One of the most common questions that our influencer management team receives is from influencers asking: “When is the right time to get a talent manager?” As your following grows and you start to consider taking the influencer role more seriously, perhaps even making it your full-time gig, it is natural to think about talent management as a next step. The “right time” will be different for each creator, but here are a few signs that you should consider management more seriously:
1) You have a strong, engaged community.
First off, let’s make sure you have an engaged community of followers across your social platforms. We don’t like to set a minimum follower count because followers will vary based on your niche and other factors, but it is important that you have an active community that is engaging regularly with your content. A high engagement rate and interactive audience will be important for pitching brands and are a testament to your influence.
2) You are working regularly with brands.
A common misconception is that talent managers build influencers from the ground up, but it is important to understand that talent managers are looking for creators who have started to establish a strong foundation already. If you are considering management, you should have a few brand partnerships under your belt already. This can be partnerships in both a paid and unpaid capacity, but talent managers will want to know that you have experience working with brands and creating strong-performing branded content.
3) Your inbound opportunities are starting to feel overwhelming.
If you are getting to the point where you are struggling to manage and organize incoming brand partnership opportunities, that is a great sign that it may be time to look for a talent manager. A manager can act as a digital bouncer of sorts, filtering out spammy and ill-fitting brand opportunities, negotiating rates and contracts on your behalf, and communicating important reminders. Hiring a manager helps free up your time to do what you do best: create!
4) You lack the bandwidth to pitch yourself.
Likewise, you may be overwhelmed by incoming opportunities and struggle to pitch yourself to dream brands. A talent manager will pitch you on your behalf, getting you in front of decision-makers for brands that you might lack contacts for otherwise.
5) You are making a decent income off of your influencer work.
By the time you consider talent management, you should be at a point where you could ostensibly make a living off of your influencer work. There are plenty of creators who maintain part-time or full-time jobs in addition to their influencer work, but talent managers want to know that you are serious about making influencer work a major part of your life, or even your full-time career.
6) You are ready to expand your personal brand with larger-scale projects.
Beyond brand campaigns, influencers earn income from additional creative projects like podcasts, books, merchandise, co-branded collaborations, online courses, and so on. A talent manager is great for helping you plan out the big picture and can provide you a roadmap for expanding your personal brand beyond social media posting.
If most of those points speak to you, congratulations! You should seriously consider looking for a talent manager. Interested in being represented by The Digital Dept.? Fill out our influencer application here.
If not, we still encourage you to join our Digital Dept. Creator Network where you can receive updates about future potential campaigns, events, and gifting opportunities.
