How to Choose a Clipping Agency: 8 Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Choose a clipping agency by what it bills for, who reviews the clips, how it stops fake views, and who keeps the budget and data. Get those answers in writing, then start with a small trial before you commit more money.

A clipping agency is a team that turns your long videos into short clips, gets them posted on creators' accounts, reviews them and reports back.

Not sure you need one? Read clipping agency vs clipping marketplace first. Picking the platform rather than the team? Read how to choose a clipping platform.

When is an agency worth it?

An agency is worth it if you have no content library, nobody to review clips each day, or a budget you'd rather protect with experience. Run the campaign yourself if you have footage, a daily reviewer and a budget you can learn on (on your own or with an agency).

On Content Rewards you can do either. For a first campaign, Content Rewards recommends an agency and can introduce you to one that fits.

What should you ask a clipping agency before you hire it?

Ask these eight questions. The answers matter more than a big network number on a homepage.

1. What exactly do you bill for? Approved views, raw views, a number of posts and a monthly retainer are different products. Don't compare them on headline CPM (cost per 1,000 views) alone.
2. Who reviews each clip, and against what? Nothing should be paid until someone checks it against a brief you can read.
3. How do you catch fake views? Ask how they spot bought views, and whether money for a rejected clip goes back to your budget.
4. Who owns the clips? Ask for the rights in writing, including use in paid ads.
5. How do you handle disclosure? Every paid post needs a clear label. Ask how they enforce it.
6. Who holds the budget and the data? You want your own dashboard, not a monthly PDF.
7. What happens to money that isn't spent? Ask if you get it back, and which fees you lose.
8. Can we start with a trial? A short paid test shows more than any pitch deck.

How do the answers look on Content Rewards?

If an agency runs your campaign on Content Rewards, some answers are set by the platform.

• Review. The campaign's team approves or rejects every clip against the written brief. Nothing is approved on its own, and a team can't reject a clip without typing a reason (Approval and review).
• Fake views. Each clip shows a bot score, and Content Rewards can also reject clips with fake views. Nothing is paid on a rejection, and money set aside for that clip goes back to the campaign (When a clip is rejected for fake views).
• Rights. Approving a clip gives you a permanent, worldwide license to use it anywhere, including paid ads, at no extra cost. If it was cut from footage you supplied, you own the finished clip (Who owns the clips).
• Budget and data. The agency works inside your organization, so you keep the dashboard, the data and the budget (on your own or with an agency).
• Unspent money. Budget never paid to a creator can come back after a refund review. The processing fee from Whop, the payout processor, isn't returned (What Content Rewards costs).

For disclosure, put the label rule in the brief and reject posts that skip it. The FTC (the US Federal Trade Commission) sets the US rules, and Is clipping legal? explains disclosure for clips.

What are the red flags?

Walk away, or push back, if you see any of these:

• They quote a view count but won't say how views are counted.
• They can't show who reviews clips or how fake views are caught.
• They hold the budget and send you a report instead of a dashboard.
• They promise sales numbers before they have seen your footage.
• The contract says nothing about ad rights.

How do you compare agency quotes?

Put every quote on the same sheet, and keep the agency fee as its own line.

On Content Rewards, an agency's fee is agreed with the agency and sits outside the campaign budget. The platform fee is 10% of each creator payout, or 8% for a verified organization, whoever runs the campaign. Campaigns start at $1,000, and top-ups start at $100 (What Content Rewards costs; How much to spend).

At the standard 10% fee, paid views at a set rate are:

(budget ÷ 1.10 ÷ CPM) × 1,000

For example, a $5,000 budget at a $1.00 CPM and a $200 cap per clip pays creators about $4,545. That buys about 4.55 million paid views. If the agency charges $1,500 to manage it, your cost is $6,500 plus the processing fee shown when you fund.

Clips keep getting views after they hit the cap, and those views are free. So the price per 1,000 views across all views often lands below the rate you set (How much to spend).

Check the rate as well as the fee. Campaigns that fill sit between $0.80 and $2.00 per 1,000 views, and $1.50 to $2.00 fills most reliably. At the same $1 rate, campaigns funded with $5,000 or more drew hundreds of clips, while campaigns under $2,000 often drew none (Which pricing model should I use).

Dated agency entry prices are on how to budget a clipping campaign. Recheck any price on the agency's own site.

How do you run a trial with an agency?

1. Agree one goal for the trial, such as views on approved clips or sign-ups from a promo code.
2. Fund one campaign with enough budget to fill. A tiny budget tells you little.
3. Ask for your own dashboard access from day one.
4. Review the first week of approved clips yourself.
5. Compare the cost per 1,000 views and the clip quality against your goal before you top up.

How do you find agencies to talk to?

Every live campaign on Discover shows which organization runs it. That lets you see who already runs campaigns like yours. You can also ask Content Rewards support for an introduction (on your own or with an agency).

Content Rewards has paid $15 million+ to creators, and 1,900+ brands and agencies have run campaigns on it (Content Rewards Clipping Data). It is its own company and is not affiliated with X (Is Content Rewards part of Whop?).

FAQ

What does a clipping agency do?

It writes or tightens the brief, finds and manages clippers, reviews clips, catches fake views and reports to you. Some agencies also cut the clips and post them on pages they control.

How much does a clipping agency cost?

Agencies set their own fees, so ask for a written quote. On Content Rewards the agency fee sits outside the campaign budget, and you still pay the 10% platform fee from that budget, or 8% if your organization is verified.

Can I keep my dashboard if an agency runs the campaign?

Yes. On Content Rewards the agency works inside your organization, so you keep the dashboard, the data and the budget.

Should I hire an agency or individual clippers?

Hire an agency if you want the queue and reporting handled for you. Hire clippers yourself if you have time to manage them, using how to hire clippers.

Want to start your own agency instead? Read how to start a clipping agency.

Next step: book a call to get introduced to an agency, or launch a campaign yourself. Agencies can start from Content Rewards for agencies.