What is an Influencer Manager

The hottest role of the moment? Influencer managers. 

These magical mediators serve as the stepping stone between brands and the creators they wish to work with. Influencer managers are the key to brands unlocking the power of social media campaigns. 

As popular and in high demand as they are, the actual scope of influencer managers’ roles is often misunderstood. Read on for a comprehensive description of what an influencer manager is, their duties, and why they may be the next step for your brand. 

WHAT IS AN INFLUENCER MANAGER 

To begin, an influencer manager oversees influencers in the world of social media. They act as the go-between for brands and the content creators they want to activate for their latest campaigns. 

Influencer managers play a crucial role in getting branded campaigns from ideation to release. They combine their skills in influencer management, market analysis, social media management, consumer behaviour analysis, and negotiations to deliver top-of-the-line campaigns with impressive results. Moreover, these workers deliver a high return on investment, with businesses earning an impressive $5.78 for every $1 spent on influencer partnerships. 

A day in the life of an influencer may see them answer correspondence from influencers, meet with a creator to brief them for a campaign, translate feedback from a brand to an influencer on their content, and negotiate contract terms with an influencer. Influencer managers live truly varied lives, flitting from task to task and never working on the same project twice.

@emilyvalentineofficial

Wondering what an influencer manager does + when you should get one? Keep watching + sign up to my newsletter for more tips! 💌 #becomeaninfluencer #howtobecomeaninfluencer #influencercoach #influencermanager

♬ original sound – Emily | Content Creator Tips

Role duties 

Whilst each influencer manager will have their own individual role duties, most will typically deal with the following tasks on a day-to-day basis: 

Identify and vet influencers 

At the start of a campaign, influencer managers must find influencers who suit the brand’s image, target audience, values, and the campaign itself. They will present the client with a long list of potential talent, and eventually narrow this down to a select few. 

@veritypark

I’m an influencer manager of course I… … want to turn everything into a podcast 🎙 … scroll on TikTok for my job 🤭 … use emojis in my emails ✨ … wear a black blazer 🕴️ … have 12,000 unread WhatsApps 📩 … get all my skin care for free 🧴 What have we missed? 💁🏻‍♀️ #influencermanagement #influencermarketing

♬ original sound – veritypark

Handle contract and compensation negotiations

Influence managers must deal with all contract discussions between the talent and the brand. This includes mediating agreements, deliverables, and campaign expectations. The manager should ensure both the brand and influencer are happy with the terms and conditions of the agreement – compensation, deliverables, timelines, content guidelines, etc. 

Send products to influencers 

Ensuring the influencers involved have the correct products on hand for filming and content creation is crucial. It may seem simple, but making sure each influencer has the correct product in the right size, shade, and on time is no small task. Influencer managers take on this responsibility, handling all the postage of branded props and products to involved talent. 

Manage campaign execution 

The influencer manager will lead the coordination of influencer content, ensuring it aligns with brand guidelines and goals before being sent to the brand. After the brand has viewed the content, the influencer managers will then act as the go-between, delivering brand feedback to the influencer and ensuring all necessary changes are made. This process can often be lengthy, with many brands requiring several rounds of feedback before giving the final stamp of approval to influencer content. 

Track performance 

At the end of the campaign, influencer managers must measure all the engagement, conversions, and results of the influencer’s content in relation to the campaign. They will deliver this report to the client to show the overall impact of the influencer. For ongoing campaigns and brand relationships, influencer managers will typically deliver a report once a quarter. 

@macesdiary_

i literally never post about my job on here but i forgot how fun it is being an influencer manager working in the beauty industry xx #spendthedaywithme #influencermarketing #influencermanager

♬ Dancing2 – Keli Holiday

Build and foster long-term influencer relationships 

An imperative part of being an influencer manager is maintaining relationships with influencers. To ensure both the brand and the influencer are pleased with each other at all times, influencer managers must keep up with emails, speak regularly with the influencers, and attend to their needs. Whilst it may seem simple, keeping influencers happy after many rounds of feedback and strict deadlines can often be a difficult task – this is where managers’ collaborative and interpersonal skills come into play. 

The impact of influencer managers 

Ultimately, influencer managers play a crucial role in ensuring brand campaigns are effective. 

An essential mediator between talent and brands, influencer managers ensure that all social media and general content for a campaign is to a brand’s standard. Without these vital players, a brand would have to not only handle the execution and creative ideation of its campaign, but also source, vet, mediate, give feedback to, and manage influencers themselves. As such, influencer managers are absolutely essential to ensuring the success of a campaign. 

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@SociallyPowerful