influencer marketing · san diego
Influencer Marketing Agency San Diego 2026: Real Creators and Rates
10 of the San Diego creators we monitor, with full follower, likes, reach and engagement data, plus our network rate benchmarks by tier so you can budget with numbers.
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Picking an influencer marketing agency san diego buyers trust in 2026 starts with the creators themselves: who they are, how far they reach, and how hard their audience engages.
This post leads with the data, not the pitch.
Below are 10 of the San Diego creators we monitor in food, beauty, and lifestyle, each with full stats and a conservative per-post rate.
TL;DR
- These are among San Diego's biggest creators, with 3 accounts above 1M followers and hundreds of millions of lifetime likes combined.
- Biggest reach: Keila from @keilapacheco (4.3M, food and drink), Nai Jelee from @theeglamnaija (1.4M, beauty), and AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba (1.0M, food and drink).
- Highest engagement is not the biggest account: AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba hits 22.7%, Ava shaw from @avashaw.ty 14.1%, and Keila from @keilapacheco 11.5%.
- Most average views per post: Keila 18.5M, laney from @laneygrn 7.4M, and Ava shaw from @avashaw.ty 2.9M.
- Conservative per-post rates run from about $150 for lower-reach names up to $5,550 for the biggest.
"Roster fit and engagement move the result far more than a headline city median. Match the creator to the product first, then talk price." Dennis Ksendzov, Founder, Influencer Advisory
What's Inside
- The 10 San Diego creators we track, with full stats.
- What San Diego creators cost (honest benchmarks).
- Why these creators fit San Diego brands.
- Why work with us in San Diego.
- How San Diego agency fees work.
- The 5 questions to ask a San Diego agency first.
San Diego's Biggest Creators, With Full Stats and Rates
These are the biggest, best-known San Diego creators we track, sorted by reach.
For each: followers, lifetime likes, posts shipped, average views per post, engagement rate, verified status, and a conservative per-post rate.
San Diego depth is on TikTok, where food and beauty run deepest.
| Creator | Followers | Lifetime likes | Posts | Avg views | Engagement | Verified | Rate / post* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keila (@keilapacheco) | 4.3M | 263.6M | 539 | 18.5M | 11.5% | yes | $5,550 |
| Nai Jelee (@theeglamnaija) | 1.4M | 57.2M | 859 | 375K | 4.9% | no | $150 |
| AlexiaeatsBoba (@alexiaeatsboba) | 1.0M | 92.5M | 393 | 171K | 22.7% | no | $150 |
| Raina Monét (@rainamonet_) | 486K | 16.9M | 1,183 | 669K | 2.9% | no | $200 |
| laney (@laneygrn) | 285K | 35.5M | 1,831 | 7.4M | 6.8% | no | $2,200 |
| Kate (@getittogetherkate) | 181K | 7.0M | 694 | 88K | 5.6% | yes | $150 |
| olivia pfeiffer (@oliviasever) | 126K | 4.4M | 1,056 | 11K | 3.3% | no | $150 |
| Ava shaw (@avashaw.ty) | 122K | 12.8M | 743 | 2.9M | 14.1% | yes | $880 |
| Sophia (@sophiaxverde) | 115K | 11.8M | 1,091 | 1.3M | 9.4% | no | $390 |
| Sarah Grace Reed (@sarahgracereed) | 115K | 7.0M | 646 | 12K | 9.5% | yes | $150 |
Source: Influencer Advisory tiktok_creators table, San Diego tagged, 10 monitored, 2026-05-22. Rate per post is calculated conservatively as average views times a $0.30 CPM, which sits below our network's $0.57 lower-quartile CPM, with a $150 floor. Actual negotiated rates vary by deal and usually run higher once usage rights are added.
What each one makes, so you can match by fit, not just follower count:
- Keila from @keilapacheco (food and drink): food reviews and venue experiences, especially burgers and tacos.
- Nai Jelee from @theeglamnaija (beauty, lifestyle): DIY beauty tips and tutorials with a focus on nails.
- AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba (food and drink): boba and food content with high audience engagement.
- Raina Monét from @rainamonet_ (beauty, lifestyle, home): beauty tips, skincare routines, and lifestyle content.
- laney from @laneygrn (food and drink, lifestyle): reviews and recommendations of local gourmet food spots.
- Kate from @getittogetherkate (lifestyle, food and drink, travel): everyday-life and food-storage tips.
- olivia pfeiffer from @oliviasever (health, lifestyle): self-love, social theory, and personal reflection.
- Ava shaw from @avashaw.ty (beauty): makeup tutorials and get-ready-with-me videos featuring beauty brands.
- Sophia from @sophiaxverde (fashion, sustainability): sustainable fashion and eco-friendly products.
