

ClientClean Curls, a UK haircare brand for curls, coils and waves
My roleInfluencer and Creator Partnerships Manager
MarketUK, sold in Superdrug and online
TimeAug to Sep 2026
Client rating5.0 on Upwork
  • Creator program
  • Creator audit
  • Tracker and scoring
  • Briefs and agreements
109UK creators sourced and consolidatedA creator program built for a UK curl care brand
109

UK creators sourced and consolidated

175

channels mapped across platforms

4

scoring factors, with brand safety as a hard gate

11x

bigger reach on the founder's account than the brand's

Chapter 01

The diagnosis

Clean Curls does not need more disconnected activity. It needs a measurable system connecting creators, founder content, retail distribution, Shopify and paid-media-ready assets.

From my research brief, written before the first call.

Chapter 02

What I noticed

Research before the first call

The founder is the reachHer Instagram has about 107K followers. The brand has about 9.6K. Her account should carry reach and trust, while creators bring product proof.
Reviews hold the ideasAbout 4.6 out of 5 from 100 reviews. The praise and the complaints became tests: fine hair, coily hair, day-three curls after rain and sleep.
Retail breaks trackingShopify cannot see people who watch a creator and then buy in Superdrug. Retail needs its own proxy measurement.

Chapter 03

The audit

Fee against reach, for every live creator

Four creators were live through an agency platform. I compared each fee to their average reach. Two were worth it. Two cost more and reached far less.

Creator A · £10011.6K
Creator B · £15014.2K
Creator C · £2502.1K
Creator D · £5001.2K

Average reach per post. Coloured: proceed. Grey: pause or decline.

10K+relevant UK followers to qualify
3xtarget reach against the fee
£100plus product as the opening offer
50K+only big creators get optional posting

Chapter 04

The system

One tracker the brand owns

Discovery tools find creators. The relationships, scores and history stay with Clean Curls. Thirteen tabs take a creator from first find to paid ad.

Creator MasterOne record per creator, every channel linked
Outreach and DealsDeck, brief and agreement sent and signed, usage rights, payment
Content and MentionsConcept, draft, revision, live, raw footage, ad-ready cut
PerformanceCodes, revenue, retail proxy, CTR, CPA and ROAS

How creators are scored

Brand and audience fit30%
Campaign relevance30%
Content and storytelling25%
Value and performance15%

4.20 and above is Priority. 3.50 to 4.19 is Review. 3.00 to 3.49 is Backup. Anything lower, or any brand safety fail, is No Fit.

Three working lists

Always-onGifting and PR

Warm, no-obligation gifting at scale. Track voluntary mentions.

CampaignBack-to-School Curl Reset

Wash-day and school-morning routines for busy families.

CampaignEnd of Summer Curl Reset

The new Deep Conditioner as a moisture reset for dry summer curls.

Chapter 05

Sourcing

109 creators, all micro and mid-tier

67Instagram-first
42TikTok-first
57 / 49 / 3gifting, paid and UGC lists
88ready for email, the rest by DM

All UK-based, 5K to 50K followers. A median of about 82% female audience and 2.3% engagement in the first discovery list.

Chapter 06

The rules I set

Decisions, and the reason for each

Paid creators owe at least a story post.
No-obligation deals for paid creators set a poor precedent in the creator community.
Keep the creator database in the brand's hands. Use discovery tools only to find people.
The brand keeps the relationships when a tool or agency changes.
Separate the creator from the campaign.
A creator can move from gifting to a paid campaign without a new record.
One master agreement for gifted, fixed-fee, affiliate and hybrid deals.
Every deal names usage, paid-ad rights, disclosure, claims and child consent up front.
Warm up the outreach inbox before sending: 5 to 10 emails a day for three weeks.
New inboxes that blast on day one land in spam.

Chapter 07

The first month

Week 1Control
  • Audit live creators
  • One master tracker
  • Pick the first campaign
Week 2Activate
  • First seeding wave
  • Briefs and founder batch
  • 3 to 5 ad concepts
Week 3Optimise
  • Review replies and quality
  • Secure usage rights
  • Second wave
Week 4Report
  • Rank creators
  • Repeat-partner shortlist
  • Plan month two

Chapter 08

Ideas from the plan

SeriesOne Product, Three Curl Patterns
TestDay-one to day-three curls after weather and sleep
Ad angleA busy-mum routine that avoids the default bun

Chapter 09

From the documents

From the working document
The research brief, written before the first call
The research brief, written before the first call

Chapter 10

The brand already proved it can get products into stores and creators' hands. The next step is knowing which creators deserve repeat investment.

What I delivered

  • Brand and founder research brief
  • Creator audit
  • Benchmarks for paid creators
  • 13-tab creator tracker
  • Scoring model
  • Master creator agreement
  • Creator partnership deck
  • Content brief delivery standards
  • Inbox warm-up plan

Filed under

Niche
Service

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