Inside the Creator Economy

In recent years, a big shift has taken place with regards to how today’s buyers are consuming media; from sitting planted in front of the TV at 8PM on Friday nights, most of us now prefer being able to choose when we want to engage with content. And media consumption often takes place on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, instead of through traditional channels.

In this podcast episode, we’re going to focus on the Millennial and Gen Z women, and more specifically, on how marketers that target these audiences can benefit from the latest media consumption trends. We will also take a look at the digital shift that is currently taking place on a global scale.

We’ll also cover:

• The big danger in jumping onto a bandwagon that you’re not truly behind

75% of consumers say they have bought something following an influencer’s recommendation at least once, but only 14% of brands reported a sales uplift when working with influencers (Cure Media). As you can see, these two answers do not agree with each other.

This is because brands and marketers tend to take the simplest route when it comes to measuring the results of influencer marketing, looking only at the last click. This means that the “last click channel” is given credit for a sale or conversion, no matter where the buyer journey originated or stopped off en route. This approach to ROI analysis is simple but it leaves you blind to which channels are actually driving the best results, which could see you wasting big budgets on the wrong channels.

In this episode, we’re going to walk you through why you cannot measure influencer marketing (or any marketing activity) by relying on the last click, and show you the importance of a holistic approach instead.

Not everyone understands just how much work goes into each and every influencer post. One thing is for sure though - it’s much more than you think! The fact is that a lot of preparation is required: establishing KPIs, identifying the right influencers, and committing to the continuous optimisation the channel requires. And don’t forget the more administrative tasks, such as negotiating prices, and scheduling and reviewing drafts for each individual influencer. 

To sort out what you’ll need to bear in mind at each step, we asked Annicka Johansson, Senior Campaign Manager at Cure Media, to share her expertise. Drawing on several years of experience in all things influencer collaborations, Annicka will walk us through what individual tasks contribute to creating the perfect influencer's posts, and offers her best advice for nailing each one. 

We’ll also cover:

• Whether influencer marketing is more time consuming than other channels

Black Friday, Christmas and New Year’s all represent a critical revenue opportunity for retailers; ad spend will increase, social commerce strategies will receive rapid rollouts, and brands will turn to influencers to differentiate their brand in an ever more crowded marketplace. But the question is, why are so many brands missing the mark and how can your influencer strategy set you apart in this crowded marketplace?

In this week’s episode, Sanna Ödmark and Frida Ekholm are going to discuss the busiest shopping days of the year, why so many brands approach them wrong - and of course - give their best advice on how to change their strategies for the better!

We’ll also cover:

• Why the one-off ad has to go 

In just a few short years, the role of ‘influencer’ has evolved from a quirky side-hustle to a full-time profession for many. With the booming influencer marketing industry, influencers have become modernity’s answer to shopfronts and billboards. To get a glimpse at what this looks like from the influencer’s side, we’ve invited UK beauty influencer Liv Watkins to join this week’s episode. 

Liv will shed light on the influencer side of brand collaborations, sharing her best advice on how brands should (and should not) approach influencers as well as how she adapts her content in response to audience reception. 

We’ll also cover:

• An influencer’s view on influencer marketing trends for 2022 

With the value of online shopping soaring in virtually every country, most fashion brands will be looking to take their business to new heights by expanding into new geographical markets. But while there’s no shortage of success stories, this isn’t a task you’re going to want to approach carelessly. So let’s get to the bottom of what you need to know about bringing your brand into new markets using influencer marketing as your launchpad.

In this week’s podcast episode, Sanna Ödmark and Frida Ekholm will discuss how fashion brands can land in new markets, establish their brands and grow quickly with the help of influencer marketing.

We’ll also be talking about:

• The risks of expanding into a new market and how to avoid falling prey to them 

Many still associate influencer marketing with fast fashion, but as the channel has evolved we have seen that it is actually a strong platform for a wide range of products. Ultimately, it all comes down to where your target audience can be reached and how they want to be communicated with - and that’s true regardless of whether you’re promoting fast fashion, social causes, or - as we’re going to talk about in this episode - the high-end fashion segment.

To unpack this with us, we have Phoebe Locke in the studio. Phoebe is an Influencer Marketing Executive at FARFETCH, the world’s leading retail platform for the luxury fashion industry. In this episode, Phoebe shares her thoughts on the role of influencer marketing in today’s competitive retail landscape, and offers insights into the ways she thinks influencer marketing differs in the luxury sector compared to fast-fashion. 

We’ll also be talking about:

• Why the fashion industry needs to change their perception of influencer marketing

The Gen Z and millennial female audience’s top source for finding products to purchase is influencers’ posts on social media. The current consumer behaviour shift is huge for the influencer marketing industry. A change in shopping habits like this means that consumers are relying on influencers to a greater extent than ever before - to offer inspiration and to help them navigate the eCommerce jungle. 

This fact alone is argument enough to scale up your influencer marketing. But together with the knowledge that we are spending more time on social media plus the emerging shift from traditional retail to eCommerce to social commerce - it’s impossible to dismiss influencer marketing as a campaign-based silo channel. Instead, you have to incorporate it into your overall marketing strategy, just like you would your other marketing channels.

In this week’s episode we got Julia Arheden, Client Manager at Cure Media with us to share her expertise on why you’re risking more by doing less when working with influencer marketing. 

We’ll be talking about:

• Risks of working at a small-scale with influencer marketing 

Today's consumers are putting pressure on brands to take a stand on important social issues. With social media being a prime channel for communication among consumers, brands and influencers - this is a quickly emerging trend that brands need to pay attention to. Especially so within influencer marketing. But how do you approach this delicately as a brand?  

In this week's episode, we have Neve Fear-Smith from Talking Influence - one of the thought leading B2B publications which covers topics surrounding the influencer marketing industry. 

At Talking Influence, Neve is covering emerging industry topics and making sure industry professionals are keeping up-to-date with the latest insights. Today, Neve is with us in the studio to share her advice around cause-led influencer marketing. 

We’ll be talking about:

• Best practice example of cause-led influencer marketing

From Instagram’s industry-shaking video-first strategy shift, to the gradual emergence from lockdown, 2021 has been a transformative year for influencer marketing. But there’s no time to dwell on the past. Let’s get to the bottom of the biggest question on everyone’s lips right now: What comes next? 

With Frida Ekholm in the studio this week we have Holly Morran, UK Marketing Manager at Cure Media. Together they will give you the influencer marketing trends update for 2022; walking you through emerging behavioral trends from consumers, social platform changes you’ll need to be ready for, and of course - the influencer marketing tactics you’ll need in play to succeed. 

We’ll be talking about:

• Consumer behavior trends and how they affect fashion brands