Have Influencers Create Your Next Brand Campaign

In a time when media companies of all sizes have had to pare down their productions and adapt to a simpler approach, influencers have been set up for success in our current circumstances. Even before COVID-19, influencers regularly created content within their own homes, often photographing, editing, and curating the content themselves. Now when everything from news organizations to Saturday Night Live to magazines are scrambling to adjust to at-home constraints, influencers are, for the most part, continuing on as normal with their content creation. 

As you continue to plan your brand’s social media calendar, look to influencers who can operate as creative directors and develop beautiful content on behalf of your brand, especially while studios are shut down. 

Find The Right Influencer

Look to influencers who create elevated, high-quality content that matches the look and feel of your brand. The influencers who create strong content for your feed may differ from other influencers you work with where sales conversions are the main goal. When hiring influencers to develop content for use on your brand channels, high-quality photos and videos should be the top priority. Lytehouse can help you find the right Creators to help create campaign imagery on your behalf. Feel free to reach out here.

Collaborate On Creative

Think of your partnered influencer as an expert and be open to collaborating on the creative vision behind photo shoots. As experts, they are likely to bring unique and creative ideas to photo shoot concepts. Work together and be open to new suggestions to create the strongest final result.

Make Usage Rights Clear

In the contracting phase, make the usage rights of all content clear. Detail where and how campaign imagery will be used, and for how long. Even if you are not requiring the influencer to post on their own feed, you will still need to compensate them accordingly depending on how you intend to use the content.

How To Start An Instagram Live Series For Your Brand

Have you noticed an increase in Instagram Live sessions lately? As the world stays home and practices social distancing, social media has become an important means of staying connected. In the absence of in-person events and meetings, live streaming in particular has emerged as the next best thing.

Going live on Instagram is a great way to stay connected with your audience and utilize influencer partners. Thinking of launching an Instagram Live series on your brand’s channel? Here are some keys to finding success.

Integrate Into Your Influencer Marketing

The biggest goal of hosting Instagram Lives is to build your community, and there is no better way to do this than partnering with influencers. Hosting livestreams on your Instagram channel will help  build a sense of community with your existing followers, but having an influencer join in as a co-host will help grow both of your audiences, as followers of either account will be notified about the Instagram Live.

Enlisting influencers to join in your Instagram Live is a wonderful way to cross-promote and tap into a similar audience. Partner with influencers who are authentically passionate about your brand, with similar but not identical followings, for the best results.

Set A Schedule

Instagram Lives have become social media’s version of appointment television. Establishing a regular schedule of programming will set expectations for your audience and encourage them to tune in regularly, like they would their favorite weekly show. 

Are you planning on going live every day? Once a week? Every other day? Whatever the case may be, be realistic about your bandwidth when determining the cadence, so as not to overextend yourself or your team members managing the Instagram Live.

You should also take a look at your audience insights to determine the dates and times your followers are most active on social media. 

Define Your Niche

As mentioned, a large number of brands are launching Instagram Live series right now, so it is crucial to define your series’ niche so that you can set yourself apart from competition. Is there an activity associated with your brand that you can incorporate? (Ex. a workout attire brand hosting weekly workout sessions with fitness influencers.) Is there a cause that is near and dear to your brand’s core values? Brainstorm creative concepts to make your series stand out.

Build Anticipation

If you go live on Instagram without pre-promotion, you most likely won’t have that great of a viewer turnout. Ensure your new initiative is a success by promoting the “event” on your social media channels. Post a schedule of upcoming episodes and highlight the biographies of upcoming guests. Encourage your guests to post on their accounts as well, so their followers know to tune in. You can also use the Countdown sticker on Instagram Stories to let your audience know exactly when the Live will start and give followers the option to set a reminder timed to the countdown.

Repurpose The Content

Your Instagram Live will only last a little while on Instagram itself, but you can download your live session (make sure to do this right when ending your video, as this is the only time you will be able to download it) and utilize the video on other platforms. You can share the video to Facebook or YouTube, where it can live on for a longer period of time. Don’t forget to share the Instagram Live to your story, as well, so that audiences can catch a replay of it for 24 hours.

Small Brands, Big Impact: Pivoting Business Models During COVID-19

In the past few weeks we have seen companies rise to the challenge of combating COVID-19. From hockey equipment brand Bauer creating masks for medical works, to Tito’s Handmade Vodka (and many other alcohol brands) converting factories to hand sanitizer production sites, companies are doing what they can to help the public.

Businesses have been inspired to change their practices in order to establish their place in an essentials-driven climate, maintain a stream of revenue, keep their workers employed and provide support in a time of crisis. However, it isn’t just the larger corporations that are assisting the cause. Smaller companies have also shifted their efforts in order to help their communities and make a big impact:

Boll & Branch

Known for their luxury bedding, Boll & Branch has continued production with a twist by manufacturing mattresses and pillows for emergency medical operations. 

In addition to keeping their workers employed and aiding medical operations during the COVID-19 crisis, they are also encouraging customers to participate with the Helping from Home discount. Customers will receive 10% off their purchase, and Boll & Branch will apply 10% of the purchase to this cause through May 15th.

Boll & Branch is a member for Brands X Better, ‘a coalition of brands setting a new, thoughtful standard for how we treat customers, teams and suppliers.’

Joah Love

Normally found in Saks Fifth Avenue and upscale baby boutiques, Joah Love was one of the first companies to pivot their business model during the onset of COVID-19 in the US.

The LA-based business has repurposed their workforce and materials to create masks for the public and encourage people to participate in the #MaskUpChallenge. For each mask purchased, Joah Love will donate one to a California medical center. Customers can purchase five to receive 20% off their order as well.

The masks are constructed from cotton, so they are not medical grade; however, they do fit over N95 masks, adding another layer of protection for our essential workers. The CDC recommends two layers of tightly woven 100 percent cotton fabric for homemade masks, as reported in The Washington Post. 

Served Natural

Delivering healthy, nutritious meals to parts of New York City and New Jersey has been the mission for Served Natural since it launched in late 2019.

Served Natural has remained in operation, delivering on Mondays & Thursdays, and while their business model hasn’t changed much, they are offering their customers the opportunity to donate meals to those in need. For every meal donated ($12 each), the SN team will match and deliver two meals to a local hospital, food bank or team of first responders. Side Bar: The appreciation that follows the delivery of these meals is epic.

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Feeling inspired? These are just a few small businesses who have switched up their business models. If you want to join the companies - big and small - who are helping their employees, customers and the general public, here are a few things to consider trying:

Create A Trifecta Of Benefits

Cultivate a program that is beneficial for your business/employees, the customer and helps aid in COVID-19 efforts. The initiative doesn’t have to uproot your entire business model and can be as simple as working out a way to provide a discount to consumers and a portion of purchases to an established relief fund. If you need help strategizing and marketing your effort, look for support from experts, like Socialyte’s Brand Partnerships team. 

Work With Influencers For Increased Impact

Marketing budgets are shifting towards influencers by the day, and for good reason. Content creators provide many benefits, as they have the trust of their audiences and the power to help create awareness, conversation and action. Take a look at influencers in the space who are focusing on charity efforts in your area to help spread the word about your brand’s efforts. You can use this list to help you get started.

Apply For Socialyte’s Influencer Network Listing

We know that many small businesses are struggling and not always able to dedicate large resources to influencer marketing, so Socialyte has launched an Influencer Network Listing for small businesses, freelancers, and non-profit organizations that we will share with our network of creators. While we can’t guarantee anything, the goal of the listing is to allow for influencers to directly reach out for potential collaboration. If you, your business, or charity are applicable, we invite you to fill out the corresponding application form here.

Creating Experiential Moments, Digitally

Heading into 2020, experiential marketing felt like the way of the future; even in our digitally connected world, in-person experiences were found to be the best way to capture the attention of influencers and consumers alike. 

With the increasing spread of the coronavirus pandemic across the globe, the concept of experiential marketing has drastically shifted. How can you have experiential moments when people cannot come together for in-person events? 

