Tag: Influencer Marketing

Sydney, Australia – International brand management business Access Brand Co. has announced the launch of its live commerce sales platform with an initial focus in the Asia-Pacific region. The platform is designed to raise brand awareness and drive sales of the company’s portfolio of premium health and wellness products.

This is done by providing top-tier independent influencers with unique brand experiences, combined with an introduction to the iconic Australian lifestyle. The portfolio includes cellular health specialist Science, Research, Wellness (SRW), plant-based nutrition brand eimele, iconic cosmetics company Napoleon Perdis and the global leader in ingestible collagen, Vida Glow, among other leading beauty, health and wellness brands.

The platform has first signed in Nicole Chenyn, a leading Chinese Influencer with a combined social reach of over 1.9 million followers across platforms like TikTok, Douyin, Insta, Facebook and WeChat. The influencer’s initial content sees her being immersed in a range of creative brand experiences in Sydney over five days.

For Livia Wang, chief brand officer at Access Brand Co., the launch of the platform is the next step in the diversification of their retail channels, adding that partnering with influencers like Chenyn enables them to raise awareness of their brands and products in a way that is curated specifically for their particular audience of video shoppers.

“We’ve been impressed by the way that Nicole and her team have worked creatively to build engagement for our brands while keeping the style of her content consistent and authentic. Significantly, she sold over $327,466 AUD of our hero products during her latest live commerce event. With live commerce, you can throw away the rule book on social media and brand marketing, because everything pivots towards what works for that one distinct ultra influencer and their community within a real time context. Working with celebrity streamers, it’s the influencer who is in charge, not the brand managers,” she explained.

She added, “Our role is to facilitate a VIP Australian experience and support their interpretation of our brand stories. Each celebrity streamer will have a very different way of approaching our products and brands, so there’s a natural variation in the direction and style of the resulting content. Live commerce is an amazing and powerful new sales platform, and we are integrating it within our sales and marketing strategy.”

Meanwhile, Amelia Hu, celebrity streamers program manager, commented, “Celebrity streamers is like the Top Gun of live commerce, the best of the best. We are actively looking to build our platform and want to work with the top tier of international Influencers and KOLs. Our wish list includes sizable and engaged communities, live sales credentials, good English language skills, creativity and a strong personal alignment with premium wellness as a category. As online retail merges with live streaming to create live commerce, credibility and authenticity is still at the heart of brand success.”

Sydney, Australia – A new study by HypeAuditor, an AI analytics platform for transparent and fraud-free influencer marketing, revealed that minority of the influencers in Australia are not proactively collaborating with brands for partnerships despite the development of influencer marketing in the industry.

HypeAuditor surveyed over 500 content creators on Instagram and TikTok with over 1,000 followers. It was found that one-third of the influencers prefer to not actively participate with brands for partnerships or respond to inquiries in groups or marketplaces. However, 94% of these respondents still prefer to make partnerships with brands.

Moreover, the study also revealed that 46% of influencers had seen an increase in brand partnerships this year compared to 2022 whilst 39% noticed an increase in the amount paid by brands for sponsored posts.

Alexander Frolov, co-founder and CEO at HypeAuditor, said that content creators are confident that there are collaboration opportunities and it’s a matter of exerting efforts to find meaningful opportunities.

“Influencers, especially those who are new to the space or have a smaller reach, wanting collaborations and partnerships will need to take control and leverage the right tools to find the right partners that resonate with their content,” Frolov added.

Moreover, HypeAuditor has announced its new platform HypeAuditor for Influencers to bring both influencers and brands that seek for collaborations. The platform will give access to HypeAuditor’s solutions including Media Kit to easily generate custom media kits for influencers directly to brands, account analytics and market analysis, and updates from the most notable followers.

Singapore – Although brand-influencer collaborations continue to boom, both players of the ecosystem – brand and influencer – still find it challenging to tap into each other in a seamless and reliable process. This is what the newly launched InCom aims to solve with its first-of-its-kind platform. 

