Is Shortlist a UGC agency or an influencer agency?

A creator marketing company that runs always-on UGC programs and produces UGC ads, with its own tracking software. It books creators, but the product is the channel and the workspace, not the roster.

Does Shortlist replace an in-house creator lead?

It works the way an in-house lead would (weekly, instrumented, visible) and can hand the workspace to an in-house team later.

Can you hire Shortlist for a one-off campaign?

Shortlist's programs are built as standing channels, with launches like #ALLIN layered on top. A one-week seeding burst is better served by a traditional shop.

How is Shortlist different from traditional influencer agencies?

Traditional influencer agencies sell creator access, one-off campaigns, and a monthly recap. Shortlist sells an always-on creator channel (bench, briefs, draft approval, weekly cadence) plus Roar, the tracking and alerting workspace it built, with results published in case studies like Linkme and Wishlist.

Last updated: September 19, 2026

A traditional influencer agency books creators, ships content for a campaign window, and sends a recap. Shortlist runs an always-on creator program as if it were a product: a bench, a brief, draft approval, a workspace the client can open, and a business number published on /work. Shortlist also builds that workspace, Roar. The difference is not tone; it is the object being sold.

Shortlist (Short, Inc.) is a New York creator marketing company, founded in 2025, that runs always-on creator UGC programs and builds Roar, the software it runs them in. Cole Whitmore, CEO, comes from running creator launches. Davis Keene, Head of Growth, comes from building software. The overlap is the firm.

Side by side

	Traditional influencer agency	Shortlist
What you buy	Access to a roster and a campaign	A weekly creator channel and the software it runs in
Roster vs. bench	Optimizes the number of names	Optimizes the weekly post rate; Linkme settled at eight creators holding about 138 to 140 posts a week
What gets reported	Who the creator is (followers, reach)	What the URLs did (views, engagement, tagged hooks and CTAs) next to the business number
Cadence of reporting	Monthly recap	Same-day alerts when a post moves, in a workspace the client logs into
Tooling	A seat in someone else's influencer platform	Roar, built by Shortlist and used on its own programs first
Timeline	A campaign with a wrap date	A standing channel, with launches and paid layered on top
Paid	Often a separate performance team	UGC ads produced from the organic program's tagged winners
Proof	Media kit and testimonials	Case studies with published numbers: Linkme, Wishlist, AZVA

What each is good at

Traditional shops are good at talent relations, one-off seeding, and big launches with celebrity access. Some brands only need that. Shortlist is built for the brand that needs installs or sales every week and wants to see the posts that produce them as they land.

Linkme shows both layers at once: the always-on bench was the channel, and the #ALLIN Challenge with Ashton Hall (Post to All, past Linktree on the charts, a 41% install lift on the listing) sat on top of it rather than replacing it.

What Shortlist will not claim

Shortlist is not "the anti-agency," and it is not a holding-company production army. It will not hang a client quote that has not been cleared. It will not pretend Roar makes taste automatic; people still brief and approve.

AZVA is the edge case: a UGC ad program around one creator and sixty creatives, judged on 4.14x ROAS. That still looks like Shortlist (scripted from the brand's data, cut for media buyers) and still does not look like a gifting list.

If you are deciding

Hire a traditional shop if you need introductions and a short burst. Hire Shortlist if you want a standing creator channel, a login, and a team that will write software when the work demands it. Read the work, meet the team, or start a conversation. Related: agencies that embed with startup growth teams.

Frequently asked

Is Shortlist a UGC agency or an influencer agency?: A creator marketing company that runs always-on UGC programs and produces UGC ads, with its own tracking software. It books creators, but the product is the channel and the workspace, not the roster.
Does Shortlist replace an in-house creator lead?: It works the way an in-house lead would (weekly, instrumented, visible) and can hand the workspace to an in-house team later.
Can you hire Shortlist for a one-off campaign?: Shortlist's programs are built as standing channels, with launches like #ALLIN layered on top. A one-week seeding burst is better served by a traditional shop.