Influencer marketing experts share the most common misconceptions about their field.
When Stephen Titus and his co-founders launched London-based influencer marketing agency Faved in 2022, the creator economy was still proving itself. While major consumer brands had been going all in on influencers for years, much of the business world questioned the value of creator-led advertising campaigns.
“We as a platform—and as an industry—often had to go to brands and convince them of the power of influencer marketing,” he says.
But over the last few years, that changed, according to Titus. The CEO rarely has to sell the idea of partnering with creators to prospective customers anymore. “Businesses are self-evangelized on creator marketing,” he says. Ad spend data backs this up. In 2022, brands planned to spend $18.4 billion on creator economy ads in the U.S., according to a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. In 2026, the firm expects that figure to reach $43.9 billion.
But people still get plenty of things wrong about influencer marketing. Here’s what Titus and other agency founders say are the most common misconceptions they encounter during conversations with executives and founders.
Misconception 1: Influencer marketing doesn’t work for high-intent products
While many business owners now know how valuable influencer marketing can be, Titus reports that a number of them still think it only works for “impulse purchases” like protein powders and supplements.
“A lot of people hold themselves back because they feel that their product isn’t suited to influencer marketing,” he says.
While Titus admits that he’s biased, he adds that, based on the data Faved measures across brands in different categories, “there is no product to which influencer marketing doesn’t apply, just as much as there is no product to which paid media or Google or Facebook doesn’t apply.”
Misconception 2: You’ll get results by partnering with any popular creator
Dylan Huey, the founder and CEO of Reach, a Los Angeles-based creator economy company, argues that when brands don’t see the return on investment they hoped to, it’s not because influencer marketing doesn’t work. “It does work,” he says. “The way that you’re going about doing it, strategy-wise, doesn’t work.”
“The problem that we see,” he adds, “is that small business owner Jimmy will be like, ‘Oh my God, my wife’s friend is an influencer with 20,000 followers, and she said she’s going to promote us for free.’” But the creator in question built her following by posting videos about food, for example, while Jimmy is building a tech platform for investing.
“Just because they’re a creator doesn’t mean that their audience makes sense,” Huey says. “And sometimes, having a relationship with someone already doesn’t mean that’s the best creator that you should invest in—especially as you’re trying to grow and get more market share as a company.”
Instead, he advises business owners to stick with creators whose audiences fit their ideal customer profile. If you’re struggling, figure out which influencers your social-media savvy competitors work with, then look at who they follow on Instagram. “If that creator got a good ROI for [your competitor],” Huey says, “their friends are probably going to get the same good ROI for you as well.”
Misconception 3: Lots of brand partnership experience is a good thing
Unfortunately, there are bad actors in every industry. And according to Vin Matano, the founder of business-to-business influencer marketing agency Creatorbuzz, the creator economy is no different.
Matano says he’s wary of any creator that works with “different brands frequently” and is “a little too focused on the payment portion” because it makes him feel like they’re “in it for the wrong reason.” He adds that if he’s considering working with a creator “and they’re asking for upfront payments, and we’ve never worked with this person before,” he typically sees that as “a red flag.”
Creators who do countless brands and seem to be in it just for the money will likely come off as less genuinely interested in your company’s products. That’s a big problem, since the success of an influencer marketing campaign depends largely upon authenticity.
Storytime aims to turn influencer marketing into a scalable, city-by-city marketplace for local businesses.
When Aris Yeager and Philip Davis quit their jobs at influencer marketing software company Lefty to start their own business Storytime in 2024, they weren’t sure whether they were about to raise venture capital—or get sued.
The co-founders had met one year earlier, when Davis hired Yeager as an influencer marketing specialist on his team at Lefty. While working for the Paris-based startup, they saw how luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Sephora manage influencers with huge budgets, 100-person teams, and software that costs about $1,500 a month.
At the same time, Yeager was running into friction as he engaged with local brands as a content creator. The 25-year-old had begun cultivating a flamboyant internet persona—known as Louis to his audience—about three years earlier while attending Northeastern University. Today, he has roughly 3 million followers across TikTok and Instagram and regularly commands five-figure branddeals.
Yeager tells Inc. “there was no easy way” to communicate with the brick-and-mortar businesses he visited daily. That sparked an idea: “I was like, ‘Okay, this needs to be more automated—this whole space.’”
As the U.S. head of growth at Lefty, Davis, 27, wrestled with that inefficiency from the other side. The company’s software worked well for global brands, he says, but fell short for fast-growing, location-based businesses trying to drive real foot traffic. So, when Yeager brought him the problem, they built something that did.
Lefty’s co-founder and former CEO Thomas Repelski wasn’t too thrilled when he found out, though, according to Yeager. “He was like, ‘Yo, you’re building in the same space? What the hell?’” he recalls. “I thought we were gonna get into legal trouble.”
Instead, their ex-boss became one of their earliest investors.
Betting on the power of hyperlocal influencers
About a year and a half ago, Yeager and Davis launched Storytime, an influencer marketing platform that connects local content creators with 450 businesses across 1,000 New York City locations, from restaurant chains to jewellery brands to coffee shops. The startup has so far raised about $1 million in pre-seed funding that values it at $15 million. And while Storytime only began monetizing last April, Davis expects to make anywhere from $2 million to $3 million in revenue by late summer.
For brands, the set-up is simple. After downloading the app, they can tailor campaign details, select reach tiers for influencers, and set offer amounts. Storytime takes over from there.
Any Instagram user with at least 2,000 followers can apply to join the platform as a creator, but not everyone gets accepted. Only those with strong local reach—which Storytime measures through audience city demographic data it collects via Instagram’s API—actually make the cut.
Here’s how the math works: a creator with 50,000 followers might draw 5,000 views on a post, but if only 10 percent of that audience is in New York, that translates to about 500 local views, according to Davis. Meanwhile, a smaller creator with 5,000 followers could see 2,000 views per post, with half that audience based in New York—or roughly 1,000 local views. “Their local reach is actually going to be twice as high as the much larger influencer,” he says.
Small business success stories
Most businesses pay a flat monthly fee to use the Storytime app. It costs as little as $150 for 15 Storytime creators per month for smaller brands, while larger brands pay about $5 per influencer collaboration, or roughly $2,500 for 500 collaborations.