We cannot say when product launch parties, influencer dinners, and other types of experiential activations will return again, but based off of statements from political leaders, it is safe to assume that it will be a while before we can return to this type of in-person marketing. 

However, we have already seen brands shift their experiential plans to the digital world. The way we cultivate connections between brands and audiences may look a little different than it did at the start of the year, but there are still ways to create interactive and valuable experiences digitally.

Livestream Content

One of the biggest trends that we’ve seen emerge over the past month is the growth of livestream content. Instagram Live videos, Twitch streaming, and other live video content have become major parts of people’s viewing experiences. 

Without in-person events, livestream content gets close to replicating the feeling of interacting with others in real time. Most platforms allow audiences to ask questions and receive answers in real time, and you can reach a large number of people by streaming online.

Virtual Conferences and Festivals

The world of conferences and festivals has been rattled by social distancing measures, but plenty of companies have found ways to pivot their in-person events to digital experiences.

The Girlboss Rally, for example, was planning on hosting an in-person event in Los Angeles this April. When California announced strict social distancing measures to combat the spread of coronavirus, The Girlboss Rally switched to a free digital event, with conversations live streamed to audiences around the world. DJs like Diplo and Major Lazer have hosted live sets from their homes in lieu of concerts, finding ways to connect with their fans while still social distancing.

Virtual conferences will likely continue to remain a trend until we find ways to safely end social distancing measures. While these virtual events lack the face-to-face component of in-person events, one benefit is that they have the ability to reach a much larger audience. People from around the globe can tune in with relative ease, unconstrained by travel costs and logistics. 

Video Conferencing

Video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts have seen a large uptick in usage as both professional and personal meetings have pivoted to the digital sphere. Brands and agencies can use these platforms to host interactive “meetings” with influencers, media, and consumers. 

Video conferencing allows for a larger degree of interaction than livestream content, making it an ideal setting for anyone looking to foster relationships and have in-depth conversations while social distancing. However, this approach is best suited for smaller groups to keep that personalized feeling. 

Augmented Reality

Technological advances in AR have allowed for brands to experiment with practical applications over the past few years, but the current state of the world emphasizes the value of AR even more. Beauty brands in particular have seen a lot of success with AR, as customers can use filters and apps to virtually try on different shades and test out new products before purchasing.

AR takes time and money to develop, and it won’t work for every brand, but it is an avenue worth exploring if customers typically rely on testing out products before purchasing.

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While our world has shifted away from in-person events for the time being, there are still plenty of ways to engage audiences through digital experiences. Need help developing digital marketing strategies? Contact us for help.

Why One-Off Influencer Partnerships Are Becoming Less Effective

Memory is at the heart of successful marketing. It’s why brands invest energy and money into creating recognizable logos and advertisements with catchy jingles that get stuck in your head. And one way to create lasting memories? Repetition. Think about it like this: if you drive by a billboard once, you may or may not remember what the billboard is advertising, but if you drive by it every single day, you are going to have a stronger memory of the ad. The repetition of the experience strengthens the memory.

This same principle applies to influencer marketing campaigns. If followers see an influencer mention a brand just once, they may or may not remember the brand later on. On the other hand, if an influencer consistently mentions a brand month after month, followers are more likely to remember the brand, check it out, and finally purchase product from the brand. By incorporating repetition into your influencer marketing strategy, you are increasing the amount of an influencer’s followers who can translate into customers. 

There are additional advantages to partnering with influencers for multiple posts, one being that you will increase your campaign reach through multiple posts. In an ideal world, 100% of an influencer’s following would see every single post of theirs, but in reality, only a fraction of an influencer’s followers will see each post. A long term partnership increases the likelihood of more followers seeing the branded content; maybe they will miss one post, but they can see another. 

Perhaps the most important benefit of working with influencers for long term partnerships is that they are able to share an authentic brand partnership that their audience trusts. Marketing through storytelling has become a powerful way to connect with consumers, and during the coronavirus pandemic when audiences are looking to influencers to share the brands and items they genuinely rely on, the importance of authentic partnerships has only grown. Influencers who speak on a brand partner for weeks or months at a time become natural brand advocates and showcase how a brand fits into their everyday life.

During COVID-19, Team Up With Influencers That Give Back

We have all had to adjust our brand messaging and content strategies over recent weeks to account for our new normal of social distancing as the world works together to limit the spread of COVID-19. It’s challenged us all to think on our feet and evolve in the midst of rapidly-changing circumstances, but we at Socialyte are here to guide you through these changing times.

Influencer marketing has found ways to adapt, largely focusing on in-the-moment content that can be shot indoors. We encourage you to continue prioritizing influencer content as marketing strategies weigh heavier and heavier on digital. 

One consideration we highly encourage you to take into account is to partner with influencers who are using this time to support charities and local businesses. This is an important time for influencers to use their voices for good, and by partnering with creators who are helping their local communities, you can also demonstrate that charitable initiatives are at the forefront of your brand’s values. 

We are incredibly proud to see Socialyte influencers step up during these uncertain times and use their voices to support those in need. Here is how our talent are using their influence for good:

Quigley Goode is matching donations to the Los Angeles Food Bank up to $5,000 and encouraging her audience to get involved. She is also donating a percentage of sales from her online course from now until April 1. Sam Hwang is also donating 50% of earnings from her online shop to the LA Food Bank for the next month. Every dollar donated provides food for 4 meals for children, seniors, and families who are in need. 

Christine Kong is supporting small local businesses by shopping online and ordering gift cards for her favorite local businesses. She’ll be highlighting favorite local businesses on her Instagram stories each day. 

Hayet Rida is also supporting small businesses, particularly florists who rely on events for a majority of their incomes. She encourages her audience to send flowers to friends, coworkers, family, or anyone else as a way to support these small business owners. 

Anthony Urbano is donating money to Direct Relief and encouraging his audience to do the same so that medical workers, including his mother, can have the personal protective equipment they need to stay healthy while helping others with COVID-19. Brian Morr is also donating a portion of his recent campaign earnings to Direct Relief.

To celebrate her birthday, Ashlee Rose Hartley donated $278 (.05 cents for every like) to Feeding America. This will provide 2780 meals to communities in need. 

Wendy Nguyen is helping deliver groceries and other necessary supplies to elderly and at-risk citizens in her apartment building and community. 

Catt Sadler has launched #FormalFridays to encourage her audience to have fun and get dressed up as well as give back. For every #FormalFridays post, Catt will donate $10 to Baby 2 Baby, which is working to provide children with meals and essentials while school is out. 

Stella Simona has pledged to donate $5 for every Amarilo and Haati Chai jewelry sale through the end of April to No Kid Hungry, an organization that makes sure kids get the food they need during school closures and all year long.

Coco Bassey has pledged 10% of her April income to the CDC Foundation, which has launched an Emergency Response Fund to provide needed resources and supplies to impacted communities. 

Ali Castillo is supporting St. Mary’s Food Bank, which serves communities in her state of Arizona. 

Eugenie Grey is raising money for the LA Food Bank and The Bowery Mission through her #ApocalypseChallenge. She will donate $1 to those organizations for every post with the hashtag.

Interested in collaborating with these influencers? Contact becca.bahrke@socialyte.com for talent inquiries.

7 Ways To Adjust Your Brand Messaging During Coronavirus

In recent days, brands have had to shift their messaging to account for the rapidly changing circumstances in which most find themselves following widespread measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Brands and marketers have had a lot of questions about how to appropriately address COVID-19; is it business as usual, or is it insensitive to continue marketing to consumers when businesses are closing to the public? 

These are difficult questions, and there is no one right or wrong answer across the board. Your brand will have to decide what makes the most sense moving forward, but we can tell you that while things may seem dire, we have faith that there are ways for brands and influencers to adapt to these changes and be forces for hope when people need it most. 

