Let’s start with some honesty. Influencer marketing has changed, but how brands are working with influencers hasn't. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being wasted on outdated strategies based on outdated thinking.
As a result, branded influencer content is underperforming and propped up by ad spend. All this is happening while the power of social media and its grasp on culture continues to run laps around traditional media.
Where are we going wrong? What is the disconnect? Is influencer marketing dying?
We are having our "talkies" moment in influencer marketing. Just as 1920s Hollywood needed to reinvent itself with the advent of sound in films, we're calling for a reinvention in this industry.
The upheavals caused by short-form video, temperamental algorithms, creator supply bloat, and savvy audiences demand it. Successful campaigns require more nuance, strategy, and thought than ever before.
We have to strip out the cascade of key messages. We need briefs that let creators create, not recite. We need to focus on compelling hooks and understanding audiences and make it fun, memorable, and entertaining. After all, people, not 'platforms,' are behind everything we like about being online, and our guiding principle needs to be marketing that prioritizes the creativity and authenticity of individuals. We need to stop spending good money on boring content.
If we can make it sing, we can make it sell.
Entertain… then inspire or educate.
The single biggest shift in influencer marketing is not from photo to video, but from content that is informative first to entertaining first.
For years, influencers could rely on a relationship with their audience to guarantee a base level of performance. That’s all over now. The algorithm is the bouncer at the door of the proverbial club—without being entertaining enough to stop the scroll, your content won’t be shown to a broader audience. It’s a toll-booth that you pass through not based on the authenticity of your content or the depth of knowledge you share in it, but by your ability to entertain.
Once you’ve charmed your way into the heart of the algorithm, you can change the minds behind it.
You need both test and trust partners.
Ambassador programs continue to deliver immense value for clients, and the benefits of long-term partners are clear—but how do you keep content from going stale?
We recommend brands constantly work with new partners (test) while also reinvesting in those who perform (trust). Those delineations also inform your strategy. Need an influencer to host an event for you? Trust partner. Trying to break into a new community? Test partner. We'll spare you a belabored list of further examples, trusting you understand the gist: one is silver and the other gold.
Decide when you need a mirror and when you need a window.
“Mirrors” and “windows” are two ways to think about content creation.
We brief creators for mirror content when we know the exact framing, messaging, and aesthetic needed and we want it reflected back. This typically works best when a brand needs content for their own use or if there’s a specific trend or story to tell.
Window content is different. Unlike a mirror, it’s about creating a portal to a new perspective. It’s a way to make the most of someone’s individual influence—give the creator a KPI and let them work their magic. Window content is best for entertainment, persuasion, and trust.
A key takeaway is greater than a key message.
Telling people you’re cool is a bad way to get someone to think you’re cool. Coolness is implicit, not explicit. The same is true for good marketing.
At its best, marketing communicates values. Instead of loading up on key messages—“High-quality fall essentials are great for the whole family!”—brief creators on the most important key takeaways. What do we want the person seeing this post to feel? What do we want them to believe about a product?
By nature of their experience, influencers are experts at communicating with their audiences, so build a fence and let them play.
Averages will make you average.
Garth Brooks is the best-selling artist of the 90s but technically a one-hit wonder. He has the same number of mainstream hits - one! - as “I’m Too Sexy” Right Said Fred. But if you took that average as the measure of success, you’d be grossly miscalculating Brooks’ overall career.
The same goes for traditional metrics in the influencer industry. Content performance swings so wildly that averages have become all but useless. Two dramatically different creators can both have a 3% engagement rate – one the product of consistent performance, the other the result of a viral post that skewed the average.
Instead of looking at averages, we now need to vet and recruit based on the longer arch of trends and patterns.
Like a stock portfolio, you need a mix of safe bets and big swings.
You don’t build a winning baseball team by trying to hit a home run with every at-bat, and you don’t build a successful influencer program by trying to go viral with every post. We generally use an 80/20 rule: 80% of your content should be scalable and repeatable, and 20% should be experimental or reactionary.
Determining when a piece of content is a safe bet or a big swing allows the whole team to align on the type of talent, the creative brief, and the measures of success.
Be architects of agility.
Most brands have spent years building processes they’re comfortable with for influencer campaigns; processes that are sometimes too slow for today. By the time it's live, the content is outdated. Agility and flexibility have to be built into your infrastructure if you want campaigns that move as quickly as trends.
How do you solve the problem of ensuring brand safety while getting content out before a trend is over? Over the last 18 months, we’ve developed a fast-moving method for launching brand-safe, on-trend, interesting content in under a week.