Abed Agha

Must-have skills and tools every influencer marketing manager needs

With 5x the ROI for every dollar spent, influencer marketing is a proven social selling tool

And despite the ongoing recession, it seems it won’t be slowing down and will capture a market share from direct social ads spending.

Brilliant influencer marketing managers are one of the most significant drivers behind the industry growth to the $14 billion market it is today.

They have a keen understanding of how to turn social selling into a money-making machine. 

With this context, influencer marketing managers now have bigger roles to play within the company.

The question is, how do you become a great one?

We have the perfect tactics for you. From so-so to influencer marketing hero, this blog post will give you the tools you need to do great at your job.

Dive in!

Influencer marketing managers of yesterday vs today

Influencer marketing now is vastly different from how it used to operate a few years ago. The same goes for the scope of responsibilities of influencer marketing managers.

We’ve summarized it in this table.


The role of influencer marketing managers has long evolved to match the current competitive space.

Rather than just managing deliverables, they now have a discerning eye when it comes to content that drives ROI for the company.

Influencer campaign managers worth their salt know their target audience inside and out.

They can provide serious insights when it comes to the needs and wants of the target market.

So, what makes a high-performing influencer marketing manager?

6 Skills every marketing manager should have

1. The ability to plan a holistic marketing campaign 

Do you want 10x the ROI for every dollar you spend from your influencer marketing budget?

You have to make sure you have the right strategy in place and execute it well. Set clear goals and act accordingly.

You don’t just schedule the posts, your role is beyond that. 

To plan a solid influencer marketing strategy, you should be able to define the following:

Objectives

What do you plan to achieve with your Influencer campaign?
Be clear if your purpose is to generate leads, get testimonials, or grab attention and awareness for your brand.

Timeline for your campaign

Your project timeline is one of the ways you track the progress of your influencer campaign.
This way, you help ensure you’re on schedule when it comes to the deliverables, when to start, and when you should end.

Customer journey map

Creating a seamless customer journey means you know when to appear and engage with your target audience. This helps influence their buying decision in your favor.

The influencers posting the content is not the end goal. You should be able to extend the engagement with a re-engagement strategy on social media.

Sociata’s custom audience generator can help you retarget the audience that was exposed to the branded influencer content


2. Understands how to find the right influencers

You can’t just pluck any influencer that suits your fancy, there must be a brand fit. 

Before signing and collaborating with any social media influencer, you should be able to:

1. Know how much they know their own audience.

As a good influencer marketing manager, you must have a good understanding of how a certain influencer operates. Their content is usually a good place to start the investigation.
Examine the content they produce. Do the majority of them provide value? I.e. tips, how-to’s, and practical advice.

Hot tip: Sociata’s Audience-First Discovery helps you discover genuine influencers who truly wield authenticity in their niche when it comes to content.


2. Understand their level of social influence and how they fit in your funnel

Yes there are different kinds of influencers and you should know which ones can help you best. 

  • Nano influencers (1K–10K followers) - the least number of followers but are highly engaged.
  • Micro influencers (10K–100K followers) - fairly large following but are still relatable to their audience. They’re more niched down when it comes to content.
  • Macro influencers (100K–1M followers) - appeals to a broader set of audience. They’re less likely to personally engage with their audience given the size of people frequenting their comment sections. Your much-needed brand awareness goal is guaranteed.
  • Mega or celebrity influencers (1M+ followers) - just like macro influencers, Mega influencers are best used for brand awareness because of their appeal to a bigger audience. They come with a hefty price tag though.

If you’re a startup or a small business, working with nano influencers can be very advantageous.
If your focus is generating warm leads, you can go straight for micro-influencers.

Hot tip: Use Sociata to gauge the level of audience engagement of your prospective influencer. The iScore can quickly help if they’re a good fit or not.

This is a great way to find out where in your funnel a particular influencer is best used — generating awareness, consideration, or conversion.

3. Has excellent relationship-building skills

As an influencer marketing manager, one of the skills you need to hone is your ability to build relationships.

How to get better at establishing relationships around you?

1. Knows proper influencer outreach method

From nay to yay — there is always an efficient influencer outreach method for your approach.

Think of them as prospective beaus you need to properly woo. Building a good relationship with influencers is how you get them to feel brand loyalty toward you.

If you want to stand out from the sea of offers, don’t just slide into their DMs without preambles.
Start with their content. Be in their comment section and provide constructive feedback.
Never forget to establish rapport before offering a content collaboration with them.

Hot tip:
Want to add helpful notes with the influencer you’re eyeing? Use Sociata’s Creator Intelligence.


This feature makes researching your prospective influencer easier. You can get your hands on pertinent information that can increase your chances of getting positive responses from your influencer outreach.

4. Can set up workflows

A high-performing influencer marketing manager understands that workflows are not foes. They’re your strategic friends.

Good workflows keep you productive and efficient throughout your influencer campaign. They also allow you to replicate good results.

Don’t make a fuss, start documenting any of your workflows and hold on to them.

What’s a typical workflow look like?

  1. Clear deliverables
  2. Spreadsheets to track activities
  3. Training manuals/instructions for every task.

Tools such as DocuSign for electronic signatures and contract signings provide convenience between marketing managers and influencers.


When it comes to deliverables storage, tools like DropBox and GDrive are super easy to use for seamless collaborations. 

If you want more convenience and save more time when it comes to influencer marketing strategy, Sociata is the tool for you. The platform was built according to proven and tested influencer marketing methodologies and workflows.

This way you stay efficient as much as possible.

5. Manage expectations effectively

Managing expectations is crucial to avoid any form of misunderstanding between your influencer marketing team, influencers, and your decision-makers. This is a job you should be adept at doing as an influencer marketing manager.

This prevents burnout, nasty surprises, and seeds of doubt from developing. This is especially true for influencer marketing where there’s no such thing as instant ROI.

Hot tip: Sociata’s Performance Planning feature can help you create reasonable financial estimates and forecasts for your influencer marketing strategy.

6. Data-savvy and can track ROI

Bring your influencer marketing Manager game a notch higher — love data and track ROI!

You need to wear several hats if you want to be a high-performing marketing manager.

You don’t have to be the Harry Potter of your data team, but you must at least be able to read basic marketing data.

Data is crucial for making strategic decisions and planning. It will also help you justify your marketing spending vs ROI should higher-ups start asking

How to start understanding your influencer marketing data?

1. Start tracking your KPIs and establish reporting schedules.

Establish a system that will allow you to track any form of conversion involving your influencer marketing.

Tracking helps you identify how far off or near you are from your established goals. A Low KPI means you need to tweak underperforming parts of your strategy.

Want to comprehensively track your data? We got you covered!

Hot tip: You can use Sociata’s Performance Tracking feature to track the results of your influencer campaigns.

Be the manager who brings in the ROI

With social media still going strong and its proven impact on a company’s ROI, your job as an influencer marketing manager will be even more in demand. It will also become more challenging.

Build a great career in influencer marketing by constantly sharpening your skills and leveraging tools to make your work more efficient. 

Start with Sociata to find the right influencers and manage influencers.

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