Your Weekly Influencer Marketing Update 🚀
16.11.2020 / #54
☀️ Happy Monday! ☀️
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🤿 This week’s Deep Dive 🤿
🏬 Retailers are pushing their employees to become TikTok influencers 🏬
More and more retailers are trying to get on the TikTok train, increasingly by “using” employees to get viral status. This great article by DigiDay goes into the who, what, and why. A recap in our own words:
Companies have been upping investment into employee influencers in recent years, which allows brands to step away from the typical “faceless” brand accounts. In 2020, the focus is on TikTok.
Gamestop has encouraged its employees to post videos of themselves dancing to the #RedWineChallenge on TikTok. The winner would receive gift cards plus access to “more working hours” during Black Friday, which - of course - backfired quickly.
Sephora has a pre-approved group of employees called the “Sephora Squad.”
Dunkin’ Donuts has launched its “Crew Ambassadors” programme comprising high-reach Dunkin’-employed baristas.
“You don’t want to go on social and just keep hearing from lots of brands,” said Jody Leon, the marketing manager at DSMN8, one of the largest employee advocacy platforms. “You don’t want to keep hearing from the electric company or the gas company. However, if their employees have something to say, you’re more likely to listen than a brand shouting advertising at you.”
Companies can work with certain niche platforms that have built out specific workflows (not dissimilar to typical influencer tech platforms) around employer <> employee brief & content creation. Leaderboards built into the tech allow companies to distribute perks based on performance. This raises another question:should these posts be disclosed as ads?
As this form of influencer marketing matures, there is a high chance it will be utilised for crisis management, and employee advocacy could well become a shield against bad press.
🍩 Dunkin’ Donuts 🍩
🍔Wendy’s🍔
💡 Our Opinion
As the influencer and social landscapes are maturing, more businesses and retailers are opening up to the idea of being able to get added value from their employees to push their brand.
There is space for real synergy here, and it allows businesses to build powerful relationships with their employees. However, judging from this article, the impact seems fairly one-sided. The “perks” mentioned in this article are nowhere near the potential added value that this content can bring to brands. A good case in point is this DigiDay article. Another is the 3.5M views that #SephoraSquad has generated on TikTok, and this programme seems to be focused mostly on free products and early access to products.
I for one am very excited to see how this type of influencer marketing will unfold and develop in the years to come, especially when it comes to disclosure. Sephora seems to be the only one with a specific programme in place where all content is tagged accordingly with #ad.
📰 Headlines
Influencer beauty collaborations gain traction outside of makeup
“The cosmetics space is supersaturated, and a lot of influencers are now launching their own makeup brands,” said Jordynn Wynn, Insert Name Here co-founder. “Beauty brands that do collaborations have done so many at this point, so influencers are looking to step into other categories of interest to them and create something that is more personal and custom.”
How brands can leverage gaming as an engagement channel
“The first step for marketers is to identify the game or streaming platforms that their brand can tap onto, followed by working out a marketing strategy that best suits their objectives - be it increasing brand awareness, consumer engagement or sales.
As for influencers or celebrities, marketers should not just pick someone who is well-known in the gaming industry, but also one that best resonates with the brand, its values and its messaging. Doing so will allow brands to utilise the gaming market to its full potential.”
How Influencers Handled The Biden–Harris Win Proves There Has Been A Seismic Shift In The Industry
“I feel like influencers 100% have a responsibility to speak up about human rights, social justice, etc.,” Tomi Obebe, who blogs at GoodTomiCha, told BuzzFeed News. “We’ve built these amazing platforms that can reach thousands of people, but what’s the point if we waste it solely focusing on superficial topics? I’m not saying they have to become C-SPAN and report every little thing, but silence about issues that are timely and geographically relevant speaks volumes."
These BIPOC Fashion Influencers Are All About Sustainability & People Need To Listen
“Up until a few months ago, it took a deep search to find one influencer of colour in the sustainability community, yet finding a white influencer was a scroll away. In the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police and the civil rights protests that followed, sustainability influencers of colour, like Rogers, have received increased online attention. With the urgency of racial injustice consuming social media, people looked for leading BIPOC voices in different spaces to help inform — and change — perspectives. The sustainability movement was part of the groundswell.”
Twitch Launches ‘Predictions’ Feature, Enabling Viewers To Bet On In-Stream Events
“Predictions enable viewers to bet on various outcomes during a stream — such as, for instance, whether or not a creator might nab her first win. Viewers are able to wager Channel Points to hedge their bets on a specific outcome, and those who guess the correct outcome will win a proportionate share of Channel Points from the total pool, according to Twitch.”
Instagram redesigns its home screen for the first time in years, adding Reels and Shop tabs
“Instagram’s making major design changes to its home screen for the first time in years. Today, the company announced that it’s adding Reels and Shop tabs to its home screen, a communication of the company’s priorities. The Reels tab will, of course, lead users to Reels, shortform videos similar to TikTok. The Shop tab will surface personalized recommendations, editors’ picks curated by the @shop channel, shoppable videos, and new product collections. Both tabs make it easier for people to find what they want on the platform and go there immediately.”