# Influencer Sourcing SOP for Interns and VAs

Source: https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/influencer-sourcing-sop-for-interns-and-vas
Published: 2026-10-17

A copy-paste influencer sourcing SOP for interns and VAs: weekly targets, a 3-minute vetting checklist, a log template and the rule for handing off to your gift link.

Give an intern or VA this SOP: they find, vet, log and message creators, and the moment a creator says yes they paste your gift link and stop. If you're a Shopify brand gifting 20 to 500 creators a month, that is the whole job. Finding is judgment work your team does. Everything after yes belongs in a gifting-operations tool.

Copy everything below into a doc, fill in the brackets and hand it over.

## What the intern owns and what they never touch

Owns:

- Finding candidate creators using the places listed below
- Vetting each one against the checklist
- Logging every candidate, including the no's
- Sending the approved first DM, and the approved follow-up once
- Pasting the gift link when someone says yes

Never touches:

- Payment, rates or any promise of a paid deal
- A post requirement or a posting deadline
- Collecting an address, size or phone number in a DM
- Typing a Shopify draft order by hand
- Changing the gift offer or the products on it

If a creator asks for any of the second list, the intern replies "let me check with [founder name]" and flags it in the log.

## The weekly target

These are starting targets, not a benchmark. Run them for two weeks, then adjust to your reply rate.

- 25 candidates found
- 15 that pass the vet
- 10 contacted
- Every contacted creator has a status and a date in the log by Friday

Fewer, better names beat more names. If the intern is hitting 25 found but only 5 pass, the brief is the problem, not the intern.

## Step-by-step routine

### Step 1: Read the brief

The founder writes one page before day one: who the customer is, three example creators who are a perfect fit, three who are close but wrong and why, the countries we ship to, and the product we are offering. Without it, the intern will guess. The example creators are the most useful part of the brief.

### Step 2: Look in this order

1. Brand inbox: message requests, tagged tab, story mentions
2. Customers with photo or video reviews: look up the reviewer's handle
3. Comments under the three most-watched Reels from [two named competitors]
4. The following list of each example creator in the brief
5. Saved searches and the suggested accounts that appear after a week of searching the niche

For the hashtag and tag-tab tactics, use [how to find creators to gift products to](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/how-to-find-creators-to-gift-products-to) and [how to find Instagram influencers](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/how-to-find-instagram-influencers). The reasoning behind the five sources above is in [how to find influencers without a database](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/how-to-find-influencers-for-your-brand-without-a-database).

### Step 3: Run the 3-minute vet

Each candidate gets a pass or fail on every row. One fail on a hard row means no.

| Check | Pass looks like | Hard fail? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fit | The last month of posts looks like our customer's feed | Yes |
| Active | Posted in the last 30 days, and posts regularly | Yes |
| Real comments | Three recent posts have comments that read like real people | Yes |
| Reachable | DMs are open, or there is a business email in the bio | Yes |
| Ships to | Based in a country on the brief | Yes |
| Sponsor load | Fewer than half of recent posts are ads | No, note it |
| Size | Inside the follower range in the brief | No, note it |

For benchmarks and a numeric score, read [micro-influencer scoring](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/micro-influencer-scoring) and [how to select influencers](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/how-to-select-influencers). For fake-follower patterns, see [avoiding influencer gifting fraud](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/avoiding-influencer-gifting-fraud). The intern flags anything odd in the notes column instead of deciding alone.

### Step 4: Log it

Log every candidate the moment you open the profile, including the ones that fail. A no with a reason saves the next person from re-checking the same account. Use this table as the sheet's header row:

| Date found | Handle | Link | Source | Niche note | Last post | Contact route | Vet result | Reason if no | Status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [date] | @example_handle | [profile URL] | Customer review | Home cooking, small kitchen | [date] | DM open | Pass |  | Contacted |
| [date] | @another_handle | [profile URL] | Competitor comments | Travel and gear | [date] | No contact | Fail | Not reachable | Closed |

Allowed statuses: Found, Vetted, Contacted, Replied, Link sent, Closed. Nothing else, so the sheet can be filtered.

## The DM and the handoff rule

The founder approves the first message once. The intern may personalise the opening line (one specific thing from the creator's content) and nothing else. Use the approved template from [influencer outreach DM templates](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/influencer-outreach-dm-templates) as the base.

The handoff rule is one line: _when a creator says yes, paste the gift link for that campaign and mark the row Link sent. Do not ask for anything else._

No "what size are you", no "what's your address", no "which product do you want". Those answers all come back through the link. If you aren't using a link yet, the intern is about to spend their week collecting addresses, which is the thing this SOP is designed to prevent. [How to collect creator shipping addresses](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/how-to-collect-creator-shipping-addresses) explains why a DM is the worst place to do it.

