Influencer Talent Management is Outdated

The origins of creators management began with the traditional entertainment model, where agencies gave preference to celebrities and macro-influencers who had the highest efficiency and social proof, and all the attention of the audience was focused on them. Why? It's just that there were not as many niche creators as there are now, back then, at the stage of influencer marketing formation.

Managers, just like now, started long-term cooperation with celebrities or macro-influencers, telling relevant brands about them, and often ignored new faces on social networks, giving preference to big names.

With the evolution of influencer marketing, the rules of the game changed. Today, brands want not just coverage, but a niche target and the most accurate hit to the target audience. Therefore, niche creators have become no less in demand than celebrities or macro-influencers.

Many still focus on the number of subscribers. However, this number is not an indicator of the quality of content and audience engagement, and does not fully justify the high cost of advertising.

Creators may have a base of a million subscribers, but the question is: how many of them interact with the creator's content? Do people take their content seriously? Does the creator have a genuine connection with the audience that encourages subscribers to trust the recommendations of this influencer? Is influence marketing effective?

Frequently, these are completely unrelated factors. The number of subscribers today is less important than audience engagement and the alignment of the creator's content with the values ​​​​and mission of the brand.

Traditional influencer marketing is focused on celebrities and macro influencers, whose advertising is expensive and not always effective for some niches.

In addition to the high cost of advertising, such large influencers have a separate requirement to buy out the rights to use and distribute content in the future.

Also, using an influencer's content without their permission entails reputational, legal and financial consequences.

The traditional approach to Influence Management is evolving. Today, many are moving from focusing solely on high performers to recognizing and developing the potential of all influencers.

Niche creators have a narrow but highly engaged audience. Also, they invest in content development a little more than established celebrities. That's the reason why niche influencers are perceived as authentic and resonate with people on a deeper level.

Today, AI is not just a trend, it is a necessity. Especially when it comes to creator search and selection. Automated search and analysis of selected influencers allows you to select truly effective creators whose audience is highly engaged and active.

Automation in influencer marketing reduces the workload of the creator management team. Thus, the team will be able to spend on developing creative ideas, devote more time to developing relationships with influencers and scaling their roster of creators.

Influencers are the voice of the brand. Therefore, it is important to select influencers whose content, values, tone of voice, resonate with the brand's content.

It is also important to have a relevant and engaged audience among the creator's subscribers, and the number of subscribers in itself is just a number that has nothing to do with the performance indicator.

Manager guides creators break down the brief into creative ideas, supports them in the process of creating content, and frees the creator from the responsibility of independently maintaining legal and financial documents. With a talent manager, the creator has more time for creativity, communicating with the audience, and finding new pillars that scale the creator's activities.

Managers help creators identify career opportunities, long-term goals, manage strategic brand partnerships, define their public personality, and expand business opportunities.

Talent team does comprehensive work on the brand and growth of the creator so that in the future he can consistently monetize his activities, be in demand among brands, but at the same time remain unique.

Today, when every dollar invested matters, brands are looking for impactful influencer marketing decisions. Data-driven approach come to the forefront, allowing you to Predict the creator performance and campaign ROI.

Influencers make their choise as well. It’s important for creators to partner with brands that not only resonate with their audience, but also with their own interests and core beliefs.

In the near future, influencers selection automation technologies will make influencer marketing campaigns more predictable and effective. Automation won't be able to replace the talent of a manager, but it will empower them to make more strategic and informed decisions, providing more opportunities for communication and creativity.

Modern talent management has evolved from working only with media personalities to working with niche creators who skilfully build a community of engaged like-minded people around themselves.

If the number of subscribers used to be key, today the quality of the creator's content, audience engagement, its quality and much more come to the fore.

A talent manager helps influencers improve key metrics that matter to brands and improve their growth strategy for sustainable and large-scale growth in the future.

Talent management is still going through a period of transformation, but now it is more about the growth of the industry towards automation and a data-driven approach, which will make influencer marketing an even more effective tool than before.