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Social Media Updates You Need to Know

Social Media Updates You Need to Know

August 9, 2021 by The Motherhood

What’s new in the world of social media? A lot!

Hackers are helping Twitter, Instagram is launching a version for kids (controversy!) and Clubhouse is unrolling the red carpet for everyone (no invites needed). Check out our cheat sheet of updates by platform which, of course, will continue to evolve week by week. But let’s live in the moment and see what everyone’s been up to:

Pinterest

has seen a decrease in followers after a usage spiked in the early months of the pandemic, but that’s not slowing them down.They recently rolled out new monetization features for creators as they continue to make Pinterest more of a shopping platform. They’re also continuing to lead the way in terms of their diversity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives. 

Twitter

turned to hackers to find biases in their algorithms by launching a (paid) competition and giving teams access to its code and image cropping model. The goal: to find ways that the algorithm could be harmful. They’re also jumping on the shoppable content trend by testing an e-commerce feature on brands’ profiles. 

Facebook

is ready for the future. They’re partnering with Ray-Ban to make smart glasses, and while very few details have been shared yet, they say it’ll rely more on audio than AR. How Facebook responds to the rampant spread of misinformation across its platform, however, remains unanswered. 

Instagram

is really leaning into safety features. They’re moving forward with Instagram for kids, despite very mixed opinions. They’re also increasing safety features for teens and testing a new feature called Limits that aims to be an anti-harassment tool. Last but not least on the safety features front, they’ve added a sensitive content filter. While some users are grateful to have the extra control, many creators feel their content is being censored. But some good news for creators, Reels can now be up to a minute long! 

TikTok

is looking more and more like Twitch everyday. They’re really pushing live videos, and are giving creators new live features such as multiple hosts, integrated Q&A functionality and are starting to test a Stories feature. TikTok also recently partnered with Vimeo to integrate more creative tools that are aimed at small and medium businesses.  

Clubhouse

opened up to everyone and is no longer invite only. But the open access didn’t see a big influx of downloads, and while many are keeping the party alive on Clubhouse, people are equally as interested in testing competitors such as Spotify’s Greenroom (which is a separate app from regular Spotify). And just as quickly as Clubhouse got direct message capabilities, people are asking “how do we turn it off?” 

Have a question about how to use these new social media functions for your business?  Send us an email! And make sure to check out our other articles about influencer marketing, such as The 6 Ways Influencers Make Money. 

Filed Under: Research & Insights

6 Ways Influencers Make Money and What it Means for Marketers

June 30, 2021 by The Motherhood

It is the most common question influencers hear… “How do influencers make money?” From the early days of people asking “what’s a blogger?” to influencers and content creators now being part of our everyday lives, the monetization options for influencers has grown exponentially. As an active participant in the influencer space since the beginning, we’ve advocated and prioritized paying influencers long before it was the industry standard.  

Let’s get into it!

Influencers make money via multiple channels, sometimes combining efforts or sticking with one revenue stream that works for them. Let’s review what’s currently available, shall we?

The old stand-by’s for how influencers make money: 

  • Ads and sponsored: Influencers can sell ad space on their blog or partner with brands for sponsored content (hello, #ad) on their social platforms.
  • Affiliate links & influencer codes: Influencers provide a specific link or brand code and when followers click/swipe up and/or use these to make a purchase, the influencer makes a small commission of that sale (which can add up over time – check out Grace Atwood’s Prime Day commissions she recently shared on her Instagram Stories).

 

How influencers make money
Photo credit: Screenshot from Grace Atwood’s Instagram Stories

Exclusive deals:

  • Creator Subscriptions: Creator subscriptions are becoming more popular as audiences want more exclusive content. Followers can subscribe to premium or exclusive content to support creators on an ongoing basis. For example, the popular Instagram account The Makerista launched Thrift Club last year, a subscription-only account giving subscribers a more in-depth look at her thrifting finds, tips on how to negotiate prices, community support, what to look for in stores, etc.
    • It is not just creators getting in on the action, Twitter is rumored to be launching Twitter Super Followers that would allow some users to charge followers for access to extra content.
  • Creator Gifts & Tips: Followers can buy a currency specific to the platform and use the tokens to tip creators. TikTok and Twitch both offer this currently; Twitter’s Tip Jar will allow users to send money directly to their favorite accounts and the much-anticipated launch of Twitter Blue will allow creators to publish and monetize newsletters, among many other new features.
  • Creator Funds: Platforms will pay creators based on specific objectives or overall post performance (TikTok Creator Fund and YouTube Shorts Fund are two popular funds, atm).
How influencers make money
Photo credit: Twitter

The new(ish) crowd:

  • Monetized Live Content: While still a work in progress, the popularity of live content continues to increase and with that comes new monetization tactics. With Clubmarket for Clubhouse, brands can pay to have a branded room, receive a shoutout from the presenter or be a sponsored co-host. Other platforms like Twitter are integrating ticketing so creators can charge for people to join live Ticketed Spaces. This is just the beginning, as we are sure to see additional platforms follow suit. 

