Do I Need an Influencer Manager?
Have you ever thought to yourself “do I need an influencer manager?” So many of the creators that I work with in my monthly membership think that they need one and wonder if they’d be more successful if they did. So, let’s break down the pros and cons of having an influencer manager.
What is an influencer manager?
Influencer management agencies are there to help you bring in more consistent income. Most managers will negotiate your brand deals for you, take care of all the back and forth with your brand partners, read through and red line contracts, and help get you new brand deals. Some will even help with the other streams of income that you have.
How does it work?
Different agencies work in different ways. I’ve personally had two different types of experiences. The most popular option is for you to give away a percentage of your brand deals to your agency. From what I’ve personally seen for myself, my students, and my peers is ~20% of your brand partnerships. For example, if they negotiate a deal for $1k, you will receive $800 while the agency takes $200. Most of the companies who take percentages of your income only take that vs. taking a set rate + the percentage.
I’ve also worked with two other agencies that gave me a set monthly or hourly rate that I’d pay for a certain list of services. For example, I worked with a company that worked on an hourly basis and did all of my pitching + negotiations within that hourly rate. At the end of the month, I would pay them based on the hours that they worked for me.
I also worked with a management agency that I paid $750/mo to have them just send out pitches. In my experience, this was not a great idea because they didn’t have to care about whether or not the pitches actually got me jobs because they were paid either way.
Who needs an influencer manager?
First, let’s consider their job description. They will take over an incoming pitches that come your way and negotiate those, some (not all) of them will also pitch you to brands, and they also read over your contracts for you to ensure you’re not signing something that’s not in your best interest.
In my opinion, the people who need those services are either:
A) People who are getting so many inquiries from brands in their inbox that they don’t have the time capacity to answer all of them
B) People who are uncomfortable negotiating rates and reading contracts or
C) People who are looking for the legitimacy that an agency brings them when pitching to brands (A.K.A. the brands will see the pitch coming from an agency and may see you in a different light)
Let’s digest these further ⤵️
People who are getting so many inquiries from brands in their inbox that they don’t have the time capacity to answer all of them
I firmly believe that if you’re not getting inquiries into your inbox then you’re likely not ready to take on management. I think you would be better off spending your time really establishing your presence as a legitimate creator on your own so that you can maximize the amount of income that you’re making before you starting handing some of that off to a manager.
Also, if the agency does pitch for you, they’re likely going to have a harder time landing you deals since you’re not already getting them into your inbox, so who knows what kind of success you’d even see there. It takes time to establish yourself as a frequently hired creator, so I say put your time and effort into that first. This is something that we help our monthly members with immensely.
People who are uncomfortable negotiating rates and reading contracts
If you’re someone who gets an email from a brand and is like “what the heck do I do with this?” you might want to look into an agency. But one thing that I always like to point out here is that if you start to rely on an agency to do this for you, what will you do if you ever stop working with them? You’ll have no idea how to stand on your own two feet.
I think it’s so incredibly important to learn how to master the skills of negotiating rates and reading contracts because they’re something you’re always going to have to do as a creator. If you want to get into this full time, hire a coach or join a program that allows you to learn these mandatory skills so that you don’t have to rely on anyone but yourself.
People who are looking for the legitimacy that an agency brings them when pitching to brands
When a brand sees an email from a creator, they’re going to look at it different than they might an email from an agency or manager. I believe that being represented by management definitely can give you a leg up, however, it’s so incredibly important for you to do your research into the agency that you choose because this could also work the opposite way for you. Some agencies don’t have great reputations and being represented by them may actually hurt you more than it could help you.
Look at the agency’s roster and reach out to the creators that they represent to ask about their experiences. Everything might look like sunshine and rainbows from the outside, but hearing the experiences straight from the creators can be very eye-opening.
So, what do you think? Do you feel like you’d be a good fit for a management agency?
