Top News and Stories.
Below are Linqia’s favorite stories shaping our industry.
Twitter will share ad revenue with creators, but only those who pay for Twitter Blue
TLDR: Ad revenue-sharing is new for Twitter, and will help the plattform compete withYouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, which have systems for paying creators directly, either through funds or ad splits. But the requirement to have Twitter Blue is an interesting twist, and one that we will need to wait and see how creators respond.
Twitter’s Considering Charging Brands $1,000 Per Month for its New Gold Checkmark
TLDR: The new package also enables brands to verify their own staff with its official brand logo marker, but that will cost an extra $50 per employee added. It may not be a high price tag for most big brands, but whether or not they have any interest in paying for rit is another question.
Twitter Blue Subscribers Can Now Post Tweets Up to 4,000 Characters Long
TLDR: Musk is trying to connect as many incentives to Blue subscribers as possible, with the ability to compose Tweets up to 4,000 characters long joining the Blue features list alongside ad revenue sharing.
Twitter Will Allow Cannabis Advertising in Policy Reversal
TLDR: Advertisers will now be able to promote content for regulated THC cannabis products and services. Historically only CBD topical brands were allowed to market on Twitter, but now cannabis companies can join the mix, but will need to go through a Twitter advertiser approval process
Meta
Meta Launching Paid Verified Accounts Starting at $12 per Month
TLDR: Zuck is taking a page from Elon’s book with Meta Verified, a subscription service (starts at $11.99/month on web or $14.99/month on Apple’s iOS) that includes a verified blue check-mark badge and other perks. It will will launch first in Australia and New Zealand with more countries “soon.
Instagram launches broadcast channels
TLDR: Broadcast channels are a public one-to-many messaging tool that creators can invite all of their followers into to share text, video and photo updates. Only creators can send messages in broadcast channels, while followers can react to content and vote in polls.
Instagram expands access to Reels-focused tipping feature, Gifts
TLDR: Instagram is expanding access to Gifts to more creators across the U.S. Gifts enable fans to provide creators with direct monetary support in the form of themed virtual gifts, which are purchased using Instagram’s virtual currency “Stars”.
Instagram sunsets live shopping
TLDR: Creators and brands who are livestreaming will no longer be able to tag products to sell in their broadcasts. The change does not affect other livestreaming features like the ability to set up and manage a shop on the larger Instagram platform.
Instagram’s Founders Return with a New Social App
TLDR: The new app called Artifact (combo of articles, facts, and artificial intelligence), is designed to provide you with a curated news experience based on your engagement and personal interests
Youtube
YouTube Shorts Exceed 50B Daily Views, Meta’s Reels Doubles Plays
TLDR: Alphabet reported that YouTube Shorts has surpassed 50 billion daily views, up from the 30 billion in Q1 2022. That still fails in comparison to Meta’s Reels, which attracted 140 billion daily views in Q3 2022, and Mark Zuckerberg reported that Reels plays “more than doubled over the last year” during Meta’s recent earnings call.
TikTok
TikTok’s new ad tools allow users to boost other people’s videos
TLDR: The new Promote feature allows anyone to turn their or others content into ads without leaving the app. TikTok didn’t specify how it will work for the user getting boosted, as we have to assume users will need to get permission to promote others posts. This will be a great mechanism for brands to promote influencer and UGC content using TikTok media.
TikTok Exploring Paywall and Launching Creator Fund 2.0
TLDR: TikTok creators may soon be able to charge fans $1 or more to view their videos, and the new Creator Fund 2.0 will pay creators with more than 100,000 followers, showing a rare doubling down on creator fund while most other platforms back away from their own programs.
TikTok is Quietly Testing In-App Checkout
TLDR: Brand profiles feature a small bag icon that shows various products and their prices. Users can click on products to see an in-app version of a product page, with photos and videos, and then choose to add the item to their cart, or buy now.