Influencers are open to continuing branded partnerships (in fact, 98% of influencers we surveyed said they would like to continue sharing sponsored content); they are small business owners themselves, after all, and rely on income from brand partnerships. But creative briefs and brand messaging might have to change to reflect the times we are currently in. For both influencer partnerships and your own branded content, here are 7 things to keep in mind.

1) Shift Photo and Video Guidelines To What Is Possible

Most cities are experiencing an unprecedented closure of restaurants, theaters, museums, bars, stores, and other places of gathering, and citizens are trying to remain at home as much as they can. If your campaign requires an influencer to pose at a restaurant or shop in your store, you will need to modify your creative brief to account for what is possible at the moment. 

An influencer will  not be able to film an in-store shopping excursion right now, but they can film an at-home try-on session featuring items they purchased online. We encourage you to get creative with fitting content guidelines and can of course always offer our suggestions.

2) Be Mindful Of CDC Guidelines

As always, branded messaging should follow FTC guidelines, but during the coronavirus pandemic they should also follow guidelines set forth by the CDC. This may include having influencers add in extra steps like washing their hands before applying makeup for a beauty brand partnership, or cleaning a delivered package before opening. Influencers in areas that have enacted a “safer at home” policy should also refrain from posting images out in public areas (even if those areas are empty). Adding in these additional guidelines will help get your brand messaging across while also promoting proper practices for limiting the spread of COVID-19. 

3) Acknowledge the Situation, But It’s Okay to Provide an Escape

There’s no escaping mentions of coronavirus and COVID-19 these days, and almost every industry has been affected by the disease. We do recommend addressing how your brand is responding to the issue, as your customers will want to know what measures you are taking to protect your employees, your products, and your customers. 

That being said, we’ve gathered from social media users that they do want to see regular content from brands and influencers, so you don’t have to include mentions to coronavirus in all your branded messaging. Essentially, address the situation, but don’t make it the only thing you talk about. We have enough messaging about COVID-19 to sift through on the news; feel free to allow for influencers you partner with to provide a bit of a digital escape.

4) Encourage Messages Of Positivity And Benefits

Audiences are turning to their favorite influencers now more than ever to be sources of inspiration, hope, and guidance on how to stay active and creative while quarantining at home. Keep messaging positive and hopeful, while still respecting the seriousness of the issue. Have influencers highlight the benefits of an otherwise negative situation, like how social distancing is finally giving them the time to redo their home office or cook a new recipe for the family. Highlight how your product or service helps make life at home easier. Focus on the benefits, not the setbacks. 

5) Tie In Your Campaign To Activities Or Interactive Content If Possible

There are two things we already know to be true about social media users in quarantined areas: one, a lot of people are looking for ways to pass the time while at home, and two, they are using social media more than usual. Use this knowledge to your benefit when creating campaign concepts by including a challenge or activity of some sort. Not only will this provide audiences with a way to pass the time, but it can also create organic content and increase the reach of your campaign as users organically share content.

Because users will also be engaging more with social content in general, another idea is to incorporate Instagram story poll or question features to branded story content. 

6) Highlight Products That Apply To Social Distancing 

Lifestyles have dramatically changed in the past week, but consumers are quickly adjusting and focusing on different areas of their lives, so your current campaigns should reflect current times. People may not be purchasing festival attire, but they are shopping for loungewear to make staying in more comfortable. In-store shopping is largely not an option at the moment, so redirect customers to e-commerce options. Showcasing products that are beneficial right now will help increase ROI, and help consumers see the value of your products in the moment. 

7) Consider Charitable Tie-Ins

There is no denying that the coronavirus outbreak is having a tremendous impact on all industries, from medical professionals who need supplies to combat the disease to small business owners who are feeling the economic effects of store closures. The world is hurting, but those who can give back have the power to help everyone heal. If there is a charity that your brand already partners with, it could be a great idea to give back a portion of proceeds to that charity. You can also find a medical organization or way to give back to small business owners as additional ideas to help out in-need industries.

Influencer Marketing During The Coronavirus Pandemic: What To Expect

Coronavirus and efforts to contain the disease have had an enormous impact on all industries, influencer marketing among them. Both brands and influencers are struggling with a number of factors, from supply chain delays to the inability to hire professional photographers, causing new issues as we all try to understand this new normal (for the time being). 

There is a way to continue influencer marketing campaigns throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but both brands and influencers will need to work together to adjust expectations and make partnerships during this time as effectively as possible.

Here are a few helpful reminders on how to successfully navigate influencer campaigns during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Setbacks and Delays Are Inevitable

From backordered warehouses to cancelled photoshoots, there are a slew of setbacks both brands and influencers are facing presently. As circumstances rapidly change, prepare to expect the unexpected and allow for more leniency with posting schedules than usual. Have patience throughout the process.

Consider Adjusting Creative Briefs To The Situation

The marketing language used to communicate with followers may need to change. Think critically about your campaign messaging and remove any overly sales-y verbiage. Yes, people are still purchasing items they need and shopping online, but aggressive marketing tactics may alienate followers instead of winning them over. It’s important to show compassion and be mindful of what people are going through during this difficult time.

Additionally, the photo or video guidelines of your campaign may have to adjust. The world, including influencers, are practicing “social distancing” and remaining in their homes as much as they can, so asking an influencer to visually reflect anything of the like isn’t only socially irresponsible, but impossible for most at the moment. Hiring a professional photographer may not be possible for influencers who are concerned about spreading coronavirus, so if an influencer informs you that they can only take phone pictures, understand that that may be the only option under these circumstances. 

Team Up With Influencers Who Are Giving Back

At Socialyte and Lytehouse we always encourage our talent to give back and use their influence for good, and during the coronavirus pandemic, this is more important than ever. We are encouraging our influencers to support a cause either directly related to COVID-19 relief (such as food banks, shelters, and hospitals) or share ways to give back to local small businesses who are suffering the financial effects of widespread store closures. 

Now is the time to showcase how influencers can be positive role models in their communities, and we encourage brands to partner with influencers who are giving back. We also recommend that brands include charity tie-ins with upcoming campaigns, for example promising to give back a percentage of profits to a charity partner or coordinating a social awareness campaign to educate audiences on important causes. 

Be Flexible and Understanding

This is an incredibly difficult and confusing time for us all. Our world and the way we go about our routines is changing day by day. As we mentioned before, setbacks are going to happen during this time, so be as flexible as possible and understand if your original content guidelines cannot be met.

If an influencer backs out of a campaign, or has concerns about a partnership, listen to them and take in what they have to say. They may be facing extraneous circumstances that prevent them from completing a partnership, or perhaps they may feel unsure about whether or not the branded content makes sense for the times. We are all navigating through these uncharted waters together, so have patience.

Let’s #FlattenTheCurve Against COVID-19 Together

Dear reader,

Your health and safety, as well as that of our employees at Socialyte and Lytehouse, are our top priority. During this difficult time for everyone, we’ve done our part to mandate a company-wide work-from-home policy until further notice. That said, we’re fortunate enough to maintain business as usual thanks to our digital tools and virtual capabilities. Feel free to continue to use us as a resource as we all adjust to what the coming weeks have in store for us and our businesses.

We're in this fight against COVID-19 together. It affects us all regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, health record, or socio-economic status. Along with washing our hands and avoiding touching our face, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has advised communities where the virus is spreading to practice social distancing in an effort to prevent further transmission from this highly contagious disease.

Over the coming weeks, we understand that this will become increasingly difficult for everyone, so we’ve asked all of our influencers to educate and remind their followers about the importance of social distancing. In short, this means limiting social interaction, avoiding large group gatherings and keeping 6 feet between yourself and strangers. By doing so, you reduce peaks of outbreaks keeping the daily number of cases below the healthcare system capacity as not to overwhelm hospitals. This article by Vox explains this concept called “flattening the curve” very well.

As influencers, we understand that they can have a tremendous impact, which is why we’re encouraging all of our influencers to promote the #FlattenTheCurve movement through their content. Socialyte and Lytehouse as agencies will also be taking this stance on social media channels and we encourage your brands to do the same.

