This a recap of news and trends for and about creators. Thanks for reading!
💻 ROADMAP
📲 Instagram Features to Try: Two new Instagram features just rolled out that are worth trying whether you’re a creator, marketer or casual user.
The first is Instagram’s Reaction Sticker for Stories. It’s the big emoji speech bubble in the middle of your swipe-up options. Adding a Reaction Sticker to your next Story is an easy way to encourage engagement with very little effort from your audience. Who doesn’t love a visual shortcut for expressing their emotions through emojis.
Instagram also rolled out Reels caption updates, including auto-generated captions for Reels which will automatically be turned on. And they’re launching stylized, AR effect captions, including Bubble Captions, Mumble Captions and Comic Captions. You can find these options before or after you record a Reel in Special Effects ✨
💰 Meta Won’t Charge Creator Fees: Mark Zuckerberg just announced Meta is rolling out new ways for creators to make money on Facebook and Instagram while quietly retiring Instagram Affiliate’s incentive program which paid a $400 monthly bonus.
The features to take advantage of while they last are:
No fees: Meta won’t take fees on Subscriptions, Badges, Paid Online Events and Bulletin until 2024
Interoperable Subscriptions: this allows creators to receive payments from fans on other platforms, and automatically add them to subscribers-only Facebook Groups
Facebook Stars: a digital good that fans can buy and send to support creators
Monetizing Facebook Reels: expanding the Facebook Reels bonus program to more eligible U.S. creators
Creator Marketplace: creators will be able to indicate the brands and topics they’re interested in making branded content for and receive in-app payments from brands while brands will also be able to discover and collaborate with Instagram creators through Meta Business Suite using demographic and interest filters (which really emphasizes how important it is to use keywords and hashtags, have a descriptive bio and a clear online identity)
No fee NFTs: creators and collectors will be able to share their digital collectibles across Facebook and Instagram
👔 Meta’s Avatar Store: Mark Zuckerberg went live with Instagram’s head of fashion, and influencer herself, Eva Chen to announce that Meta is launching an Avatar Store on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. To start, you’ll be able to buy digital clothes for your avatar from Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne but the capacity to design and sell virtual clothing is expected to roll out to all creators.
🗂 Instagram Test Mode:
Instagram is testing a new Notes feature that allows you to share notes with Close Friends or connections.
They’re also working on subscriber group chats.
And continue to work on Communities, smaller clusters of people you can share with in private or public groups.
🛍 TikTok’s EU Creator Rules: European TikTok creators will be prompted to switch on a sponsored content toggle when they publish content captioned with specific brand-related keywords such as #ad or #sponsored. The move comes after the social platform was accused of failing to protect children from hidden advertising and inappropriate content.
👻 Snap Black Creator Program: Snap announced it will pay 25 Black creators $10,000 a month (up to $120,000 total) to help launch their careers.
📝 Twitter Notes: Twitter is testing Notes, basically a blog post that allows for up to 2,500 words for when 280 characters just don’t do.
👆🏻 CLICK THRU
💸 Influencers say brands are canceling ad deals and delaying payments
Influencers are not immune to a global economic slowdown. According to Insider, out of the 40 industry insiders they spoke with, 21 people provided examples of recent cutbacks from brands. Even more expressed some sort of uncertainty about the state of the industry.
"There are less brands reaching out to do partnerships now," finance creator Seth Godwin was quoted saying. He makes money from TikTok's creator fund, brand sponsorships, and affiliate marketing commissions. "Whenever brands do reach out, the rates that they are able to offer have been cut decently. Overall, they have dropped from between 15% to 20%."
On the bright side, travel influencers are finally seeing their livelihood bounce back. Insider reports that travel brands are continuing to invest in marketing as people resume booking flights and hotels.
Also, the data keeps telling us influencers are still an effective way to market to people. Creators build trust and loyalty, and they make people feel "good," according to this Whalar study.
In the U.S., 64% of young people surveyed said they "really enjoy and feel loyal to" creators and influencers, and 61% said they often purchase products they've seen demonstrated or discussed by content creators on social media.
It’s not time to count creators out just yet. As long as they can prove results and continue to resonate with Gen Z, marketers will still invest in influencers.
▶️ The Future Of Advertising Isn’t In The South Of France
VidCon is still happening as you read this but based on the overwhelming amount of creator social posts, journalist updates and business headlines coming out of Southern California, the video conference a the Anaheim Convention Center was the place to be this week — versus the fancy shores of the Cannes Lions ad festival in the South of France. Either way my sense of FOMO is severe and I look forward to all your recaps after these events are over.
🔎 Overheard: Charli D’Amelio at VidCon
TikToker Charli D’Amelio has 2,400 videos saved in her draft folder, according to The Information’s Creator Economy newsletter: “My favorite content to create is content that I don’t post… I have lots of drafts of me and my friends, just making random videos.”
🚨 A new startup is offering Instagram hacking insurance to influencers
Notch is a new company offering creator insurance. (Um, turn on 2-factor authentication first.) The company offers payouts to influencers who get hacked and/or locked out of their accounts and a team of experts to assist and offer advice for clients who are locked out of their accounts. This is in no way an endorsement but I could see this taking off if they manage to demonstrate a track record of helping people recover their accounts.
📣 QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“With AI, we are about to enter a period of massive change in all fields, not just art. Many people will lose their jobs. At the same time, there will be an explosion of creativity and possibility and new jobs being created—many that we can’t even imagine right now.”
-Creator Karen X. Cheng, the digital artist who worked with Cosmopolitan, using DALL-E 2, to create the world’s first magazine cover designed by artificial intelligence: The World’s Smartest Artificial Intelligence Just Made Its First Magazine Cover
*I tried the DallE mini and this was the disastrous result. Beyhive, don’t come for me.
🧮 DATA OF THE WEEK
“59% of Gen Z agree that they use short-form video apps to discover things that they then watch longer versions of.”
- YouTube’s Culture + Trends Report 2022
🔨 RESOURCES
I’ve been involved in several discussions about video quality lately so here are some tips to make sure your mobile and social settings allow for the highest quality uploads.
On Your Phone:
Go to Settings
Scroll down to Camera
Select Record Video
Select 4K at 60fps (60fps or frames per second is the best setting for social video, while 24 fps produces a more cinematic quality to your video)
On Instagram:
Go to your profile page
Tap on the hamburger menu (three dashes) to see more menu options
Go to Settings
Select Account
Select Data Usage
Toggle to High Quality Uploads
On TikTok:
Upload video
On the Post page, scroll down to More Options
Toggle to Allow High-Quality Uploads
You only need to do this on one video to make it your default setting
📖 ALSO ON MY READING LIST…
Khaby Lame is now the most followed TikTok star in the world after surpassing Charli D'Amelio -Daily Mail
Saint West Takes Over Kim Kardashian Instagram Live -True Exclusives
TikTok Killed the Video Star -The Atlantic
Chinese influencers must now have a qualification to talk about certain topics -CNBC
VSCO launches Spaces, a collaborative gallery for creators -Mashable
US TikTok User Data Has Been Repeatedly Accessed From China -BuzzFeed
Canada to Compel YouTube, TikTok and Streamers to Boost Domestic Content -Wall Street Journal
Daily Harvest meal delivery service recalls lentil crumbles after influencers and customers report gastrointestinal emergencies -NBC News