That predictable pricing appealed to Ana Luisa, a jewellery brand accustomed to expensive influencer partnerships with murky returns. Storytime allows the Brooklyn-based company to keep its influencer spend under $500 each month and reward creators with gifts ranging from a $30 store gift card to a custom, solid-gold charm bracelet.
Ana Luisa measured a 30 percent increase in internal foot traffic metrics duringits first two weeks of working with the startup. Eve Gertzman, the brand’s marketing director, says those gains have held steady in the slower seasons: “For us to be able to maintain pretty strong levels of foot traffic, even in these cold New York weathers, we can heavily attribute that to Storytime.”
For Joe and the Juice, Storytime’s value extends beyond foot traffic. Global brand manager Raania Hammoudan says the platform gives her the ability to dictate how local creators post about Joe and the Juice, including which products they feature, during campaigns like its collaboration with tennis star Novak Djokovic last fall. “That is so valuable to us,” she says.
The bigger picture
The shift towards brands working with hyperlocal influencers has been building for about two to three years now, according to creator economy expert Keith Bendes. “The more reach is harder to achieve organically without paid media, the more you’re trying to niche down to find the loyal pockets,” he says.
The question now is whether Storytime’s local-first model can scale. Yeager and Davis say they’re planning to expand into new cities, including Miami, in the near future. The co-founders are also planning to enter industries beyond food and beverage and add more features like paid campaigns across TikTok and Instagram.
The marketplace they imagined almost two years ago is just getting started. “My vision with it is to make it a ClassPass for creators,” Yeager says. “Every single business that’s on ClassPass, I believe could be on Storytime.”
Ogilvy UK will no longer work with influencers who distort or retouch their bodies or faces for brand campaigns in a bid to combat social media’s “systemic” mental health harms.
Dove already doesn’t work with influencers that edit content.
Speaking exclusively to The Drum, Ogilvy’s head of influence Rahul Titus said influencer marketing is “supposed to be the authentic side to marketing, but now it churns out such staged content that is so harmful to anybody looking at social media”.
Ogilvy’s policy comes as the UK government reviews the Digitally Altered Body Image Bill that would require an influencer to disclose edited content. The bill is on its second review in parliament but is struggling to make it through the proposal process. Titus hopes Ogilvy’s commitment to stop working with influencers who alter their images will help the bill get passed.
“We have a duty of care as marketers, as agencies and brands to the next generation of people so they don’t grow up with the same stuff we are seeing now,” says Titus.
He acknowledges that brands have “dipped their toes” in unedited influencer images, but they always fall back on running misguided anti-editing campaigns rather than implementing sweeping change.
“A lot of research has gone into this. We’ve been working with our behavioural sciences team and talking to a lot of influencers and we’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how to make it work.”
The ban applies to all parts of the Ogilvy UK group, which counts the likes of Dove among its clients. Dove’s global vice president external communications and sustainability, Firdaous El Honsali, came out in support of the policy. “We are delighted to see our partner Ogilvy tackling this topic. Dove only works with influencers that do not distort their appearance on social media – and together with Ogilvy and our community of influencers, we have created several campaigns that celebrate no digital distortion,” El Honsali says.
Ogilvy will roll out the policy in two phases. Starting next month, Titus’s team will be consulting with brands and influencers on the policy, and in May it will implement the ban. Titus has set a December deadline for a complete end to the editing of all sponsored or paid-for content in influencer activations.
“It’s easy for us to sit here and say ’there is a systemic issue, so we aren’t going to work with these types of influencers,’ but that’s not the solution and it won’t make the change we want to see. So we are going to take the time and consult our clients and put the plan in place.”
Ogilvy will use its InfluenceO tech stack to detect when images have been retouched.
Briefs will be made more flexible to allow for more authenticity from the start. Titus says: “We need to educate our clients to give influencers the freedom to express themselves a little bit more.”
Ogilvy also expects its quarterly diversity audits, put in place in 2020, will serve a secondary purpose of improving influencer diversity and, over time, naturally start working with less edited Influencers. “We are hoping that by improving influencer diversity, the type of influencers that brands work with will change to be more representative of the population.”
Titus is realistic that the policy will need time and for the rest of the industry to get behind the ban. “We are talking about reversing 10 years of social media behaviour and that’s not going to happen in two months. We know that what we are putting in place we will not see any immediate benefits for the next five years. It’s too big a project and that’s OK.”
Ogilvy hopes the policy will “set off a chain reaction” in the industry and Titus urges other members of the influencer marketing industry to approach him for a briefing. “It’s absolutely the right thing to do and we want to be the agency that puts the foundational parts in place so that other agencies can follow.
“Clients want it, the industry wants it, influencers are generally happy with it – so why haven’t we done this before?”
These four major marketing trends are set to explode this year.
very marketing professional today knows the rules of the game are shifting at the breakneck speed of technological innovation, making it harder to focus on the fundamentals that will maximize success.
Obviously, there’s never one secret sauce that guarantees big wins for marketers this year (or any other). But to my mind, there are four major technological and customer-preference megatrends that promise to build momentum in 2024 and beyond.
I believe embracing these accelerating trends as you adapt your organization’s marketing strategy will help ensure your budgets are smartly allocated and returns on investment are fully optimized.
1. The “Authentic Age”
Today, when marketers are increasingly required to quantify ROI based on complex data —such as cost-per-click and sales conversion rates—focusing on a “soft” concept like authenticity might seem irrelevant.
But thinking so would be a mistake, in my opinion.
Consider this: Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2023 was “authentic.” Explaining why, Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster editor at large, said in an interview with the Associated Press, “We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity. We realize that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.”
Customer preference for authenticity has only accelerated now. In an information universe of inaccuracies, uncertain sources, and deep fakes, people crave authenticity more than just a year ago.
Related: 9 Key Tips for Navigating the Upcoming 2024 Marketing Landscape
2. Influencer marketing
With so much content and misinformation floating around, customers are more likely than ever to be influenced and persuaded by a real person than a brand. Influencer marketing has emerged as an essential component of the marketing mix.
The desire for authenticity among customers explains the growth of influencer marketing and creator economy, which is expected to be worth $24 billion by the end of this year.
