# Find the influencer posts worth putting ad budget behind

> Every weekday at 8am, get five creator posts that are outperforming their own usual numbers, with a one line reason to back each one.

- Workflow type: agent
- Services: Later, Slack, Airtable
- Categories: Marketing
- Published: 2026-08-07

## What it does

- Checks how your influencer posts from the past week are performing and flags the ones taking off right now.
- Judges every post against that same creator's own typical numbers, so a mid-sized creator having a breakout day gets spotted instead of only your biggest accounts winning every time.
- Posts a shortlist of up to five posts to your paid social Slack channel each weekday morning, with the creator handle, a link to the post, which number jumped and by how much, and why it is worth backing.
- Files each shortlisted post in your Airtable boost queue marked Pending Review, and skips anything already sitting there so nothing gets raised twice.

## What you'll need

- A Later Influence account with reporting access switched on. Your Later account manager turns this on and sends you the credentials, so allow a few days.
- A Slack workspace, plus the channel your paid social team actually watches, such as #paid-social.
- An Airtable base with a table for the boost queue, including a status field that can be set to Pending Review.
- Creator posts already being tracked in Later, so there is a recent run of activity to compare against.

## Prompt

Every weekday at 8am, find the influencer posts that are breaking out so our paid social team can put budget behind them while they are still hot.

Start by pulling per post metrics from Later using Get Post Performance for the trailing 7 days. That operation returns post metadata and the creator profile alongside the numbers, which is what lets the rest of this work. Keep the date basis on post_date, the default, so the window filters by when each post was published rather than when the metric was recorded. Later requires the metrics parameter on every performance route, so request the engagement metrics we care about explicitly, and walk the pages using nextCursor until it comes back null. Only consider posts published in the last 14 days.

Then build a baseline for each creator in that set using Later Get Creator Performance over the trailing 30 days, which returns per creator metrics with profile and social handles. Batch these lookups rather than firing one call per creator: Later allows 120 requests per minute per IP and will start returning 429s beyond that.

Now do the actual judgement. For each recent post, compare its metrics against that same creator's trailing 30 day norm, not against a flat number shared across all creators. A flat threshold just surfaces the biggest accounts every single day and buries a mid-sized creator having a genuine breakout. Work out which specific metric spiked and by how much relative to that creator's own average, and prefer signals that indicate intent, such as saves, shares and comments, over raw impressions. Rank the candidates by how far they are outrunning their own baseline.

Before shortlisting, read the existing boost queue with Airtable List Records and skip any post that is already sitting there, so the same post is never raised twice. Cap the final shortlist at five posts per day so it stays something the team can act on in a morning. If fewer than five posts genuinely clear their creator's baseline, send a shorter list rather than padding it out with weak candidates.

Post the shortlist to our #paid-social Slack channel using Send a Message. For each post include the creator handle, a link to the post, which metric spiked and by how much against that creator's norm, and a one line rationale for why it is worth putting budget behind. Write the rationale as a real reason someone can act on, not a restatement of the numbers. If nothing cleared the bar that day, say so in one line instead of staying silent, so the team knows the check ran.

Finally, create one row per shortlisted post in our Airtable boost queue using Create Records, with status set to Pending Review. Create Records handles up to 10 records at a time, so a cap of five fits comfortably in a single call. Include the creator handle, the post link, the metric that spiked with its multiple against baseline, and the rationale, so the paid team has everything needed to make the call without going back to Later.

One important constraint: Later's reporting API is read only, so this workflow surfaces and queues boost candidates but cannot action the boost itself. The Airtable row is the handoff to the paid team, and Pending Review is what marks it as awaiting their decision.

## How to customize

- Timing and cadence: move it off 8am, or run it every day instead of weekdays only.
- Shortlist size: five a day keeps it something the team can actually action, but raise or lower the cap to suit your volume.
- What counts as a breakout: change how far above a creator's norm a post has to land, and which numbers matter most to you, such as saves and shares rather than plain views.
- Where it lands: swap the Slack channel, or point it at a different Airtable base and status value.

## Example output

Boost candidates for Thu 7 Aug (3 of 5 slots filled)

1. @mayaruns · Instagram Reel
   Saves at 4.2x her 30 day norm (1,840 vs 438 average)
   https://instagram.com/p/example1
   Her form breakdown is being saved rather than just liked, which usually signals intent rather than idle scrolling. Strong candidate to run through her handle to cold fitness audiences.

2. @thekitchendrawer · TikTok
   Shares at 3.1x his 30 day norm (612 vs 197 average)
   https://tiktok.com/@example/video/2
   Share rate is the metric that travels, and this one is spreading without any paid support yet. Worth backing before the organic curve flattens.

3. @lenabuilds · Instagram Reel
   Comments at 2.6x her 30 day norm (340 vs 131 average)
   https://instagram.com/p/example3
   Comments are questions about where to buy, which is about as close to purchase intent as organic gets. Send traffic to the product page.

No other posts cleared their creator's baseline by enough to make the cut today. All three added to the boost queue as Pending Review.

## FAQ

### Why compare each post to the creator instead of using one engagement target for everyone?

A single target across all creators just surfaces your biggest accounts every morning, because they clear it on a quiet day. Measuring each post against that creator's own recent average tells you something more useful: this post is doing unusually well for them, which is the real signal that the content is connecting and deserves budget.

### Will the same post keep showing up day after day?

No. Before it posts anything, it reads what is already in your Airtable boost queue and skips those posts. You only ever see new candidates.

### Does this launch the ads for me?

No, and that is deliberate. Later's reporting is read only, so this finds and queues the candidates while your paid team makes the call and launches. That is exactly what the Pending Review status is for.

### What if nothing is really breaking out that day?

It tells you that in Slack rather than padding the list with weak candidates. A short shortlist you trust is worth more than five posts every morning regardless of merit.

### How far back does it look for posts?

Only posts published in the last 14 days. Boosting works best while a post is still fresh and gathering momentum, so older content is left out even if the numbers look good.

### Do I need a big roster of creators for this to be useful?

It works with whatever you are tracking in Later. The comparison is per creator, so even a handful of creators produces a meaningful read once each has a few weeks of posts to set a baseline.

Use this prompt in General Input: https://www.generalinput.com/prompts/find-the-influencer-posts-worth-putting-ad-budget-behind