‘The influencer industry can be really vile’: Confessions of an influencer marketer on the industry’s unfair hiring practices

The influencer industry can be really vile

Any marketer will vouch for the importance of using influencers to bridge the gap between brands and consumers. However, given the area is still expanding, growing pains are still at play.

What’s been the worst instance you’ve come across so far? 

I brought an influencer on for a June campaign for our brand and we paid her $3,500 for one TikTok. I hadn’t met in-person yet, but she’d already driven an immense amount of sales, so we wanted to re-sign her.

July came and I emailed her saying we wanted to re-sign. No response. By mid July, her agent responded saying, “We’ve decided we’re no longer working with you.” So I thought, what the hell happened? This influencer was driving sales, we paid her fairly, plus she’s earning commission off all her sales.

Somehow I connected with her outside of her agency, and hired her for a side project for the brand. At the in-person content shoot, she hadn’t realized I’m the same person who hired her for that previous campaign. So I told her, to which she responded, “I’m so happy to meet you in person. I’m so sorry you’ve been blanked by my agency. The reason they haven’t gotten back to you is because I’m currently in the middle of a lawsuit with them.”

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