2021: The Year of the Freelancer

While the freelancer economy has been steadily building for years, 2020 sparked a surge like never before. The United States is now the fastest growing freelance market in the world with 2 million Americans entering the independent workforce last year alone — Most of that growth fueled by Gen Z professionals with considerable movement in the digital marketing sector.

And though some look at freelancing as a temporary solution in the quest for full-time employment, more Influencer Marketing professionals are now embracing it as the endgame. So why the shift, and how will this ultimately impact talent & influencer partnerships? As it turns out, flexibility trumps stability in the eyes of many professionals — And this newfound freedom is the catalyst for a new level of marketing innovation.

How We Got Here

COVID-19 has vastly accelerated the adoption of “WFH” life, which shows no signs of slowing down and has changed virtually everything we thought to be true about 9-to-5 jobs. It’s also squeezed organizations, leading to cuts in the workforce that have left droves of talented creatives, emerging as well as experienced, without staff jobs.

At the same time, the rising level of clutter in the digital advertising space has fatigued marketers and consumers alike, particularly in the influencer world where there are more transactions than ever. New platforms, distribution tools and straight-up trends are popping up every day (hello, Clubhouse and NFTs), creating even more niches and specialties within Influencer Marketing — A space once considered a niche specialty in itself.

Of course performance marketing continues to be of utmost importance, but as the noise level rises there is also a greater magnifying lens on the qualitative aspects of digital marketing, like the mission and values powering brands’ decision making. This is particularly relevant within the creator ecosystem where ambassadors don’t just work for the brand, they embody the brand.

It coincides with a similar shift in the employee mindset. The line between our personal and professional lives is more blurred than ever before, and with that comes a greater level of responsibility and accountability in the workplace (even if that workplace is virtual).

On the home front, working parents have had to get creative with fewer child care resources, in some instances abandoning full time employment in favor of something more flexible.

Net-net: Staff jobs are scarcer, influencer demand remains high, professionals are searching for new challenges, and brand marketing is more value and values-driven than ever.

The Path Less Traveled is Now The Path Most Chosen

Here’s my personal anecdote: I had been a full time employee for the entirety of my career until now. Upon learning I was pregnant with my second child at the start of 2020, I experienced the sobering realization that I would need to make some substantial work-life balance changes in order to be the mother of two that I personally wanted to be. All of this coincided with a growing sense of “career wanderlust” and a desire for more control over my day-to-day work and project choices. In surveying the Influencer Marketing landscape, I didn’t see a singular position that adequately represented where I stood in my career and where I wanted to go. As time became an even more precious resource for me, I knew I wanted to invest it wisely on work that truly fulfilled me with companies whose values mirrored my own. So instead of settling for a job that checked off only a portion of my prerequisite boxes, I decided to roll up my sleeves and create the role I dreamed of having myself. A fairly risk-averse person by nature, all it took was a global pandemic, professional listlessness and fears of parental inadequacy to inspire my new venture.

This story is not unique. I’ve spoken to many talent and influencer pros (most of them women, not surprisingly) who have faced similar challenges in the last year and made the choice to start their own businesses. Ironically, I think the many pitfalls of 2020 have actually emboldened a new generation of entrepreneurs. We’ve learned that leadership is a virtue held by few, the status quo is fleeting and brand values matter now more than ever. In a post-pandemic world, the concept of job security is a moving target. So what’s there to lose?

Of course consulting and freelancing opens the door to a lot of uncertainty. That said, there are benefits — Flexibility being number 1. It allows professionals to work with smaller brands who are doing exciting, innovative work but don’t have the dollars for a full-fledged agency or huge team. It also allows for collaboration on more specialized projects that have the potential to bolster a marketer’s unique expertise. For me, a huge draw was retaining the ability to work alongside both agencies and brands. If the product or service is cool and the challenge is compelling, I’m fairly agnostic about where the opportunity in question originates.

Independent consultants aren’t just working with brands and agencies, though. We all know the pool of influencers has been widening over the last several years and even nano influencers with just a few thousand followers can now monetize their feeds. This has furthered the need for talent management. No longer reserved for macro and megawatt creators, we’re seeing independent talent managers pop up everywhere. Those micros and nanos are being scooped up for representation as marketers move to engage thought leaders in specialized digital enclaves.

We’ve all heard about how women have been disproportionately impacted by the events of the last year. As the pool of freelancers and consultants grows, especially in Influencer Marketing where women are particularly prominent, there is a supportive community in existence. With community comes power, and the free flow of information allows professionals to better negotiate their worth.

The Perks of Going Indie

While you may read about the agency brain drain on occasion, I actually think the freelancer movement creates a compelling opportunity for these shops to evolve and a chance for brands to generate even better content. Today, there is no excuse for not assembling a diverse team. There are more talented, available candidates for hire than ever before. The more diverse the team both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, the higher quality and better received the resulting work will be.

And given the light speed at which nuances and specialities continue to emerge from Influencer Marketing, the movement presents an opportunity for brands and agencies to engage experienced subject matter experts instead of staffing projects based on who simply has the hours to spare. There is no substitute for first-hand experience. This could also include engaging a consultant to coach and train up existing staff members.

Agencies in particular can benefit from flexing their “elastic” capabilities in engaging consultants and freelancers. Whether it’s an on the ground. experience or a stunt-y campaign, its imperative for any successful agency to be nimble and efficient in how they operate and scale based on client demand and account growth. My own consultancy is designed to service companies in this way. This model allows agencies to plan and execute in a manner that revolves around unique KPI’s, while also allowing freelancers to be empowered to command ideal project rates. All the while agencies and brands avoid paying for overhead costs that they don’t need. The end result? More personalized work, powered by professionals with relevant experience and shared values.

On the representation side, more talent management generally equals a better working experience for all of us. Timelines and creative briefs are more likely to be followed, and I hope this will lead to greater pay parity in the creator space (a problem that’s existed for years but has garnered more attention as of late).

So What Now?

As the influencer space matures even further, we’ll continue to see consolidation — How this will impact consultants and freelancers remains to be seen.

What we do know is the pressure is on agencies to do better with regard to employee engagement (to retain top performers) as well as freelancer relations (to attract great creatives for new projects). That means better compensation, healthier corporate cultures and training for managers and company leaders. With more cross-pollination happening via project-based gigs, there’s also more of an emphasis on unique creative and stellar client service to establish value from the get-go with clients.

For brands, it means more industry talent is getting exposure to Influencer Marketing through project-based engagements, creating a wider candidate pool for companies looking to test or build out creator relations teams in-house.

And for the freelancers themselves? More choices, more control and more community. Sounds like a good deal to me.