THE EFFECTS OF POOR TALENT MANAGEMENT AND WHY IT MATTERS
Back in January, we said that 2020 would be the year of the talent agent… By which we meant it’s kind of the year could see massive changes in the industry, as managers are a very real part of the influencer ecosystem, for brands and influencers alike. With some of the big names in the world of influencers taking their management in-house, it’s time to face the fact that getting representation doesn’t always solve problems – and can in fact set talent back when done poorly.
Crucially, the idea of just ‘having an agent’ has been losing its shine in recent times and doesn’t carry the prestige it once did. The industry is now highly saturated, both in terms of talent and agents, so as an influencer it’s challenging to find someone who can really build your specific career long-term.
When building relationships, often the initial work a brand needs to see from an influencer (e.g. Do they like the products/services? Do their audiences?), can’t come out of a paid campaign – but as 20% of £0 is £0 – agents aren’t always interested in those early stages of a partnership that don’t have immediate revenue potential. This forces brands to walk away as it’s no secret that using a paid campaign to introduce a brand to an audience for the first time converts poorly, compared to working with someone who has already shown an interest to their following.
As an agency, we pride ourselves on creating campaigns that perform for both brands and influencers – it’s our bread and butter. We aren’t talent managers and have no intention of going down this route, instead leaving it to the experts.
After four years running One Roof Social, we can’t help but have some thoughts on the way that agents are shaping the landscape. Particularly as the world of influencer marketing grows, we’re still seeing talent management and influencer agencies spring up at a rapid speed. So, we’ve created some advice for brands, influencers and the agents themselves on how to handle the campaign process up for mutually assured success – which is what it’s really all about, isn’t it?
Advice to Brands on Working with Talent Agents
Do Your Research
Look at other campaigns that the talent you’re interested in has done recently. It’s an investment of time, but it’s vital that you’re aware of what content packages they tend to create. Consider whether or not they do video, have an active IGTV channel, save Stories to Highlights, speak to camera, offer Carousels, or do product flat lays and decide before approaching them whether or not what you need from a campaign can be achieved through their content style.
It will then be easier to approach with a relevant proposal. It’s really helpful for agents to have as much information as possible and by showing you recognise an influencer’s unique perspective and strengths it says that you have a considered approach and really appreciate what their talent can bring to your campaign.
Arrive with a Considered Budget AND a Brief
The purpose of an agent is fundamentally to secure and deliver commercial opportunities, but also to protect the interests of their talent. It’s always best to be as transparent as possible while taking into consideration that the agent’s job is to do the best for their talent (as that’s how they – the agent – earn their money too).
When it comes to negotiating with agents, smoke and mirrors will get you nowhere. If an agent quote rates that are out of the question, then a frank and honest conversation about what you are able to pay (and why) quickly reveals where a compromise can be reached and what’s non-negotiable. It’s often about being seen to be willing to try.
If you need a refresher, check out our articles here:
Briefing Influencers to Create Successful Campaigns
Pricing an Influencer Campaign
But Don’t Always Stick to Them
If you work brand or agency-side, it will not surprise you that many UK agents themselves admit that while there are standard rates for certain media sectors (like TV, book deals and personal appearances), digital content creation still varies hugely across the board – and means that all sides need to be ready to negotiate.
It’s essential to consider what you want and need and prepare to pay fairly for extras. You will need to be really clear about how the talent’s assets will be used and what the long-term plans are for the content. Naturally it’s something any agent worth their salt would push for information on (as this also brings the opportunity of more money for the talent!) so it’s fundamental to figure out what you need, cover for that and drop the rest. If you aren’t sure, negotiate to add a clause into the contract that reopens discussions at a later date.
In terms of briefs, talent want their creativity to sit front and centre even when working with brands, so don’t be afraid to let them share creative concepts and interpretations of the brief. From experience, we have had instances when influencers resent brands for restricting their creative direction – ultimately, it’s essential to discuss it in advance and draw up a contract that reflects the decision.
We’re finding that it’s becoming less common that instances like this arise as brands get better at selecting talent for this creativity but it’s important not to be afraid of content that feels off-the-cuff or spontaneous – it might turn out to be the kind of idea that just wouldn’t have been suggested in a brand marketing meeting.
Don’t be Afraid to Move On
If you’re getting a bad feeling from an agent who quotes astronomical fees and can’t justify why, then don’t be afraid to move on and look elsewhere. Luckily, the UK market is so full of talent options no campaign will fall apart by not using a particular person – so if you can’t make it work on one particular instance with your first choice and their representation, you can usually explore other options.
Make All Financial Decisions In One Go
Rather than signing off talent one by one, gather quotes from everyone you have approached. Put them side-by-side and make sure they fit together logically. It’s rare that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to budgets works these days, so you’re more than likely going to have to pay some talent more or less than others. By putting them all next to each other it helps you make sure that individual costs make sense and are justifiable.
