ICYMI: Nobody Can Agree on Affiliate Marketing
Should sales be an influencer's primary job?
⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
Brands want measurable results. Creators want to get paid. Affiliate marketing’s got people divided
TikTok’s working on a tool to disclose if you use generative AI when creating content
Tarte apologized for a "miscommunication" after an influencer dropped out of an upcoming brand trip
I’m testing the new Twitter alternative Bluesky — lets connect there @liahaberman.bsky.social (No, I don’t have any codes yet, sorry!)
💻 ROADMAP
📲 TikTok Updates:
TikTok is working on a tool that would “push” creators to disclose if they’re using generative AI in a video, according to The Information’s exclusive report. This is bound to spark a lot of interesting discussion and possibly copycat tools for AI disclosure.
TikTok is relaunching its creator fund as the Creativity Program Beta to encourage more long-form video. (Not to be confused with the Creative Challenge program I reported on last week.)
To be eligible for the program, creators must be US-based, at least 18 years old, have at least 10,000 followers and at least 100,000 views in the last 30 days and then must produce original content longer than one minute to start earning.
📲 Meta Updates:
Instagram renamed branded content ads as “partnership ads” as part of a move to allow brands to boost more types of organic Instagram content as ads.
Instagram is testing new ways to help brands discover and promote UGC (user-generated content) in their Shops.
Facebook seems to be going all in on Reels — swapping out original programming series on Watch for a focus on Reels.
📲 YouTube Updates:
YouTube is rolling out new ways for advertisers to buy inventory across Shorts, that’s good news for creators who could stand to benefit from the ad revenue infusion.
Creators that have been suspended or rejected more than once from YouTube’s Partner Program must now wait 90 days before reapplying to the program — previously the wait time had been 30 days.
📲 Snapchat Updates:
Snapchat launched Collab Studio to connect brands and Snap Stars through “managed service production.” It’s the tech version of putting everybody (agency partners, brands and celebrity creators) on the group chat.
👆🏻 CLICK THRU
📊 Influencer Marketing Is Embracing Affiliate Marketing Tactics — But Are Creators Feeling the Love?
What people are talking about: Affiliate marketing seems to be the hot topic these days — I’ve had multiple conversations about the practice recently. And it’s something Ad Age’s Gillian Follett captured in this article on brands increasingly incorporating affiliate links into their influencer partnerships.
But it’s the comments on her related LinkedIn post that are really popping off, revealing that there’s a serious disconnect between marketers desire for a performance-based marketing model they can measure and creators reluctance to assume all the risk in creating and posting content that may or may not convert.
“I can definitely understand both perspectives,” Gillian told me when I asked if she was surprised at the range of reactions to her post.
“Brands, naturally, want to see measurable results from their investment in creators, especially when a creator is charging thousands of dollars for one or two social media posts,” said Follett. “But for creators, earning a flat, upfront payment is a more stable, guaranteed source of income – and many creators are already driving sales without affiliate links, even if brands can’t specifically trace those sales back to a specific influencer.
Ultimately, I think the reason marketers are becoming more interested in adding affiliate links to their influencer marketing payment systems is to more effectively track the impact of their partnerships with creators – not because they don’t understand the value of those partnerships.”
From the creator’s perspective: “You are getting access to the creators audience, you are having content made for your brand at the faction of the price, you are introducing your brand to those discovering you on social, you are aligning your brand with specific communities (LGBTQIA+, etc), you are associating with a person who others already know, like and trust,” Taz Zammit listed in response to Gillian’s post.
Zammit, who’s a creator and a business owner, advocated for a hybrid model that incorporates a flat fee to acknowledge the work involved plus a performance-based commission. “Sales is something your internal team should focus on, not outsource to an influencer.”
To affiliate or not to affiliate: Influencer marketing is a blend of art and science — it’s not a replacement for the predictability of a Facebook ad campaign. An influencer who hasn’t primed their audience to be receptive to affiliate links through product recommendations, link in bio promotions or merch drops may struggle with being an effective salesperson for a brand. However, should sales even be their primary role?
I’m not going to pretend to have all the answers but would love to hear what you think. Vote below or add your thoughts to the comment section.
✅ There’s a Creator Program For That
What’s happening: Every company imaginable is launching a “Creator Program,” appealing to digital creators to bring their influence, their audiences, and, most importantly, their content to the collective.
Seriously, at this stage who isn’t launching a Creator Program? In addition to all the platforms and major retailers, now there’s Microsoft Start Creator Program, Flipboard Creator Collective, Fiverr Influencer Program, the soon-to-launch ConvertKit Creator Network, Epic’s Creator Economy 2.0 program and the list goes on.
Yes, but: I’m in favor of a creator program as much as the next person. Maybe more so. But it’s important to point out that if you’ve replaced your full-time employees with gig workers to essentially open source your content under an optimistic “Creator Residency Program” euphemism… you’re missing the point (ahem, BuzzFeed).
What you need to consider as a creator: "They took away the dried mango," a Google employee recently complained to The Atlantic. And that’s the way it goes: It’s all fun, games and free snacks until the economy shifts and costs need to be cut. Snacks go first, employees second, and then they start looking for what they can cut next.
Take advantage of the paid programs you’re invited to join while simultaneously recognizing that slapping a “Creator Program” label on things doesn’t always make sense and the situation may not be sustainable in the long run.
💰The creator economy is a $250 billion market, according to Goldman Sachs analysts
The creator economy could approach $480 billion by 2027 according to a Goldman Sachs report released last week. Insider dug into more takeaways from the 30-page report, including:
The majority of growth in ad-supported creator payouts by platforms over the next several years are expected to come from short-form video
Almost half of creators are millennials, followed by Gen Xers. Gen Z accounts for only 15% of creators
Venture-capital funding for creator economy startups declined from its peak of about $7 billion in 2021 to $4.3 billion in 2022
About 73% of creators reported making no income at all from creator funds
👰🏻Why Are People Being So Weird About Sofia Richie’s Wedding?
This review’s a week late but let’s take a moment to respect what Sofia Richie’s TikTok wedding has accomplished.
The rules of celebrity coverage are being rewritten by young celebrity influencers themselves. Richie joined TikTok just in time for her South of France nuptials and narrated the entire thing through real-time GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos.
It’s very rare to see an It Girl live-posting a major event, noted TikToker Abiola, and stands in sharp contrast to the controlled content release that would be produced by the Kardashian hype machine.
Richie also invited the biggest meme-maker of the moment: @octopusslover8 to her wedding (he’s one of the groom’s best friends). “This is actually an inspired PR play,” wrote I <3 Mess’ Emily Kirkpatrick. As a celebrity, you “get to come off as chill while actually getting tons of free viral promotion for your nuptials and feeding the already burgeoning algorithm hype machine building around the event.”
So when someone in your marketing team pitches a real-time campaign plan, note that it was probably heavily inspired by what we saw last week.
📖 ON YOUR RADAR…
Beauty brand Tarte apologized for a 'miscommunication' after a TikTok influencer claimed she was treated like a 'second-tier person' -Insider
Why The Government Probably Can't Ban TikTok -Teen Vogue
TikTok’s head of US trust and safety is leaving -The Verge
Save the date: TikTok World 2023 is happening for marketers on May 9 -TikTok
Is it OK to delete comments? 5 creators on how they moderate content online -Passionfruit
Media, sports, and fashion brands are spending more on college athlete deals than other categories -Marketing Brew
Royals, the OG influencers -Axios
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