Liuba Petkova joined global Influencer Marketing agency Digital Voices in March as Director of Operations. She will work closely with the agency’s Head of Campaign Production to elevate internal processes to enhance the influencer campaigns produced for the agency’s global clients including PepsiCo, L’Oréal, and DoorDash.
Before joining Digital Voices, Liuba spent 12+ years at Google, where she held several pivotal roles. For nearly 7 years, she served as the Youtube Marketing Programs Manager, coordinating seamless engagement between advertisers and audiences across YouTube and Google platforms through social, mobile, and video content strategies. Her most recent position was as the Head of Content Delivery for YouTube Brand Connect.
Liuba’s tenure at Google equipped her with expertise spanning the entire Influencer Marketing lifecycle, from initial pitch to production. She excelled in crafting top-tier branded content influencer partnerships within the Media, Entertainment, and Food and Beverage sectors. This rich background perfectly aligns with Digital Voices' vision and objectives.
What’s next in Influencer Marketing?
There are three key trends that are already impacting this space and will only continue to grow stronger. These are Diversity & Inclusion, Social Responsibility, and AI.
Brands are increasingly understanding the value of diversity and inclusion when trying to connect with their audiences. By recognizing and celebrating their customers' diversity, brands are able to build genuine and lasting relationships that transform customers from consumers to advocates.
Similarly, today's generation of consumers more than ever are seeking out brands that align with their core values when it comes to social responsibility. From sustainability to social reform, brands that take a stand are discovering a new form of brand loyalty that is extremely powerful and is especially amplified with the advent of social media.
AI is already changing the Influencer Marketing landscape, yet we're only at the precipice of this new technology. The possibilities around content creation, creator discovery especially as it pertains to D&I, and the ability to build predictable performance models, will profoundly impact the Influencer Marketing industry.
What are you excited to do at Digital Voices?
I am passionate about finding ways to optimize the how and the what of our business. Influencer marketing is at its core dependent on building relationships between influencers and brands, which then carry through to consumers. Building relationships is not something that can be commercialized and yet in Influencer Marketing we're tasked with creating these relationships at scale. This is a tough industry to operationalize. I am excited by the challenge of finding ways to create efficiencies and scale in a business that is meant to be bespoke.
What learnings are you bringing from your time working for a platform to the agency world?
My experience at YouTube taught me that our relationships with creators are sacred. Whether we represent the platform or an agency, we're ultimately relying on the influencer's ability to connect with their own audience and we're capitalizing on a relationship that they have worked very hard to build.
By respecting that relationship and by respecting their boundaries, we're ultimately protecting the interests of our own clients who in turn are benefiting from the trust consumers place in that creator. Relinquishing a bit of control can reap great dividends for brands who are ready to give Influencer Marketing a try.