While budgets today receive more scrutiny than ever, 67% of marketers surveyed by CreatorIQ reported increasing their investment in influencer marketing from 2022 to 2023. Among the brands that increased their spending in this direction, only 24% were working with a net new budget.
According to the survey, among brands that increased their influencer marketing spend, 76% diverted the funds from other marketing activities. In other words, the majority funded their influencer marketing by redirecting resources from other marketing functions—the most common source of which was paid advertising.
And no wonder the power of influencer marketing content, which is more organic, offers a greater possibility of going viral and gaining earned (not paid) media attention among highly relevant target audiences.
Related: 4 Tips to Avoid Influencer Marketing Catastrophes
3. Creator-driven B2B newsletters
Niche newsletters focusing on specialized areas such as AI, health tech, and finance have become pivotal sources for industry insights. Progressing into 2024, the growing interest in newsletters highlights a collective appetite for content curated by influencers and professionally enriching content.
The B2B realm is rich with newsletters designed for an audience that values quality and specialized knowledge. These independent voices offer a refreshing alternative to the conventional narratives found in most major trade publications. They provide insights that feel like exchanging insider information within a community of peers, enriching the professional discourse with diverse perspectives and expert knowledge.
Creator-led newsletters, exemplified by Morning Brew or my own company’s Presspool Insights, which covers AI marketing tech innovations and best practices, are revolutionizing information consumption habits and attracting a quality audience not seen in traditional ad platforms. The main reason is that the audiences are manually opted-in, engaged, and educated or highly interested in the topic they’ve subscribed to.
Platforms like LinkedIn have emerged as prime venues for B2B content creators, each providing unique advantages. Substack and other new platforms have simplified the newsletter creation process with ‘no-code’ solutions, empowering creators with ownership over first-party subscriber data — a major benefit as Google begins eliminating third-party cookie tracking data this quarter. I expect this trend to increase rapidly going into 2025 as the barrier of entry gets smaller and smaller.
4. AI-enabled, ROI-optimized campaigns
Coming full circle, leveraging the power of influencer marketing strategies through today’s creator-led newsletter distribution platforms enables the same type of KPI tracking associated with paid search ads like Google and Facebook for the last two decades.
At my software platform, Presspool.ai, for example, we track everything from impressions to total clicks, unique clicks and conversions. Everything is tracked and monitored in real-time to ensure full transparency into the data analytics while providing our customer with AI-enabled feedback on how to better optimize messaging for higher and higher ROI in their future newsletter campaigns. This falls right in line with ROI optimization, which I believe will become more and more essential in today’s competitive marketing landscape.
The bottom line is that traditional advertising and PR have grown over-saturated and, to be blunt, annoying to buyers. People don’t trust ads from brands or large corporations as much as they once did. Instead, they trust individuals who have a high level of authenticity and specific knowledge. Referrals from these influencers combined with the best technology for tracking and ROI optimization are the most potent form of customer acquisition, and it’s now possible to access platforms that do it all in real-time, at scale.
ENTREPRENEUR LEADERSHIP NETWORK® CONTRIBUTOR. CEO @ Presspool.ai
Jaxon Parrott is a marketing and AI expert based in Austin, Texas. He currently serves as the CEO of Presspool.ai, an ai-enabled marketing software touting a customer base of over a dozen unicorn and high-growth emerging tech startups.
Social media content has become the lifeblood of online marketing and personal branding, serving as a crucial bridge between brands and their audiences.
This content encompasses everything from captivating Instagram posts and insightful LinkedIn articles to engaging TikTok videos and informative tweets, each tailored to captivate and engage a target audience.
However, to navigate the ever-changing social media terrain effectively, you must embrace the concepts of a content calendar, strategic content creation, and meticulous planning.
These elements work in harmony to ensure that every post, tweet, or story is not just a drop in the digital ocean but a strategic step towards achieving overarching marketing and branding goals.
Through this lens, we’ll explore how social media content can transform your digital footprint, enhance your brand’s visibility, and ultimately drive business success.
The Importance of a Social Media Content Calendar
A social media content calendar is an indispensable tool for any brand or content creator serious about their online presence. This calendar serves as a strategic blueprint for what, when, and where to post across various social media platforms.
It’s essentially a detailed schedule that outlines upcoming content, including posts, videos, stories, and any other social media activities planned for the future. By organizing posts in advance, the calendar aids in maintaining a consistent and cohesive brand voice across all channels.
Benefits of Using a Content Calendar Template
Consistency: A content calendar helps maintain a regular posting schedule, which is key to building a loyal audience.
Strategic Planning: It enables you to plan around key dates, holidays, and events, making your content more relevant and engaging.
Efficiency: By planning content in advance, you can batch-create posts, saving time and resources.
Collaboration: It facilitates better teamwork, allowing multiple team members to contribute, review, and approve content seamlessly.
Analysis and Improvement: Tracking the performance of scheduled content can provide insights that help refine future content strategies.
For those looking to dive deeper into the nuts and bolts of creating and utilizing a social media content calendar, check out our dedicated article.
Creating engaging and relevant content for social media platforms is both an art and a science. It requires a strategic approach, creativity, and a deep understanding of your audience’s preferences and behaviors.
Follow this step-by-step guide to streamline your social media content creation process:
Step 1: Define Your Goals and Audience
Start by clarifying what you want to achieve with your social media content. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or engaging with your community, having clear goals will guide your content strategy. Next, understand your audience: their interests, pain points, and what they value in social media content.
Step 2: Use a Content Planner
A content planner is crucial for organizing your content creation process. It helps you visualize your strategy over time and ensures you cover a variety of content types and themes. Your planner should include key dates, themes, and the platforms where each piece will be published.
Step 3: Brainstorm Content Ideas
With your goals and audience in mind, brainstorm content ideas that align with your brand’s message and your audience’s interests. Consider using tools like social media listening platforms, competitor analysis, and trend research to generate fresh, relevant ideas. Encourage team brainstorming sessions for diverse perspectives.
Step 4: Create a Content Mix
Plan for a balanced mix of content types, such as educational posts, entertaining videos, inspiring stories, and interactive polls or quizzes. This diversity keeps your social media feeds dynamic and engaging for your audience. Ensure your content mix aligns with the platforms’ strengths and audience preferences.