The influencer commerce marketplace, Incom, is a brainchild of influencer marketing and tech company BeTagged. The tech behind the platform allows both brands and influencers to reach each other in a more accessible way by ultimately bridging the gap in data that are the lifeline of said type of collaborations.

Incom enables brands to list the products they wish to sell on the InCom marketplace and showcase them to potential influencers across the SEA region. To combat the information gap, brands are able to list down all relevant information about products that would help rope in influencers that are a perfect match. This includes key details such as size, colour, price, fulfilment channels, relevant product images and videos, as well as the percentage of sales commission for influencers, giving all participating brands an equal opportunity to showcase their offers to the ‘influencer-verse.’

On the other hand, the influencers on the platform will have an easier way to vet which products they would like to promote, aligning to their social media branding and interests.

“InCom is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia — one which focuses on performance-based sales modules. We provide a live dashboard which tracks all relevant metrics for brands and influencers alike; brands can now gain access to a potential consumer base of over 400 million individuals across Southeast Asia and keep track of key data such as the number of influencer pick-ups for a product, the total number of sales quotas met, channel effectiveness, and the commissions payable,” said BeTagged Co-Founder Krish Iyer

Iyer added, “On the other hand, influencers can track how many units of their recommended products were purchased, their own channel effectiveness, and how much they have earned in commissions.”

Ultimately, for the influencer side, the platform is able to empower them to explore and select brands and products based on key data such as product category, price, or commission percentage. Additionally, the platform extends this service beyond traditional e-commerce to allow influencers to explore opportunities in areas such as physical retail and non-physical digital retail. 

BeTagged said its ‘pay-as-you-sell’ go-to-market (GTM) strategy for InCom comes at zero cost risk, which makes it perfect for smaller brands, startups, or SMEs looking to launch themselves into the e-commerce space. The GTM strategy also allows larger brands to benefit from higher performance orientation. 

One of BeTagged Co-Founders, Shamik Talukder, said, “From our experience of running an influencer marketing business in SEA for the last 3 years, it has become clear to us that a transparent ecosystem focused on product sales through influencers is necessary.”

InCom has already been launched in Indonesia and will be deployed to the rest of the SEA region by Q2 2023. The platform can be accessed via the InCom website and through its iOS and Android apps.

Singapore – For MARKETECH APAC’s first-ever hybrid conference this coming 2023, What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific, social and media intelligence firm, Meltwater, will be joining us as a Gold Sponsor. 

Meltwater helps companies make better and more informed decisions by examining millions of posts each day from social media platforms, blogs, and news sites. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with 50 offices across six continents. 

Weldon Fung, Area Director at Meltwater Southeast Asia, will be doing a keynote presentation on the first day–February 28–titled “The Evolution Of Influencers And Communities: How Effective Partnerships Can Fuel Your Affinity Brand In 2023?”

Through the keynote presentation, Fung will be sharing relevant data about how impactful partnerships with influencers or creators can be on community brand building and how to find the perfect fit in a partner. Moreover, he will explain how influencers can help create a meaningful impact for brands.

Fung also explains how influencer partnerships have been vital for brands to build relevance and authenticity for new audiences.

“Influencer partnerships can be an effective way for brands to reach new audiences and increase brand awareness. Influencers have built up a following of engaged users who trust their opinions and are more likely to engage with and purchase products that they recommend.”

He further added, “Additionally, influencer partnerships can help to build credibility and authenticity for a brand, as the endorsement of a trusted influencer can signal to potential customers that the brand is reputable and trustworthy. Furthermore, Influencer partnerships can also help brands to increase their social media reach and engagement. Not only that but this steers marketing to move toward community brand building as well.”

Joven Barceñas, founder & CEO at MARKETECH APAC, commented, “With gratitude, we extend a heartfelt thank you to our Gold sponsor Meltwater for joining us on this journey to uncover the future of marketing in Asia. Their unwavering support and partnership have enabled us to bring the What’s NEXT 2023 Conference to life in a hybrid platform that promises to be an exciting and insightful experience for all.”