As always, we’re here for you and we’re working within the safety of our individual homes together on strategies to promote brands and help re-stimulate the economy from the impact of this pandemic. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us to help your brand navigate this difficult time. We’re here for you.

Stay safe and healthy,

Beca

Dear Brands: It’s a Good Time to Engage in TikTok

Content trends are cyclical. When Instagram first launched, its purpose as a platform was to showcase instant moments to your friends. It didn’t take long before the platform was used by creatives to showcase their portfolios of highly edited and curated content. Brands jumped on board because that platform allowed for larger and controlled distribution opportunities for editorial content, something brands were already creating and understood the value of.

Fast forward to today, when influencers are taking a step back and showing more ‘real’ content shot in the moment on their smartphones. Without a need for professional cameras and hired photographers, the influencer space has evolved to be about showcasing personality and vulnerability. With this shift, brands have — to no surprise — jumped on board.

Take TikTok, for instance. The content on the platform takes the ‘real’ and pushes it forward even further. The audience truly feels like they’re just hanging out with creators, a relationship that is much harder to earn on other platforms. The audience doesn’t need to feel like a voyeur: they truly feel like they’re just part of the gang, or at least as close to the gang as you could be, almost like you moved into the Hype House.

When considering a TikTok campaign for your brand, it’s important to note that the content will be more off-the-cuff, potentially humorous, and very in the moment. Perhaps for the first time in your brand’s evolution, it’ll have to let its guard down about standards. This doesn’t mean that the content will be poor, but the spectrum of expectations will need to broaden. The creators you activate on TikTok know their audience best and what’s been gaining them the most traction on the platform. Within reason, let creators take your brand along with them to effectively engage their audience. Finally, while the viral potential is huge, the audience is not targeted and not much tracking data is available… yet. Use this time to be an early adopter and trust established TikTok creators; see what works for your brand and constantly explore how it can be creatively conveyed on the emerging platform.

Beca Alexander

Founder & President

5 Reasons Why Influencers Are Turning Down Your Campaign Offers

You are in the midst of planning an upcoming influencer campaign. You have developed creative briefs for the campaign. You have compiled a list of influencers you hope to work with and have sent initial offers out to said influencers, only for them to reject your offer.

Why do influencers turn down campaign opportunities? There are a number of factors that go into deciding if a campaign will work out, from budget to scheduling.

Here are the 5 top reasons why we see influencers turn down offers and how to receive as few campaign rejections as possible moving forward:

1. The Rate Is Too Low

One of the most common reasons why an influencer rejects a campaign offer is budget. Influencers are running businesses, and they need to make money for their work. If the rate is too low, the project is not worth it.

To ensure the budgets you present are aligned with what influencers are charging, familiarize yourself with industry standards. 

If the budget you present is close to the going rate for a particular influencer, keep things open for negotiation. If an influencer comes back saying that an offer is far below their typical rate, reconsider how you are allocating your influencer marketing budget and what influencers you are targeting. Not every campaign will be able to afford a celebrity influencer, so think critically about your campaign objectives to select the right influencers that also fit within your budget. 

2. The Usage And Exclusivities Are Extensive—And Not Properly Compensated For

Related to rate, influencers will charge more for extensive content usage. Reposting an influencer campaign photo on your brand’s Instagram feed is one thing; using influencer content to create a major television ad spot is quite another. The more usage rights you request, the more expensive the influencer’s fee will become. 

Your agreement with the influencer should list out specific usage rights, including both where you intend to use the content and for how long. Usage “in perpetuity” will be more expensive than one year of usage rights, so the more specific you can be about usage, the better. 

Similarly, wide-reaching campaign exclusivities (meaning, restricting the contracted influencer from posting about brand competitors) will also drive up rates. Say you represent a candy brand: requesting exclusivity for a year in the “food” category will cost exponentially more than requesting a week-long exclusivity period strictly in the smaller “candy” category. Additionally, asking an influencer to stay out of a broad category for a long time will also give them pause.

Define the exclusivity of your campaign to be specific enough that direct competitors are not talked about in close proximity to your campaign—you can even list out specific brand competitors—to avoid increased influencer rates or rejections on campaign offers. 

3. The Creative Brief Does Not Align With The Influencer’s Content

We have run across all types of creative briefs here at Lytehouse, from the extremely vague and open-ended to the deeply specific. The best creative briefs usually meet in the middle: specific enough that the influencer knows what your brand is looking for out of the content they deliver, but not so narrow that it removes all possibility for an influencer to create content that he or she feels is authentic. After all, you are hiring a content creator, so there should be a little flexibility within the creative brief to allow for original spins on the campaign.

Need more tips on developing a strong campaign creative brief? Check out our guide here.

4. The Turnaround Is Too Quick

It can be something as practical as scheduling; influencers are busy, and oftentimes a last minute campaign just will not fit into their schedule. When things come up last minute, it can be hard to avoid scrambling for influencers, so avoid this predicament by planning out your influencer campaigns well in advance and starting negotiations early. 

5. The Brand Is Not A Fit

At the end of the day, sometimes a brand is just not a fit for an influencer. For example, a budget fashion influencer may turn down an offer from a luxury brand because she knows her audience won’t respond to the campaign.

Influencers want the campaigns they participate in to succeed just as much as brands do, so if an influencer cites “brand alignment” as a reason for rejecting a campaign, it is because they do not see their audience resonating with the brand.

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As experts of influencer relations, Lytehouse can help you through every step of the influencer campaign process. Partner with an agency like Lytehouse to help negotiate and secure influencers for your next influencer campaign. 

Spring Place Beverly Hills Panel: What Brands Can Learn From Influencer-Entrepreneurs

FROM LEFT: Stella Simona, Deddeh Howard, Quigley Goode, Marcel Floruss, and Beca Alexander

Following on the footsteps of our Spring Place New York wellness panel, we hosted our first West Coast edition this past month. Socialyte founder Beca Alexander moderated a panel of Socialyte talent: Marcel Floruss, Quigley Goode, Deddeh Howard, and Stella Simona.

All four panelists have launched their own entrepreneurial projects: Marcel is the co-founder of Ankari Floruss; Quigley has an online course called Soulcial Media and recently launched a collection with Amazon The Drop; Deddeh Howard founded The Black Mirror Project; and Stella Simona is the founder of two jewelry brands, Haati Chai and Amarilo.

Through their experiences as both influencers and entrepreneurs, these speakers have gathered a great deal of wisdom about finding success in the digital space.

Here are the key takeaways from our panel conversation with them: 

Influencers Make For Ideal Brand Advocates

Deddeh Howard, Quigley Goode, and Marcel Floruss

Marcel broke down the main reasons why influencers are successfully pivoting to launching their own brands and products, but this also applies to why influencers are such powerful marketing resources for brand partners:

Market Research: Influencers have access to a wide assortment of products that they test and review. This allows influencers to have a strong grasp of the marketplace, what products work, which ones fail, and so on. 

Follower Feedback: Engaged followers provide constant feedback for influencers through comments, direct messages, and polls. Influencers can monitor the products and brands their followers respond to best and receive instant feedback on the types of content that influencers enjoy.

Built-In Market: In addition to receiving feedback, having followers means that people have opted into the influencer’s content. People follow the accounts that they do for a reason—whether it’s because they like the creator’s aesthetic, are curious about the creator’s lifestyle, receive advice, or some other reason—but whatever the case may be, followers care about what an influencer creates. Should an influencer decide to launch a collaboration or stand-alone brand, they already have a built-in market of consumers.

Losing Follower Trust Is Not Worth The Paycheck

Panel attendees

The sentiment that follower trust is everything echoed throughout the panel discussion. As mentioned above, follower feedback and engagement are keys to success as an influencer, so losing that trust would be detrimental to an influencer’s career. 