- Sarah Grace Reed from @sarahgracereed (self improvement, spirituality): an author and non-profit leader on her creative process.
Engagement, not follower count, is where the value hides. AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba has just over 1M followers but a 22.7% engagement rate, the highest in this set and roughly double the 11.5% rate of the 4.3M-follower account at the top, which shows a tighter, more focused account can move a niche product harder than the biggest name on the list.
What Do San Diego Influencer Creators Actually Cost?
Here is the honest version of San Diego rates today.
We track 10 San Diego creators here, but most carry no confirmed rate, so we do not publish a San Diego only rate card.
Quoting a precise San Diego median would be inventing a number.
Instead, anchor on our network-wide rate benchmarks from creators who do have a confirmed rate on file, which are real medians with sample sizes.
| Creator tier | Network median rate | Priced creators (n) |
|---|---|---|
| 1M+ | $7,000 | 111 |
| 500K to 1M | $3,500 | 53 |
| 100K to 500K | $1,750 | 185 |
| 10K to 100K | $1,100 to $1,500 | 159 |
| under 10K | $350 | 21 |
Source: Influencer Advisory youtube_creators table, priced subset, 2026-05-22. Network-wide, not San Diego specific.
Two numbers, two uses.
The per-post rate in the creator table is a conservative floor, calculated straight from each creator's average views, so it answers "what is one post worth on reach alone."
The tier medians here are confirmed full-deal quotes, which usually bundle usage rights, multiple posts, or exclusivity, so they run higher.
Use the per-post rate to sanity-check a quote and the tier median to budget a full campaign.
The 2026 Influencer Marketing Hub benchmark report puts global influencer spend above $24B.
Where we come in: if a creator quotes 4x our network median for their tier without bundling usage rights or exclusivity, we flag it before you sign, and we negotiate the rate down using the comparable San Diego and network data above.
Why these creators fit San Diego brands
San Diego creator supply skews toward food, beauty, and lifestyle, with a coastal, outdoor texture that shapes which brands find the easiest fit.
Food is the deepest San Diego category in our data, anchored by Keila from @keilapacheco and laney from @laneygrn, which is why restaurants, beverage brands, and local eateries seed creators here year-round.
Beauty and lifestyle follow close behind through creators like Ava shaw from @avashaw.ty and Raina Monét from @rainamonet_, so skincare and apparel brands have a ready roster.
A San Diego juice, snack, or wellness brand can pair a high-reach name like laney from @laneygrn for awareness with a tight-engagement creator like AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba for a niche food push, which spreads spend across reach and conversion rather than betting it all on follower count.
Why work with us in San Diego
Our team works with creators across Southern California, and the 10 San Diego names above are part of a roster we track and refresh month to month.
We map each creator's category, reach, engagement, and posting cadence, so when a San Diego brief lands we can match a food brand to Keila from @keilapacheco or a sustainable-fashion brand to Sophia from @sophiaxverde without guessing.
We do not run a San Diego storefront or claim local clients we have not earned. What we offer is the data: real follower counts, real engagement rates, and a conservative rate read on every creator before you spend.
San Diego agencies worth knowing
Four San Diego shops, each with what they do well, what they don't, and verbatim proof pulled straight off their own homepage.
Mindgruve
Consider them when you want a San Diego HQ shop with global scale that runs influencer as one channel inside a full-funnel media plan, not as a standalone pilot.
What they do well. Mindgruve runs end-to-end media, creative, and commerce out of its 627 8th Avenue San Diego headquarters with named consumer work spanning Martinelli's, Victorinox Swiss Army, House of Blues, Skullcandy, San Diego Zoo, and Visit Carlsbad. Their proprietary Sightline platform layers predictive marketing and ROAS modelling on top of paid social, search, and influencer campaigns, which is the right shape for brands that want attribution baked in rather than bolted on.
What they don't do well. They are not the shop for a sub-$15K boutique pilot. With 400+ experts worldwide and a Fortune 500 client roster, anything that fits in a single creator sprint will get out-scoped.
In their own words:
"A Modern Media, Commerce & Data Technology Company. Driving Growth for the World's Leading Brands"
"We are a modern media, commerce, and data technology company comprised of strategists, creatives, media and commerce experts, data scientists, and engineers driven by one common purpose, to accelerate business growth through data-driven marketing, creative, and commerce. With over 400 experts worldwide, our teams deliver full-funnel, predictive marketing solutions for global brands."
"Sightline. Mindgruve's Predictive Marketing and Business Intelligence Platform goes beyond MMM and ROAS to help top brands acquire, retain, and maximize profitable, full-funnel revenue growth."
Best fit if you are a $50M+ consumer brand running a multi-channel media plan and want influencer woven into paid social + commerce, not run as a side project.
