Reviews
Part of Seven tests for food creator partnerships reviews
Food influencers: a restaurant selection checklist
Use this food influencers checklist to score audience fit, disclosure, content quality, rights and fees, with a weighted method and UK rules.
What to take away
A food creator partnerships selection checklist is a short written test that scores a creator against your restaurant's audience, disclosure duties and measurement needs before you commit budget.
- Define the campaign goal and the one number that proves it worked before you look at any creator.
- Ask for audience data, past brand work and a sample brief, not just follower counts.
- Check disclosure against the ASA's CAP Code and the CMA's guidance on social media endorsements. Handle personal data under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, consulting the ICO's direct marketing guidance where relevant. The linked ICO Age appropriate design code concerns relevant online services; it is not a substitute for ad-labelling checks.
- Agree usage rights, exclusivity and payment terms in writing before the first shoot.
- Record why each creator passed or failed, so the next shortlist is faster.
Why write the checklist before you shortlist?
Most bad partnerships fail at the shortlist stage, not the shoot. A checklist forces you to name the goal first: bookings, a new menu launch, or reach in one postcode. Write that down, then score creators against it.
Five criteria to weight first
- Audience fit
- Disclosure record
- Content quality
- Rights terms
- Cost per deliverable
For related background, see food creator partnerships: reviews and comparison methods. A simple 1 to 5 score across five criteria beats a long prose assessment nobody reads twice; the scoring and weighting method for this checklist is set out below.
Sector context helps. The ONS business data shows how many food service firms operate at your scale, which is useful when you justify the budget to a finance lead.
Pick five criteria and no more: audience fit, disclosure record, content quality, rights terms, and cost per deliverable. Weight them before you see any creator names, so a persuasive pitch cannot move the goalposts later.
The scored checklist
Use this sheet for each creator. Choose a weight from 1 to 5 for each criterion before you see any creator names, based on your campaign priorities; weights do not have to be equal. Score the evidence from 1 to 5: the lowest score means no usable evidence, the midpoint means it meets the minimum brief, and the highest means strong evidence beyond the brief.
| Criterion | Weight (1 to 5) | Evidence to request or check | Score (1 to 5) | Weighted result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audience fit | Audience location, age bands and engagement rate over the last 90 days; how much of the audience is in your catchment? | Score × weight | ||
| Disclosure record | Review the creator's last three paid posts for clear ad labelling and evidence they use the relevant platform disclosure. | Score × weight | ||
| Content quality | Review food-related examples and comment quality; can the creator communicate the brief clearly? | Score × weight | ||
| Rights terms | Confirm channels, usage window, paid amplification and exclusivity in writing. | Score × weight | ||
| Cost per deliverable | Compare itemised quotes for a reel, story set and bundle on the same rights and usage terms; record sites covered and any per-location fee. | Score × weight |
Calculate each weighted result by multiplying its score by its weight, then add the five results to rank creators who pass. Pass only if every criterion scores at least 3 out of 5; missing disclosure or rights evidence is an automatic fail. Use the weighted total to rank passers, not to override a failed criterion.
Keep the completed sheets. When a partnership underperforms, the scores show whether the brief was wrong or the creator was.
Which audience checks actually matter?
Follower count is the weakest signal. Ask for screenshots of audience location, age bands and engagement rate over the last 90 days. A creator with 8,000 local followers usually beats one with 80,000 spread nationally.
Local 8k vs national 80k
8,000 local followers
- Audience location
- Inside catchment
- Fit for one postcode
- High
- Engagement rate
- Check 90 days
- Comment quality
- Dish questions
80,000 national followers
- Audience location
- Spread nationally
- Fit for one postcode
- Low
- Engagement rate
- Check 90 days
- Comment quality
- Generic praise
Check comment quality too. Look for questions about dishes, opening times and dietary options. Generic praise suggests bought engagement.
Ask how much of the audience lives inside your catchment. If a creator will not break that down by town or region, the numbers are unusable for a venue with one postcode to fill.
For related background, see food creator partnerships review methodology. Apply the weights and pass rule shown in this checklist; the total cannot override a failed criterion.
Before and after the checklist
Before the checklist
- Shortlist size
- 20 names from a hashtag search
- Audience proof
- Follower count only
- Disclosure
- Assumed
- Rights
- Unclear
- Budget
- One lump sum
After the checklist
- Shortlist size
- 6 creators scored against 5 criteria
- Audience proof
- Location, age and 90-day engagement
- Disclosure
- Sample posts checked for ad labels
- Rights
- Usage window and channels written down
- Budget
- Fee, expenses and usage split out
What should you ask a creator to send?
Send a one-page brief and request four things back. A rate card with the fee for one reel, one story set, and a bundle. Two recent examples of paid work with the brand's permission. Audience screenshots. A named contact for scheduling.
Set a deadline for that pack, usually five working days. A late or partial reply tells you how the creator will handle a shoot date and an invoice, which matters more than a polished media kit.
If they cannot supply audience data, treat that as a no. Agree the native disclosure mechanic before posting: Instagram's “Paid partnership” label or TikTok's branded content toggle, as appropriate. The TikTok certification programme is additional to, not a substitute for, the required disclosure.
How do you test disclosure and rights?
Read their last three paid posts. Look for a clear ad label, not a buried hashtag. In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) administers the CAP Code, the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also publishes guidance on social media endorsements and hidden advertising. The label must be obvious before a viewer engages with the content.
Put the label requirement in the brief as well. If a post goes live without one, agree a written remedy: amend, delete or pause the campaign until it is fixed.
On rights, agree the usage window in months, the channels covered, and whether paid amplification is included. For example, a restaurant paying £600 for a reel might ask for three months of organic and paid usage on the creator's own channels only. Treat this as an example of scope, not a UK fee benchmark; request comparable current quotes for the same deliverables and rights.
Common questions
How many creators should be on a shortlist?
Five to eight is workable for a single venue. Score each one, then take the top two into a paid trial before committing to a longer run.
What if a creator refuses to share audience data?
Walk away. Audience location and engagement are the minimum evidence needed to judge fit, and a refusal usually signals the numbers will not hold up.
Should the checklist change for a multi-site group?
Yes. Add a column for which sites the content covers and whether the fee scales per location. Keep the core five criteria identical so scores stay comparable.
How often should the checklist be reviewed?
Every two quarters. Rates, platform features and disclosure expectations move, and a stale checklist lets weak creators through on outdated assumptions.
