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- Employees Juggle Conflicts While Moonlighting as Influencers
- Is TikTok The Influencer Marketing Agency Of The Future?
- Super Bowl ads increasingly lean on influencers
- Macy’s found love in the podcasting space
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Great Reads
Macy’s found love in the podcasting space
This Valentine’s Day, Macy’s is showing some love to podcasters.
The retailer is running branded content segments across two pods to get listeners shopping for the holiday, working with podcast company Acast on the marketing push.
On “Giggly Squad,” a comedic pop-culture podcast, hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo exchange stories about their worst Valentine’s Days ever during a Macy’s segment that lasts about 10 minutes. The hosts share their Valentine’s Day outfits for this year—which, of course, they bought at Macy’s.
“Naked Beauty,” a show about beauty trends and self-care, takes a slightly different approach. Host Brooke DeVard launches more quickly into her experience shopping at Macy’s for Valentine’s Day this year alongside her partner, followed by a description of the outfit she picked out.
Different strokes: The segments are part of a longer campaign Macy’s is running with these two podcasts. Macy’s requested the campaign target women under the age of 40 and tie to specific moments throughout the year, said Acast creative director Shantae Howell, so she pitched segments on two very different shows.
“We really dug in with our podcasters to say, ‘What does Valentine’s Day mean to you?’ Whether that’s your worst memories, or your best memories, or what that means to you with your partner, tell us those stories and let that be the guiding context for what you are going to wear this Valentine’s Day,” Howell told Marketing Brew.
Snapchat and Facebook think the future of social media looks like TikTok
Snapchat invented the Stories format of sharing pictures and videos that disappear. Now the company is indicating, along with Facebook, that the future of social media looks more like TikTok.
In remarks to investors for its quarterly earnings report on Thursday, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said that less time is being spent watching Stories from friends in the app, even though the company had hoped Stories engagement would pick up as pandemic lockdowns eased and people started leaving their houses more. Instead, Snapchat users are increasingly flocking to watch videos on Spotlight, Snapchat’s TikTok rival for viewing viral videos posted by random creators, and its Discover section for premium shows.
“This is a continuation of the trend we have observed throughout the pandemic, and friend story posting and viewing per daily active user have not returned to pre-pandemic levels,” Spiegel said in his comments to investors. “While we are hopeful our community will in time return to the friends story behaviors that we observed prior to the pandemic, we are focused on innovating on our content offerings to better serve our community today.”
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Campaign Insights
Subscription company Boxwalla partners with influencer Lola Gusman on indie makeup shop
Lola Gusman, also known as The Hermès Hippie on Instagram (15,000 followers) has a following who comes to her for luxe recommendations. The 44-year-old influencer posts about high-end products, like May Lindstrom’s $180 cult-favorite balm, The Blue Cocoon. Boxwalla, founded by Lavanya Krishnan, is a company known for its subscription boxes. Its bi-monthly beauty box is $50. When Boxwalla first launched in 2015, founder Lavanya Krishnan sent a box to Gusman, and, over time, the two became friends. Now, they’ve paired to launch a makeup shop that will live on theboxwalla.com. It is the company’s first ongoing foray into the makeup category — previously, it has done limited edition makeup boxes, available for individual purchase outside of its typical subscription model.
Launched February 5, the makeup shop can be found on the Boxwalla site and is split into three categories: eyes, lips and face. It features indie brands, some of which can also be found at retailers like Credo Beauty and The Detox Market. They include Fitglow Beauty and Athr. It also features harder-to-come-by brands like Marie Hunter and Manasi7. It will continue to live on Boxwalla’s site in perpetuity. “We wanted to be very clear that this wasn’t just a ‘collab,’ in the traditional influencer sense,” Gusman said of the ongoing partnership. In fact, it’s become like a third full-time job for her, she said. She already works as both a lawyer and a content creator.
Less Damon, more D’Amelio? Super Bowl ads may increasingly lean on influencers
In 2020, Charli D’Amelio starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Sabra hummus. This year, e-comm company Rakuten’s spot will star influencers Erin and Sara Foster, creators of clothing brand Favorite Daughter. And outside the small screen, the ad spend on influencer marketing in the US was worth $3.69 billion last year, per eMarketer, which it predicts will near $5 billion by 2023.
Of course, when it comes to famous faces, celebrities still dominate the Super Bowl. But some marketers think influencers could start populating the game’s ads over the next few years.