Power Digital
Consider them when you want a tech-enabled growth marketing partner that treats influencer as one lever inside a measurable, full-funnel performance plan.
What they do well. Power Digital pairs strategic consulting with proprietary technology and a named consumer roster including L'AGENCE, ViX Paula Hermanny, Alice + Olivia, Aviator Nation, ASICS, Crocs, COOLA, Cymbiotika, Goldbelly, Mielle Organics, and Taylor Guitars. Their public client testimonials emphasise EBITDA growth and a 2.6x faster than industry average YoY revenue lift, which is the lens performance buyers want.
What they don't do well. Influencer is not the front-door service. If you want a shop where the founder lives and breathes creator relationships rather than channel-mix optimisation, look elsewhere.
In their own words:
"Power is the digital marketing firm that operates at the intersection of data, technology, and human intelligence to make profit predictable."
"Welcome to the end of gut feelings. As a leading global digital marketing agency, we do everything in our power to quell uncertainty through total transparency. We provide receipts for what's driving business impact, believing in accountability versus obfuscation."
"Power brings a fresh, analytical approach to our campaigns, finding unique entry points and solutions that many would overlook." Ashley Bryan, Chief Digital Officer at L'AGENCE.
Best fit if you are a $10M+ DTC consumer brand with a performance-led CMO and want creator spend reported next to paid social ROAS in the same dashboard.
Ignite Visibility
Consider them when you want a San Diego shop where influencer marketing is an explicit named service inside a broader SEO and paid media practice, with a strong franchise and multi-location lean.
What they do well. Ignite Visibility runs influencer marketing as one of six earned-media services, sits alongside SEO, GEO, Local SEO, Digital PR, and organic social, and carries Clutch's #1 SEO and Paid Media Company in the U.S. ranking plus Google Premier Partner status in the top 1% of agencies. Their public San Diego contact line at 619-752-1955 puts a real local number on the pitch.
What they don't do well. Not the shop for a single-channel creator-only buy. Influencer here is bundled with SEO, paid media, and lifecycle marketing, so a brand that just wants 5 TikTok deals will pay for a bigger surface.
In their own words:
"Your trusted agency for ROI-driven digital marketing."
"Ignite Visibility offers a comprehensive suite of marketing services all under one roof. We don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Our team of experts craft tailored digital marketing strategies that align with your specific business goals and target audience."
"We Manage 97% in Monthly Ad Spend. Google Premier Partner, top 1% of digital agencies."
Best fit if you are a multi-location or franchise consumer brand at $5M to $50M ARR that wants influencer woven into a broader SEO and paid media engagement.
Bop Design
Consider them when you are a San Diego B2B brand and need influencer-style content amplification inside a wider website, branding, and content marketing engagement rather than a consumer creator buy.
What they do well. Bop Design is a B2B-focused San Diego shop covering web design, content marketing, SEO, GEO, branding, and ongoing marketing, with named industry verticals including fintech, biotech, SaaS, AI and ML, industrial, engineering, consulting, and energy. Their content marketing practice runs social media, copywriting, blog content, and email under one roof, which is the right shape when a B2B brand wants subject-matter expert creators rather than consumer influencers.
What they don't do well. Wrong pick for a consumer DTC influencer campaign. Their stated focus is B2B lead generation, so a beauty or food brand looking for TikTok creator volume will be a poor fit.
In their own words:
"B2B branding that engages. B2B websites that drive leads. B2B content that converts."
"Where B2B web design is bold and brilliant. Some think B2B is boring. We think that's a bunch of hooey. B2B is the powerhouse behind progress, innovation, and moving business forward."
"We don't just design. We shape B2B brands."
Best fit if you are a B2B SaaS, fintech, biotech, or industrial brand at $2M to $20M ARR and want creator content woven into a broader website and content plan, not a standalone influencer buy.
Where we come in: if you are weighing two or three of the shops above against each other, we can run a head-to-head on roster overlap, named San Diego clients, and rate bands using the same creator data above, so you compare on substance rather than pitch deck.
How San Diego agency fees work
These are typical market ranges for San Diego agencies, not our internal data. They help you sanity-check a quote.
| Engagement type | Typical San Diego range |
|---|---|
| Monthly retainer (mid-size agency) | $3,500 to $10,000 |
| Campaign management fee | 15 to 25% of creator spend |
| Single small campaign (3 to 8 creators) | $6,000 to $20,000 |
| Enterprise campaign | $60,000 to $200,000 |
| Creator rep commission | 10 to 20% of deal value |
The 15 to 25% management fee on creator spend is the line item first-time buyers miss most often. Whitelisting and usage rights stay separate, usually 50 to 100% above the base post rate.
San Diego is a real sponsor city, not just a creator city.