One follow-up, five days after the first DM, and then the row is Closed. No third message.

## The weekly review the founder does in 15 minutes

1. Open the log. Skim the "Reason if no" column. If one reason dominates, the brief or the sources need changing.
2. Read the niche notes on ten passes and overrule any that don't fit.
3. Count Contacted against Replied. If replies are low, the DM is the issue, not the intern.
4. Pick which sources produced the passes and tell the intern to do more of those.
5. Answer anything flagged "check with founder".

## What to automate so the intern doesn't become a data-entry clerk

The intern's time should go on finding and vetting. Everything after yes is mechanical, and in our experience it is where the hours pile up. Per creator that means 3 to 8 DM round-trips for product, size and address, 5 to 10 minutes to hand-type each draft order, spreadsheet updates, address fixes and posting follow-ups. If the intern is doing those, you've hired someone to type.

This is what [Seed](https://apps.shopify.com/influencer-form) does. The creator opens your branded link, picks the product and variant, types their own address, and a real $0 Shopify draft order lands in your admin tagged by campaign. You approve at the gate before any order exists, and the Kanban board tracks status through to the post. It doesn't find creators and it doesn't manage contracts or payouts. Customers like hiccpet moved off coupon codes to this setup and now gift 19 a week; see [the hiccpet case study](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/hiccpet-creator-gifting-case-study). For how the pieces fit, see [creator gifting workflow: pitch to post](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/creator-gifting-workflow-pitch-to-post).

For the cost trade-off between an intern, a VA and an agency, read [influencer coordinator vs VA vs agency cost](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/influencer-coordinator-vs-va-vs-agency-cost). If you're starting from nothing on Shopify, the [first-30-days plan](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/how-to-start-influencer-marketing-on-shopify) shows where this SOP fits.

## Who should not pick Seed

If the intern will only contact a handful of creators a month, a hand-made draft order is fine and you don't need a tool. If you want the intern to also find the creators using a database, buy Modash or similar for that part. If you run hundreds of paid deals, contracts and payouts, GRIN or CreatorIQ is a better fit. Seed is for 20 to 500 gifts a month where your team does the finding. See [pricing](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/pricing): Starter is $79 a month for 50 gift orders, Seed is $199 a month unlimited, with a 7-day free trial.

The three kinds of influencer software, and which one a brand your size needs: [discovery tools vs gifting operations tools](https://www.seedinfluencers.com/blog/influencer-discovery-tools-vs-gifting-operations-tools).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can an intern or VA find influencers without supervision?

Yes, if you give them a written brief, a pass or fail vetting checklist and a log, and review the log for 15 minutes a week. Judgment calls go in a notes column for you to settle, not into a guess.

### How many creators should an intern find per week?

Start with about 25 found, 15 that pass the vet and 10 contacted per week, then adjust after two weeks based on how many replies you get. These are starting targets, not a benchmark.

### What should an intern never do in influencer marketing?

Promise payment, agree to a post requirement, collect an address in a DM, type a Shopify order by hand or change the gift offer. Anything that is not finding, vetting, logging or sending the approved message and link goes to the founder.

### What should the intern send when a creator says yes?

The campaign's gift link, and nothing else. The creator picks the product and variant and types their own address on that page, so the intern never asks for sizes or an address in the DM.

### What does a virtual assistant need to do influencer research?

A one-page brief describing your customer, three example creators who fit, a list of places to look, the vetting checklist and the log template in this SOP. Access to your brand's Instagram account is enough for the DM step.

## FAQ

**Can an intern or VA find influencers without supervision?**
Yes, if you give them a written brief, a pass or fail vetting checklist and a log, and review the log for 15 minutes a week. Judgment calls go in a notes column for you to settle, not into a guess.

**How many creators should an intern find per week?**
Start with about 25 found, 15 that pass the vet and 10 contacted per week, then adjust after two weeks based on how many replies you get. These are starting targets, not a benchmark.

**What should an intern never do in influencer marketing?**
Promise payment, agree to a post requirement, collect an address in a DM, type a Shopify order by hand or change the gift offer. Anything that is not finding, vetting, logging or sending the approved message and link goes to the founder.

**What should the intern send when a creator says yes?**
The campaign's gift link, and nothing else. The creator picks the product and variant and types their own address on that page, so the intern never asks for sizes or an address in the DM.

**What does a virtual assistant need to do influencer research?**
A one-page brief describing your customer, three example creators who fit, a list of places to look, the vetting checklist and the log template in this SOP. Access to your brand's Instagram account is enough for the DM step.