What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific is the dedicated conference under the digital media’s future-centred industry series, What’s NEXT 2023. To be conducted in a hybrid format, the 2-day conference will happen on February 28 – March 1, 2023, with the in-person event on the first day to take place in Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila. 

The hybrid conference gathers the top marketing leaders in the region to drive the conversation on what to come next in the marketing industry this 2023 across its different domains. To be presented in multi-platform discussions, industry speakers will be touching on various areas such as Digital, Growth Marketing, Engagement, Public Relations, Customer Experience, Retail & E-Commerce, and Influencer Marketing, amongst others, to help brands and marketers prepare for the future of the marketing landscape this 2023.

Head over to the official event site to see the full agenda of What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific. 

Interested delegates for in-person and virtual sessions may register here.

For sponsorship opportunities, please reach out to [email protected].

Singapore – AnyMind Group, the end-to-end commerce enablement company with a focus on Asia, is now officially part of TikTok’s marketing partners program, and will specifically join the list of enablers under the platform’s assistance for creative to brands. Through this, brands will now be able to plan and execute TikTok creator marketing campaigns within the group’s influencer marketing platform AnyTag. 

Through the integration, brands that use AnyTag will be able to access all the features of the TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM) – the official platform for brand and creator collaborations on the short-video platform. Brands will be able to tap into TikTok’s first-party insights on audience demographics, growth trends, and best-performing videos, amongst others to identify the right creators for creator and paid advertising campaigns.

In addition, marketers can tap on AnyTag to understand a creator’s posting insights – including the best times for a creator to publish a post to get the highest user engagement. The integration also omits the need for marketers to toggle between TTCM and AnyTag to run influencer marketing campaigns with different groups of influencers, with AnyTag now having integrated capabilities for influencer discovery, campaign activation, campaign management, tracking, and reporting for TTCM campaigns.

Purwa Jain, managing director of product growth for AnyMind Group, said, “TikTok is an entertainment platform that we’ve worked with across various levels, from market entry and on-the-ground collaborations to tech integrations, to help marketers and creators to glean increased value from both our companies and corresponding platforms. We’re looking to expand the partnership to enable marketers to leverage TikTok even more effectively, ultimately driving forward the ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, Adrian Man, director of ecosystem partnerships for APAC & MENA at TikTok, shared that creators as the lifeblood of the platform make TikTok constantly think of new ways to make it easy for them to connect and collaborate with brands. 

“We’re thrilled to be integrating with an elite group of trusted partners to help brands discover and work with diverse creators who can share their message in an authentic way,” Man said. 

At present, AnyTag enables marketers to discover influencers, and activate, manage, track and attribute influencer marketing campaigns, including affiliate marketing campaigns that leverage influencers.

Aside from AnyTag, AnyMind Group has also developed connections for its other platforms with TikTok. In August 2022, its e-commerce management platform, AnyX, was connected with TikTok Shop to help businesses and online merchants improve cross-channel operational efficiency on even more e-commerce channels across Asia, including e-commerce marketplaces, brand.com sites, and social commerce platforms.

Social media is more powerful than it’s ever been. It influences our purchases, our conversations, and even our values. With this power comes a lot of responsibility, especially when it comes to social issues. 

Today’s consumers expect brands to speak out about social movements and use their platforms for the greater good. In fact, Edelman’s Trust report highlights that a brand’s choice to speak up about societal events can influence the purchasing behaviour of consumers; therefore, brands really are expected to speak up about contentious topics. 

What is purpose-driven marketing?

At its core, purpose-driven marketing is all about connecting with audiences by speaking about topics that are meaningful to them. These topics may span a range of different social issues, including diversity, climate change, mental health, and animal welfare.

However, purpose-driven marketing doesn’t end with speaking up, it also involves acting in the interest of the greater good. Today’s brands have a wider responsibility to make a social impact by fuelling conversations about important issues and educating their audiences on contentious topics. 

Why is purpose-driven marketing important?