Step 5: Develop and Schedule Your Content
With your ideas in place, start creating your content. Focus on quality and consistency, ensuring each piece reflects your brand’s voice and values. Use visuals, compelling captions, and strong calls-to-action to enhance engagement. Once your content is ready, schedule it according to your content calendar to maintain a consistent online presence.
Step 6: Monitor and Adapt
After publishing your content, monitor its performance closely. Analyze metrics such as engagement rates, shares, and comments to understand what resonates with your audience. Use these insights to adapt your future content, focusing on what works best and exploring new ideas to keep your audience engaged.
How to Create Content for Social Media
Here are practical tips and techniques for crafting visual content, written posts, and interactive media that can elevate your social media presence.
Creating Visual Content
Use High-Quality Images: Clear, high-resolution images are more likely to catch the eye of your audience. Use professional photography or high-quality stock images when original photos aren’t available.
Embrace Brand Consistency: Apply your brand’s color scheme, logos, and aesthetic to your visuals to enhance brand recognition.
Leverage Design Tools: Tools like Canva or Adobe Spark make it easy to create engaging graphics, even if you’re not a professional designer. Use templates and customize them to fit your brand.
Experiment with Video: Video content has a higher engagement rate. Create short, engaging clips that convey your message within the first few seconds. Tools like InShot or Adobe Premiere Rush can help you edit videos for social media.
Be Concise and Clear: Social media users tend to scroll quickly. Make your point clearly and succinctly to grab attention.
Use a Conversational Tone: Write as if you’re speaking directly to your audience. A friendly, relatable tone can make your brand feel more approachable.
Incorporate Storytelling: People love stories. Share behind-the-scenes glimpses, customer testimonials, or the inspiration behind your products to create an emotional connection.
Utilize Hashtags and Emojis: Use relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts and emojis to add personality and emotion, making your content more relatable.
Creating Interactive Media
Polls and Quizzes: Use polls and quizzes to engage your audience directly and gather valuable feedback. These can be fun, related to your industry, or used to understand your audience’s preferences.
Live Streaming: Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch offer live streaming capabilities. Use these to host Q&A sessions, product demonstrations, or simply to chat with your followers in real-time.
User-Generated Content: Encourage your followers to share their own content related to your brand, using a specific hashtag. This not only boosts engagement but also provides you with a wealth of authentic content to share.
Interactive Stories: Take advantage of the interactive features available in Instagram and Facebook stories, such as swipe-up links, question stickers, and polls, to engage with your audience dynamically.
Understand Your Audience: Tailor your content to the interests and needs of your audience. Use analytics to track which types of content perform best and refine your strategy accordingly.
Stay Updated on Trends: Keep an eye on current trends and adapt your content to stay relevant. However, ensure that any trend you follow aligns with your brand identity and values.
Engage with Your Followers: Make it a habit to respond to comments and messages. Engagement builds community and loyalty, encouraging more interaction with your content.
Creating content for social media is an ongoing process of learning, experimenting, and adapting. By employing these tips and remaining attuned to your audience’s preferences, you can produce content that not only resonates but also drives engagement and growth for your brand on social media platforms.
Crafting a Social Media Content Strategy
A well-crafted social media content strategy is the backbone of successful digital marketing efforts. It’s a comprehensive plan that guides the creation, delivery, and management of your online content, tailored to engage your target audience and achieve your business objectives.
Here are the critical components of a successful content strategy, along with insights on adapting strategies across different platforms.
Goal Setting
The first step in crafting your strategy is to define clear, measurable goals. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive website traffic, or boost sales? Setting specific objectives will help you tailor your content to meet these goals and measure your success.
Audience Targeting
Understanding your audience is crucial. Develop detailed audience personas that include demographic information, interests, pain points, and social media habits. This knowledge allows you to create content that resonates with your audience, making it more likely to engage and convert.
Content Planning and Creation
Based on your goals and audience insights, plan the types of content that will best resonate with your followers. Your content plan should include a mix of formats (e.g., posts, videos, stories) and themes (e.g., educational, inspirational, promotional) tailored to each platform’s unique environment and audience preferences.
Platform Strategy
Each social media platform has its characteristics and user base, requiring a tailored approach:
Instagram: Focus on high-quality visuals and stories for a younger, visually-oriented audience.
LinkedIn: Share professional, industry-related content for B2B audiences.
Facebook: Leverage a mix of content types, including videos and curated content, to engage a broad demographic.
Twitter: Utilize timely, conversation-driven posts for real-time engagement.
TikTok: Embrace creative, trend-driven content to capture the attention of a younger audience.
Examples of Successful Social Media Content
Now let’s explore a few examples of successful social media content and dissect the elements that contributed to its success. By understanding these principles, you can apply similar strategies to elevate your social media content.
Example 1: User-Generated Content Campaign
Case: A lifestyle brand launches a hashtag campaign encouraging users to share their own photos using the brand’s products in their daily lives.
Success Factors: Authenticity, community engagement, and brand visibility.
Lesson: User-generated content not only provides authentic material for your brand but also fosters a sense of community and belonging among your audience. Encourage your followers to share their experiences with your brand, and feature their content on your platforms to boost engagement and trust.
Case: A tech company shares behind-the-scenes stories on Instagram, showcasing its team’s daily activities, product development processes, and office culture.
Success Factors: Transparency, humanization of the brand, and insider look.
Lesson: Giving your audience a peek behind the curtain humanizes your brand and builds a deeper connection with your audience. Share stories that showcase the people and processes behind your products or services to create relatable and engaging content.
Example 3: Interactive Polls and Quizzes
Case: A beauty brand uses Instagram Stories to run polls and quizzes about skincare routines and preferences.
Success Factors: Interactivity, personalized engagement, and valuable insights.
Lesson: Interactive content like polls and quizzes engages your audience and encourages them to participate actively in your content. Use these tools to gather insights about your audience’s preferences and tailor your offerings accordingly.
Case: A financial services company creates a series of short, educational videos explaining complex financial concepts in simple terms.
Success Factors: Value-driven content, simplicity, and shareability.
