✅ ICYMI: Should you embrace a verified-only feed?

Instagram's creator and brand spotlight test

I need your help with a 2024 predictions poll! Can you please fill out this short survey about the social platforms and marketing trends you think we’ll be talking about next year versus the updates that should remain firmly in 2023. I’ll share all the info with everyone once I get enough responses. Thank you!! 

And congrats to Amber Hutchinson and Cristina López who each won a copy of Ladies Get Paid last week.

⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY

• Instagram is testing a verified-only feed

• TikTok’s testing 15 minute videos

• Threads posts are now showing up on Facebook and Instagram

• The creator economy is now worth $250B but gets little recognition

• Plus, see 3 takeaways from a Creator Partnerships panel I moderated

---

💻 ROADMAP

📲 Meta Updates

✅ Instagram announced it’s testing a Meta Verified bonus feed of brand and creator accounts. You’d find these verified accounts in the same drop down menu that offers a Following feed and Favorites feed. 

“We’re exploring this as a new control for people and a way for businesses and creators to get discovered,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote on his broadcast channel.

Let’s break this down for all parties involved:

☑️ App users probably aren’t the ones who will benefit most from this. While people are more likely to follow brands on Instagram than other platforms, that doesn’t mean they want a 24/7 stream of brand messaging. 

☑️ Creators and brands are likely to see this as a potential avenue for added exposure. And when your business depends on reach and engagement, a dedicated feed might seem like a very appealing option. If this gets rolled out widely, expect to see brands especially embrace this new feature. If you’re a marketer, you’ll want to optimize for being early to the party before your followers get fed up or forget that this extra feed exists.  

☑️ Instagram probably stands to benefit the most by selling entry to this new feed through Meta Verified. If brands and creators think that this will get them in front of more eyeballs, they’re likely to pay up for a status symbol that currently doesn’t offer a lot of benefits beyond verifying their identity.    

Other tests officially announced by Instagram: 

• Selfie videos in Notes

• Turning photos into Stickers 

• Nearby Stories — unofficially spotted in the wild by an app developer  

🧵 Adam Mosseri announced the launch of polls and GIFs in Threads. The company is also testing a way to show view counts on Threads posts.  

📲 TikTok Updates

⏲️ TikTok is testing videos up to 15 minutes in length. The move could indicate that TikTok is looking to attract longer-form video creators. But just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come. Hilton famously released a 10-minute TikTok earlier this year — but I haven’t seen another 10-minute TikTok since. 

Not only is TikTok known for short-form, entertaining videos but the reliance on trending audio clips to drive virality is also an obstacle to long-form video. Until we move past this trending audio era, it’s probably going to be hard to convince creators to go longer when so much success on the platform is driven by snippets of catchy music created expressly for the platform or quippy one-line dialogue clips. 

However, creator Hank Green says he may have found a way to hack the system in producing 1:01 video clips to qualify for TikTok’s Creativity Program which pays higher CPMs for content longer than a minute — and then editing those clips down to 0:59 seconds to upload to YouTube Shorts.       

Pro Tip: If you are trying to go longer, TikTok’s Creator Account on Instagram has got you covered with ideas here    

🎵 TikTok announced its first-ever global music experience – TikTok In The Mix – taking place Sunday, December 10, at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ. Musical acts include Cardi B, Niall Horan, Anitta, and Charlie Puth.

📲 Pinterest Updates

📌 Pinterest launched a new educational site for content creators. Available in 13 languages, the new site covers the basics for anyone just getting started but also includes more advanced topics to educate and inspire Pinterest content producers such as:

• How to earn money on Pinterest

• How to join Pinterest’s Creator Inclusion Fund  

• How to submit content for a chance to be featured on Pinterest’s editorial surfaces

---

📈 LEVEL UP YOUR OUTREACH EFFORTS

Contrary to popular belief, brand deals aren’t actually that difficult to land. Influencer marketing has already become the de-facto way for brands to advertise their products. 

But the process of landing partnerships is often time-consuming and cumbersome, especially for agencies pitching their clients.

What if there was a better way to manage and pitch your roster of talent? 

July’s software streamlines and automates the process to help you save time and win more brand deals for your clients.

Learn more about what July is doing here.

*sponsored

---

👆🏻 CLICK THRU

Facebook is the top platform for millennials and Gen Z to buy products

Gen Z and millennials shop on Facebook but consult YouTube for product reviews and information, at least according to influencer-marketing platform Traackr’s 2024 Influencer Marketing Impact Report. 

Traackr surveyed 1,000 US consumers about their habits on social media, from posting, to viewing influencer content, to buying products. 

This social commerce data seems, uh, surprising. But if you dig into the study, Traackr says when looking at responses by generation, Gen Z was more likely to rank TikTok as number one. It’ll be interesting to watch how this changes next year given that Meta retired its live shopping program and this survey was conducted before the launch of TikTok Shop. 

---

🎟️ SEEN + HEARD 

CreatorIQ hosted its first creator marketing conference: Connect 2023 at LA’s Ebell Theater.

Who was there: Reps for Meta, TikTok and YouTube; Walmart Forever21; Rare Beauty; Ulta; Notion, Xbox and many more brands, plus creator economy pros like Taylor Lorenz, Avi Gandhi, Amanda Perelli and Creator IQ’s own Conor Begley.  

I had the honor of moderating a panel on building effective creator partnerships with Adeline Leong of Kosas, David Neyman of Logitech, and Jess Clifton of Media Monks. Thank you to everyone who came out to watch.  

Here’s the tl;dr on my panel:

⏩️ If you’re a marketer, bring creators into the fold and treat them like a member of the team, said Leong. Alternately, treat them stockholders, suggested Clifton during a prep session. “Find ways to get them invested in the brand by creating consortiums, counsels, and committees with influencers advising the brand on how to resonate with culture and innovate their products.”

⏩️ If you’re a creator, understand the brief and what brands want to achieve, the panelists all agreed. Previously, marketers focused on awareness campaigns but now there’s a focus on performance, which might mean sales, downloads or signups, not just views or comments. 

⏩️ Long term partnerships tend to be perceived as the most beneficial. But TikTok and the speed of culture prove there is some value in quick turn, high impact partnerships. Brands like MAC and Valentino that partnered with Tube Girl just days after she went viral are good examples of this. But when I asked the room at CreatorIQ Connect who would be ready to activate within 24 hours, no hands were raised. Note to self: start talking more about reactive marketing strategies.

*I’ll share a few more takeaways in the ICYMI Slack channel later today

---

🧮 DATA OF THE WEEK

Live streams are the third-favorite content format (37%) across generations, after short-form (54%) and long-form (43%)

-Content breakdown via Teachable’s Creator Connections report

---

📖 WORTH READING

• The creator economy is now worth $250B, has reshaped American culture and upended advertising — but suffers from lack of recognition or regulation -The Washington Post (free article)

• “For most Gen Zs and Millennials, following public figures on social media is a quest for knowledge and inspiration. A resounding 81% follow a public figure to learn something new, while 79% do so because they find them motivating and inspiring.” -UTA Socially Relevant 

• Are influencer partnerships the inevitable future of business? Spoiler alert: Yes -BBC

• Inside Meta’s struggles to turn Reels into an advertising powerhouse especially as the company shifts its focus toward getting more advertisers to use its AI  tools -The Information (free article)

• Your Threads posts could be shown to your connections on Facebook and Instagram, as part of Meta’s cross-promotion efforts for the app -Social Media Today

Thanks for reading!