This purpose-driven approach is important for the following reasons: 

  • Today’s consumers care

Today’s consumers care more about social issues than ever before, especially the younger generations. These consumers have formed strong views on a range of issues, and aren’t afraid to speak up. 

In fact, Edelman’s 2022 Trust Barometer found that 70% of Gen Z are involved in a social or political cause, and 73% of them purchase from brands that align with their beliefs and values. 

  • Influencers are passionate about social issues

As well as consumers, today’s influencers also value a purpose-driven approach. 

In a study conducted by influencer marketing platform Vamp, it was found that almost 70% of creators on the platform use their social media platforms to speak about important social and environmental issues. 

Creators care about making a positive impact, and they’re using their following and influence to do so. 

  • Purpose-driven marketing drives real changes

The more we talk about a topic on the public stage, the more we work towards making tangible changes. 

Brands and influencers have a lot of power over their audiences. So, by working together to educate, advocate and inform, they’re able to bring about real social changes. 

Authenticity and purpose-driven marketing 

For brands, it’s clear that a purpose-driven approach is important when it comes to both gaining a good reputation and garnering the trust of their audience. 

However, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. 

Brands must genuinely want to make a change. They need to be authentic in their approach, as ingenuine or tokenistic marking can cause them to receive more backlash than if they didn’t speak up at all. So, it’s important for brands to advocate in meaningful and genuine ways, rather than using social issues as an avenue to gain more followers and recognition. 

Today’s consumers want brands to speak up and use their platform in positive and constructive ways, so purpose-driven marketing should be on the agenda for businesses big and small. 

The 4 key elements to a purpose-driven approach

For purpose-driven marketing to be successful, there are 4 key elements that must be considered:

  1. Defining clear brand values

Having clear brand values is important, as purpose-driven marketing is all about values. 

Setting clear values will help you choose which social issues to speak about on your platform in an authentic way. For example, if diversity is built into the core values of your brand, then speaking up on diversity will be genuine and well-received by your audience.

Aligning your values with the topics you choose to cover will ensure that your messaging is clear and authentic. 

  1. Engaging with affected voices

Social issues are varied and complex. As such, you’re not always going to understand an issue or experience, and that’s okay. 

However, if you are going to speak up on these issues, it’s important to ensure that any messaging on these topics goes through the voice of someone who can relate to them. Whether it’s someone from within your organisation or someone you collaborate with, make sure to use credible voices when covering an issue you don’t fully understand. This will reduce the likelihood of spreading misinformation, and it’ll show that you genuinely want to make an impact. 

  1. Taking action

It’s one thing to say something, but it’s another thing to do it.

Make sure that you’re genuinely contributing to the causes you speak about on social media. Whether it’s making a donation, educating or volunteering, make sure you’re actually acting on your values, as failure to do so will make your marketing efforts ingenuine. 

  1. Upholding a long-term commitment to your values

It’s not enough to run one social justice campaign or to post a few advocacy stories on Instagram. It’s important to maintain a long-term commitment to your values and actually incorporate them into your business. 

This is why it’s crucial to clearly define your values and speak up on issues that are important to you because if you genuinely care, it shouldn’t be hard to commit long-term.

Key pieces of advice

Be genuine

As you already know, authenticity is a big player in purpose-driven marketing. In fact, brands use purpose-driven marketing as a tactic to maintain their authenticity, so it’s important to really focus on acting in ways that align with your values. 

If you’re not speaking up on social issues for the right reasons, your audience will know. This can be detrimental to your entire brand, so make sure your brand actually resonates with the issues you speak about. 

Partner with the right creators

Collaborate with influencers that share similar values to your brand. This will help you maintain authenticity whilst bringing more awareness to the causes you care about. 

Here are a few helpful tips when partnering with creators for purpose-driven marketing:

  • Make sure you’re on the same page as the creators you’re collaborating with, as failure to do this will seem inauthentic.
  • Influencers are at the forefront of conversations and they know how to spread information effectively. It’s important to give them creative freedom and allow them to use their expertise. As such, it’s helpful to involve them as much as you can when devising your marketing strategies.
  • Create long-term partnerships with your creators. It shows your followers that your advocacy isn’t a one-off stunt and that you’re truly committed to making changes. 