So what does this all mean for brands? As influencers and content creators explore more ways of generating revenue (we haven’t even touched on book deals, merch, podcasts, etc.) they have the ability to be more selective with partnerships, demand more creative control of sponsored content and choose authenticity over need. But that last point is important – the more selective the influencer is, the more authentic a partnership is, creating greater engagement from their audience. Engagement = brand awareness, which in turn leads to brand fans/customers.

Photo credit: Sprout Social

This also means that different creators will end up prioritizing different platforms based on what payment structure makes the most sense for their content. For example, Instagram and Pinterest are moving into the ecommerce space. That means creators interested in having shoppable posts and affiliate links will do better here, whereas creators interested in hosting live, exclusive and/or subscription-based content will probably prioritize platforms like Twitter and Clubhouse. 

This adds another layer of consideration for brands when identifying the best creators to partner with for influencer campaigns. How to choose the right influencers for your program is a larger conversation  (or blog post, hint hint).

Phew! This is a lot to digest and by the time you read this, I’m sure another platform will launch a new monetization piece to help influencers make money…But that is what’s so exciting; this ever-changing social media landscape that is listening to creators and trying to answer their needs while also providing new opportunities for brands to benefit from influencer marketing and partner with creators in a more strategic way.

Filed Under: Trending & Social Media

Paying influencers: what you need to know

June 28, 2021 by The Motherhood

Our team recently had the opportunity to speak to a group of senior-level media relations professionals – including many former journalists – about the tenets of influencer marketing. Going into this session with Michael Smart, we knew we’d be facing an eager but tough crowd. To some traditional PR pros, paying influencers can be negatively branded “pay for play”.

We don’t see paying influencers in that light – at all. The Motherhood’s origin story is one for another post, but after nearly 15 years in business and hiring upwards of 10,000 influencers to create content for blue chip brands, start-ups, service organizations and everything in between, you learn a thing or two about the power of paid influencer partnerships.

✅ Paying influencers is non-negotiable.

In the early days of influencer marketing (before it was even called that), we weren’t just fighting to prove that working with bloggers deserved a place in the marketing mix, we were also making the case to our clients that those bloggers needed to be paid for their time, creativity, the equipment and overhead necessary to create content, and, most importantly, the loyal community and trust they’ve worked hard to build and earn. Paying for content was a radical concept at the time. We didn’t just advocate for paying influencers, we insisted upon it. For several of those early years, it was an uphill battle and took a lot of convincing.

Influencer compensation is now table stakes. However, the form of that compensation is still a discussion we have from time to time. Influencers should be paid in money for their time, creativity and community, full stop. Brands have seen the light and we’re (mostly) no longer fighting for fair compensation.

✅ Everything else is negotiable.

We get asked all the time about how much it costs to work with influencers, and the answer is an accurate, albeit frustrating, “it depends.” We negotiate fees based on the social platform, niche, creative parameters, client review process, exclusivity, usage, ownership, whitelisting permission, turnaround time, and much, much more. We’ve paid relatively small fees for a single piece of content from micro influencers and as much as five-to-six figures for long-term macro ambassadorships.

There is no standard rate and each and every element of a campaign must be identified, priced and negotiated accordingly. A seasoned pro will know about commonly overlooked hidden fees and ensure they’re wrapped up into the contract so there are no surprises later.

✅ What’s old is new again.

When you’ve been in business since the beginning, you have the opportunity to witness trends rise, fall and come back around again. In this case, I’m talking about blogs.

When we first started hiring influencers, the content almost always included a blog post. Then, when the visual and video boom happened, the focus was IG content, and influencers’ rising fees proved the demand. We were hiring more influencers at higher rates to produce fewer pieces of content.

For a period of a few years, blog posts were all but an afterthought. Blog posts evolved from a standard ask to a mostly absent medium and now to a value-added extra. Today, some of the savviest brand marketers are rightly acknowledging their place in the content mix and asking for blog posts to be included.

