Your Weekly Influencer Marketing Update 🚀
28.06.2021
☀️ Happy Monday! ☀️
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🏭 Industry Headlines
TikTok account of the week
@Rod
Can genuine influencer marketing play a part in a brand’s content strategy?
What’s it about?
The influencer marketing landscape is saturated, and this opinion piece urges people to consider more of a focus on “genuine” influencers, i.e existing customers, employees, etc.
Headline Quote
“The alternative to the sometimes ambiguous use of ‘traditional influencers’ could be to use ‘best customers’ and ‘rising star employees’ as brand ambassadors to amplify content in the way that influencers should do, while retaining a far more genuine brand feel. Real customers and employees whose values align to those of the brand ensure a more genuine connection with consumers, and in my opinion this comes through in the way that the content is presented – with real passion, enthusiasm, engagement with questions and feedback.”
Our Take
Even though the term “genuine” influencer marketing is fairly new, the thoughts around it are not. We wrote this piece back in 2017 - highlighting that many do not have an infrastructure in place to support the idea of setting up a structure for existing customers, and loyal purchasers. Last year, we wrote another piece, addressing the (influencer marketing) industry’s obsession with acquiring new audiences, and forgetting about existing ones in the process.
How TikTok Became Home To A New Kind Of Fashion Influencer
What’s it about?
TikTok is becoming the home of a new style of influencer - the “fashion critic” that isn’t scared to share their opinion, and doesn’t have to rely on brand-deals to make a living.
Headline Quote
“Even though he could easily monetise his audience - he’s not interested in filtering his opinions in order to work with brands. In fact, he’s already tried to work with some fashion companies, but has been rejected because “they find my content to be controversial.”
In an industry ruled by access and connections, creators have the talent and unabashed confidence to say what they want, and TikTok is giving them a space to do it. After all, if they have nothing to gain, they have nothing to lose. For now.”
Our Take
TikTok is a very existing platform, and unlike Instagram - it provides an algorithm that allows for different subcultures and niche topics an ability to go viral and grow substantial audiences. A perfect environment for these new types of influencers to gain traction in.
Too many influencers, not enough eyeballs: will boredom kill Instagram?
What’s it about?
This opinion piece in the FT asks whether Instagram still has enough relevant content from its core users to remain relevant in the long term, against the backdrop of competing platforms fighting for market share.
Headline Quote
“Instagram must hope that its user base is big enough to avoid MySpace-style irrelevance. Facebook has shown that it is skilled in extracting more revenue from the same pool of users even as its cultural impact dwindles. User growth in the US and Canada has stalled, but Facebook’s average revenue per user jumped nearly a fifth last year. It is going to need to perform the same trick again with Instagram. If not, user boredom will start to hit the company’s bottom line. “
Our Take
Instagram has been a dominating force for over a decade, and there is a real chance that it may be losing its appeal - it will need to innovate in order to remain culturally relevant to a new generation of users. On the other hand however, it really doesn’t have to. Most businesses will spend a big portion of their advertising budgets on a Facebook owned platform, and the eyeballs they reach are unrivalled - I’m sure they don’t mind other platforms becoming more culturally relevant, at least not for now.