Lesson: Educational content that provides real value to your audience is more likely to be shared and remembered. Break down complex topics into digestible pieces to position your brand as a helpful resource in your industry.
Example 5: Influencer Collaborations
Case: A fashion retailer partners with influencers to create “day in the life” content featuring their clothing line.
Success Factors: Credibility, wider reach, and aspirational content.
Lesson: Collaborating with influencers who align with your brand values and aesthetics can introduce your products to a broader audience in a credible and aspirational manner. Choose partners who resonate with your target audience for maximum impact.
Case: A snack brand uses Twitter to engage with current events and trends, creating humorous and timely content related to their products.
Success Factors: Timeliness, humor, and brand personality.
Lesson: Leveraging current events and trends can make your brand feel relevant and engaged with the wider cultural conversation. Use humor and personality to make your content stand out and encourage sharing.
These examples illustrate the power of creativity, authenticity, and strategic thinking in social media content creation.
By applying these lessons—focusing on genuine engagement, providing value, and leveraging the unique features of each platform—you can craft content that resonates with your audience and drives meaningful engagement.
Becoming a Social Media Content Creator
Think you have what it takes to become a social media content creator?
At the heart of effective content creation lies the ability to tell compelling stories, engage with your audience, and adapt to the ever-changing digital landscape. Here’s a look at the essential skills, tools, and attitudes needed to succeed in this dynamic field.
Essential Skills for Content Creators
Creativity and Innovation: The ability to generate fresh, engaging content ideas that stand out in a crowded social media space is crucial. Creativity isn’t just about what you create but also how you present familiar concepts in new and exciting ways.
Strategic Planning: Understanding the big picture, setting achievable goals, and planning content that aligns with these objectives are vital skills for any content creator.
Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with social media platforms, basic graphic design, video editing, and analytics tools is essential to create, publish, and analyze content effectively.
Adaptability: Social media trends and algorithms change rapidly. Being adaptable and willing to learn and experiment with new content formats and platforms can set you apart.
Communication and Engagement: The ability to authentically engage with your audience, respond to feedback, and build a community around your brand is key to long-term success.
Final thoughts
When it comes to creating social media content, the keys to captivating and retaining an engaged audience lie in strategic planning, creativity, and consistency.
By embracing the strategies and tools outlined, content creators and business owners alike can elevate their social media marketing, turning casual followers into loyal advocates.
Whether you’re crafting your next viral post or planning a comprehensive campaign, remember that success on social media is a blend of artful expression and meticulous strategy. So, take these insights, apply them to your content creation efforts, and watch as your social media presence flourishes.
The landscape of influencer marketing is embracing an exciting and highly effective shift toward affiliate marketing as a strategic influencer approach.
This isn’t just another trend; it’s a game-changing method that’s gaining traction for its ability to forge lasting relationships between brands and influencers.
While affiliate marketing isn’t a new concept, the core idea here is to re-imagine its role, shifting from short-term influencer engagements to long-term affiliate partnerships. In this updated approach, influencers don’t just promote; they evolve into genuine brand ambassadors over time. This strategy goes beyond typical campaigns, building a foundation of trust and continuous collaboration. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of this renewed affiliate approach is the performance-based reward system, which effectively encourages influencers to share authentic, impactful brand promotions.
Let’s take a look at how this refreshed affiliate approach can outperform traditional, one-off influencer partnerships in 2024:
Affiliate-Based Influencer Marketing: What Is It?
Simply put, affiliate marketing is when influencers earn a commission for the sales or leads they generate. It’s a straightforward concept: Influencers promote products they genuinely like, and when their followers make purchases based on their recommendations, the influencers get a piece of the pie. In many cases, influencers may receive both direct payments for their promotional efforts and commissions from sales, blending the benefits of both models.
This approach stands in contrast to one-off influencer partnerships. Think of a one-off deal as a quick handshake—it’s brief and transactional. Affiliate marketing, on the other hand, is more like building a lasting friendship. It’s not just about a single promotion; it’s about cultivating an ongoing relationship where both the brand and the influencer benefit over time.
The Advantages Of Long-Term Affiliate Relationships
Long-term affiliate relationships represent a strategic evolution, offering distinct advantages over one-off influencer campaigns. However, harnessing these benefits demands a thoughtful approach.
First, trust plays a pivotal role. When influencers regularly endorse a brand, their followers start seeing these mentions as genuine, much like how people trust a friend who frequently recommends a favourite Netflix series. This authenticity builds trust and credibility, making followers more likely to explore the brand themselves.
Consistency is key, too. By consistently mentioning a brand, influencers can ensure that it remains at the forefront of their audience’s mind. This strategy enhances brand awareness and contributes to brand loyalty as the audience is repeatedly exposed to the brand in a context they already engage with and trust. The goal extends beyond merely repeating the brand name; the aim is to integrate the brand seamlessly into their dialogue, making it a natural and authentic element of their regular content.
Another key advantage of long-term affiliate partnerships lies in their performance-driven nature, largely due to the unique compensation structure. The motivation for influencers in affiliate relationships is significantly bolstered by this setup. Unlike one-off campaigns that offer a flat rate, affiliate relationships include additional pay-outs based on performance metrics like sales or leads generated. This performance-based incentive encourages influencers to produce higher-quality content and invest more effort, as their earnings are directly tied to their effectiveness in promoting the brand.
Best-Practice Advice For Brands: Getting Started With Affiliates
Thinking of giving affiliate influencer marketing a try? Here’s a quick guide to the basics:
• Pick the perfect partners. Look for influencers whose values and audience demographics align with your brand. Let’s say you’re a fitness brand; teaming up with a health and wellness influencer should be a no-brainer. Their authentic vibe and your brand’s message will click, making followers sit up and listen.
• Choose proven influencers. Prioritize influencers who have demonstrated an ability to create engaging, genuine content. Their established rapport with their audience can be a significant asset.
• Focus on longevity. Don’t just go for a quick win. Look for influencers you can grow with. Think of it as a long-term relationship, not just a fling.
• Get some professionals on your side. Not sure where to start? An agency can be your matchmaker. They’ve got the know-how and tools to find your perfect influencer/affiliate match.
