June insights

At ThoughtLeaders, we pride ourselves on keeping up with the latest industry trends and news and putting the big messy world of the content into some kind of context. From our podcast to Linkedin, we are constantly sharing important insight about influencer marketing - everything from up-and-coming YouTubers and brands that are killing it with influencer integrations to advertisements spreading misinformation and the murky world of NFTs.?

It’s officially summer and the creator economy is heating up! Read on to keep up with the latest influencer marketing news and trends:

Influencers are sharing their sponsorship receipts?

Over the last few months, we have talked with a number of creators who have mentioned that the hardest part of brand sponsorships is, well, the getting paid part. This includes negotiating on a set rate, waiting on the payment, uncomfortably having to ask the brand for the transaction, and even, occasionally, having the brand decide after the sponsorship has aired to change the rate.?

Matt from TheGamingRevolution shared with us his unfortunate payment experience:?

“…about a month later, I was wondering when I would get paid for these sponsorships, I emailed them every other day for over a week with no response, feeling really frustrated. A month later I received an email from that website, one brand had decided to cut my payment by 50% since they were not happy with the number of clicks that I received and the second brand has yet to pay me to this day. It’s a really frustrating feeling, I put in a lot of time and effort on those sponsorships and was genuinely excited about this opportunity."

(you can check out the full story and more pitfalls YouTubers should be aware of here).?

So, how can the creator economy make things more transparent between brands and creators??

Well, first off, there are many influencer marketing agencies that work overtime to ensure that both the brands and creators get their end of the deal (like ThoughtLeaders). Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case and for creators doing influencer marketing independently, it's extremely intimidating to stand up to a huge brand (that can just replace you with another influencer). So, that’s where apps like FYPM and Clara come in - the Glassdoors for influencers. FYPM and Clara are determined to get the power back into the hands of creators. Creators can go into these apps and share their experiences working with specific brands - the good, the bad, and the underpaid. Then, when other creators are debating whether to sign a brand deal or not, they can do a quick search to see what to expect from the partnership. This also gives creators a better understanding of how much other creators got paid doing the same deal, increasing their confidence to negotiate their rates.??

Though we are happy to see the creator economy taking initiative and finding ways to combat the unfortunate issue of getting paid, the rise in apps such as FYPM and Clara just proves that this is an increasing problem (and one that we have a responsibility to fix)?

Everything you need to know about podcast advertising?

As podcasts become more and more popular, brands are choosing to use the platform to advertise their product or service, which is proving highly successful. Podcasting ad revenue rose by 19% over the last year and is set to exceed $2B by 2023. Who knew that chatting into a microphone would turn out to be so successful!

That’s great, but…

Why is podcast advertising so effective?

The feeling of trust and intimacy that is quickly formed between the listener and the host makes sponsorships highly successful. Reports consistently show that 80% of podcast listeners can recall a brand advertised in a podcast and 62% of listeners are more likely to buy from brands that are advertised via podcasts. If listeners are listening to hours of episodes and multiple seasons of a podcast, that means that the listeners appreciate and trust the information that is being shared.?

How do I find the right podcast to work with?

• Check out where your competitors are sponsoring. This may even lead you to stumble upon niches you didn’t initially think about, giving you even more podcast options.
• The ThoughtLeaders platform can help you narrow down your choices, and allows you to check out brands and the channels they have sponsored, giving you an even better idea of where you should be focusing your marketing efforts. Our platform can even help you check out your competitors and see what they are dipping their toes into. ThoughtLeaders also has its very own podcast sponsorship planner, which is designed to guide you in planning podcast advertisements that hit your goals, by planning podcast campaigns according to your goals and budget, automatically calculating expected CPMs for each partnership, and summarizing high-level results, and more!

Where do I start??

With this article!

Why brands should already be sponsoring general knowledge channels

With 3 billion searches per month, YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. And, most of these searches lead to General Knowledge channels. Some of you might be rolling your eyes, thinking ‘boring!’ - but, you should know that many channels in this category have hundreds of thousands of subscribers and rack up a lot of views. This makes it the ideal category for brands to sponsor - and we are talking about almost any type of brand.?

Here’s just a quick look at why brands could thrive on general knowledge channels:

1. They are super informative
2. Viewers are extra engaged
3. The audience has cash to splash
4. Reasonably priced
5. Content is evergreen

The major takeaway? Do not underestimate general knowledge channels. If you are interested in partnering with general knowledge channels, do not hesitate to reach out (we have a full roster of general knowledge channels!). Also, if you are questioning what the rates look like for these types of channels, give our YouTube sponsorship calculator a go.?

5 reasons why your brand needs to be working with influencers

Let’s be honest with each other - nobody actually clicks on pop-up and banner ads that are displayed on websites, unless it’s on accident. So what kinds of ads actually work? What kind of marketing should your brand be investing in? Well, the answer is simple - influencer marketing! In fact, the influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $16.4 billion in the next year.?

Still not persuaded? Here are just 5 reasons you should already be investing in influencer marketing.?