All four panelists agreed that they would rather turn down a paid partnership deal than risk alienating their followers. Deddeh explained, “If it doesn’t inspire me, if it doesn’t resonate with me...then I’m not doing it.”

Stella agreed, saying that she thinks of her community as her friends. “My friends would easily recognize what’s ‘me’ and what’s not,” she continued, so she gravitates toward promoting products that she naturally uses in her day-to-day life.

If you represent a brand, you may have received this feedback from potential influencer partners. Alleviate this issue by reaching out to influencers who are organic brand fans and align naturally with your company. 

Storytelling is Powerful Marketing

Marcel Floruss and Beca Alexander

Influencers make for strong brand representatives because their followers feel like they truly know them. When these influencers decide to launch their own businesses, followers are already invested in them as people, which makes it easier to invest in their product as well. Quigley stressed the importance of storytelling, saying that “90% of marketing deals with our emotions...we like to see people build something from nothing.” Brands need strong stories to stick out in today’s oversaturated market, and the easiest way to share that story is through people.

Your brand founder or president can be a powerful advocate for the company; in fact, you can think of them as an influencer in their own right. When customers have a person they can relate to, they can easily buy in emotionally to your brand.

Instagram Story Insights, Explained

Last month, we broke down everything you need to know about Instagram post insights. Now, we are taking a deeper dive into Instagram Story insights. 

*Disclaimer: you will need an Instagram Business or Creator account to access full insights. 

How To Access Instagram Story Insights

You can access insights for Instagram Stories several different ways:

From The Story Post: If your story is still live, you can view up-to-date story insights by clicking on the bottom left corner of each slide. This will bring up the total story views, as well as a list of accounts who have viewed the story. You can click on the bar graph icon to access insights for each individual story slide.

From Insights: From your profile, click the 3 horizontal bars in the top right corner, then click “Insights”. From there, scroll down to the “Stories” section and click “See All”. You’ll be able to see analytics for all stories posted in the past 14 days, including Reach, Link Clicks, Replies, Follows, and more. This is helpful for when you are interested in understanding overall account analytics and story insights.

From Archive: You can access detailed insights for stories posted more than 14 days ago through the archive. To access, again click the 3 horizontal bars in the top right corner, then click “Archive”. Toggle to “Stories” and from there you will see past story posts. Click on the story you wish to receive insights for, then click on the “Eye” icon in the lower left corner to access detailed insights.

Understanding Story Insight Definitions

Pulling up the detailed analytics for each story post reveals a wealth of information about how each story has performed. Here is what each insight means:

Interactions:

These numbers break down the different ways that viewers can interact with an Instagram story. 

Link Clicks:

What is it? How many times viewers have “swiped up” on a link.

Why is it important to you? Link clicks are a great way to know if viewers are responding to the story content and compelled to learn more or buy the feature product. If the goal of your influencer campaign is to drive conversions, high link click numbers are a sign of campaign success. Note: only Instagram Business or Creator accounts with over 10,000 followers can currently include links in their stories. 

Shares:

What is it? The number of times a story was shared, either as a direct message or onto another account’s story.

Why is it important to you? Shares are a form of user approval, as viewers not only like the content but are sending it to friends for approval, too. Shares are an important way for stories to reach new audiences, and drive up impression numbers. 

Replies: 

What is it? The number of times viewers send a direct message reply or share a “Quick Reaction” in response to a story.

Why is it important to you? A high number of replies suggests that the story content is highly engaging and stimulates conversation, as it warrants responses from viewers. Note: Replies can be turned off, but we usually only see this with celebrity accounts.

Website Clicks:

What is it? The number of times viewers clicked the website link in the account’s profile. Note that this is separate from “Link Clicks” which refers to the specific link added to the story.

Why is it important to you? Viewers clicking the link in an account’s bio are interested in learning more about the account, indicating that the story content is driving them to get to know more. 

Sticker Taps:

What is it? The number of total taps on location, hashtag, mention, or product stickers on a story.

Why is it important to you? This number shows that the viewer is eager to learn more about the location, tagged accounts, shoppable products, or hashtags included in the story slide. For brands, a high number of “Sticker Taps” to their handle is a positive sign that viewers are responding well to the brand and its offerings. 

Profile Visits:

What is it? The number of times an account’s profile was viewed.

Why is it important to you? This is another indication that viewers, particularly new viewers who aren’t following the account already, are attracted to learn more. 

Discovery:

These numbers detail how many people view a story and how they are finding it. 

Reach:

What is it? The number of unique accounts that saw a story. 

Why is it important to you? Story views are an important metric for marketers, as it shows how many eyeballs are viewing the story content. 

Impressions:

What is it? The amount of times a piece of content has been viewed. Impression numbers will (in most cases) be higher than the reach number, since people can view a post multiple times.

Why is it important to you? If your impression numbers are much higher than your reach numbers, this is a great sign that your content warrants multiple views and has created a lasting impression. 

Follows:

What is it? The number of accounts that started following an account after viewing a story.

Why is it important to you? A high number next to “Follows” suggests that the content is attracting new audiences to learn more about the account. 

Navigation:

What is it? How viewers are looking through an account’s story. There are few different ways viewers can navigate through the story, including: 

Back: The number of taps to view the previous story slide on an account. 

Forward: The number of taps to see the next story slide on an account.

Next Story: The number of taps to the next account’s story.

Exited: The number of taps to leave an account’s story. 

Why is it important to you? Other than “Back” you want these numbers to be as low as possible relative to the account holder's benchmarks, as it means that viewers are clicking through your story rapidly, or even deciding to move on to a new account’s story. If viewers are hitting the “Back” button on a story, however, that means they wanted to look at the slide again in order to take in the information presented. This is a good sign, as it means that the story slide content warrants repeat viewing (and will help increase the “Impressions” number).

Spring Place NYC Panel: Three Entrepreneurs on Personal Wellness, Professional Values & Aligning Influencers With Your Brand Voice

FROM LEFT: Chris Roth, Daniella Pierson, Wendy Nguyen, and Beca Alexander

Our partnership with Spring Place kicked off recently, and we hosted our first panel of 2020 to discuss influencer marketing as it pertains to the wellness space.

Moderated by our very own Beca Alexander, our panel included one of our exclusive influencers Wendy Nguyen, who’s also the founder of Artemis, a premier CBD Boutique based in West Village; The Newsette founder Daniella Pierson; and Highline Wellness co-founder Chris Roth. The three panelists discussed how they started their own businesses, control stress without losing motivation, and prioritize wellness. With two of the panelists being entrepreneurs in the CBD space, the panel also lead to a discussion about the personal doubts - and legal restrictions - that influencers have when picking the brands they choose to work with. 

On Prioritizing Wellness:

As entrepreneurs, all three panelists lead extremely busy lives. Making time for wellness and self care is essential to not feeling burnt out. For Daniella, who started The Newsette as a sophomore and continued to build the brand full-time straight out of college, wellness starts with not being hard on herself anymore. She keeps Saturdays completely work-free and creates space for life beyond her business.

Wendy, who has been a content creator for almost ten years, recently shifted gears when she opened a premier CBD shop in the West Village, in part because she recognized that being as pain-free as possible was the key to her personal wellness. While stress used to be a major motivator, physical manifestations of stress (like not sleeping well or having a rapid heart rate) were not conducive to productivity and actually hurting her in the long run.

Chris Roth, co-founder of Highline Wellness, shared a similar sentiment when talking about his transition from investment banking to starting a CBD business a year ago. Next to using his company’s products to help with sleep quality, anxiety and better focus, he started prioritizing working out every morning before setting foot in the office.

On Working With Influencers:

After covering how wellness fits into the panelists lives, the discussion shifted to how influencer marketing pertains to the wellness space, For Chris, a successful influencer partnership is all about finding influencers who share the same core values. When starting Highline Wellness, in order to get proof of concept and insights on the messaging that would work, they sent out 150 samples to friends, family and influencers from their personal network. While the trial group contained people with 500k to a million followers, follower count wasn’t the main focus; they also wanted to activate the “alphas” of friend groups who had influence in their own circle. He also believes in true collaboration with influencers; Highline Wellness provides influencers with facts and talking points to guide their creative concepts, but allows the influencers to get personal with their experiences and make the content their own. 