Creating Win-Win Deals
• Include fair compensation structures. Crucially, ensure that both you and your influencer are clear on payment terms. Successful affiliate influencer partnerships often involve a mix of affiliate commissions and direct brand pay-outs. This approach ensures that both parties are motivated and rewarded fairly, aligning your mutual goals and efforts for a successful collaboration.
• Set clear goals and expectations. Establish clear, attainable KPI-driven objectives for both the influencer and the brand. This helps everyone understand what’s expected and feel satisfied with the results.
• Monitor and adapt. Keep an eye on your influencer’s performance and provide helpful feedback. Adapt your strategy based on what works. Remember, one of the great benefits of long-term partnerships is the ability to tweak and refine your plan over time. This adaptability ensures that your strategy stays relevant and effective. Agencies can offer valuable insights here, helping you make informed adjustments.
As we move further into 2024, it’s important for brands to recognize the transformative potential of affiliate influencer marketing. This approach—focusing on long-term, trust-based partnerships rather than transient campaigns—offers a unique blend of authenticity, sustained engagement and performance-driven results. For brands seeking to deepen their market impact, affiliate partnerships provide a strategic path forward. By partnering with influencers who resonate genuinely with their audience over time, brands can forge meaningful connections, enhance brand loyalty and drive measurable growth in an increasingly digital world.
Founder and CEO of Sway Group, an award-winning agency that specializes in influencer marketing with a focus on B2C nano and micro campaigns. Read Danielle Wiley’s full executive profile here.
Since the nascent days of influencer marketing, the concept has been simple: Brands deliver an experience or message through a creator who is perceived as more valuable than traditional advertising.
As influencer culture has exploded, the industry has shifted dramatically. Suddenly, there are more creators and advertisers than there are impressions to go around. As the various social media platforms have grown, they demand monetization from brands to access their target audiences and beyond, essentially restricting the odds for organic reach.
Today, with an overwhelming number of creators and an increasingly fickle consumer audience inundated by content, the future effectiveness of influencer marketing is understandably in question. Is organic reach still possible? Yes, but it’s extremely limited and progressively rare. I believe the solution lies in pairing the right creator with paid media.
A New Model
Right now, the top platforms have their own self-serve partnership ad programs that work in congruence with brands and creators, including Spark Ads on TikTok, BrandConnect on YouTube and Partnership Ads on Meta. By paying the respective platform to run ads linked to native creator accounts, the brand benefits from entertaining creator content that looks organic but has platform support that boosts visibility, encourages brand engagement and increases reach. The content remains authentic to the creator, while the brand leverages it to connect with the creator’s audience, who can instantly follow the brand with one click on the creator’s post. This is a strategy I’ve used with great success to help a number of household names amplify their influence.
As these in-platform services continue to evolve and expand their features, it will be exciting to see how they’ll further enhance the value of brand-creator pairings.
Another benefit of platform ad programs is that they’re official creator marketplaces, which offer brands the opportunity to search for in-app influencers who best meet their needs in terms of identity, content and performance numbers.
The caveat to limiting your search to creator marketplaces is that the talent has, of course, already established themselves as influencers. Personally, I think there’s significant value in independently researching for creators who aren’t necessarily “influencers” yet but are organically making influential content and speaking to an audience you want to reach.
Effective Influencer Marketing
For an influencer campaign to succeed, brands need to map out exactly who their desired consumer group is and then match that buyer persona with a creator who genuinely believes in the brand and aligns with its creative and analytical goals. That might mean searching through all the posts in a hashtag to see who’s talking about the topic in an authentic way. Doing this kind of due diligence yourself as a user on the platform is really the best way to determine their relevancy. Generally, influencers create personas or constructs that express who they are and what they’re passionate about.
Brands also need to understand that influencer content shouldn’t be comparable to ads or commercials. Creators should be allowed a reasonable amount of freedom to lead the narrative. For example, you could strategize ways to marry your research to their content and then determine a theme that works for both parties. As long as they stay within that agreed-upon theme, you need to give them the flexibility to showcase it in a way most effective and authentic to their style.
In addition to moving toward a seamless blend of organic and paid content, platforms are starting to reward live content in a way that hasn’t interested them before. When an influential creator promotes upcoming live content, they can draw users to their live stream and communicate directly with their audience without a moderator. It’s an influencing trend that Gen-Z—who, as consumers, prefer real interactions over polished content—are eagerly starting to engage in. Right now, live content is still new and a little scary, but that’s also a combination that often leads to brands being first in their category to enjoy success by being bold enough to experiment with it. Test it out, spend time under the live construct, and understand how brands outside of your category are having success with it. You have to be a student.
At the end of the day, people want to buy from people. If you think about it, the influencer market is not new to the advent of social media or even the Internet. Lucille Ball was doing brand sponsorships 70 years ago. Influencer marketing will always be around and will evolve in nature as the mediums of consumer consumption evolve as well.
One of the best strategies for reaching and interacting with your target audience in the digital world nowadays is influencer marketing. It’s been estimated that the global influencer market is currently worth $21.1 billion.
Through influencer marketing, you can take advantage of the credibility and trust that influencers have established with their audiences to help sell your services or products. Influencers help you accomplish a number of goals, including:
• Increasing brand exposure, visibility and traffic.
• Generating leads and sales.
• Creating user-generated content and social proof.
• Increasing audience trust and loyalty.
But how can you locate the ideal influencers for your company? How do you get in touch with them and work together to build profitable alliances?
Here’s my advice based on my experience running a digital influencer agency.
Finding The Right Influencers For Your Business
There are countless numbers of influencers, each with their own unique style, personality, niche and audience. How can you whittle down your choices and pick the ones who are best for your brand?
• Define your target audience: You must have a firm grasp of who your target audience is before you start hunting for influencers. What are their aims, pain spots, hobbies and psychographics? What kind of media do they watch? By identifying your target market, you can find influencers who appeal to them and have traits in common with them.
• Set your campaign goals and budget: Next, decide what you want to accomplish with your influencer marketing strategy and how much money you are willing to invest. What are your key performance indicators? How will you assess the campaign’s success? How much money can you afford to pay influencers? Setting your campaign goals and budget allows you to locate influencers who can help you achieve your goals while staying within your budget.