The time investment in creating a creatively written blog post that tells a story, skillfully integrates brand messaging and delivers genuine value to readers – and don’t forget the beautiful, original photography – cannot be underestimated. Marketers should be prepared to pay a premium for longer-form content, but think about the long game. The SEO value of a blog post (and the Pinterest pins that continue to drive traffic to the post for years after the publish date) is undeniable. You may pay more up front, but the value appreciates over time.

✅ Content value is changing.

The lifespan of a tweet can be as short as 15 minutes, Facebook is slightly longer than that and the half life of Instagram posts can be about a day. Considering all of the behind-the-scenes work that influencers put into creating their content – hours of photography, writing, editing, revising, publishing and engaging – not getting more mileage out of those posts is a missed opportunity.

Think of influencers’ social media posts as building a content library. When brands broaden their use of UGC – particularly influencer content – they find it frequently outperforms their owned content on many measures, including return website visitors, digital ad CPC and CTR and email CTR.

When creating a campaign, think about the kind of content that would be useful for a particular moment in time (things like spring cleaning, holiday or a launch) as well as more evergreen moments, and build an influencer brief around those content needs. Having access to on-brand, high-quality images and copy can greatly enhance nearly every part of the marketing mix.

❗ Important caveat: Influencers must be aware of the ways in which a brand will potentially use their content, both during the campaign and after. Again, being crystal clear on the content parameters up front and the negotiation of usage rights is essential to make sure the partnership is equitable and valuable to all parties. While expanded usage rights can cost more initially, being able to reuse high-performing content time and time again is often more time- and cost-efficient than starting from scratch.

✅ Diversified income streams = more selectivity. This is good!

In the beginning, the majority of influencers’ income was through sponsored content for brands (#ad). That arrangement often worked hand-in-hand with affiliate income (most commonly seen through “swipe ups”) and ad placements on their blogs, YouTube channels or podcasts.

But we’ve seen a shift in the ways influencers monetize their content. Today, income streams include followers subscribing for premium or exclusive content, tipping or gifting content creators, merchandise, book deals, monetizing live content (example: Clubmarket on Clubhouse), and creator funds where platforms pay based on post performance.

With influencers having more income streams than ever before, we’re seeing increased selectivity in the partnerships they choose to accept. Brand exclusivity has become self-selecting and this is a good thing. When influencers choose to accept only the campaigns that feel most authentic to them, their “seal of approval” makes that brand stand out in a big way.

💰 Since we first engaged bloggers for brand campaigns starting back in 2008 (yes, really), there were skeptics who said, year after year, paying bloggers or paying influencers for content would not last. Well, here we are, 13 years later, influencer marketing is now a full-blown industry and an established piece of the marketing pie. The discipline has grown every single year since the first bloggers we paid and we don’t see that changing.

Do you have more questions about best practices for hiring influencers? Let’s chat: [email protected].

Filed Under: Research & Insights

Audio Tools for Marketers: Which Should You Choose?

May 14, 2021 by The Motherhood

As brands explore audio tools, marketers are watching closely to see how the various options best fit into their clients’ integrated marketing plans.

While podcasts date back as early as 2004, they’ve gained significant traction in recent years as brands pay closer attention to the long-form audio content as a powerful marketing tool.

Similarly, Clubhouse (created in March 2020) has had all eyes on the platform this year, as marketers explore the value of audio that requires virtually no production in a space that hasn’t yet seen the saturation that other social platforms experience.

Serving as a rival audio room, Twitter Spaces is the newest audio tool, recently announcing that users with 600+ followers will gain access to Twitter Spaces feature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nsm1B5Ut0E

Let’s look at the benefits of each

Hubspot recently shared the following as key benefits for including podcasts in your marketing mix:

  • Podcasts enable you to reach a younger audience. 49% of U.S. citizens between 12 and 34 listened to a podcast in the previous month — followed by 40% of people ages 35 to 54, and 22% of people ages 55 and above.
  • Podcast advertisements are powerful. A Nielsen report found podcast ads generate 4.4X better brand recall than display ads, and 61% of consumers who heard a podcast ad were more likely to purchase the featured product.
  • Podcast provides you with a major reach. 55% (155 million) of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast – up from 51% in 2019.
  • Podcast is long-form content … This provides you with a ton of opportunity for increasing brand loyalty and, ultimately, conversions.