On Developing A Brand Identity:

Wendy spent a great deal of time honing in on the brand identity of Artemis. As the only minority-woman owned CBD shop in New York, Wendy sought to highlight woman-owned brands and created a section in the store dedicated to women’s health. Even the name Artemis (the goddess of the hunt and womanhood) ties into the core values of the shop. Since the store doesn’t have its own branded product and serves as a curator of CBD products, finding a brand voice was a different process. To Wendy, it is important that the values of Artemis are felt and seen once you set foot into the store, as every customer experience and movement in the physical store is supposed to help guide the future online presence of the company. 

Daniella has created a unique and defined voice for The Newsette. As head of a media company, her responsibility lies in managing the song and dance between both readers and advertisers in order to please both sides.Though she relies on advertisers for revenue, The Newsette only partners with brands that align with its established point of view. One thing that Daniella prides herself in is that The Newsette has grown a reputation for not sacrificing values for a check size, leading brands to approach the company wanting to align with The Newsette’s set point of view when working on collaborations. 

Chris also addressed how his co-founders and him worked on finding a brand voice for Highline Wellness. Their efforts were especially rooted in the lack of understanding around CBD and its advantages, which influenced them to build the identity of their brand on the pillars of transparency, honesty, reliability, as well as being educational & approachable. 

On Sticking To Core Values: 

Daniella stressed that everything The Newsette does ties back to their underlying mission of empowerment. If a potential brand partner does not align with that mission, it isn’t a fit, no matter the size of the paycheck. Her ultimate goal is to build the world's biggest empowerment company, extending The Newsette’s influence beyond content and into products in the future. 

Chris similarly stressed the importance of aligning Highline Wellness’s business practices with causes they believe in. To celebrate the company’s first birthday, Highline Wellness announced they would give 5% of all purchases that week directly towards charities surrounding the Australian wildfires. For him, it’s not only important to sell products, but to use their platform to support causes that they stand behind. 

Through her presence at the Artemis store in NYC, and by continuing to share her personal wellness journey and the impacts of CBD on it, Wendy strives to empower others to live a pain-free life. Just like our other panelists and our moderator Beca, she wants to keep prioritizing wellness in her personal life to help reach professional goals in the long run.

What is Byte? Everything You Need to Know About the New Video App

Another day, another social media app that causes everyone to ask: should I invest in this platform? Is it worth it to start a profile? Will this one last? 

Today, we are breaking down Byte and everything we know about the new video app.

What is Byte?

Byte is a video-sharing app that allows users to share 6-second looping videos. If that sounds awfully familiar to the now-defunct Vine, that’s because Byte hails from Vine cofounder Dom Hofmann, leading many people to refer to Byte as “Vine 2.0”. 

The homepage of Byte features popular content on the app, allowing you to discover new creators. You can also browse through the Explore page to see highlighted content, as well as search different content categories. 

As of now, the Create mode in Byte is fairly simple: you can hold down the center button to film clips on the app, or you can upload and trim videos that you’ve taken elsewhere. Currently there is only 1 “filter” to edit with, unlike the many effects and filters that Instagram Stories and TikTok feature. You can then tag your video with a content category (such as “Pets” or “Music”) and share it to your feed. Users can also “rebyte” videos that they like, increasing the potential reach of videos. 

Byte vs. the Competition

Byte has entered an already-crowded landscape of video apps. In order to escape Vine’s fate, the app will need to make a big splash with creators and advertisers. 

Byte hopes to set itself apart from competitors by focusing on opportunities for creators. Users can join Byte’s official Partner Program, which will facilitate the growth of creator accounts on the app. The program promises email resources with tips and news, creator meet-ups, and early access to new features, including analytics breakdowns.

In addition to educational resources, the app is aiming to launch monetization options for popular creators soon, starting with a revenue share model similar to YouTube. Competitor apps like TikTok and Snapchat do not provide creators with options to monetize directly through their apps, so this is a big draw for creators looking to diversify their income opportunities. During the pilot Partner Program, Byte is promising 100% of ad revenue to creators in the hopes of incentivizing creators to join and develop content for the app. 

Marketing on Byte

Byte’s focus right now is on facilitating creators, but brands should pay attention to this app in the coming weeks. The app topped 1 million downloads in the first week alone and will continue to grow. As the app lures creators with its Partner Program, they will need advertisers for the proposed revenue share program.

As detailed in their Partner Program outline, Byte will not feature pre-roll advertising, ads in your following feed, and will not run retargeting ads. Instead, the app will feature organically woven-in content, like branded cards on the app’s Explore page. 

Just like with TikTok, we also anticipate brands who are targeting Gen Z audiences to start developing content for Byte. The 6-second limitation will encourage brands to get very creative with video content, but when done right, the possibilities for amplification through the app’s Explore page are promising, especially for early adopters of the app.

Why You Need To Work With Influencers That Have Instagram Business Or Creator Accounts

There are a lot of considerations to take into account when selecting influencers for a campaign: budget, demographics, following, content style, and so on. But there is one additional consideration that you should take into account when vetting potential influencer partners: do they have an Instagram Business or Creator account?

A professional Instagram account provides several key benefits, both for the influencers with said accounts and for brands looking to partner with them. 

Here are the key reasons why you should partner with influencers who have a professional account:

Gain Access To Advanced Metrics

Influencers with Instagram Business or Creator accounts will have access to detailed analytics on their posts. They can view breakdowns on how users engage with their content and how the post is being discovered across Instagram, as well as metrics on demographics and overall account performance. 

When you partner with an influencer, include a note in your partnership agreement so that you can view these backend analytics. You can also invest in an analytical tool that provides access to this data, but again, influencers will need a professional account for those metrics to be visible. 

Need a more detailed breakdown on Instagram post analytics? Check out our blog post here.

Use the Official Partnership Transparency Tool

Transparent partnerships are essential for creating audience trust and should be a top priority for both brands and influencer partners. In order to improve the clear identification of sponsored content, Instagram introduced the Paid Partnership Tool. This allows influencers to add a special tag to their post that clearly indicates that it was paid for by a brand. Influencers with Business or Creator accounts can add these tags to branded content with your brand account’s approval. 

Strategically Amplify Content Via Whitelisting

The ability to promote posts and stories on Instagram is a huge draw for brands, and partnering with influencers with Business or Creator accounts increases the ways in which content can be promoted. 

Boosting content is exactly what it sounds like: putting budget behind an existing post and “boosting” its viewership to expanded audiences, including an account’s own audience

Whitelisting allows brands to strategically amplify an influencer’s content on Instagram and Facebook and target specific audiences. Unlike boosted posts, whitelisted content does not have to appear in an influencer’s own feed, but does always appear to targeted audiences. Whitelisting gives brands larger control on how the promoted content is shared, as they can add specific “call to action” buttons like “Shop Now” or “Learn More” and can tailor captions and images to fit their marketing needs. 

Allow Influencers to Tag Your Products in Their Post

In 2019 Instagram unveiled a new feature called Instagram Shopping that allows e-commerce businesses to tag shoppable products directly on Instagram posts and stories. Does your brand utilizing Instagram Shopping? If so, you have the ability to partner with Instagram Creator accounts and allow them to tag shoppable items on their accounts. If you track link clicks and sales conversions as a priority of influencer campaigns, you can capitalize on this partnership ability by activating Creator accounts. 

Note: At this time, only users with Creator accounts can add shoppable tags from other brands to their posts.

Our 2020 Approach To Influencer Marketing Success

While it may feel like the world of influencers and social media marketing has been around for a while, at the start of the decade, Instagram had just launched and was far from the massive social media platform that it is now. “Blogger” was the preferred term over “influencer,” and the fashion and beauty industries were still figuring out how to treat these digitally savvy newcomers. Influencer marketing has rapidly changed over the decade, and will continue to grow exponentially over the next ten years.

