The Engagement Rate

An industry bulletin for marketing pros.

Hey! 👋 I hope you’re reading this newsletter rather than just opening it up to clear the unread emails icon on your phone 👁️👁️

We promise this one’s going to give you some serious food for thought - insights (otherwise known as ranting) that will snap out some bad habits for your influencer marketing strategies in 2024…

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Influencer & brand wins of the festive period 🎄

😬He’s my co-worker…

Jeremy Allen White left the internet equal parts lustful and traumatized with his half naked Calvin Klein collaboration last week. Although ‘The Bear’ castmate, Ayo Edebiri, looked in sheer terror having to react to the campaign in this hilarious video at The Golden Globes. 

🇰🇷Riding the Seoul train 

Korean skincare is top tier, the girls that get it - get it. If you don’t, then you’ll probably find out soon with Sydney Sweeney as the first global brand ambassador for Korean makeup and skincare brand Laneige. The newly global partnership expands on an 18 month partnership on the U.S branch which saw a 227% surge in TikTok followers for the brand when first announcing Sweeney as its U.S. ambassador in 2022. 

Chatting to Vogue about influencers - what’s hot and what’s not

Brands and users are feeling the influencer fatigue, says Julianne Fraser, founder of influencer agency Dialogue New York. With the sheer clutter of paid influencer content, skepticism is growing across consumers, especially Gen-Z audiences who can notice a premeditated ‘I’m not sponsored to say this’ spiel a mile away. Yet we know influencer marketing is on the rise for this year, 15.9% in fact, according to Goldman Sachs. After speaking to Vogue, here’s what we’re leaving behind in 2023 for influencer marketing… 

👉Speed up, boomer! - Brands will need to figure out how to embrace - and when to skip - micro-trends. Given trend cycles last around 2 weeks, sometimes less, slower responses often evoke pessimism across audiences who have lost the enthusiasm of the trend and see right through the opportunistic intentions of the brand. If a trend becomes too saturated and everyone is doing a remake of a 1989 Taylor Swift album cover, maybe you should sit this one out. 

👉This will make a great ‘transferable asset’ - Gone are the days of ‘one-size-fits-all” thinking when it comes to content across platforms. For example, TikTok and Instagram have two very distinct styles and demographics, transferable assets will grow futile in favor of adapting to the potentials of each platform and producing high-quality, bespoke content. Take Peleton who are making an exclusive TikTok series to get into the Gen Z market…

👉Lies-a-Minnelli - “I love this new [insert brand] shampoo, since using it [0 times], I have practically grown a brand new scalp!”. Somehow I can’t believe we’re still saying this in 2024 - transactional and fake posts are tired!

Okay, tirade over. Let’s look on the bright side and see what Vogue recommends for 2024:

👉 Better vetting plus trust equals authenticity - Authenticity has been a big buzzword in this space. Yet brands and creators both need to practice what they preach. With the authentic nature of nano and micro-influencers, brands must continue vetting for the ‘right fit’ that will both use the product and have the freedom to articulate why it’s so great. Many marketers try to control the messaging and delivery of influencer content, with results that fall flat. If brands trust the right pick, influencers will have the freedom to know their audience and what kind of approach works best, cutting through spaces like TikTok to gain traction regardless of the number of followers. 

👉 Slow and steady wins the race - Given audiences see through transactional content, long-term relationships and brand community will be the key driver to deliver sustainable and successful metrics, rather than short-sighted performance-marketing tactics. Take Dove as an exceptional case study. 

Flat fee models trump affiliate programs as the creator preference for compensation

Whilst influencer affiliate programs, where creators are paid based on sales or leads, have become a popular marketing tool for brands seeking cost-effective strategies, 94% of influencers prefer a flat-fee stipend over a commission-based structure. 

The data, coming from influencer marketing agency The Motherhood, puts discourse into fact - affiliates just aren’t worth it for creators with only 17.2% of influencers willing to engage in affiliate deals without a base pay. Yet more and more brands are coming to influencers with this exact compensation model. As the creator economy grows, it won’t be a surprise to see the rising dialogue of fair compensation and the potential disconnect between influencers and brands regarding payment expectations and campaign objectives. 

Jumping through hoops and hurdles with a high-risk scenario has proven too costly for the average influencer. Brands need to have greater awareness in recognising the real effort required in the production of high-quality content, says Motherhood Executive VP of Operations, Brittney Coburn. 

Why is Paris Hilton at an electronics trade show?

The Consumer and Electronics Show kicked off a huge trade event in Vegas this week. Only thing is, when you hear of trade shows, influencers don't really spring to mind. Au contraire -  the worlds of technology and entertainment are colliding more than ever before and if there’s one takeaway from this year’s event, it is that influencers are taking control of their destinies. 

Well yes, Paris Hilton does not depict the ordinary, every-day creator hustling to take control of her destiny, she was just a keynote speaker. But her appearance did attract a pool of influencers to the mix, I guess that does make her an influencer? It seems it wasn’t an event solely for electronic companies and notable figures like Robert Downey Jr. making the rounds. It signals influencers as no longer solely public figures but transformers of media brands with established followings who are now taking center stage of new ventures - from new production companies to tech start-ups. It’s certainly exciting to see the glass ceiling of what it means to be an influencer not only being redefined by the creators themselves, but welcomed by new industries bearing a different perspective than they might have had a few years back.