15 Leaders at Instagram That Creators and Marketers Should Know

• Instagram and Facebook are two of the world’s largest social media platforms. 
• But it’s not always easy for influencers and brands to get a hold of someone at either app.
• Here are 15 names creators, marketers, and industry insiders need to know at the platforms.

For many creators, talent managers, and marketers, understanding the ins and outs of Instagram and Facebook is an integral part of the job description.

Yet despite being two of the largest social media platforms, much about how the platforms operate and who is behind their day-to-day operations remains obscure. 

“The hardest platform to find someone is Instagram,” Reagan Yorke, a content creator with 107,000 followers on Instagram and 3.2 million on TikTok, told Insider. “I have a manager specifically for TikTok and for Snapchat, but Instagram’s my only one that’s kind of always been hidden.”

Another content creator, who wished to remain anonymous because of an ongoing business relationship with Instagram, described the platform as “very elusive.”

But that has started to change. Over the past few years, both Facebook and Instagram have turned their focus on the creator ecosystem that is driving traffic and revenue across the platforms. From a $1 billion investment into monetization tools for creators to setting up one-on-one strategy meetings with influencers, Meta, the platforms’ parent company, is reaching out its hands — to some.

“Some creators are going to be assigned to an actual creator manager,” said Qianna Smith Bruneteau, founder of the American Influencer Council, a trade organization for the creator economy. “Typically, that privilege has gone to macro or mega creators.” But over time, those resources have “slowly” trickled down to smaller creators, she added. 

“Micro” influencers with fewer than 100,000 followers on Instagram are now being tapped for exclusive beta tests, and some are collaborating directly with Meta to create content for the company’s own pages on Instagram and TikTok (i.e. the “@Creators” accounts). 

For example, Bethany Everett-Ratcliffe, a fashion and beauty influencer with about 20,000 followers, was brought on as an early tester of Instagram’s native affiliate marketing tools last year. Through the program, she realized she had a go-to contact at Instagram when she needed help: Sarah Steckler, a product marketing manager at Instagram. 

“I know that if I have an issue, I can reach out to her [or] she’ll get me in touch with the right person,” Everett-Ratcliffe said.

Other influencers rely on their talent managers, who often serve as a liaison between the platforms and their clients. 

“If you are somebody where Instagram is your bread and butter, you want to be in the know with what’s happening on that platform,” Becca Bahrke, CEO of talent firm Illuminate Social, said. She recommends that creators who are looking for management seek out companies who have established relationships with platforms like Instagram.

Some agencies and firms even have access to an expedited support portal that helps managers get in touch with someone at the company about glitches or questions about new features.

“Ultimately, a lot of times, you just need someone to be able to walk you through and do things on the backend that you might not be able to,” said Renee Ogaki, founder and CEO of PR and marketing agency Ogaki Digital. 

Everett-Ratcliffe didn’t get plucked out of a pool of millions of users on Instagram when she was invited to Instagram’s affiliate test; the opportunity came from a connection she’d built. 

“All of this happened because of someone I met through ShopStyle,” Everett-Ratcliffe said, referring to the affiliate-marketing platform. That ShopStyle contact, who she’d met at an industry conference, later moved to Instagram and reached out about the platform’s in-development affiliate tool, Everett-Ratcliffe said.

Meta employees are actively speaking and appearing at industry events. In March, Meta hosted its “Creator House” in collaboration with Rolling Stone at SXSW, and two Meta execs spoke at Shoptalk, a

retail industry

conference in Las Vegas.

Other executives, like Instagram’s VP of Fashion Eva Chen, can be spotted attending events like fashion week.

An introduction to one of these employees can build a lasting connection, Bahrke said, adding that even following an employee on Instagram directly after the event can help. 

“We email them and always try to build relationships given the fact that a lot of them are somewhat of an influencer themselves,” Ogaki told Insider.

“You can find ways to build those relationships, even if you don’t have their email,” she added. “Maybe you are DMing and sharing things with them. You can include them in a gifting list, or if you’re a creator, you can find a way to introduce yourself or tag them in a piece of content that you think would be interesting to them.”

So who exactly should creators, marketers, and managers be networking with — or following — at Meta? 

Insider checked in with 20 industry insiders, including creators, talent managers, marketers, and former Meta employees, to better understand who’s who at Meta. Insider’s sources identified employees who have stood out, from top executives like Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri to partnership managers who work with creators and their teams daily.

Several industry sources named Meta staffers who are part of the company’s broader “Creator Partnerships” team, which “works directly with thousands of Creators to help them build their brands and their businesses across Meta platforms,” according to a recent job listing for a strategic partner manager.

Meta declined to provide comment for this story, but did confirm the accuracy of employees’ titles.

Here are 15 power players at Meta who work with creators and influencer industry leaders:

Note: Meta employees are listed alphabetically. Some job descriptions use information from LinkedIn profiles.