Here’s how we’re approaching influencer marketing this year:

Invest In Technology That Delivers Transparency

Influencer marketing is no longer the Wild West; it is a full-scale industry that has allowed for the emergence of an economy of apps, platforms, and technological resources that facilitate all aspects of campaign management. While the innovative content that influencers create is what drives this industry, the data behind each post is what empowers influencers and marketers alike to understand the effectiveness of each post or campaign initiative. 

As you make influencer marketing a crucial part of your digital strategy, it is important to invest in technology that tracks social media analytics holistically and accurately. We have seen an influx of technological platforms that promise efficient end-to-end campaign management from influencer discovery to campaign reporting. At Lytehouse, we've tested the majority of these platforms and invested in those that we strongly feel deliver.

Investing in analytical reporting tools will also ensure that you are working with influencers who have verified followings and authentic engagement. Now that there are industry standard benchmarks of engagement numbers, you can use reporting tools to identify potentially fraudulent followings and engagement.

Not only will these platforms help you manage campaigns, but it will also free up time and energy so that you can scale up your campaign efforts as well. Good technological tools only increase efficiency and productivity, so we highly suggest investing in these tools, or at least an agency like Lytehouse that has these tools at their disposal. 

When It Comes to Influencer Content, Pick a Side

As the influencer industry has evolved, we have seen two major types of influencer dominate in terms of delivery for brand clients:

• Art-focused: This type of influencer is creatively minded and features elevated, curated photo and video content. They more than likely work as a creative professional (photographer, graphic designer, editor, etc.) but their emphasis is on creating content that they feel is art. For the art-focused influencer, visual platforms like Instagram and dot com’s syndicated to Pinterest reign supreme. 

• Highly relatable and day-to-day: This type of influencer, on the other hand, emphasizes casual content, often created in real time with their phone. Their content is typically less polished than that of art-focused influencers, and there is more emphasis placed on establishing a strong, sincere, and oftentimes vulnerable connection with their audience. For this type of influencer, they do incredibly well engagement-wise on Instagram, but are also quick to adopt new platforms to better connect with their audience like TikTok.

Identifying the differences between these two influencer types will help you decide which direction to head for your influencer campaigns and initiatives, depending on the goals of your campaign. Are you seeking elevated content to feature on your brand channels? The art-focused influencer will help create and curate beautiful content for you. Are sales and impressions your main goals? Then you will find success working with relatable influencers that have proven conversion records. 

Maintain Creative Control

Your brand identity should extend to all aspects of your digital marketing efforts, and that extends to the influencers you activate. Think holistically about the message you are trying to convey across all your platforms and with your brand partners. Every single campaign, whether it’s a single social post or a yearlong ambassadorship, should tie back to your central brand identity.

When working with influencers, this means that you should be selecting influencers who truly align with your brand messaging, rather than letting outside trends and publicly displayed numbers guide your selections. At Lytehouse, we encourage our clients to develop creative guidelines that mirror their brand identities. 

At the tail-end of the decade, more and more of our clients have invested in social amplification: a service we provide and something we recommend all brands do to target the right audiences and optimize for conversion. When a brand is amplifying contracted influencers’ posts to new audiences, the visuals need to properly reflect the brands values and it's the influencers’ jobs to ensure that the content being amplified is an authentic portrayal of their own brand as well. This healthy balance of creative control — the brand's and the influencers’ — is crucial to influencer marketing success.

Scale Your Influencer Programs

The influencer world is only growing larger. With hundreds and thousands of individuals now identifying as “influencers” across social media platforms, brands are looking to scale their influencer marketing efforts to reach a wider swath of customers. 

Brands used to prioritize macro-influencers with millions of followers, but instead of spending a large budget on a single influencer, brands are realizing that they can reach more markets by spreading that same budget across a group of influencers with smaller audiences. Scaling your influencer campaigns is essential to maximizing target audience reach, with the added bonus of more content and economically testing new markets. The right technology platforms like the ones Lytehouse has access to make scalability possible, providing you with tools to discover the right influencers — whether it’s 10 influencers or 1,000 — and efficiently manage them throughout every step of the campaign process.

Adopt An Audience-First Approach

Traditionally, we have seen brands do the reverse: select specific influencers based on audience size and creativity in hopes of reaching a relatively high percentage of their following. When brands solely execute upon this strategy, ROI can’t be maximized because the brand is essentially shooting in the dark, hoping some people take notice. Sometimes this strategy works; oftentimes, it doesn’t.

Instead, define your target audience first by having a clear understanding of exactly who they are. Then, find influencers that speak to and create engaging content for this audience consistently. To do so, we recommend using technology to study influencer demographics and brand affinities. Once the influencers post on your behalf, amplify the content to further promote it (well beyond the influencer’s followers) to more consumers on social media that fit your target audience exactly. This approach to influencer marketing mitigates risk and maximizes ROI.

Instagram Insights, Explained

Understanding the definitions behind Instagram analytics is integral to know how your content is performing and the types of content to which audiences are responding. Whether monitoring the success of your brand’s own Instagram account or that of an influencer program, understanding different insight numbers will help you create content that resonates and set informed KPIs. 

Here is everything you need to know about Instagram post analytics. 

*Disclaimer: you will need an Instagram Business or Creator account to access full insights

The Instagram Engagement Icons & How Each Is Important To You

When you click the “View Insights” button on a specific Instagram post, a page will appear with 4 icons and numbers beneath each one, like below:

An example of top-line Instagram post insights

Likes (Indicated by the “Heart” Icon):

What is it? A like is a user’s stamp of approval on a post and is one of the biggest measures of “engagement” i.e. how much users are responding to the content.

Why is it important to you? Because clicking the “heart” button takes little effort, likes aren’t as valued as other types of engagement (see below).

With Instagram considering doing away with publicly-viewable likes, the value of like numbers will only continue to decrease. However, agencies like Socialyte that have first- and third-party access to analytics will still be able to see like numbers, so don’t count their value out completely.  

Comments (Indicated by the “Speech Bubble” Icon):

What is it? The number of comments a post receives is listed under the “thought bubble” icon.

Why is it important to you? Posts with a lot of comments are often not only aesthetically pleasing or enjoyable, but many have asked viewers to engage and share their thoughts and feedback. Because commenting takes more effort than just clicking the “heart” button and liking something, comments are typically seen as more valuable than likes. They indicate a meaningful connection between you and your audience.

It should be noted that quantity of comments doesn’t always equate to quality. 10 thought-out responses to a prompt in your post, for example, can be more valuable than 100 comments that are simply the “heart” emoji, as it demonstrates your audience is commenting thoughtfully and truly engaged with the post. 

Shares (Indicated by the “Paper Airplane” Icon):

What is it? Users can share a post by clicking the “paper plane” icon, either through direct messages with friends, or to their Instagram Story. A shareable post can be anything posted to Instagram, including your own, from a hilarious meme to a news update to a cute pair of boots that someone wants to share with their friend.

Why is it important to you? Shares are another form of user approval. Not only does the user like the content, but they are sending it to friends for approval as well. When a user shares content in this way, it reaches new audiences and allows for the content creator to gain potential followers, ultimately driving post impressions (more on that later). 

Saves (Indicated by the “Bookmark” Icon): 

What is it? Users can bookmark content for future reference using the save button. Recipes, tutorials, and inspirational posts are saved most often.

Why is it important to you? If you are hoping to educate or inspire others through your content, high save numbers signal that your content is working and are an indication that similar content should be created and shared in the future. 

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Together, likes, comments, saves, and shares make up a post’s engagement number. Engagement is a valuable metric for marketers because it means that viewers are responding to the content. If engagement numbers are low relative to the corresponding following (we call this “engagement rate,” or total number of engagements [industry standard is likes + comments] divided by an account’s total following), it may signal that followers are not interested or do not see the value in the content that is being presented to them. Conversely, if the engagement rate is on the higher end, followers are interested in the content that is being consistently shared.

