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Influencer Marketing Agency

Influencer Marketing Agency Manchester

Creator storytelling has become one of the most significant forces in modern marketing.

Influencer marketing has reshaped how people discover products, how they form opinions and who they trust. These individual voices can have the same commercial impact as traditional media, and authentic storytelling has become central to building relevance.

As investment accelerates, the challenge for marketers is no longer whether to work with creators, but how to do it with confidence. Influence is powerful, but it is also complex. It sits at the intersection of culture, psychology and commercial performance.

Smoking Gun gives brands clarity about what drives real impact and how storytelling translates into measurable outcomes. As an influencer marketing agency in Manchester, we look at influence through both a creative and a behavioural lens, uniting narrative instinct with practical evaluation.

Read our report, ‘The New Influencer Battleground’ here.

 

Philips

The influencer campaign that took Philips to No1 market share, storming a new category

“Our campaign has quite literally wiped the floor with the competition! Thank you Smoking Gun.”
448%
rise in unit sales
18.2m
video views
263
earned media hits

Cleaning up in a new category for Philips

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Creator campaigns with impact

Let's get started

Need clarity on what drives real commercial impact and how influencer storytelling translates into measurable outcomes? Whether you have a brief in mind or just want to find out more, let's chat.

    Influence begins
    with story

    Influence today is built on stories that feel personal rather than polished.

    Audiences do not wait for traditional media to define what matters. They turn to creators who reflect their lives, make sense of their world and share insights that feel lived in rather than manufactured.

    This new storytelling landscape demands a mindset shift from brands. Influence now grows through emotional truth, not simply exposure.

    The most effective creator partnerships work because they feel natural, human and connected to the audience’s lived reality. And this lies at the heart of the Smoking Gun approach. 

    Our Influencer Marketing Work

    Measuring What Matters

    Influencer marketing has grown far more quickly than the measurement systems designed to assess it.

    Influence is created through meaning, trust and connection, yet the most commonly used metrics illuminate only a fraction of that picture, often falling short of delivering truly measurable results.

    At Smoking Gun, we believe measurement should not constrain creativity; it should clarify it.

    We use a four-step evaluation framework that offers brands a practical, adaptable method rooted in human behaviour and is ready to apply across briefs, channels and categories.

    Our framework focuses on four human forces

    Meaning

    Is the story clear, distinctive and emotionally relevant?
    1

    Credibility

    Does the creator feel trusted, authentic and appropriate for the category?
    2

    Connection

    Does the narrative spark emotional response or shared experience?
    3

    Action

    Does the content lead to participation, exploration or purchase interest?
    4

    The future
    of influence

    Audience behaviour is changing fast. Search no longer begins with Google alone.

    Consumers now explore products and ideas through a blended journey that includes TikTok search, YouTube how-to content, creator recommendations, Reddit and AI powered answers from tools like ChatGPT. This shift makes trusted human storytelling more important than ever.

    As your influencer marketing agency in Manchester, Smoking Gun understand that influence also sits within a wider storytelling ecosystem. Creator narratives work best when they align with earned media, brand PR, social content and paid amplification.

    We know consistent stories travel further, strengthen memory and help audiences move from curiosity to action.

    • “YouTube has become the UK’s second-most-watched media service, behind only the BBC. Creators aren’t the alternative media, they are the media mainstream.”

      Scott Guthrie, Director General of the Influencer Marketing Trade Body

    The Smoking Gun Way

    Smoking Gun is a globally-renowned earned-first agency uniting media storytelling, social strategy and influencer expertise to drive measurable impact and growth for brands.

    From our Manchester HQ, we help household names and challengers alike earn attention, increase visibility, likeability and memorability to spark conversation across every channel.

    If you’re ready to unlock your brand’s full influencer potential, our team can help. We offer bespoke audits of your current influencer approach and a proven process to grow with the right strategy. Talk to us today.

    Smoking Gun Team

    what we do

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      Our Awards

      Why stop at global stardom and incredible sales? When our clients work with us, they get the silverware to boot. We’re not into tooting our own horns, but the awards we’ve won with our clients are too good to miss…