1. Influencer marketing is cost-effective: What’s great about influencer marketing is that there are a number of ways to track the partnership's success - for example, the number of potential consumers that clicked on the influencer’s unique link, total number of views the promotion received, total number of people that actually purchased the promoted item. With traditional marketing, it’s much harder to track the ads success rates - you can’t exactly track how many people saw a billboard ad on the way to work. So, while some brands may be surprised by the price range, it’s pretty safe to say that you get your money’s worth.?
2. Boost your sales: Content creators are going to be able to get the attention of your target audience and persuade them to give your brand or service a try in a more authentic manner. According to the latest poll from influencer marketplace Tomoson, businesses generate $6.50 in revenue for each $1 invested in influencer marketing, on average.?
3. Expand your reach: Anything you can think of, there’s an influencer niche for it. This means that, as a brand, finding an influencer that aligns with your product shouldn’t be too complicated.
4. High audience trust: As viewers, we slowly learn what our favorite YouTubers, podcasters, and gamers love to wear, eat and use in the hours of content that they put out for us. So when they mention a service or brand that they’re loving, we’re going to want to check it out. Oftentimes, we also get to see exactly how the product or service works.?
5. Saves time!: content creators have had to think outside the box and be the ones who create the viral trends and challenges in order to build their following to what it is today. They understand the ins and outs of all the different platforms (reels vs tik toks, challenges vs tags… it can honestly get quite confusing!). So, instead of your brand having to put aside time and energy towards content creation, when you work with an influencer you’re able to delegate that job to the masters of the field.?

Why is everyone obsessed with how much influencers make??

We’ve recently released a YouTube sponsorship calculator so not only can brands and creators calculate rates, but pretty much anyone can check out how much their favorite creator is racking up (and we’ve noticed that a fair amount of traffic is generated by those nosy fans).

But, why does everyone want to know how much influencers make?

Easy - there is a notion that content creators get to just appear in front of a camera, edit here and there, post on YouTube, sit back, and watch the money roll in - sometimes a lot of money. However, in reality, it’s really not that easy. Yes, in most cases, influencers get to do what they love - whether that is shares their love for fashion and makeup or interest in history - but in order to be really successful on social media, they have to work extremely hard, usually more than an average person would work in a typical 9-to-5. Thing is - you usually only see the end result, the influencers enjoying themselves in front of the camera. However, what you don’t see is the brainstorming, production prep and editing that takes place.?

Next time you find yourself thinking “I can’t believe Jeffree Star makes $18 million for doing nothing!”, change your mindset to: wow, Jeffree Star must be working extremely hard to continue staying relevant on an ever-adapting platform…how can I land a brand sponsorship on his channel? (and then you reach out to us to help with the sponsorship).

How can you get more views on YouTube with Google Trends??

Believe it or not, most content creators will search through thousands of ‘how to get more views on YouTube’ articles on Google rather than taking advantage of Google Trends - an interface that literally highlights what’s trending and what’s not.?

What’s the connection between getting more views on YouTube and Google trends? Well, one of the best ways to get more views on your channel is by creating content people want. Sounds easy - but how do you know what people want? Finding trending topics and tapping into popular themes (and of course, relating it to the type of content on your channel). By using Google Trends, creators can know exactly what people are interested in.?

So, now that you’ve got Google Trends open on your next tab - how do you use it? Here’s a step-by-step guide to Google Trends.?

How did thredUP change the stigma on secondhand shopping with the help of influencer marketing??

Let’s be honest, there’s nothing sexy about the word “secondhand.” Both secondhand and thrift shops conjure images of old shops, crammed with clothes and other miscellaneous items. That’s often why people prefer “mainstream” shopping - it’s much sexier to walk around a mall and pick up that Zara dress everyone on TikTok is wearing.?

But, thredUP has completely changed up the shopping trend - leading consumers to want to buy items second-hand. How did they do this? In short, influencer marketing. By partnering with the right creators, thredUp was able to:

• Raise awareness about the environmental impact shopping has on our planet
• Touch on common pain points for shoppers - expensive, inconvenient, zero chance of buying brand names
• Connect to a wide range of audiences that would otherwise not be aware of second-hand shopping
• Promote thredUP’s initiative?

Brands that successfully capitalized on Mukbangs

Warning - whether watching someone eat is your thing or not, this article will cause your stomach to grumble in hunger. Mukbang-content has become extremely popular over the last few years - and there are a number of brands that have caught onto the trend.?

Why is it ideal to sponsor mukbang-ers?

• Eating is intimate - viewers are already comfortable with these creators, which increases the chance that they will trust a brand promoted in their videos
• ASMR - people enjoy the sound, so they are for sure listening to anything that is presented in the content (including brand promotions!) - because their ears are extra engaged, there is an increased chance of information retention.?
• Number of views - whether you understand this niche or not, you can't argue that this type of content gets a lot of exposure - increasing the amount of possible exposure your brand can receive.

Which brands have successfully partnered with creators in the mukbang-niche? Check it out here.?

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