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Influencer or creator? Here’s how marketers can know who to hire

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Influencer or creator? Here’s how marketers can know who to hire

Marketers today see a bigger divide than ever between influencers and creators.

To be clear, the gap has been growing for a long while. As marketers have gotten more comfortable with the creator economy, influencers have become the go-to for performance marketing, while creators are considered more for branding purposes. However, there used to be some blending between the roles. That’s increasingly less so today.

The tumultuous economy has made sure of that. Marketers are feeling the pressure to be super transparent and efficient about their purchases and the reasons behind them. This means they’re getting specific about when it’s better to collaborate with an influencer versus a creator.

Lindsey Bott, senior content manager at Ruckus Marketing, said she’s noticed a definitive shift in how brands approach influencer collaborations. “Previously, influencer involvement might have organically emerged in ongoing discussions. Nowadays, we’re seeing brands come to us more frequently with well-defined briefs or specific suggestions right from the outset,” she said.

For example, Bott’s team has observed clients gravitating toward influencers due to their established reach and engagement metrics, emphasizing performance-driven results. Conversely, there’s a growing interest in creators who prioritize crafting genuine, narrative-based content that closely aligns with a brand’s values and campaign themes. This shift underscores how brands are distinguishing between utilizing audience influence and cultivating content that profoundly connects with their intended audience.

It’s been a similar experience for Lindsey Gamble, associate director of influencer innovation at Mavrck. “During the pandemic, many brands didn’t have access to their in-house creative teams, or they had to cut budgets for agencies, and as a result, many started experimenting with creators as a means to fulfill their content needs,” he said.

It’s through this type of experimentation that more brands can better identify when they should work with an influencer versus a creator.

Marketers conduct multiple trial campaigns to establish benchmarks, subsequently leveraging those benchmarks to gauge ongoing performance. This approach serves as a compass, guiding them to identify high-performing influencer or creator partnerships amid the landscape of choices.

Today, Gamble said he’s seeing a lot more brands work with influencers on a long-term basis, typically through ambassador programs, following a successful one-off campaign. Why? Because it’s now clear that “performance, especially sales, doesn’t always happen right away and often requires influencers’ audiences being exposed to a brand or product multiple times before purchase and long-term partnerships reflect that,” he said.

Breaking down influencer versus creator

The days of pay-for-reach deals are long gone, it seems. In fact, influencers increasingly have specific metrics, such as engagement rate, CPM, CPE, clicks, click-through rate and conversions, tied to them.

“I’ll ask them for past brand partnerships where they’ve driven sales, and what their affiliate revenue has been,” said Shayna Macklin, director of brand strategy and influencer marketing at Rainbow Apparel Co. “Outside impressions and click-throughs, I want to know if they actually pushed products.”

On the flip side, creators are finding a place for themselves further up the marketing funnel these days. Marketers are realizing that using creators can be a successful tactic for that sort of marketing — if used correctly. “They’re unbelievable storytellers who can really shape perception,” said Keith Bendes, vp of strategy at Linqia.

Plus, more often than not, it’s a cheaper way to go about it.

A key benefit to the creator partnership is cost efficiency. Brands now know that they are primarily paying for the content itself, rather than both the content and the talent’s audience. Unlike influencers, creators usually don’t have the same set of metrics tied to them.

“Over time, as marketers understand how a specific creator’s content performs when repurposed on their social channels or paid media, they may start to benchmark specific benchmarks for that creator’s assets,” Gamble added.

But while there’s still a lot of education to do around influencers and creators in an industry that remains far from standardized, it’s clear that it is evolving, and fast.

“The shift toward clearly outlined briefs or preferences for either influencers or creators showcases a maturation in the industry,” said Bott. “It emphasizes the need for tailored and purposeful collaborations that align closely with brand objectives.”

“Brands are either hiring someone to create content for them to distribute or they are hiring someone to create AND distribute content. When you look at it like that, the metrics are pretty clear,” said Jess Phillips, founder and CEO of The Social Standard.

