TAKUMI TRENDS LETTER #31 📈
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• Influencer Marketing • Social Updates • Creator Culture • Industry Insights •
TAKUMI’s insights team is curating the most impactful industry news and weekly developments for brands, right here 👇.
How brands can thrive in the new shopping era | 15th March 2022
“According to recent data from YouGov, nearly a third of Brits (31%) would consider shopping in a VR space, which presents a huge opportunity for brands to use these digital areas as an extension of offline campaigns, diversifying the ways in which they’re reaching and engaging with consumers.”
TAKEAWAY 🔥: In-store shopping may have made a mighty comeback from the clutches of the pandemic, but it hasn't disrupted the booming popularity of online shopping. 🛍 Shopping is now weaved into the fabric of our digital experiences, with social commerce allowing consumers to discover, engage, and purchase products seamlessly, providing consumers with the instant gratification that offline experiences struggle to match. More recently, the expansion of AR features across social platforms- specifically virtual try-on experiences, product visualisation and personalisation features - can offer an uncompromising shopping experience, where the immersive and interactive elements of 'reality' can be recreated, giving the best of both worlds to those with a preference for digital 📲.
The trick for brands, however, will be finding ways to reimagine those digital experiences in-store. Content creators play a significant role in both the general digital ecosystem and the overall customer journey; as true AR enthusiasts, they are driving the development and popularity of AR technologies 🙌. What's more, as both consumer advocates and brand ambassadors - the omniscient link between brands their target audiences - creators could be essential to omnichannel success.
Instagram Launches New Creator Lab to Help Creators Maximize their On-Platform Performance | 10th March 2022
“The fact that these notes of advice are coming from creators, who’ve actually gone through all these processes before, makes it even more valuable, and it’s interesting to hear the insights direct from users, as opposed to reading Instagram’s help center guide notes.”
TAKEAWAY 🔥: Instagram has launched its new Creator Lab, a learning portal full of insights and tips for budding content creators 📑. The Lab features short videos from an array of experienced creators in which they share anecdotes and advice about how to 'Express Yourself', 'Build Community' and 'Grow Long-Term'. Taking a holistic approach to 'Frequently Asked Questions', the portal includes guidance on the mental, social, and financial aspects of content creation; everything from understanding the algorithm and best practices for brand partnerships, to tips on how to nurture your community and avoid burnout. Of course, there are also insights around Instagram's various monetisation tools, which are a key focus for both creators and for social platforms wanting to attract the best talent 💸.
Aside from its obvious utility, the Creator Lab evidences Instagram's role in professionalising the creator economy 📈. For brands, particularly those looking to invest in influencer marketing, it's certainly worth perusing the portal for a look into the perspectives, concerns and challenges that creators face in the process of building their communities and careers. In understanding the logistics and efficacy of influencer marketing, it helps to understand creators themselves 🔎.
TikTok is eating into YouTube's dominance—here's what marketers should know | 8th March 2022
“YouTube will have well over twice as many monthly users as TikTok this year (230.6 million compared with 90.6 million, respectively).”
TAKEAWAY 🔥: YouTube continues to dominate the social video landscape, with US monthly usership far exceeding that of TikTok despite its exponential growth throughout the first 18 months of the pandemic. According to our recent Whitepaper report, 53% of marketers surveyed said they anticipate increasing their influencer marketing spend most on YouTube over the next 12 months. What's more, 56% of US and UK consumers told us their engagement with creator content on YouTube had increased since the start of the pandemic more so than on any other channel 📊. But the usage gap between YouTube and TikTok is projected to narrow over the next few years, according to eMarketer.
TikTok may no longer be the 'new kid on the block', but it's tough to compete with a veteran video platform like YouTube. How might TikTok close the gap? 👀.
Creator incentive programmes play a key role in drawing creators towards certain platforms and away from others 💸. YouTube's Partner Program has been going for 14 years, and between 2018 and 2021 the platform paid out a whopping $30 billion to creators. Meanwhile, TikTok's Creator Marketplace and its Creator Fund provide various monetisation and collaboration opportunities to creators, with its $200 million fund set to grow to $1 billion in the US through 2023. That being said, the competition to attract creators isn't just about raising the stakes; it's about levelling the playing field. TikTok made short-form video a necessity for other platforms - hence YouTube's Shorts feature - but it couldn't eradicate the appetite for longer videos which YouTube has been satisfying for years. Now, as TikTok dabbles in longer videos with a 10 minute roll-out underway, it's slowly creeping into YouTube territory. Only time will tell if it creeps far enough to pose a genuine threat to YouTube’s user numbers in the coming years 💭.
Instagram Launches Updated Creator Tags to Provide More Credit for Content Contributors | 7th March 2022
“Now, if you love the creative elements of a certain post, you’ll be able to find out more about the specific creators, direct from the tag links, which could be hugely helpful in finding key talent, while again, providing additional exposure and promotion for these professionals.”
TAKEAWAY 🔥: Instagram's tag update will enable creators to give greater credit to those who influence or contribute towards their Posts 👏🏻. Building on the basic tag feature which allows users to tag others in a Post, the update will add a creator's 'self-designated profile category on their professional accounts' to the tag, showing how they have contributed. If a tag displays the profile category 'fashion stylist', this would indicate that any outfits shown in a Post were styled by that person 💫. Although a relatively simple update, it serves a greater purpose than mere creator discovery and the promotion of professional or creative services. It is a crucial step towards combatting the cultural appropriation of underrepresented communities who are often responsible for the trends that go on to become popularised by, and attributed to, white creators. The new tags will enable and encourage creators to give credit where credit is due (which brands ought to pay attention to) while giving users more insight into the various contributions that make up the content they love to see 😍.
We’ll be back soon with more insights and updates.
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