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In April, Traackr held its second annual IMPACT event in New York. I had the honor of being the MC for a half day of speaking sessions that were absolutely star studded. Sessions included speakers from L'Oréal USA, Dove North America, Kate Spade, Laneige, Business Insider, and Snap Inc. Along with some incredible creators.
As you can imagine this incredible lineup of speakers resulted in some truly interesting topics and discussions. If you had the misfortune of missing this event, never fear! I’ve written up six of the main influencer marketing insights from the day…
P.S. We’ll be hosting these events in Los Angeles and London next — subscribe to our newsletter for updates on those event dates, and for general influencer marketing/industry trend goodies.
Influencer Marketing Insight #1: Expand your social platform horizons
I know marketers are sick of hearing “you NEED to do/be/try this!” but hear me out…
Brands need to be on Snapchat! Creators want to tag you, which means you could be missing out on a lot of organic love.
Some stats that I loved from Francis Roberts that should help compel you:
- 414 million people use Snap every single day
- 90% of all 13 - 24 year olds are on Snap (hello, Gen Z)
- Over 50% of people who use Snapchat every single day are not on TikTok, and over 40% of those people are not on YouTube
P.S. Shameless plug — with Traackr’s new partnership with Snap, brands can now easily find and collaborate with creators, and easily report on campaigns so you’ll have great tools to get started. 😉
Influencer Marketing Insight #2: Get out of your own way
Expert advice for posting on social media: “just do it”.
For creators, this means being unafraid to show the mundane. Post the content you care about and see your audience grow. At IMPACT NYC we heard from Snapchat creator, AJ (@apr1lf00lz), who started by posting her janitorial work and grew almost a million followers. Now she posts about being a queer Brooklynit in an interracial relationship and inspires the masses. Representation really matters and that counts for you, too.
For brands, this means being as free from legal hoops as possible and posting quickly in an authentic voice. However, this does NOT equate to jumping on every trend. Know thyself, and be thyself, and get out of thyself’s own way (aka have a little fun). If you need some inspo, check out the vid below to see my “just do it” content.
Influencer Marketing Insight #3: True collaboration allows for creativity
Do you know what it takes to truly collaborate with your creators?
Iris Coker, Director of Global Influencer Relations + Social Media at Kate Spade and creator, Taryn Delanie Smith (@taryntino21), spoke to this beautifully during their IMPACT NYC panel.
Starr, the quirky unpaid intern aspiring to be the CEO of Kate Spade New York, was an idea that the creator (Taryn) originally had to help build awareness for the brand. It was a wild idea that the team at Kate Spade New York was excited about and decided to run with.
True collaborations are reciprocal, mutual, and long term — like this one.
Taryn has only created two videos with Starr so far, and it has already produced great results on social, humanized the brand in an authentic way, and earned the interest of new audiences.
The fact that Kate Spade New York was willing to collaborate, be creative, and trust Taryn’s vision has led to an even stronger partnership. The mutual love and respect between brand and creator could be felt on stage!
Influencer Marketing Insight #4: Nothing wins loyalty like consistent brand values
Why do we all love Dove so dearly?
They defined their values a long time ago and have consistently stuck with it, showing integrity, focus, and, of course, creativity in how they show up.
Dana Paolucci, Head of PR & Influence at Dove North America, spoke on a panel at IMPACT NYC, and I was blown away by how eloquently she spoke to this. The latest evidence of this genius at work is Dove celebrating its 20-year long Real Beauty campaign (TWENTY YEARS), by taking an anti-AI stance. Real values stand the test of time and strengthen your brand, while also keeping it relevant.
The net-net: the brand’s values have attracted consumers for decades, and their affinity runs deep because they trust the brand, and admire its commitment. Creators feel inspired to live and breathe the brand message, and are excited by the opportunity to collaborate with them.
Influencer Marketing Insight #5: Think critically about your performance metrics
There is no one size fits all for influencer marketing measurement. And if there was…
it would not be earned media value (EMV), according to a table full of market execs that I had dinner with.
I could go on for ages about why EMV is a bad choice (drop a note in the comments if you want to hear more), but let’s instead shift gears to talk about the broader landscape of metrics.
Beauty CMO, Tiffani D. Carter, spoke to the power of saves, that someone saving a post is a great indicator they are going to buy the products later. Likes mean less than comments, impressions only matter sometimes, and it’s all platform, format, and intent specific.
Practitioners need to feel empowered to set performance goals based on intent. Are you looking for a conversion from a UTM? Or to raise awareness of your brand’s values? You can bet the metrics set for those different goals will be, well, different.
At the end of the day we are all still struggling with difficult leadership expectations or misaligned understandings of what’s necessary and what works. Part of our jobs is to educate on what good looks like and why freedom and creative control are essential. This is not traditional advertising!
Influencer Marketing Insight #6: Marketing shouldn’t be a zero-sum game
Let’s bust this major influencer marketing myth…
“Influencer marketing takes resources away from your other marketing channels”.
Tight budgets, limited teams, and shrunken timelines can often make the world of marketing resourcing feel like an absolute battlefield. What’s mine is mine, and, what’s yours I’d also like to be mine in order to achieve my crazy goals. 😬
But what if I told you that — when done right — the relationships you build with creators can actually benefit your other marketing channels? That you could even see things get easier, faster, more aligned, and with increased ROI?
This is what our CEO, Pierre Loïc Assayag, discussed with Ariana Parasco, Vice President of Brand and Consumer Engagement at L’Oréal USA, on stage at IMPACT NYC, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
Creators are the heart of authentic storytelling, served straight to your consumers. Earn their trust, loyalty, and affinity, and you create a world where one initiative, campaign, or post, has the power to positively impact your earned, owned, and paid marketing programs.
Suddenly resources don’t feel so finite because you’re able to see one success echo across various categories. You get to a world where you can benefit many times over from one effort. How cool is that?
If you’re interested in learning more influencer marketing insights, follow me on LinkedIn, where I post things I learn from the industry’s leading experts, as I learn them. Or, subscribe to Traackr’s influencer marketing newsletter.