Influencer Marketer or Influencer Relations Manager: Who Are They?

Influencer marketing (influencer, influencer manager, blogger manager) is a fairly narrow marketing specialty. However, such specialists—both full-time and part-time—are actively sought after by companies of all sizes. And there are objective reasons for this.

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Why do people listen to bloggers?

Today's consumer audience is tired of direct advertising and distrusts official media. This is pushing many brands to promote their products through the blogosphere.

Authoritative bloggers are listened to, and millions follow their public activities. Bloggers are now more popular than TV presenters, movie stars, and pop stars, and their opinions influence the personal values ​​of their followers. It's all about unobtrusiveness and a trusting tone.

An influencer's primary role is to find bloggers (on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram, Twitch, etc.) who meet the client's needs to conduct a successful marketing campaign. After all, the best advertising is the kind that doesn't look like advertising.

What should an influencer be able to do?

On the one hand, there are plenty of bloggers these days. However, choosing the right one isn't so simple. The search must be based on knowledge of the target audience.

Since the specialist is responsible for the targeted investment of funds from his client’s budget, he must:

• be able to “read” account statistics, i.e. analyze quantitative indicators and content quality;
• adequately evaluate the blogger’s subscribers (distinguish between paid comments under posts and “live” responses);
• be able to work with the main target audience.

In other words, a blog with an audience of schoolchildren is not suitable for promoting a product or service from the high-end segment.

Influencer Marketer Responsibilities:

• establish relationships with suitable bloggers and conduct negotiations with them;
• develop text, visual and video content for advertising activities;
• work in a team with a content manager, designer and other specialists;
• Analyze the results of a marketing campaign: monitor publications, ensure compliance with agreements, summarize ROI, and generate new hypotheses.

What is the difference between the work of an influencer, an SMM manager, and a targeting specialist?

An SMM manager is responsible for content, i.e., for filling the blogger's social media accounts. An influencer is responsible for brand promotion through bloggers. It's also important not to confuse an influencer manager with a targeting specialist—a specialist who uses direct advertising to find similar audiences on social media. An influencer marketer finds the right audience among bloggers and, based on their needs, promotes their client's products and services. So, if the product's consumers are women interested in beauty products, an influencer might look for beauty stars who blog on Instagram. If the target audience is schoolchildren who like gaming, then they need to find a top Let's Player on YouTube or Twitch.

Influencer Marketer Candidate Requirements

The blogger manager is required to:

• successful experience in analyzing the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and filtering out ineffective resources;
• ability to conduct effective negotiations with bloggers;
• skills in compiling a blogger database and purchasing advertising integrations;
• understanding of promotion formats and features
• a keen interest in the customer company’s business area;
• Depending on the advertising objectives, knowledge of English may be required to communicate with international platforms;
• visual acuity, good taste and an understanding of modern trends.

A specialist or a “universal soldier”

An influencer's professionalism is largely determined by their knowledge of specific channel trends. Above all, a good specialist must understand which channels should be used to promote a particular brand. Thorough knowledge of all channels' specific features is only possible through a thorough immersion in each one. And a thorough study of each topic takes a significant amount of time.

Experience shows that finding such a super-professional is difficult. Typically, they specialize in one thing: only Instagram or only YouTube, for example. But if someone is truly a "universal soldier," the cost of their services increases exponentially.

Depending on the tasks to be solved, specialists in design, promotion, copywriting, advertising, PR, etc. can retrain as influencer marketers.

Is it worth learning the profession of a blogger manager?

There's certainly a shortage of such personnel in the market, but much depends on the industry. For example, in the fashion and beauty industries, there are plenty of candidates for influencer manager positions, and competition is high, as are the salaries. In other industries, such as finance, the search becomes more challenging, as the person will have to delve into the specifics and consider how to approach the topic and engage bloggers.

There's no universal "formula for success" for influencers: some achieve results through solo efforts, others through teamwork. But the goal is always the same: find a specific audience and create engaging advertising content for them. And, of course, choose an authoritative personality (blogger) capable of presenting this content in a way that resonates with the target audience.