• Use influencer marketing tools: One of the easiest ways to find influencers is to use influencer marketing tools. These tools can help you filter, analyse and contact possible partners for your brands. They make use of data analytics to easily identify influencers with large followings, high engagements and strong connections.
• Look for authenticity and alignment: Authenticity is one of the most crucial aspects to take into account when selecting an influencer. Many consumers can recognize a sponsored post that doesn’t feel sincere right away. Find influencers whose material reflects your brand’s ideals and who genuinely care about your niche. Avoid influencers who advocate for an excessive number of irrelevant or incompatible goods or services.
Connecting With The Right Influencers
After you have a list of influencers who fit your criteria, get in touch with them and build a relationship. Here are some ways to do that:
• Do your homework: Check out an influencer’s profile, content, audience and prior partnerships before reaching out to them. This will enable you to more effectively target your message and demonstrate your sincere interest in working with them.
• Be both personable and professional when communicating with influencers through email or direct message. Use their names and make explicit references to their material or industry. Don’t send messages that may seem generic or like mass outreach or spam. Be kind, considerate and nice, but also explicit and succinct about your goals and expectations.
• Don’t merely ask an influencer for a favour or promotion; instead, offer value. Offer something worthwhile that will also be helpful to them. You could provide a commission or fee, a shout out or promotion on your site, access to exclusive material or events, a free product or service, etc.
• Follow up: Don’t count on an influencer to respond right away. They can receive hundreds of messages each day and may not have the time to respond to each one. Give them some time to consider your idea, and then get in touch with them again if you don’t hear anything back after a few days. Avoid being aggressive, but convey your enthusiasm about the prospect of working with them.
Effectively Collaborating With Influencers
Here are a few pointers when it comes to collaborating with your chosen influencer:
• Agree on the campaign goals, budget, timeline, deliverables, guidelines and metrics. Document them in a contract.
• Let the influencers create authentic and engaging content that fits their voice and style. Don’t micromanage them.
• Support them by engaging with their content.
• Pay them fairly and promptly. Respect their professionalism and influence.
Measuring Your Progress
Partnering with an influencer can help you grow your brand and get ahead of competitors. However, to measure your campaign’s progress effectively, here are some things to do:
• First, keep track of KPIs through Google Analytics, social media platform analytics and influencer marketing platforms.
• Second, examine how your business has progressed toward meeting the initial goals you set, while taking note of why things went well or not.
• Third, try to learn from both your wins and losses throughout the process. This will help foster a culture of continuous improvement.
Final Thoughts
Finding, connecting and collaborating with the right influencers are the keys to successful influencer marketing. Once you’ve done these things, be sure to measure your progress and adjust your campaigns as needed.
Trust between advertisers and consumers is the bedrock of effective advertising, not least when it comes to influencer marketing. The nature of influencers’ relationships with their followers means that transparency and authenticity are non-negotiable when it comes to communicating branded messages to their communities – and doing this successfully requires trusted partnerships between influencers and the advertisers they work with.
So, how are technological developments impacting the industry’s ability to deliver transparency? What does the growth of AI mean for authenticity in this space? And how is affiliate marketing helping to deliver a full-funnel view of influencer activations? Members of our Influencer Group share their views.
AI & influencer content
Melanie Kentish, managing partner, Gleam Futures: “As the influencer marketing industry matures with greater regulation and in-depth reporting, brands’ trust in the channel is building. Not only is the quality of content often as good as a brand’s own content, the production costs are a fraction of the price. But the most valuable asset of all is the trust fostered within influencers’ communities.
“However, the momentum at which AI is growing is startling and – now more than ever – it’s important that influencers are leading the way by turning their backs on beauty filters and holding their accounts to account to sustain that trust. Progressive advertisers will be casting authentic, filter free and diverse talent for their audiences to be truly represented. This in turn will do what’s right for both brands and society at large. It’s time to do better.”
The role of robust reporting
Ceres Cueva, SVP global publisher partnerships, Rakuten Advertising: “With marketers calling for greater measurement and transparency of campaign performance in influencer marketing, we’re seeing more brands combine influencer and affiliate marketing strategies. You get more robust reporting and actionable insights by layering affiliate tracking links into influencer campaigns; getting a full-funnel view into how influencers drive conversions throughout the consumer journey and better understand the creators, messages and creative that resonate most with your audience.
“These insights build trust between brands and influencers, solidifying relationships and allowing creators to make decisions that actively engage and convert consumers. The outcome? Lasting partnerships that transform influencers into brand ambassadors. After all, when a great storyteller or content creator can directly impact performance growth, it’s a win-win for both parties.”
Authenticity is essential
Izzy Treacy, senior campaign manager, Buttermilk: “Transparency and authenticity are key to building trust in influencer marketing. The recent #deinfluencing trend sparked some controversy amongst advertisers, but it also proved that influencers are striving to be increasingly authentic with their audiences and, in turn, brands are taking more action to encourage transparency in their collaboration.
“Technological developments are key to this – providing brands with improved access to the metrics that matter. As a result, they can clearly understand the impact of their investment and build confidence in future strategies. Additionally, with more tools providing API access directly from the platforms, advertisers can also feel more confident about their influencer selection. Finally, the increase in clear disclosure practices from bodies such as the ASA has created a level of assurance and brand safeguarding for brands investing in influencer marketing.”
What are the most effective ways of engaging a group whose spending and consumption habits aren’t exactly traditional?
Gen Z make up 40% of the global consumer population, according to global research and consulting firm McKinsey. The Influencer Marketing Factory reports 97% of Gen Z turn to social media as their main source of shopping inspiration. Another report by Statista shows 54% of Gen Z say social media is better than online search when it comes to discovering new products. With this demographic wielding increasing buying power, brands know better than to ignore them.
The question is not whether companies should market to Gen Zs—it’s how? What are the most effective ways of engaging a group whose spending and consumption habits aren’t exactly traditional? Although most brands are still asking these questions, legacy companies like Adidas and Walmart, which have thrived through countless market fluctuations, technological upheavals, and cultural shifts, may already have the answers.
Selling experiences, not products
Product-focused sales have become tacky, especially for a generation that values authenticity and engagement. And, as Jeremy Finch wrote for Fast Company way back in 2015, “Gen Z have a carefully tuned radar for being sold to and a limited amount of time and energy to spend assessing whether something’s worth their time.” What works instead is creating immersive narratives that offer unique journeys, personalized services, and memories that transcend the product’s functionalities.
