Influencer marketers are a special breed. They blend emotional relationship-building with data-driven digital savvy on a daily basis. The best have mastered the ability to tap into their instincts while never losing sight of their business objectives.
I find the most interesting influencer marketing professionals have a down-to-earth approach to building their programs. They know relationships are built, not bought, and are not afraid to dive into the data and ask the tough questions to craft campaigns that drive results.
It’s a challenging profession, but one that is on the rise. There are currently 2,888 open influencer marketing jobs advertised on LinkedIn right now!
From my vantage point, I get to meet many amazing influencer marketing experts. Recently, I’ve been inspired by how these professionals not only manage amazing programs on behalf of their brands, but they are also fantastic content creators in their own right.
If you’re looking for influencer marketing inspiration this summer, check out these IM pros. They are great examples of excellence in our field.
Scarlette Tidy
Scarlette is an influencer and social media marketing consultant working with brands such as True Botanicals, Ellis Brooklyn and Smule. Prior, she ran influencer marketing for several of the brands in the Kendo portfolio, including Ole Henrikson and Bite Beauty. I love how she blends work and life on her Instagram feed and experiments with content creation for her clients. You can catch her on our podcast, The Fast Traack too!
Geo West
After working with several of the most prestigious beauty brands, including L’Oreal and Charlotte Tilbury, Geo has now created her own agency, Happy Cat. She’s been involved in influencer marketing for 10 years, and is the woman behind many successful influencers. She recently launched More than Influence, based on 10 years of working directly with creators, and five years at some of the biggest brands. Check out her courses here. She also posts these amazing artist renderings of inspiring women.
Lauren Thermos
By day, Lauren is the Director, Global Integrated Media & Marketing Strategy at Revlon. On the side, she runs a marketing event series called Cut the Crap. Where marketers who are “sick of those useless platitudes” aka "content is king", "TV is dead" or "data is the new oil" will find a place to discuss the meaningful over the trendy. While the events used to be in person (remember those days?!), they are working on virtual events these days so consider signing up to learn more at www.cutthecrap.io.
Rema Gouyez
Rema heads up Global Advocacy & Influence for L’Oreal. She is one of the most savvy digital marketers I have met. We also share a love for chardonnay and lifting weights :) With 9,000+ followers, her personal Instagram is an ongoing class in lifestyle influence.
Akash Mehet
Akash is the cofounder of Fable & Mane, a hair wellness brand. Formerly, he led global digital marketing for Dior Parfums. He has an exceptional social media presence with 300,000 followers on Instagram and was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 2019 - Media & Marketing. Check out his free marketing courses - especially the one on influencer marketing!
Deshnie Govender
Desh is the Head of Influence Programs for the South Africian division of Anheauser-Busch. But by night, she’s DJ Roxxi, one of South Africa’s leading female DJs. Desh was a nominee for AIB’s Digital Marketer of the Year award, and won Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Awesome Women Award. Needless to say, she’s pretty busy, but she still finds time to share valuable influencer insight on Youtube and her LinkedIn almost daily.
Mackenzie Newcomb
As I've noted, often excellent influencer marketers have a thriving platform of their own and Traackr's influencer marketing manager, Mackenzie, is no exception. Call me biased, I don't care! Beyond the fantastic work Mackenzie does for Traackr, which includes hosting our influencer podcast, The Fast Traack, she is also the woman behind The Bad Bitch Book Club, a 4,000 member strong book club that reads books by women about women. Somehow she makes time to blog about books and fashion at www.MackInStyle.com as well.
Caroline Wright
Caroline may be one of the youngest, preppiest and most successful influencer marketers out there. She started off doing all things social for Lily Pulitzer right out of college, and in her six years with the company landed in the role of Head of Brand Collaborations and Promotions. Afterwards she spent a year at Victoria’s Secret before taking over the role of Vice President of Marketing for influencer-owned Gal Meets Glam collection. Since Julie Engle decided to close shop, Caroline has started her own consulting agency. If this Charleston superstar’s instagram account isn’t enough proof of her influence, I don’t know what would be!
If you'd like to keep learning from influential influencer marketers, join us on our podcast The Fast Traack.