Influencer and creator marketing is still on the rise, and these shifts are just part of the ongoing evolution. As marketers continue to invest more funds into each area, their strategies will likely become more deliberate and purposeful.

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Elon Musk’s X and Amazon discuss potential collaboration

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Elon Musk’s X and Amazon discuss potential collaboration

In a significant development in the social media industry, Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is reportedly engaging in preliminary discussions …

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Threads Looks Set to be Made Available to European Users Next Week

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Threads Looks Set to be Made Available to European Users Next Week

Good news with EU social media fans, with Threads looking set for a December 14th launch in the region, just in time to capitalize on holiday engagement.

As reported by The Verge, EU Instagram users can now access a countdown timer at www.threads.net, which seemingly indicates the exact time for the upcoming EU launch. Meta hasn’t made any official announcement, but the countdown clock is only visible to European users, while EU users can also search ‘ticket’ in the Instagram app to find a digital invitation to Threads.

Which replicates the original Threads launch back in July, which included similar Easter eggs and indicators pointing to the launch date (like the above).

The EU launch of Threads has been delayed by evolving EU data privacy regulations, which, due to the timing of the implementation of these new rules, has put additional development burden on the Threads team to ensure compliance with the new parameters. Amid the initial Threads launch, Instagram (and Threads) chief Adam Mosseri said that it could take “many months” for Threads to reach EU users due to these additional complications.

But we have since seen indicators that Threads is coming.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta had an established plan to launch Threads to EU users in December, while app researchers have found various references to an upcoming “Threads EU Launch” in the app’s code.

Threads EU launch

Given the various strands of evidence, it does indeed seem likely that European users will get access to the app next week. And again, with social media usage increasing during the holiday break, that would also provide the best opportunity for Meta to capitalize on its opportunities.

Which are seemingly on the rise. As more people turn away from Elon Musk’s X project, largely due to Musk’s own divisive commentary, they’re seeking a real-time social alternative, and for many Threads is already filling that void.

That’s especially true for journalists, a common target of Musk’s attacks, who are now establishing new networks within the Threads ecosphere. And while live sports engagement remains high on X, Threads is also making a push to win over more sports communities, even placing ads courtside during the new NBA in-season tournament showcase in Las Vegas.

Threads NBA ad

That’s seemingly prompting more sports fans to post in the app, which will expand again with the arrival of potentially millions more users in the EU region.

So how many more users can Threads expect to gain as a result of its European expansion?

Based on Meta’s EU disclosure data on active users, Instagram currently serves some 259 million monthly active users in Europe.

Instagram’s total, official user count is 1 billion MAU, while Threads now has over 100 million monthly users. So presumably, around a tenth of active IG users are also signing up to the app, which would mean that, at a rough estimate, we’re set to see around 25.9 million new Threads users incoming, if/when Threads is launched in the EU region.

Which is probably not as many as you might expect, but this is based on rough estimates, as Instagram reportedly has more than a billion actives now, and we don’t know the exact, current user counts of either app.

But either way, it will expand the conversation in the app, and enable more people to take part, which has its own expanded benefits. And with around 60 million X users also in the region, that could see a number of them looking to make the switch.

Which is the real aim here. Meta has created Threads as the X alternative, aiming to scoop up former Twitter cast-offs who are unhappy with Elon’s changes at the app. In order to do that, Threads needs to be available in all regions where X users may be looking to jump ship, so its EU expansion is another critical step in this respect.

It’ll be interesting to see what Threads user numbers rise to over the holiday period, and whether it can indeed become a genuine rival for X in total active engagement.

We’ll keep you updated on any official announcement on the Threads EU launch.



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The best social media hacks to blow up your following in just a year

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The best social media hacks to blow up your following in just a year

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Get viral fast. Plus more social media hacks to grow your accounts.

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