Understanding Post Insights

If you swipe up on the “Post Insights” overview, more detailed insights will appear. It will look something like this:

An example of what full Instagram post insights look like

Profile Visits:

What is it? How many people clicked through to your profile from your post.

Why is it important to you? The higher the number the better, as it indicates your post was intriguing enough to explore your page more. It is also a good indicator as to what content is attracting new viewers to learn more about you. 

Reach: 

What is it? The number of unique accounts that saw a post, either in the home feed, Discover tab, hashtag or location search, or tagged posts

Why is it important to you? Reach is the best indicator of content performance, and a higher reach usually leads to higher engagement metrics. 

Impressions:

What is it? The amount of times a piece of content has been viewed. Impression numbers will (in most cases) be higher than the reach number, since people can view a post multiple times. 

Why is it important to you? If your impression numbers are much higher than your reach numbers, this is a great sign that your content warrants multiple views and has created a lasting impression. 

Instagram breaks down the source of impressions even further, as seen below:

From Hashtags: This indicates that people discovered your content via hashtags. Adding a few strategic hashtags increases your post’s visibility and searchability. Tag relevant search terms that are applicable to your post so that people who aren’t following you can discover your content (for example: tagging a breakfast recipe with #breakfastrecipe so users searching for new meal ideas find your post). 

From Home: This means that your post appeared on your followers’  home feeds. In an ideal world, 100% of your followers would see everything you post, but this isn’t typically the case, as Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes the posts a user sees first by a number of factors, including recency, interest, and user relationships.

If this number is high (i.e. close to your follower number), that means a large percentage of the people who follow you are viewing your content directly on their home feeds. This is a great sign, as it indicates you are doing a good job activating your audience on a consistent basis.

From Profile: This number comes from the amount of times a user clicked on your post directly from your profile. 

Other: Impressions under the “Other” category can come from a variety of sources, including post shares, saves, photo and video tags, mentions, and post notifications.

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Now that you have better insight on the meanings behind different Instagram post analytics, you’ll be able to recognize what content performs well and how your channel is acquiring new followers. Use these insights to develop a strong Instagram marketing strategy moving forward.

Planning Long Term Influencer Partnerships

The new year is the perfect time to start your influencer marketing strategy on the right note and partner with influencers for the year. Long term partnerships are mutually beneficial for brands and influencers. Brands are able to build long-lasting relationships with their influencer partners, and influencers are able to maintain trust with their audience because they promote the same brand over a long period of time.

Before you start a new long term partnership, however, you will want to take several key factors into account to ensure the program’s success.

Set Clear Goals & Requirements Ahead of Time

The more you plan ahead of launching the yearlong partnership, the smoother things will run. Take time to structure the program, from how many influencers you’ll be activating to how many posts they’ll be creating and what your key performance indicators are.

Be clear and upfront from the get go about how many social posts you are looking for, as well as the cadence of posts. No one likes to be blindsided with changing requirements, so the more clear you can be upfront about your expectations, the better.

Partner With Influencers Who Have Proven Track Records

If you are working with influencers for a whole year, you will want to work with creators who can help you meet your marketing and sales goals. Use analytical tools to measure engagement and reach metrics, and follow the influencers to see firsthand how engaged their community is.

Should sales be the primary objective of your campaign, you can request case studies or conversion metrics from potential influencer partners.

Need some more assistance deciding what type or types of influencer to work with? Check out our guide on influencer selection.

Know When To Switch Gears

As much as you should try to stick to your original game plan, goals may change over the course of the partnership. In that case—or in the case that an influencer’s content is not performing as well as you had hoped—it is okay to consider experimenting and changing tactics.

Perhaps it’s switching an Instagram post requirement to a set of Instagram Stories since an influencer’s audience engages more with stories, or changing the creative direction for a post. Within reason, it is completely acceptable to have a conversation with the influencer about changing the plan. If you are asking to add more deliverables, extend the timeline, or any other major changes, however, you may need to pay an additional fee to the influencer.

Work With an Agency Who Will Do the Heavy Lifting

Whether activating 1 influencer or 100, a long term campaign features many moving pieces. Partnering with an agency like Lytehouse can help take a lot of the work off your plate and allow you to focus on big picture initiatives. From casting influencers to coordinating posts to campaign reporting, agencies are there to help with large partnerships and can offer unparalleled expertise on best practices.

What Hiding Instagram Followers Means For Digital Marketers

Big changes are sweeping across Instagram. After running tests internationally, Instagram has begun testing hiding likes and video views in the United States. While users themselves will still be able to view how many likes or video views they receive on a specific post, their followers won’t see those numbers.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri explained that the decision to remove public likes stemmed from mental health and hopes that the disappearance of likes will take away competition and pressure users can feel when on the app. However, some users, particularly those in the digital marketing world, are concerned that this will dramatically decrease engagement rates and also make it harder to identify legitimate influencers.

Whether you are supportive of this update or nervous, there is no doubt that the way we use Instagram will change moving forward.

Here is what to expect as hidden engagement becomes permanent. 

Likes Will Be Hidden, Not Gone

One of the biggest misconceptions about Instagram’s latest test is that likes are disappearing. Technically, they are still around, and users can still see how many likes they receive. Likes will just stop being publicly available. 

When coordinating an influencer campaign, you should be requesting post analytics from influencers as to get the full engagement picture including likes received on their posts.

Analytical Tools Will Be Essential

Additionally, analytical tools and platforms will be able to access analytics, especially if they have first-party access to an influencer’s profile. 

Investing in analytical tools that can access and track key metrics will be pertinent to successful campaigns moving forward.  The hiding of likes “will push brands more so than ever to move towards using first- and third-party data access to receive an influencer’s overall analytics,” our founder Beca Alexander asserts.

Engagement Rates Will Likely Decrease

Feedback from general Instagram users has been positive, but creators are understandably concerned that their engagement rates will suffer. Without the public incentive to like a post, followers will instead engage more with content that is relatable, interactive, or creative, rather than what is popular. For instance, influencers in Australia, where hidden likes have been tested, noticed an overall decrease in engagement, though there were a few instances of increased likes as well.

As the testing continues, expect engagement rates to fall before leveling out again, so take this into consideration when vetting potential influencers to partner with and focus on other engagement metrics instead.

Other Engagement Benchmarks Will Be More Valuable

Likes have always been susceptible to fraud, as users can purchase likes from third-party apps, so hiding likes will disincentivize bought engagement. This will allow the truly influential creators to stand out, while those who have purchased fake engagement are left behind.

Other forms of engagement including comments, saves, and shares will become even more valuable, as will statistics like reach, impressions, and views. Our Director of Brand Partnerships, Amanda Sorenson, welcomes this development, stating that “brands have been placing far too much emphasis on influencers’ ‘worth’ by measuring how many likes they receive on an image” while overlooking an influencer’s true connection with their audience. “Just because an influencer receives hundreds or thousands of likes, it doesn’t mean they can sell your product.”

Brands and agencies will instead look at the larger analytical picture as they assess the performance of digital campaigns. 

Influencers Can Stop Stressing, Start Creating

From a creator standpoint, hidden likes are a positive change. As Instagram has become more saturated and competition amongst creators has increased, users feel pressure to only post certain things based on how many likes they receive. 

Without public like counts, influencers can stop stressing over what will receive the most likes and focus on content creation itself. “Over the past few years,” says our Director of Talent, Becca Bahrke, “we’ve seen Instagram turn into a place where people feel pressured to have the jaw-dropping, perfect photo that shows a glimpse into the best version of their life.” With the removal of public likes, Bahrke continues that “the hope is that this will minimize that pressure for not just content creators, but also real everyday people so they can share the content that they enjoy.” With an increased focus on authenticity on social media, hiding likes will help bring back an authentic feel to the platform.