Leveling up your influencer strategy
In 2023, when we started, Sprout’s influencer marketing program was characterized by a few one-off activations and a relatively small talent pool. In 2024—recognizing the growing importance and benefits of developing a more robust influencer strategy—we matured this motion within Sprout. We laid the foundation for a consistent and highly effective program we could scale.
Here are the steps you can take to scale your own program:
Adopt a center of excellence model
Before implementing a center of excellence model for influencer marketing efforts, our activations only scratched the surface of what was possible. We didn’t have an organizational framework that connected influencer marketing to wider marketing and company goals.
We intentionally pivoted from a siloed effort exclusively owned by the social team to a broad program that touches almost every area of the business. Our influencer center of excellence spans functions—from social, PR and content, to campaigns, demand, customer marketing, field and channel. This approach allows us to weave activations into social content, webinar programming, gifting opportunities, in-person events and more. It requires every team to be all in, all together, supporting influencer marketing as part of each team’s core strategy.
With so many teams brought into the fold, it was important to delineate clear roles, responsibilities and relationship managers. Our roster of influencers and creators steadily multiplied (growing to include European-based influencers) which meant we needed someone at the helm who could lead the charge. Our Senior Social Media Strategist, Greg Rokisky, stepped up to fill that role and take our influencer strategy to new heights. Our new center of excellence focused on a core strategy that permeated the marketing organization through a highly collaborative model. With everyone working together, we were able to create a 360° influencer experience—something we had never done before.