Matt Zuvella, VP of marketing and ops at influencer agency FamePick, told Marketing Brew that “we’ve finally reached the point” where someone like YouTube star Mr. Beast “can influence as many people as a regular cable TV show.”
Even though some creators have more social media followers than many household-name celebrities, their paths to fame are inherently different. “A celebrity has to have gotten their celebrity from something outside of the social media space,” Danielle Wiley, founder and CEO of influencer marketing agency Sway Group, told us.
They may meet different marketing needs, but as the line between the two blurs, influencer marketing experts see a future where brands—taking into consideration their audience, budgets, and social media strategies—might have more and more influencers hawking products to couch-locked Americans on that fateful Sunday night.
TikTok shopping takes off in livestreams: Lucky crystals for $9.99
Lindsey Holland first noticed crystal sellers appearing on her TikTok feed in December.
Out of curiosity, the 29-year-old content creator started watching their livestreams, which often feature hosts working from fluorescent-lit offices in China pointing to containers of polished stones, bracelets and necklace pendants, while signs placed above beckon viewers to spend between $2.99 and $9.99 for a “lucky scoop.”
If viewers place an order on TikTok itself or through a website in the user’s bio, the host will take a scoop of the crystals on camera while people watch. Then they mail them to customers. Holland, who lives in Memphis, Tennessee, has never bought a scoop herself, but found the videos mesmerizing.
One of her favorite hosts is a woman who calls herself Jessica and livestreams under the account @dh_crystal_service, which has more than 340,000 followers. When the mix of stones is particularly good, Jessica slowly shouts “Oh my, Lady Gaga.”
“I love that so much. I think it’s hilarious,” Holland said. “It makes me laugh every time I hear it.”
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Interesting People
Who is Irene Zhao, the Singapore Instagram influencer who made over US$5 million selling her photos as NFTs
Despite having such a large social media following, Zhao has said she doesn’t enjoy posting for profit as much as people think. On Instagram she has to rely on product placements and paid advertisements to make money. This isn’t the type of content she likes to post – and it can annoy her followers as well.
Zhao believes that NFTs could be the key to solving this issue. By creating her own NFT collection, Zhao set out to prove that online creators could get paid directly for their content. They would no longer have to push out content for free on social media platforms or rely on their audience reach to get sponsorship deals.
This January, Zhao released her first NFT collection called IreneDAO. The collection features pictures of herself along with phrases and quotes which are popular in the cryptocurrency community such as “focus on the tech ser” and “have fun staying poor”.
The owners of Zhao’s NFTs get to be part of her DAO, which stands for decentralised autonomous organisation. They get to vote on and make decisions regarding the future of the NFT project. Members of IreneDAO include YouTuber Logan Paul, who spent almost S$300,000 (US$268,000) buying Zhao’s NFTs, and billionaire investor Mike Novogratz.
In its first major action, IreneDAO released its own constitution. The constitution revealed that Irene hadn’t planned on keeping any of the revenue generated from her collection. She had merely intended for this launch to be a proof of concept – a new way through which creators could get paid.
Top Food Influencers In Washington DC
When foodies in the DMV area crave some good ol’ fashioned cuisine, they often turn to other people’s advice. And when it comes down to choosing where their next meal will be served, chances are someone else has visited and told us about it.
Washington DC has some of the best food influencers in America. From Instagrammers and Bloggers to Food Influencers- there’s no shortage when it comes to people who love eating in this city!
This a city where you can find anything to your taste. With so many different immigrant groups in America’s capital, there are plenty of fantastic dishes from around the world! Are you searching for that perfect croissant or authentic Nepali dish?
It won’t be hard in Washington DC because this town has been baking up some delicious food. There’s no shortage of great restaurants in D.C., and new ones are popping up every day! To keep tabs on the latest trends for local cuisine, follow these incredible DMV-based food influencers who know their stuff best.
Influencer marketers considering NFTs to increase creator monetization
“A typical brand marketing campaign today pays a creator up-front for a partnership. But, when the brand repeats the usage of this content in future, the creator does not get anything out of it. This is something that could drastically change with the setting up of NFT ecosystems for content creators, and we’re actively in talks for the same," Majumdar said.
NFTs have been one of the most hotly discussed areas of technology today, which refer to a digital artwork or content that has a unique, underlying digital signature. This unique signature can identify an image online as a unique property, even if a large number of its duplicates exist.