Across our sponsor tracking, MANSCAPED leads local deal volume with 469 tracked deals, followed by Live It Up at 118 deals, Vuori out of Carlsbad at 98 deals, fatty15 at 70 deals, and Trust & Will at 54 deals.
So a San Diego wellness, apparel, or DTC brand has direct local analogs to study before quoting a creator.
The FTC disclosure guidance for social media influencers is the default standard.
Which 5 Questions Should San Diego Agency Buyers Ask First?
Five questions separate agencies that close cleanly from the ones that stall.
- Who is on your creator roster, named, with follower counts and engagement rates?
- What is the average integration rate you closed in the last 90 days?
- How do you price whitelisting and usage rights?
- What is the creator payment timeline: 30, 60, or 90 days?
- What does reporting look like at week four, not week twelve?
Agencies that share rate ranges and a named roster upfront close faster.
The ones that lead with old case studies and dodge rate specifics are the ones to drop.
Compare any pitch against our 2026 YouTube CPM rates breakdown, and see how San Diego stacks up in our city-by-city agency guide.
Where we come in: want a vetted San Diego shortlist against your brief? Influencer Advisory pulls comparable creators, confirmed rate ranges, and a fit-by-category read in under 48 hours, so you stop chasing pitches and start picking from a real roster.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an influencer marketing agency in San Diego charge?
Typical mid-size San Diego agencies run monthly retainers from $3,500 to $10,000, plus a 15 to 25% fee on creator spend. Enterprise engagements start near $60,000 per month. These are market ranges, not our internal data.
What do San Diego creators cost per post?
We track 10 San Diego TikTok creators here, but most have no confirmed rate on file, so we do not publish a San Diego only rate card. As a benchmark, our priced YouTube network medians are $7,000 at 1M+, $3,500 at 500K to 1M, and $1,750 at 100K to 500K. Treat these as anchors and adjust for San Diego.
Who are the top San Diego creators right now?
By reach: Keila from @keilapacheco (4.3M, food and drink), Nai Jelee from @theeglamnaija (1.4M, beauty), and AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba (1.0M, food and drink). By engagement the leaders are AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba at 22.7%, Ava shaw from @avashaw.ty at 14.1%, and Keila from @keilapacheco at 11.5%. San Diego skews heavily toward food, beauty, and lifestyle.
Should a brand pick a San Diego agency or a Los Angeles agency?
San Diego tends to win on food, lifestyle, and outdoor creators with a relaxed coastal audience. Los Angeles tends to win on beauty volume and entertainment. We do not have a confirmed city by city rate comparison, so judge on roster fit and audience, not a published median.
How do I shortlist San Diego creators for my brand?
Start from category and engagement, not follower count. San Diego creators cluster in food, beauty, and lifestyle, so match your product to the niche first, then to engagement rate. We can pull a vetted San Diego shortlist with rates against your brief in under 48 hours.
Related reading: Influencer Marketing Agency Los Angeles 2026 · Influencer Marketing Agencies by City 2026 · Best Digital Marketing Agency in 2026.
Frequently asked
How much does an influencer marketing agency in San Diego charge?
Typical mid-size San Diego agencies run monthly retainers from $3,500 to $10,000, plus a 15 to 25% fee on creator spend. Enterprise engagements through larger shops start near $60,000 per month. These are market ranges, not our internal data.
What do San Diego creators cost per post?
We track 10 San Diego TikTok creators here but most have no confirmed rate on file, so we do not publish a San Diego only rate card. As a benchmark, our priced YouTube network medians by tier are $7,000 at 1M+, $3,500 at 500K to 1M, and $1,750 at 100K to 500K. Treat these as anchors and adjust for San Diego.
Who are the top San Diego creators right now?
By reach: Keila from @keilapacheco (4.3M, food and drink), Nai Jelee from @theeglamnaija (1.4M, beauty), and AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba (1.0M, food and drink). By engagement the leaders are AlexiaeatsBoba from @alexiaeatsboba at 22.7%, Ava shaw from @avashaw.ty at 14.1%, and Keila from @keilapacheco at 11.5%. San Diego skews heavily toward food, beauty, and lifestyle.
Should a brand pick a San Diego agency or a Los Angeles agency?
San Diego tends to win on food, lifestyle, and outdoor creators with a relaxed coastal audience. Los Angeles tends to win on beauty volume and entertainment. We do not have a confirmed city by city rate comparison, so judge on roster fit and audience, not on a published median.
How do I shortlist San Diego creators for my brand?
Start from category and engagement, not follower count. San Diego creators cluster in food, beauty, and lifestyle, so match your product to the niche first, then to engagement rate. We can pull a vetted San Diego shortlist with rates against your brief in under 48 hours.
Next issue, every Monday
We found the best performing creators for May 18 → May 24.Hand-picked, not the same five names.
Plus the Influencer Advisory Consultant GPT.