In the first of the new ‘Our People’ series, Head of Influencer Marketing for We Are Social Paris Marine Montironi shares how she came to work in influencer marketing, what challenges and excites her about her role, and her advice to anyone considering a career working with influencers.
What does it mean to be Head of Influence at We Are Social Paris?
Leading the influencer marketing department here in Paris is a really diverse job. I’m in charge of the larger vision when it comes to influencer marketing here and how it fits in with our overall approach; I also oversee recruitment within my team, liaise with clients, get involved in pitches, write quotes and budgets, hold interviews with journalists about the world of influencer marketing, and keep an eye on relevant legal developments. I’m also responsible for working closely with the creative team to find innovative ideas and solutions to campaign briefs.
It’s also vital that I keep updated about up-and-coming influencers, new social media trends, and review the KPI metrics we use for our campaigns, including new measurement tools.
What excites you about your role and why do you love doing it?
As an industry, I believe that we’re still at the relative beginning of influencer marketing, and that in itself is very exciting. We Are Social works with a lot of different clients and I’m always looking for new creators (reading Twitter, watching YouTube, scrolling TikTok) to see how we can improve our partnerships. Every day, new people come to social platforms to create content – it’s endless; and this means that we can seek out new talent to create never before seen campaigns. And that’s what makes this job so much fun.
How did you come to work in influencer marketing?
I studied in a school called L’Institut de l’Internet et du Multimedia, which means The Institute of the Internet, so I guess I was always meant to work in this field.
During my school years, I started a beauty blog with an Instagram account and it kind of became my student job, as I was already working with brands to create sponsored content. Then I moved to New York City for a Community Manager role in a PR agency and when I came back to Paris in 2014, I started as an Intern at We Are Social – and never left.
During that time, I worked closely with the Paris office’s founder and CEO, Sandrine Plasseraud, to think about how we could provide this new product (influencer marketing) to our clients, and as a result, the department was created three years ago.
What would you say is the most challenging aspect of your role?
You need to be ready for everything. Since I started the department, I’ve lived through a number of experiences that I never thought I would, including crossing Lake Annecy on a very wobbly raft with four influencers for the launch of the new Google Pixel 3.
Often, influencer marketing also needs a lot of proof of being a useful and effective tool in brand communications. People around you might not understand what you are doing or why, and it’s your job to convince them.
What is the one skill that you find most valuable when working in influencer marketing?
It’s a pretty common one, but curiosity is really important. When I look for new talent for my team, I always search for people who love to investigate, to learn more, to meet new people – it’s one of the most human roles because you are in between clients, influencers, agents and sometimes, even parents!
What has been your favourite project to work on so far?
My heart melted for the launch of Klaus for Netflix last year (if you didn’t see the movie, I recommend it!). We worked with three families to share the joy of Christmas by doing an “inboxing” campaign. The families gathered every toy they didn’t use anymore to give it to the charity of their choices. In addition to which, 30 other families received an empty box with a letter from Klaus asking them to share their toys with children in need.
If you could have been involved in one marketing campaign, which one would it be and why? I may be picky; I haven’t seen the “perfect” influencer marketing campaign yet, but Burger King x Casey Neistat is one brilliant example. I love it when smart social media meets influencer marketing, because it is the pure essence of it. I aspire to see my clients make bold choices and play with famous creators.
However, I do love that influencer marketing has no boundaries and that you can find it in a campaign like My Life as a NPC from Ubisoft. The brand gave voices to non-player characters (NPCs) via its social media channels, proving once and for all that influencers are not always who you think they are
Do you have any advice for someone considering a career in advertising or influencer marketing? Try. Play with social media, engage with people, watch, scroll, and follow influencers. There is no real ‘Influencer Marketing School’ yet and everyone is able to learn from what they can find on the internet, on the TV, in magazines, and in podcasts.
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If you’d like to find out more about working at We Are Social and how you can join our growing team, contact us on [email protected] or check out the current openings on our People page.
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