Recognise when you have the right to speak out about an issue

Even though it may be tempting to speak up on every issue you care about, sometimes this causes more harm than good, especially when you’re not fully informed. 

You won’t always have the right to speak up about something, so find someone who does have this right, and work with them. Speaking up at the wrong time can appear tone-deaf, and it can seem like you’re using social issues to gain recognition for your brand. 

Consider whether your voice is the right voice, and make sure you’re contributing in ways that won’t overshadow the issues at hand.

Define clear values

In today’s marketing landscape, being socially responsible is more important than ever before.

Feigning social responsibility will set you up to fail, as transparency is easy to read in a society that values authenticity and social action. As such, businesses should strive to define clear values and partner with causes and influencers that align with these values. 

Social media has changed for the better, with purpose-driven efforts taking centre stage.

It’s up to today’s influencers and brands to work together to help make a real impact, whilst staying true to the brand’s values.

This article is written by Aaron Brooks, co-founder of Vamp.

The insight is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series under What’s NEXT 2023. What’s NEXT 2023 is a multi-platform industry initiative which features marketing and industry leaders in APAC sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year.

If you are a marketing leader and have insights that you’d like to share on upcoming trends and practices in marketing, please reach out to [email protected] for an opportunity to be part of the series. 

Mumbai, India – Influencer marketing agency Barcode Entertainment has announced the appointment of Ajay Kulkarni as its business head, where he will be bringing his diversified experience in revenue, brand management, communications, and marketing, amongst others.

In his new role, Kulkarni is expected to bring seamless processes to the agency, as well as help grow its businesses with the aim to make the company one of the most prominent players in the social commerce, influencer marketing, and content space.

Prior to joining Barcode, Kulkarni led the content and strategic partnerships at TikTok (ByteDance) for South Asia and was assistant vice president for international business at Times Network. He has also worked with notable organisations in India such as Star India Pvt Ltd, Tata Teleservices, and Times Group.

Speaking on his appointment, Kulkarni said, “I am delighted to be part of the immensely specialised and talented team at Barcode Entertainment. The rapid rise of influencers and the creator economy at large is a force to reckon with in today’s digital landscape.”

He also added that he believes Barcode is well-positioned to be the leading company supercharging the influencer marketing, content, and live commerce space.

Rahul Khanna, co-founder of Barcode Entertainment, also commented, “We are immensely happy to have Ajay on board as the Business Head at Barcode. Having experienced growth at a lightning-fast pace, we are setting our sights on leveraging this growth momentum and scaling new heights to be the next big thing in the influencer, content and live commerce space.”

Founded in 2019, Barcode Entertainment helps various brands connect and collaborate with more than 20,000 macro and micro-influencers across the country.

Singapore –  Influencer marketing has been gaining traction within the industry because of its ability to help brands get in front of new audiences and drive consumer engagement. Yet as a growing channel, it’s inevitable that marketers will still have to contend with the challenges of new platforms, new trends across social and evolving audience interests.

As part of MARKETECH APAC’s ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Interview Series’, Aaron Brooks, co-founder and president of influencer marketing platform Vamp and Pauline Linton, head of brand communications and advocacy at Adobe shared their insights on how brands could face these challenges in the inaugural episode of What’s NEXT’s interview series.  In the conversation, they provide an insider’s perspective on how the influencer marketing space is evolving, emerging key trends, as well as what’s in store for the industry moving into 2023. 

How has influencer marketing evolved from a tech enabler and top brand’s perspective?  

Kicking off the interview, Brooks shared how Vamp came into existence. Starting from content generation and using social platforms to help brands source creative, Vamp later developed into an influencer marketing platform designed to make collaborating with influencers simpler and easier.

“It was an opportunity to build a single solution that would just simplify that whole process. We wanted to simplify campaign management workflow, facilitate direct communication between collaborators, and build a proprietary algorithm that would help match-make brands to creators. Of course, you’ve got to have access to first-party data to be able to track performance and campaign ROAS, as well. So really, that’s where we’ve been focusing our efforts,” Brooks explained.

