BANKNOTES minted by #paid

You’ve seen it a million times in the DTC and B2B worlds. A company will take the same piece of content and plaster it across the brand’s various social media channels. The results? Lackluster. Maybe it will get engagement from the social media manager (SMM) who posted it—and, if they’re lucky, the SMM’s mom. (Provided they’re on Twitter, of course.)

What’s wrong with this strategy? Aside from the fact that it never works, it’s rare to see brands—especially B2B companies—dive deep into every social media platform’s unique quirks. As a result, they rarely post creative content that engages their target audience.

“I’m rooting for everybody Black.” ✊🏾

This statement has been echoed by Black creators both on the internet and in our everyday conversations since it was infamously spit like a bar by Issa Rae at the 2017 Emmy Awards. Since then, it has become a slogan for the culture, and it feels like a motto rooted in community and provides a sense of home for Black creators who haven’t always felt seen.

Leonardo DiCaprio may prefer young models, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world does (Zing!). This rings especially true regarding which creators represent brands on social media platforms.

Over the past couple of years, social media users have been explicit in asking for content from brands and creators that’s authentic, diverse, and inclusive. In short, social media users are begging for real.

We’re used to seeing it in the DTC world.

When you pull up TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat, you’ll see unique creator-made videos promoting sponsored content.

And, if you’re like other TikTok users contributing to #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt’s 36.7B views, you’ll probably make a fun new purchase.

Creator marketing (especially influencer-generated content) works wonders in the DTC world. Influencer Marketing Hub reports that 60% of marketers said influencer-generated content performs better and drives more engagement than branded posts.

“My content was viewed over 75 million times this year.” If we asked you to guess who said that, who would come to mind? A TV star? An artist talking about their 2022 Spotify downloads? A Kardashian?

It was, in fact, Tobi Oluwole. And rather than knowing him from Spotify or your favorite Netflix series, you might have seen him doling out advice to underpaid and unfulfilled employees on LinkedIn.

Most people might not group LinkedIn with mega-creator platforms like YouTube and TikTok. TikTok is the exciting new kid on the block, rocket-blasting from $82 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2019 to $1,567 billion three years later. YouTube has been around longer, but its status as the world’s top video-sharing network makes it a titanic platform for any influencer.

The average attention span is shrinking. In fact, a recent Microsoft study found that our attention span is down to about eight seconds or less. This extends to attention spans while browsing the web. And in the creator economy, those eight seconds are precious currency.

There’s no doubt that in recent years, short-form video has either created this trend or capitalized on it. And it’s officially a trend creators can’t afford to ignore.

The relationship between fragrance and advertising has been long.

As a category that relies on olfactory receptors first and foremost to attract and persuade, emerging brands must get creative with how they market to consumers.

From packaging to media, fragrance brands can’t rely on some of the more traditional elements of beauty marketing: before and after pictures or product benefits, just to name a couple.

2022 was a successful year for influencer marketers, and things are looking up in 2023 as well. While influencer marketing and creator partnerships will help brands grow and capture more sales, it’s also essential to keep a pulse on marketing, influencer, and industry trends.

It’s known as “algospeak,” and its premise is simple. Some online platforms use algorithms to censor or ban content by seeking out key phrases. Creators find sneaky ways of not saying those phrases while still getting their basic meaning across to their audience. Algorithms becomes Al Gore Rhythms. Dead becomes unalive. Sex becomes seggs. It’s not just a snarky way to avoid TikTok or Twitter dinging your content and sending you to the digital equivalent of a timeout. For some, it’s a necessity. One study examined how “social media work is not just materially concealed, but rendered socially invisible through its lack of … marginal status.”

There’s been talk about ‘Quiet Quitting’ and the ‘Great Resignation’ over the last two years, which means brands wanting to fill positions and needing employees have to take a good, hard look at what they’re offering how they’re reaching potential candidates.