Influencer Management: What’s It Like Managing Creators?

In this day and age, so many people aspire to become successful social media influencers. Trust in online creators is growing a lot, too. Morning Consult says the share of young people who trust influencers increased from 51% to 61% in just four years. So, it’s not surprising that more careers are coming out of the influencer marketing space. Aside from the content creators themselves, there must be a team working behind them for efficient influencer management, right?

Enter influencer coordinators. These experts are kind of like talent managers who specialize in building relationships with influencers and hiring them for projects. They know the most effective influencer marketing strategies and can make every social media collab with a creator shine.

But what is life like for influencer coordinators? What are their responsibilities, and how do they help both content creators and brand partners succeed during influencer marketing campaigns? Keep reading this guide to look into the lives of these collaborative and strategic marketers.

Do Influencers Have Managers?

Actors, artists, and many other public figures can’t function without their management team. So, some people might be wondering, “Do influencers have managers, too?”

Yes, there are a lot of influencers who have dedicated managers to handle their affairs and brand collaborations. Life as an influencer can get pretty busy, but what about creating content and engaging your fanbase online? An influencer manager can help creators sort out their projects, brand deals, and timelines, as well as liaise with partner companies. A committed partner like that can do wonders for creators who are having problems navigating the world of influencer marketing.

That said, not every creator hires an influencer marketing manager. To be honest, it’s not as typical as one might assume.

Those who hire managers are usually mega or macro-influencers with incredibly huge fanbases and have multiple brand collabs running simultaneously. These influencers are nearing celebrity status and have dozens of things to attend to each day. A dedicated manager can help them organize their career and strategize how to maximize their potential as a public figure.

Micro-influencers, on the other hand, who have way smaller fanbases, don’t usually need a manager. While these creators are known to resonate more strongly with niche audiences, they may not book as many brand deals. So, it’s relatively easier to manage their schedules—so much so that they’ll do it themselves without a manager’s help.

That said, if a micro-influencer’s career trajectory takes them to new heights, they can get bigger and bigger. After they gain hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers, it makes sense to hire a manager for representation.

Some Managers Work for an Influencer Management Agency or PR Group

Not everyone who specializes in influencer management processes is hired directly by big content creators and internet celebs. It’s common for coordinators like these to work for an influencer management agency instead.

These agencies are known to represent multiple influencers at the same time. They also often offer other services, from content creation consulting to brand strategy. You get the expertise of a renowned team of influencer marketers to guide you on your influencer creator journey. Plus, you also become part of a community of other creators within the agency, helping to expand your professional network.

You’ll also commonly find influencer coordinators working in public relations agencies or in-house brand marketing teams. These managers work on the brand side to select potential influencers for projects. Then, they coordinate with the creators once they sign a brand partnership and launch a campaign. They ensure that the collab runs smoothly and that everything the creator puts out aligns with the brand’s messaging.

How To Manage Influencers: 7 Tasks Managers and Agents Need To Be on Top Of

Are you curious as to what influencer coordinators and managers do to help brand teams and content creators? Let’s explore the art of how to manage influencers by diving deep into the roles and responsibilities of these agents. Here are seven of the things these marketers do regularly to close partnerships and run influencer marketing campaigns smoothly.

1. Identify the Best Influencers for a Brand Campaign

A good influencer coordinator knows how to find potential influencers that are perfect for a brand campaign. They have a thorough understanding of a project, its objectives, messaging, and aesthetic style. From there, their job is to identify content creators who can emulate the same energy that the campaign wants.

Selecting influencers for a project might sound easy, but a lot of thought and research goes into it. Agents need to carefully vet creators before considering them for the job. They’ll conduct social media audits to see what kind of content each influencer is capable of producing. An influencer’s style and tone must be aligned with that of the brand. They’ll also research their reputation, engagement rates, audience demographics, and more.

2. Reach Out To Possible Brand Ambassadors

After pinpointing the best influencers for a project, these managers then prepare for the next step—influencer outreach. They’ll gather contact details for every creator who has the potential to be a brand ambassador for their client. Then, they will reach out via email, DM, phone call, or other channels to offer a partnership for the project.

The key to successful influencer outreach is being able to make that instant connection with a creator. So, the email or DM you shoot out to them has to be personalized and sound approachable. The goal is to get an influencer excited by the opportunity to work with a brand. Be careful not to scare them away with a cold tone and technical jargon.

Pro-tip: if you’re an influencer coordinator, have an outreach email template on hand at all times! This allows you to reach out to a possible brand ambassador quickly and easily without writing emails from scratch.

3. Draft and Execute Contracts for the Collaboration

Influencer coordinators are also in charge of drawing up contracts. The terms of the brand partnership contract will depend on many factors. These include the agreed-upon rates, scope of work, and expectations from both the influencer and partner brand.

Of course, a coordinator is also responsible for negotiating to get the best rates for their clients. An influencer marketer working for a brand might negotiate to bring down an influencer’s rates. Meanwhile, an influencer’s dedicated manager should try to get the best offer possible for their client.

