Welcome back to your regular Sunday update. For those who have missed the news on LinkedIn; I have officially joined Air Up as Creator Marketing Team Lead for the UK&I and BLX regions.
TL;DR Swayable has analysed a set of “deinfluencing” posts to determine the impact on the opinion that consumers have on the product and brand.
Headline Quote “The following framework can help brands decide when to address #deinfluencing content and when to focus their attention elsewhere. More specifically, brands should target very persuasive, high-reach content to ensure they’re confronting critical threats to their business.”
Our Take
The concept around deinfluencing should be a reminder to all that creators are not ad-buys that can be purchased and controlled by the brands that invest in them.
A few takeaways from the article:
Deinfluencing posts that saw higher numbers of engagements (image below) did not necessarily lead to more (negative) impact on brand favourability. This ties in with the fact that high-reach content in isolation does not automatically equate to it being more/less influential than low-reach posts.
In addition, content that focused on (lack of) product quality & customer service did have the ability to negatively impact brand favourability.
The article suggests outreach to creators in regards to tangible topics that can be addressed in a positive way, and developing an open approach that welcomes feedback might be beneficial.
While the majority of brands won’t have these specific insights as to which pieces of content are de-influencing their consumers, deep-diving into UGC and identifying negative pain-points have the potential to spot and deal with issues that may escalate down the road.
Outreach to the biggest detractors is high-risk / high-reward; and an elaborate, white-glove and cross-functional approach is recommended. While some videos might go viral - the internet tends to move on quickly, and it will very much depend on the brand and situation if it is even worth risking outreach.
Personally, I would like to see an added element to the study where the “age” of the video is taken into account - are videos 6+ months old still as impactful?
As part of a promotional campaign, the beauty brand Tarte flew 30 social media influencers on a private jet to paradise. Many observers were not amused.
Headline Quote
“I find it so interesting that people don’t get outraged when they see the Super Bowl commercials or those Times Square billboards,” Ms. Kelly (the brand’s founder and chief executive) said. She added that a Tarte trip “costs way less” than the $7 million that some companies spent to reserve 30 seconds of advertising time on last month’s Super Bowl broadcast.
Our Take
The article makes it quite clear that for Tarte Cosmetics, these trips deliver a very positive ROI based on the investment; despite negative sentiment. And to be fair, its approach get them this dedicated article in the New York Times. Tarte Cosmetics is looking at the numbers, and they are seeing a direct correlation between these trips and sales figures. Quote below:
Tarte’s first trip, in 2015, included a stay at an “inexpensive” rental house in Turks and Caicos, Ms. Kelly said. She decorated the palm trees with string lights and scrubbed the glass-bottomed kayaks herself, she noted. “For me, the aha moment came when I was looking at the sales,” she said. “It works. The sales were there.”
While sentiment for some may be negative - it’s clear this approach is working for Tarte Cosmetics - looking at this video (quote below):
“Could you guys imagine if Tarte did these brand trips every year just to incentivize other influencers to post about their products in hopes that they too one day will be invited on a brand trip?” he said. “Who in their right mind would actually fall for that?”
The responses include; “No because this is 100% part of the strategy lmao” "Their marketing is genius” and ““lol my mom keeps telling me “buy tarte so you can post it and get invited””
So unless the backlash has a real impact on the bottom line and Tarte Cosmetics see a correlation between these campaigns and sales declining - I think it’s actually more likely they will increase investment in these tactics going forward.
Around 70 creators, digital publishers, and influencers are set to meet with the administration to amplify the White House’s message across social media. Some were briefed on Wednesday, but more are expected to attend events on Thursday. The creators have a combined audience of more than 100 million followers across platforms. The administration is hoping to tap that large digital audience to reach voters who may not tune in to Thursday’s speech.
In collaboration with TikTok, the brand-new BBC Creator Lab scheme aims to boost the UK content creator economy, with pitching and social media masterclasses - and chances to secure BBC social commissions and TV appearances.
Meeting consumers where they like to hang out, rather than expecting them to find you, has always been the key to selling products or services. This is especially true when it comes to the Gen Z customer, whether they are teenagers or in their early to mid-twenties.
A Creator Authority fact sheet claims that there has been a 24% year-over-year increase in the amount of public content shared on LinkedIn. If you’re interested in grabbing a piece of that pie, more info about Creator Authority can be found on its website — or (of course) on its LinkedIn page.
Twitch is focusing on helping creators build their communities and make more money in the year ahead, as well as improving the general safety on the Amazon-owned streaming platform.
