I’ve just returned from New York City, where, among a hefty dose of sightseeing mixed with YouTube video-making, I attended the Influencer Marketing Show.
I know, I know - ‘influencer’. Yuck. But swap that word for something which you feel better illustrates what people like myself - and, possibly, your good self - do, and the end result is the same. We’re part of one of the fastest-growing marketing sectors the world has seen and it shows no signs of slowing.
I’m jet lagged, my legs are about to fall off from the many miles of walking that incredible city, and I’m yet to gather all of my thoughts from the conference. But there was one huge takeaway I want to share with you today.
One of the speakers (I forget his name - sorry; blame the jet lag, again) noted that the typical way in which brands approach creator partnerships for sponsored content is as follows:
Look for influencers > make contact > send products > wait for sales
This, he noted, always fails. I’m sure there are edge cases, but he absolutely has a point and it was a belief clearly held by other speakers during the event. The net result is always the same, they told us: brands involve creators way too late in the process, leading to poor referrals and conversions.
I’ve never really thought about it this way. It’s never struck me as odd that we’re usually last in the chain when it comes to a product launch or promotion. By the time the brand reaches us (either directly or via an agency), they’ve strategised, researched, and planned out the campaign.
Haven’t they?
Maybe not. And, in fact, the more I think about it, the more this is evidenced in the poor approach to budgeting for such marketing. “What’s your budget?” I’ll ask any brand that suggests they’d like to work with me on a specific campaign. “What’s your current pricing?” is the inevitable answer. A game of cat and mouse ensues and, consequently, wastes everybody’s time. If these brands aren’t approaching me with a budget, they’re either waiting for me to make the first move… or they don’t have a budget. My money is always on it being the latter.
According to some of the experts at the conference, forward-thinking brands are starting to involve creators much earlier in the process. They’re seeking feedback and research from audiences via polls and YouTube community post questions. They’re even bringing creators in as consultants in order to gain a better understanding of what’s going on at the coalface of influencer marketing.
This is utterly smart and, like so many good ideas, blindingly obvious. In particular, I love the idea of involving my audience during early discussions with a brand. Let’s say an iPhone case manufacturer wants to know where other cases are failing; why on earth wouldn’t they reach out to a desired creator partner to tap into their audience? Pay them a fee for that kind of access and research, and you’ll save many hours and costs elsewhere by leaning on near-instant feedback from the people who matter, requested by someone they trust.
Something else which piqued my interest was the suggestion that creators should ask brands why they made an approach in the first place. Why did Brand X decide to get in touch with Mark Ellis? What was it about my content, approach, audience, or previous reviews that got them interested? I rarely ask these questions because I assume the homework has already been done. As it turns out, that probably isn’t the case; the abundance of creator directory tools on display in New York this week revealed how most brands and agencies find people like myself. Filter, search, outreach. That’s it.
I’ve developed some brilliant partnerships with brands - many of which are ongoing and long-standing. But if there’s one thing I took away from the Influencer Marketing Show it’s that the brand-creator relationship is inherently broken. There are too many assumptions being made on both sides, and neither party is undertaking enough research or asking appropriate questions to make the partnership as beneficial for everyone as it should be.
There was something else which resonated with me this week: why don’t brands share campaign success with creators? You’d be amazed by how little insight we’re given into a campaign’s performance once we’ve done our bit. The only sign that something went right is the arrival of another signed integration contract. Prior to that, we’re sometimes asked to send engagement metrics for the previous campaign but rarely hear anything back once they’ve been fished out.
From now on, I’m going to work on driving far more meaningful connections with brands. I want to get in earlier wherever I can, and I won’t allow any sponsor integration or dedicated video to be checked off as ‘done’ without first asking for feedback on the hard-and-fast sales performance. Transparency and insight really is the key here.
When I’m more with it and settled back into UK time, I’ll dig into this more. In fact, I’m going to talk about it during tomorrow’s YouTube live stream, for which you can register here. See you there!