Coming from the end user’s perspective, Linton shared how Adobe’s approach to influencer marketing has evolved over the past years. “There was never really an influencer marketing programme when I was agency-side or when I first started at Adobe. I think influencers were always seen as ‘how are we going to continue to amplify’ or just as another distribution channel for our marketing campaigns,” she commented.

Linton also added that their use of influencers has evolved as the market has changed, and as their communications got more sophisticated. She said, “We realised the value of social media in our broader comms programme and how important influencers were to [localise] content creation for us across Asia Pacific.”

The value of influencers in the ideation stage 

Influencers are valued for their ability to amplify a brand’s marketing initiatives. But as influencers are now seen more as ‘creators’, the multiplier effect of having them involved in both the ideation phase, as well as being the means to generate mass-awareness of the message, is something we expect to see more of.

Linton gives a nod to this – and references how Adobe’s campaign approach has changed over the years from having influencers simply boost messages to audiences, to involving them in the ideation and planning stages. 

“We’ve evolved our strategy from influencers being put on every campaign to extend our campaigns as amplifiers, to really bringing them in at the very ideation and planning stage, and thinking about them more [as] content generators and ideators, and not just to amplify our programmes,” she said.

Moreover, she said that giving influencers creative control could ‘surprise’ marketers. “We started off as being really protective with our brand, and then we realised that, actually, influencers had better ideas than we did, so we’ve learnt to relinquish some of that creative control.”

On the other hand, Brooks also mentioned four key things that brands should consider when activating their influencer marketing strategies. These are (1) defining why your brand wants to work with creators, (2) treating influencers like the content experts they are, (3) testing and learning by creating various content to find the right format and channels, and (4) treating creators as brand ambassadors.

“We’re seeing now, more than ever, brands building up relationships with creators, and then using that squad for multiple and repeat activations. Not just activating on a project-by-project basis, but having a long-term view of creator and influencer marketing as well,” he added.

‘What’s NEXT’ for the influencer marketing space?

The coming years can be unpredictable for the marketing industry. That said, Brooks and Linton also gave their insights into where the influencer marketing industry is heading, including indications of some of the plans Vamp and Adobe have moving forward.

According to Brooks, influencer marketing has already reached a point where it’s already become a mainstay within the marketing mix. He added, “Once an emerging channel, it really has gained acceptance as a performance marketing channel.”

Speaking of his experience, Brooks mentioned that brands want access to better data, as they want to understand how their organic performance is creating impact, as a means to justify budget spend. To address this, Brooks said that Vamp continues to evolve its technology to prioritise their analytics capability, and providing deeper insights. 

Of course, the talk on the future of marketing would not be complete without reference to the metaverse, and VR/AR technologies. To this, Linton mentioned that Adobe is thinking about mixed mediums or realities where they can create different modes of engagement with influencers. 

“The insight that we get from influencers [are] really shaping the way we approach 2023. There’s a lot of exciting stuff to look forward to,” Linton concluded. 

There’s certainly a lot to look forward to in the marketing industry for 2023. From a tech enabler and top brand’s perspective, you can hear more influencer marketing insights from Brooks and Linton by watching the full interview HERE.

With the creator economy continuing to boom every year, brands are increasingly recognising the reach of influencers and the impact they can have on campaign success. As a marketing and advertising channel, we have started to transition away from tapping popular celebrities and A-list personalities, to seek out content creators that have built successful profiles on social media thanks to their content and fanbase. The overarching question still remains: how do brands know which influencers to tap, and which trends should they get into?

To answer this and further explain the upcoming trends within the influencer marketing industry, industry leaders Ruben Ahmed, director of marketing for HP Australia & New Zealand; Isabel Falco, chief digital and marketing officer of L’Oréal Philippines; Jonathan Gerard, head of production of VaynerMedia Asia Pacific; and Aaron Brooks, co-founder and president of Vamp–recently sat down for a panel discussion as part of the What’s NEXT 2023: Influencer Marketing in APAC webinar–to talk about the trends and top tips for brands and agencies.