Adidas is appealing to Gen Z through digital assets like NFTs. “For many brands and consumers, the value of NFTs doesn’t come from the token itself, but from the sense of community built around it,” says Rohan Handa, senior vice president for business development at Horizen Labs Ventures, a digital asset advisory and solutions platform. “It creates a shared experience and exclusivity that draws people in [and] for a population that evolved with Web 2.0, social media, and the mobile-market Web, it is normal that Gen Z users value their digital identity more than people from Gen X, who sometimes don’t even have one.”
This is why Adidas’ first NFT launch in 2021, themed “Into the Metaverse,” minted all 30,000 of its NFTs and amassed up to $22 million in sales in hours. Fast forward to 2023 and the brand has launched the third and final phase of the project, with perks like exclusive access to certain offers and increased interactions.
Walmart, on the other hand, has plans to create two immersive Roblox gaming experiences—Walmart Land for buying virtual merchandise and Walmart’s Universe of Play for toy games. This, according to Walmart’s marketing chief William White, is a strategy to “increase brand favourability with younger audiences” and “drive relevance in cultural conversations.”
“Gen Z is a digital-first cohort [and] digital identities matter to these participants,” says Horizen Labs Ventures’ Handa. “Digital avatars like those done by Ready Player Me, in-game skins/assets similar to the ones in Fortnite and Roblox, ticketing and token-gated sales by Ticketmaster, and collectible NFTs like NBA top-shot are some top-of-mind use cases, and where a lot of Gen Z is headed.”
But if selling products, do it socially
The market size for social commerce—that is, a form of e-commerce that combines social media, online communities, and user-generated content—was estimated to be valued at $584.91 billion in 2021 and is set to grow before the end of the decade, with a projected market value of $6.2 trillion in 2030.
The idea of social commerce is a relatively new phenomenon characterized by its use of social media platforms to facilitate the buying and selling of products and services. While social commerce is still in its early stages, it has the potential to revolutionize the way we shop online.
“It is more important than ever for brands to implement a social commerce strategy that captures their young and increasingly influential audience,” says Roy Avidor, cofounder and CEO of Cymbio. “To a large extent, this booming shopping trend is due to Gen Z, who dedicate a lot of time to browsing social channels.”
Avidor recommends that businesses that want to succeed in the social commerce space must leverage influencer marketing, simplify payment options, and prepare omnichannel marketing. “Brands seeking to connect with younger audiences in the social commerce space must leverage the reach and engagement of influential social media users, ensure payment methods are up-to-date and easy to use, and implement omnichannel strategies by integrating social media into their overall commerce strategy,” adds Avidor.
With inflation and the cost of goods rising, it’s more important than ever for retail businesses to retain existing customers, especially when the cost of acquiring new ones can be up to five times higher. This is where social commerce can help brands of all sizes.
Communicating with Gen Z
Whether it is from their favourite brands or persons, genuine and transparent interactions are necessities for Gen Z. In the words of Avi Pardo, cofounder and chief revenue officer at communications platform LeapXpert, “More than anything, Gen Zers just want to be seen. . . . Should a Gen Z member feel like they are merely a statistic in a customer relationship management system, they will disengage.”
For businesses, this means meeting Gen Z with the information they need in the places they use frequently—especially on social media and mobile messaging platforms. Pardo says leading brands are able to engage Gen Z by creating a personalized experience, which means, among other things, the ability to use any social media or mobile messaging platform to reach out to their personal rep at any time. “These brands don’t make Gen Zers call a desk phone number, a directory line, or reach out through a dedicated company portal. Instead, they have dedicated, personal representatives available to Gen Zers on their time, and on their preferred channel, be it iMessage, WhatsApp, SMS, Telegram, or Signal.”
New insights on mobile messaging are spotlighting significant opportunities for increased brand and customer engagement. For instance, a 2021 report by Statista showed that an estimated 3.09 billion mobile phone users communicate using mobile messaging, while another report by Klaviyo discovered that not only is text messaging the most important form of mobile communication, many customers (especially younger ones) feel secure interacting with brands over texts.
For Adidas, moving personalized interactions to WhatsApp in 2015 was a strategy to connect with the different subcultures of their young audience across the world and grow hyper-local communities within these countries. This, according to Laura Coveney, managing editor at Adidas, “allowed us to build relationships . . . in an ongoing way that [didn’t] feel transactional.” Through WhatsApp, the sportswear brand has launched several campaigns that allow it to engage organically with users.
Similarly, Walmart’s recent “Text-to-Shop” mobile-marketing strategy provides a convenient and accessible way for customers to shop without the need for a dedicated app or website. With a Walmart account, customers can browse products, add to their carts, review recommendations, and eventually make purchases—all via text. Because a Walmart account is linked to your payment information and even location, you can have your items on your doorstep in no time.
Making hiring more engaging
As a generation group expected to account for a third of the workforce by the end of this decade, companies that intend to be around for a long time are actively seeking to leverage their talents and potential. Compared to previous generations, there is now a world of difference in the strategies used to hire and retain Gen Z employees.
“Gen Z are used to instantaneous experiences,” says Benjy Gillman, cofounder and head of innovation and strategy at the candidate experience platform, myInterview. “They can order a taxi, find a date, or book a hotel in minutes on their mobile phone. At the same time, the application process also needs to be as engaging and instantaneous to engage this generation.” And this is what leading brands like Adidas and Walmart are doing—taking a candidate-first approach to recruitment practices.
“Leading brands are making the entire application process mobile-first; they are making it more engaging by injecting interactive media such as video and audio within the application process, and most importantly, they are personalizing the candidate journey so it’s easier and more engaging to apply for a job at the organization,” notes Gillman.
Worthy of note is Walmart’s strategy to attract young talent by offering what they call a debt-free college education where employees enrol in online programs at three universities for $1 a day. But Gillman advises further that the candidate experience must be swift and seamless. “Waiting a week to get back to a candidate isn’t acceptable anymore,” he says. “In the battle for talent, brands need to be fast-paced and need a real-time approach to the candidate experience.”