Other things that must be discussed and included in the contract are exclusivity rights, timelines, copyrights, and payment terms.

Once the terms are finalized, the influencer coordinator also ensures that both parties sign the contract.

4. Creative Collaboration With the Content Creators

When the partnership is ongoing, influencer coordinators liaise with creators on a regular basis. They join the marketing team when they brief the influencers on the project. They’re also in charge of answering any clarificatory questions the influencers have after the initial meetings.

And when it’s time for the influencers to create branded content, they’re on the sidelines as well. They keep tabs on the production process and work closely with the creators to ensure the final product aligns with the campaign’s vision. Sometimes, these managers even help influencers with the brainstorming process of their posts’ creative direction.

5. Track the Performance of Influencer Posts

After an influencer’s branded, sponsored posts are published, it’s the coordinator’s responsibility to stay up-to-date with their performance metrics. That means communicating with the brand ambassadors to ask for updates on metrics like reach, impressions, engagements, views, and more. By keeping tabs on these, coordinators can determine whether brands are getting ROI on their influencers.

One of the most important things to track when doing influencer campaigns is brand sentiment online. People are bound to talk about a brand’s major campaigns, especially if a mega-influencer is the face of it.

Influencer marketers use social listening tools to see what their target audience thinks about the campaign. Positive sentiment means users love the collab, while negative sentiment points to a mismatch. This is another way to measure the effectiveness of a brand ambassador.

6. Maintain Long-Term Relationships With Influencers After the Project

An influencer coordinator’s job doesn’t stop when the brand’s campaign is over. They also work to maintain solid relationships with influencers they’ve worked with in the past. By keeping close contact with effective brand ambassadors, they can easily activate these creators again for future campaigns.

When a campaign wraps up, a coordinator might reach out to thank an influencer for their participation in the project. They’re also in charge of sending out any tokens of appreciation or freebies to the creators. It’s also common to ask creators for feedback about their experience working with the brand. These learnings can help the brands with future influencer marketing campaigns.

7. Invite Creators to Influencer Events

Lastly, these marketers are in charge of inviting content creators to influencer events.

There are many reasons why an influencer would be invited to a brand event. They might promote the event by posting about it on social media while it’s happening. Some content creators might receive invitations to speak to a crowd about their lives. It could also be to treat them to the VIP section to thank them for simply being an awesome brand ambassador.

Regardless, it’s an influencer coordinator’s job to reach out and invite these influencers to events. They also provide briefs about the events, details on the program, contracts for any promotional partnerships, and more.

Influencer Agent vs. Influencer Management Platforms: What’s the Difference?

Working with an influencer agent is terrific; you’re a creator who needs help with the everyday goings-on of influencer life. Some of these agents also work for PR firms and brands looking to launch influencer marketing campaigns. These coordinators connect creators to brands that might want to work with them. If they have a dedicated manager of their own, they also arrange their everyday goings-on as a public figure.

But if you’re a brand looking to connect with creators, it makes more sense to work with influencer management platforms.

Like individual agents, influencer marketing platforms also connect brands with potential brand ambassadors for their campaigns. But instead of one person doing research and outreach, a platform is an online, technology-driven tool that automates the process.

From influencer discovery to performance tracking and even to payments, brands can liaise with content creators through these online platforms. Here are some of the many features a typical influencer marketing platform might have:

• A search tool with filters so you can find influencers based on their niche, follower count, target audience, and more.
•  Online contract drafting and signing.
• Campaign management tools where brand owners can approve or leave feedback on an influencer’s content.
• Performance trackers to see if a creator’s content meets the brand’s KPIs.
• Invoices and payments are made directly through the platform.

Using influencer platforms is a convenient way to connect with content creators that are perfect for your brand campaigns. However, it doesn’t have the same human connection and rapport that an influencer agent can create when liaising with creators.

Online platforms are great. But that kind of system relies on algorithms, data, and quick processes for success, not human interaction. If you want to prioritize nurturing relationships with influencers, it’s best to have an influencer agent on your brand team.

With a Solid IG Presence, You’ll See the World of Influencer Coordinators, Too!

Influencer coordinators are the marketers that make any influencer campaign fly high. They’re awesome at identifying the best creators for a brand’s campaign and working with them throughout the project. Plus, they’re experts at influencer relationship management, allowing them to help creators with possible partnerships for the long term.

If you’re an aspiring influencer, it’s a terrific idea to have a few influencer coordinators in your network. Forming strong bonds with these managers allows you to put yourself on the map. If they have a project in mind for you, you might just hear from them and secure brand deal opportunities.

However, not every creator will find collaborations just because they know people who work in influencer management. Of course, these influencer marketers have an eye for which creators will work for a project and who won’t. Their top criterion? Having tons of social media followers.

Get noticed by people in influencer marketing by growing your Instagram page and getting more fans. Path Social’s proprietary targeting algorithm can help you do exactly that. We pinpoint the niche audience that resonates with your content most and promote your posts to them. In just a few days, you’ll see your engagement and follower count skyrocket. Gain more fans and put yourself on the influencer marketing map today!