The Influencer to Social Media Manager Pipeline Is About to Take Off

Kristin Snyder

Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.

The Influencer to Social Media Manager Pipeline Is About to Take Off
Evan Xie

This is the web version of dot.LA’s daily newsletter. Sign up to get the latest news on Southern California’s tech, startup and venture capital scene.

Some analysts estimate that the overall influencer marketing market has surpassed $7 billion. But as influencer marketing has evolved, so has the relationship between brands and creators. The latest trend? Hiring influencers as in-house staff.


The most recent example is Too Faced. Last week, the makeup company announced that it is tapping TikTok star Sara Echeagaray as the company’s first creative director in residence. The year-long contract gives Echeagaray the power to consult on product development, social media posts and creative projects. As Too Faced re-thinks its approach to online content, global brand president Tara Simon told Glossy that they hired Echeagaray specifically because she "lives and operates in the world where we’re growing so much.”

Too Faced isn’t alone in bringing content creators behind the scenes. In 2021, fashion company PrettyLittleThing hired British influencer and “Love Island” star Molly-Mae Hague as the company’s UK Creative Director. Since then, Hague has launched multiple clothing collections through the brand and claims to work 13 hour days in preparation for fashion showcases.

Kitchenware brand Made By Gather and toy company Nerf are also employing TikTok stars. In 2021, Sophie Lightning began her almost two year role running Nerf’s social media as the company’s “Chief TikTok Officer. In February, she joined Made By Gather with the same title. The role puts Lightning in charge of guiding the brand’s online personality, including scripting skits and copywriting for Made By Gather’s various accounts.

According to Too Faced’s global brand president Tara Simon, the company hired Echeagaray specifically to get insight from younger consumers. “We don’t have just one person who’s at the head of all of creative, so we can take more input than we would have been comfortable taking in the past,” Simon told Glossy.

Of course, Echeagaray’s seven million TikTok followers help too.

From an influencer’s perspective, working more directly with brands helps yield a steady paycheck. Those who solely rely on brand deals have told dot.LA that payments from partnerships are often inconsistent and vary in size. Hague’s deal with PrettyLittleThing earns her seven figures a year.

These creative corporate roles also set content creators up for a future career outside of influencing. Social media fame is notoriously fickle, and it’s difficult to maintain longevity. Having corporate experience on their resume might prepare an influencer for a time beyond the social media spotlight.

But there are drawbacks as well. As one of PrettyLittleThing’s public faces, Hague has been criticized for her comments about the company’s labor practices. In 2020, it was revealed that workers at the brand’s parent company’s factory were paid only $4.36 an hour. Factory employees have gone so far as to push back on her comments complaining about her workload, and others have questioned if she will try to create change behind the scenes. In other words, being so directly tied to a company can put an influencer is an awkward position when there’s criticism directed at the company.

Nevertheless, the influencer to social media manager pipeline is a sign of some stability in an otherwise precarious industry. As brands consider how they can leverage social media stars, expect to see influencers take a chance on a corporate position.

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LA Tech Week Day Two: Social Highlights
Evan Xie

L.A. Tech Week has brought venture capitalists, founders and entrepreneurs from around the world to the California coast. With so many tech nerds in one place, it's easy to laugh, joke and reminisce about the future of tech in SoCal.

Here's what people are saying about day two of L.A. Tech Week on social:

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LA Tech Week: Goldhirsh Foundation and the Positive Effects of Technology

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech Week: Goldhirsh Foundation and the Positive Effects of Technology
Photo taken by Decerry Donato

On Monday, Los Angeles-based philanthropic organization Goldhirsh Foundation hosted the Technology and Storytelling For Social Good panel at Creative Visions studio to kick off LA Tech week.

Tara Roth, president of the foundation, moderated the panel and gathered nonprofit and tech leaders including Paul Lanctot, web developer of The Debt Collective; Alexis Cabrera, executive director of 9 Dots; Sabra Williams, co-founder of Creative Acts; and Laura Gonzalez, senior program manager of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI).

Each of the panelists are grantees of Goldhirsh Foundation’s LA2050, an initiative launched in 2011 that is continuously trying to drive and track progress toward a shared vision for the future of Los Angeles. Goldhirsh’s vision is to make Los Angeles better for all and in order to achieve their goal, the foundation makes investments into organizations, creates partnerships and utilizes social capital through community events.

The panelists shared how the work they are doing in each of their respective sectors uses technology to solve some of society's most pressing challenges and highlight the importance of tech literacy across every community.

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LA Tech Week Is Back! Here Are the Events We're Watching

Kristin Snyder

Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.

LA Tech Week Is Back! Here Are the Events We're Watching
Evan Xie

This is the web version of dot.LA’s daily newsletter. Sign up to get the latest news on Southern California’s tech, startup and venture capital scene.


MONDAY

LA Hardtech: Local Talent Meets CEOs: Want to see robots in action? This hardtech event will showcase product demos and feature conversations about all things aircrafts, satellites, electric vehicles, robots and medical devices. June 5 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in El Segundo.

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