The technology could allow creators to track where and how their digital artworks are being owned and used – somewhat replicating how a physical artwork would traverse the real world.
This traceability is a major factor that influencer marketing firms are banking on. Majumdar said that NFTs could help establish “a book royalty format of payouts for creators" where they get paid every time a brand repurposes user-generated content. He is presently in active talks with NFT marketplaces and technology providers, to see how such features can be integrated into social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.
Tik Tok helped Cree influencer Jacqueline Buffalo overcome her shyness
“I developed my comedic abilities through Tik Tok. I also share my Indigenous recipes and Cree culture,” noted Buffalo.
She said Cree representation matters on Tik Tok. We must connect through social media platforms and uplift one another.
“I also use my platform to educate non-indigenous communities about ongoing Indigenous issues,” said Buffalo “The public comments on my Tik Tok that they did not know about Indigenous issues.”
“My message to Indigenous youth is that you know yourself, you know who you want to be, even if you are not sure. There are no guidelines to say this how it should be and this is who you are – you have to figure it out on your own. You know what you like and don’t like. You have to separate yourself from what you don’t want and commit to something.”
She said nothing ever happens overnight. It takes work. “You can’t just sit around and expect change to happen. You gotta make it happen.”
“Sometimes you have to separate yourself from people to know who you are. Especially, if you are constantly taking care of other people,” said Buffalo.
Professor of ‘influencer affairs’ prepares to meet 1st students
Ryo is the cofounder and CEO of Allblanc TV, a fitness-focused YouTube channel with over 1.8 million subscribers and counting.
Started in 2018, it mainly offers at-home workout classes with the three cofounders of the channel. Ryo met the business partners at a fitness contest while he was serving as an aerospace researcher at the state-run Agency for Defense Development.
Allblanc TV’s content is chiefly for YouTube but is shared via various social media platforms including China-based TikTok, Weibo, Bilibili and Douyin. Some 82% of its viewership is from outside Korea, mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom and India.
It’s something that many aspiring content creators and influencers hope to duplicate.
As a person who made the dramatic career change from a weapons scientist to a YouTuber, Ryo understands what draws many to the social media and content business.
“I think it is natural that more and more students dream of becoming content creators as the job enables them to satisfy their desire of building relationships and achieve economic success at the same time,” the CEO said.
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Industry News
Influential Taps Execs From Top Havas, OMD
Top executives are claiming their territory in the creator economy by trading in positions at brands and traditional agencies for influencer marketing companies. Grey Group’s Alex Morrison joined Pearpop last month and Whalar just poached three top C-suite members from Hasbro, Snapchat and Spotify. Influential is now the latest in the game to snag new talent—Andrea Millett leaves Havas Media Group to become chief operations officer, Katherine Rae leaves Virtual Health to take the head of people role and Latarria Coy departs OMD USA to become head of ethical media.
“After more than 20 years on the agency side, it felt like it was time to embark on a new chapter,” said Millett.
Influential CEO Ryan Detert stressed that the new hires are a “testament to the up-leveling of our industry and our company.” The 9-figure agency, which holds most fortune 500 companies as clients, saw 150% revenue growth last year. Detert predicts even more explosion in the space, as social media ad spend is predicted to exceed TV spend for the first time in 2022. Influential’s client roster includes NFL, NBA, Pepsico and Wells Fargo.
“We know exactly how brands need to allocate resources into a social platform and creator campaign,” said Detert, who launched his company in 2013 and was one of the first players in the space. “Time mixed with experience and results has given us a leg up over these past nine years.”
Netflix show ‘Hype House’ is a cautionary tale about the monetization of TikTok
In May 2020, the New York Times introduced the mainstream to a utopian era in content creation: the TikTok content house.
Content houses were not a new concept in Los Angeles. YouTubers had been renting million-dollar homes together as early as 2014 to create spaces where young, popular influencers could live and work together, collaborating on videos and combining their audiences to reach new followers faster. But no one had tried the business model with a house full of TikTokers.
Enter the Hype House: founded in December 2019, the House featured 20 or so teenagers and 20-somethings who were good-looking, charismatic and, most importantly, followed by millions of people on TikTok. Together, they produced exclusive content for the collective’s TikTok, lip-synching, playing pranks and, of course, dancing. Thanks to their collective clout, the Hype House gained three million followers in a week and a half, and launched the careers of influencers like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae Easterling.