Our Advice to Agents on Working with Brands
Be Flexible
Our clients are always delighted to see agents that want to explore ways for brands to invest in their talent, rather than it being a one-off. If the concept seems right but the deliverables don’t look like something that’ll show your talent’s best results then say so and make a suggested amendment.
When asked for stats, don’t shy away. Send the exact things a brand asks for. Sharing key information including demographics, previous performance and optimum engagement time-frames so that the brand can be really informed and plan ahead allows brands to fairly propose costs and negotiate accurately.
Be Prepared
If you don’t have in-depth knowledge of a brief, or know what the campaign hashtag is, then it’s likely that your talent may not either. Reading the brief and contract in full avoids nasty surprises, particularly if you have passed on all relevant aspects to the talent. While it’s the influencer themselves that the brand have approached, how this information is communicated will decide how a campaign is executed.
Brands often get frustrated that they cannot talk to the influencer directly, leading to disparity between the campaign and the work the influencer produces – an agent’s involvement ideally means that these issues are anticipated and ironed out to avoid wasting time and work for the influencer.
Talent aren’t always concerned with the small print, but sharing how long the usage period is, how long they need to share the images for on their feeds, the fee, and the timeline for deliverables are all super important to pass along.
Be Useful
Fundamentally, talent managers are an extension of their talent and can also contribute to making or breaking future partnerships. When content is received by a brand for sign off that doesn’t meet the requirements of the brief or contract, it’s almost always something that could have been caught ahead of time.
Be Transparent
Prices must be structured in a way that’s fair to all talent involved, and on an individual influencer’s potential results for the brand. Paying 20% more in agency fee simply because an influencer has an agent isn’t something that will make sense to marketing teams who work on a CPA or ROI format, so make sure to outline the total fee from the beginning when negotiating.
Equally, if your talent have similar partnerships in or around the timings of this partnership – just say so. We often walk away from negotiations when agents push back on exclusivity but won’t explain reasoning; whereas if they explained that it’s because there is another partnership with a potential competitor it might be something we are able to work around.
Be Reactive
If for any reason the content doesn’t perform in the way the brand thought, despite following an agent’s lead on expectation and delivery, the agent should be fully prepared to have a conversation with their talent about resolving the issue.
This advice really applies to anyone, influencer or marketer, as whichever side you sit on we need to be looking for longevity in the work and relationships that we create.
We’ve found that this industry attracts innovative, creative people that thrive in an environment that is constantly evolving and adapting, and want to help define what mutually good working conditions are – we want to champion those that get it right.
Our Advice to Influencers
To date ‘talent’ has been something that falls under the bracket of ‘celebrity’ or ‘artist’ and speaking frankly, influencers are rarely either. Instead they own digital property with some value and have developed a relationship with their following which also needs to be considered. The ability to ‘create’ is entirely homegrown, therefore it could be argued that having a professional agent could help them get into shape for the professional market.
In broad strokes, having an agent can certainly help with getting the right fees as they can be more matter of fact, knowledgable and command higher rates. They indisputably help influencers to gain access to different industries (such as publishing, fashion brands, and casting agencies), so signing with a good manager can change it up for a talent who might have become stuck in their lane and lack progression doing it themselves.
We frequently get emails mistaking One Roof Social for a talent manager, where influencers say things like “I’m looking to take the next step” or “I’m looking for someone to help me grow”. For the majority of influencers out there, it isn’t the job of an agent to do that – only you can grow the type of engaged, authentic following that success as a digital-first creator requires. Talent management comes in when you cannot control the workload consistently and need advice and help with what campaigns to take. They’re also very useful if you aren’t a natural negotiator, providing they come in with a reasonable (for the brands) pricing suggestion.
However, as the demands coming from brands have become more performance marketing-based (meaning they want assurance on ROI, and agents need to know how to manage campaigns to deliver results) it necessitates agents having a further set of specialist skills.
What a talent manager rarely has time to do is actively develop and create campaigns for you – sadly they often have a too big a roster to allow them to do so. In the past, we’ve heard the story of “I got a manager, and they brought me very little work”; which is really the wrong expectation to arrive with because unless an agency has promised otherwise, and they should be focusing on streamlining your projects and career in the direction you have told them you want to go. They’re not there to bring you more work; they’re there to better organise the work already coming in.
Frankly, most talent on the market don’t fit into a straightforward ‘influencer’ mould and need agents who can handle every aspect of their working life. For this reason, we frequently see influencers choosing to hire dedicated assistants at the point where their careers are becoming more than they can handle alone, or waiting until they can find reputable management of the type that can really elevate their careers to the next level.
Only time will tell whether the demands on talent management will change as the influencer landscape evolves, but doubtless it’s those who can demonstrate their expertise to both influencers and brands that will continue to shine in 2020.