HubSpot’s Marketing Manager Chris Eberhardt also shared four reasons you might consider Clubhouse:

  • You don’t have enough bandwidth/resources to create a high-quality podcast.
  • You want to more easily differentiate your brand on Clubhouse (since the podcast marketplace is more heavily saturated).
  • You want to form a space to connect with your audience directly, and open up the rooms for audience questions and engagement.
  • You want one of your leaders to build their brand in the space.

Twitter Spaces is a platform that will be closely monitored as they continue to unveil new features.  Twitter Spaces is one of the newer audio tools, so the verdict is out as to how it will best serve brands in the future.

What audio tools are you most interested in right now?

Filed Under: Research & Insights

The Motherhood Highlighted on New Podcast, “Under the Influence”

February 23, 2021 by The Motherhood

Journalist and mom Jo Piazza is a leader in the podcast world. Her newest podcast deep dives into the world of mom influencers. This podcast is a fascinating look at just how influential motherhood – and the women behind it – have become, from humble beginnings to the multi-billion-dollar industry it is today. The Motherhood discussed influencer marketing origins on this new podcast, “Under the Influence.”

A recent article on Today.com explored “Under the Influence” and how each episode looks at a variety of topics in the world of mom influencers. This includes feelings of inadequacy it could cause some mothers and the pay gap between white influencers and influencers of color. It also includes using children in content. The topic of children in content is something The Motherhood spoke to Adweek about recently. 

Podcast on the origins of influencer marketing

Episode 2: Women’s Work (Influencer Marketing Origins)

As a pioneer in the influencer industry — and one of the original “mom bloggers” — The Motherhood CEO Cooper Munroe is interviewed in episode two, “Women’s Work.” This episode is a history lesson of women influencing, for instance, Vogue and Lucille Ball’s Lucy Ricardo. It explores the start of women getting paid to do this work, which Cooper played a pivotal role in.

Cooper spoke more about influencer marketing origins on another podcast, Going Deep with Aaron Watson. Here, she discussed the early days of blogging and how to communicate authentically with stakeholders.

As Cooper and The Motherhood discussed influencer marketing origins on the new podcast, “Under the Influence,” she said it was all about community and supporting each other from the onset. This resulted in how companies like The Motherhood educated brands early on why influencers should be compensated for the content they created. Something that’s now an industry standard but originally received a lot of pushback.

Thank you to Jo for featuring us! You can listen to “Under the Influence” wherever you get your podcasts, such as Apple or Spotify. Tweet us your thoughts on the episode or share in the comments below.

May 2021 update: “Under the Influence” was featured in TIME Magazine‘s The Best Podcasts of 2021 So Far! 

Image via “Under the Influence” podcast/Jo Piazza.

 

Filed Under: News, Trending & Social Media

Including Children in Influencer Posts: The Motherhood Featured in Adweek

February 1, 2021 by The Motherhood

When it comes to choosing if – and how much – you will include of your children online, influencers have varying opinions on the subject. While some show many aspects of their children’s lives each day, others choose to avoid sharing them all together. And others fall more in between in including children in influencer posts.

Stephanie of Olive and Tate on including children in influencer posts.

At The Motherhood, we work on a variety of campaigns, many of which include products and services meant for children. Our CEO Cooper Munroe and three of our long-time influencer partners (Kelly Brennan of Making the Mom Life Easier, Amanda Rodriguez of Dude Mom and Stephanie of Olive and Tate) weighed in on this subject in a recent article from Adweek: Influencers’ Kids Are the New Child Stars, but the Rules Are Just Being Written. The article notes that over the past several years, scrutiny into including children in influencer posts has intensified.

Amanda Rodriguez of Dude Mom on including children in influencer posts.

As a pioneer in the influencer industry, Cooper and The Motherhood team have spent more than a decade building personal relationships with an inclusive community of influencers and are well-versed in this subject. Whenever we start a new client campaign that involves children, we discuss the details from the get-go to ensure we are delivering on the brand’s goals while also considering each influencer’s personal comfort levels. It’s a standard practice for us, and both the client and the influencers appreciate the thoughtful and intentional approach when creating campaigns that include children and families.

Kelly Brennan of Making the Mom Life Easier on including children in influencer posts.

Thank you to Adweek for featuring us! What is your philosophy? Read the article here and let us know your thoughts on including children in influencer posts. (Note, the article may require a subscription to view.)

 

Filed Under: Research & Insights

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