A year and a half later, the Hype House has graduated from filming their videos to being filmed, starring in Netflix’s reality series “Hype House.” But the Hype House depicted in the show is remarkably different from the House of 2019, and not just because the group now lives in a $5-million (U.S.) mansion an hour outside Los Angeles. Now it appears no one is having fun.
Is TikTok The Influencer Marketing Agency Of The Future?
TikTok is a hub where influencers build up their net worth, average people take stabs at internet fame and brands either make effective or cringe-worthy attempts to connect with Gen Z. The platform has been considered a long-time threat to media like YouTube and Instagram, but one of TikTok’s growing capabilities could potentially disrupt a whole new sector of business: influencer marketing agencies.
“TikTok is helping us not only pick the right people, but shape the right content,” said Jess Tinetti, group strategy director of content at Atlanta independent agency Dagger. Instead of turning to an influencer marketing agency, which is Dagger’s typical move when clients want to work with creators, Tinetti tapped into TikTok’s Creator Marketplace.
Tinetti is not the only marketer with their eyes on the TikTok Creator Marketplace, which connects brands and creators through all steps of an influencer marketing campaign, from creator discovery to post performance and payment. While other platforms, including Meta and Snap, have a similar service, TikTok’s platform offers the most advanced, white-glove product, according to three agency sources.
Sunroom is an alternative creator platform empowering women to cash in
Founded by alums of Hinge and Bumble, Sunroom is a creator platform that throws out the stuff that makes mainstream social media apps such a hostile place for women. And, ideally, it wants to help them get paid in the process.
The app was co-founded by Lucy Mort, former design director at Hinge, and Michelle Battersby, previously a marketing director at Bumble. Sunroom takes the premium monetization model of something like Patreon or OnlyFans and blends it with a social feed, run through a generously Gen Z design filter.
For Mort and Battersby, that’s where the similarities end. Sunroom is designed to provide an alternative to traditional social media apps, one that empowers people who are tired of seeing their content devalued and censored elsewhere.
“We just heard so many stories from mostly women and nonbinary creators who really had a hard time on platforms like TikTok and Instagram with the sorts of content they were doing,” Battersby told TechCrunch.
“Sometimes it was more body-positive content, sometimes they were doing sexual wellness content and Instagram and TikTok just got to the point where they’re heavily, heavily moderating that content… these creators are shadowbanned, their accounts are taken down without notice, they don’t get the same distribution on algorithms that they typically did.”
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Registration Required
Great Paywalled Content
How an Instagram Micro Influencer Made Over $300,000 Last Year - Business Insider
Cortes started her fashion and lifestyle blog, Emma's Edition, in 2014 and today has about 47,000 Instagram followers and about 19,000 on TikTok.
By the end of 2021, about a year and a half after Cortes lost her job, she more than doubled her previous full-time salary.
"It was my first year as a full-time content creator, because at the end of the summer of 2020, I got laid off," Cortes told Insider in a recent interview. "I was really excited to start the year as a full-time content year and decided to set a revenue goal of $200,000."
She exceeded that goal.
In 2021, Cortes earned over $300,000 from a mix of brand deals and selling an online course about being a content creator. (Insider verified these earnings with documentation provided by Cortes.)
Brand deals made up the bulk of Cortes' earnings, she said. While most of her deals are for Instagram, some include posting content to her TikTok or blog; and many required several deliverables (such as in-feed posts, multiple stories, and video).
From TikTok to Twitch, Employees Juggle Conflicts While Moonlighting as Influencers - The Information
When Jenna Palek applied for a sales position at TikTok in the spring of 2020, she did something creative to help her get hired: She posted a 58-second clip of herself on the short video–sharing app highlighting her qualifications while performing dance moves popularized on TikTok. It worked. Palek nabbed the job after the video went viral, but the interest and attention also inspired her to start making more TikTok videos to build her own personal following.
Soon tensions emerged between Palek’s TikTok day job and her side hustle as a creator. As she got bigger on the platform—she now has almost 430,000 followers—Palek chafed against TikTok policies that limited the brands she could work with to make sponsored videos. Those policies also stopped her from receiving money from TikTok’s Creator Fund, which pays creators based on the engagement of their videos.
“I had more and more of these opportunities and more and more ways to monetize on TikTok while working there that I had to turn down, which was really unfortunate,” said Palek, who left TikTok in August. “It just got to a point where I had to choose one or the other.”
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