General Social
The Supreme Court battle for Section 230 has begun
TLDR: On the heels of a Youtube lawsuit, the entirety of Section 230, which offers protections for social media platforms against the content that is posted, is being called into question. Any change to the law could have major implications on how platforms monitor content.
TLDR: Influencers are telling audiences what not to buy, and these #Deinfluencing videos have racked up over 200 million views on TikTok. Similar to Amazon reviews, influencers are recognizing that they need a balance of the good and the bad to build credibility with audiences.
Brand Influencer Highlights:
- Neutrogena Launches TikTok Reality Show with Creators
- Tabasco Collaborates with Influencer Tinx to Reach Gen Z
- Coca-Cola Zero Sugar taps influencers to tempt Gen Z to #TakeATaste
- Why State Farm is Skipping Super Bowl Ad for TikTok Play with Khaby Lame
- McDonald’s special Cardi B and Offset Meal
- How Behr Paint connects with millennial homeowners on TikTok
- Silk gives nepo babies milk mustaches to boost plant-based alternative
- How Starbucks is Using Twitch to Find New Consumers
- How Hilton’s 10-Minute-Long Advertisement Won Over TikTok
Reports Worth Reading:
Advertisers Plan to Increase Investment in Influencer Marketing
TLDR: A survey by Advertiser Perceptions of 207 marketers and 125 influencers found that last year 12% of digital ad budgets were spent on influencer marketing, and 53% of advertisers plan to increase influencer marketing spending in 2023.
Instagram Influencers Still Out-Earn their TikTok Peers
TLDR: New Hashtag Pay Me report found that influencers across the two platforms with similar follower counts earn an average of up to 200% more on a typical Instagram brand collaboration than they do on a typical TikTok deal. The report also found that creators get paid “significantly less” when brokering a deal through a marketplace than they would working directly with a brand contact.
Rival IQ 2023 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report
TLDR: Rival IQ’s report analyzed 2022 social media performance using data from over 2,000 companies that maintain active social media presences. The results show that TikTok is proving it’s draw over competitors showing a higher per-post engagement rate (5.69%) than those of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
Matter Influencer Marketing Survey
TLDR: 81% of consumers reported social media posts from influencers, friends or family drove interest in an item or service within the past year. Food and beverage saw the most success in terms of interest and the potential to drive action followed by health and wellness and beauty and personal care, and Youtube was viewed as the most authentic influencer channel.
Linqia Insights:
LONGER VIDEOS DRIVE HIGHER ORGANIC ENGAGEMENT: On recent Linqia campaigns, there has been a 25% increase in organic engagement rates on videos with average length of :35 seconds. This is surprising given the push for brands to condense video lengths in paid media, but paid media is very different from organic influencer
TAILORED MESSAGING BY PERSONA WINS IN PAID: Pairing tailored messaging to segmented audiences resulted in stronger engagement and campaign impact
CULTURAL REFERENCES RESONATE WITH ORGANIC FOLLOWERS: Organic audiences on Instagram are 3.7X more engaged by content that included relevant cultural references to the influencer
BRANDS SPENT MORE IN 2022 ON INFLUENCER MARKETING BUT WITH A FOCUS ON FEWER, BIGGER, BETTER
- Average brand spend per influencer campaign: Linqia partners on average spent 19% more per campaign in 2022 vs. 2021, and a whopping 147% more than in 2019 (pre pandemic).
- Monthly Breakout: December was the highest investment month for Linqia partners in 2022, followed by July and then November.
- Average number of influencers per campaign: Signaling a major shift to fewer, bigger, better, the average number of influencers per campaign fell 15% in 2022 vs. 2021, and 42% vs. 2019 (pre pandemic).
- Campaigns by Platform: The percentage of Linqia influencer campaigns that included TikTok as a platform doubled (2x) in 2022 vs. 2021, signaling a major increase in demand from brands to have TikTok included in their influencer strategy.
- Categories: CPG, Healthcare, QSR, Consumer Technology and Financial Services were the top industries investing in influencer marketing with Linqia in 2022.