Influencers are typically considered to be ‘key opinion leaders’ (KOLs), an umbrella term frequently used in the marketing industry. However, it is worth noting that the term ‘KOL’ among present-day influencers is referenced in a much broader context. KOLs may still be most commonly associated with paid partnerships, but they are the creatives and content creators who also promote their work organically to their follower audiences.

This was a point L’Oreal Philippines’ chief digital officer Isabel Falco expressed, who said that influencer marketing has been a key objective for the company. She acknowledges the fact that with the booming creator economy, social media users are now looking at KOLs to learn more about brands and what they should try out next. KOLs have become an influential voice in helping brands retain loyalty.

“The balance has tipped – creators have the power, and they are not “beholden” to brands anymore. Therefore, brands need to attract, vs “demand from” our KOLs & creators; we need to give them a reason to want to partner with us,” she stated.

She also notes the fact there is a greater need for brands to team up with micro- and nano-influencers: those that don’t have the biggest number of followers, but have built a close community thanks to the content they share.

“We need more micros and nanos as well, especially as we see that the “lower” tiers typically have higher engagement rates, as they have a more dedicated following. For this level of scale, we definitely need the right agency partners to also operationalize,” she says.

This is a view supported by insights from VaynerMedia’s Jonathan Gerard, who notes that with the massive shift between influencers and brands nowadays, brands should stop asking influencers to make ads, but rather engage with them as content creator partners.

“They won’t stay and consume ads, so optimising for a 3-second view means you’re creating the wrong thing. Create the right thing and you’ll get much more attention. There is so much appetite for content and consumption is higher than ever,” he explained.

He also adds that brands need to also loosen the reins they put on creator partners and give them more creative freedom to execute the campaign, aside from the mandatory elements of a traditional ad campaign.

This was later reinforced by statements from HP’s Ruben Ahmed, who shared insights related to their recent campaign with local artist Mulga to produce original artwork to promote their Instant Ink subscription and printers. For him, they had a clear objective in combining KOLs and some growth marketing tactics in tandem, with some paid marketing to drive both organic and paid reach.

“Understanding the role of social for your brand is critical – understanding how your audience uses the particular social platform is the key to unlock engagement, because it shapes the direction in a very different way to just running your typical advertising on a social platform,” he said.

Ahmed also noted that brands need to ask themselves if they need an influencer to be able to create online reach, or if they need someone to help cut through by making a ‘splash’.

“Social is quick and short-lived, so we designed for this – lots of creative variations, combinations of videos, images, carousels, polls, competitions were put into a plan together with our media team and set up in the platform so that we could quickly pivot behind what was working or not,” he concluded.

Learn about other insights from the influencer marketing industry, including strategies for storytelling and raising awareness through social media campaigns, by checking out the full on-demand webinar here.

Singapore – The influencer marketing industry and creator economy is booming thanks to a wave of new innovations we’re seeing happening across social media channels. Influencers are becoming household names across the globe, and brands are responding by jumping into the influencer channel to drive successful marketing strategies. As we head into a new calendar year, how should brands maximise the value of their investment in content creators to reach more audiences at scale?

MARKETECH APAC’s latest webinar, ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Influencer Marketing in APAC’, provides answers to this question. In his presentation, Aaron Brooks, co-founder & president of influencer marketing platform Vamp, discussed the evolution of influencer marketing as a brand strategy, the key trends to watch out for in the space, and shared insights on how brands can best participate in the creator economy moving forward. 

According to Brooks, the emergence of digital web 2.0 technologies changed the way marketers interact with their audiences, and that said evolution has greatly benefitted the influencer marketing space. In fact, global influencer marketing is expected to reach $143b by 2030 — amounting to a compound annual growth rate of 33.4%.

Despite this anticipated growth, brands are looking for a seamless experiences collaborating with creators, and there are still actions the company is taking to remove the complexities of the creator economy. To this, Brooks said, “For this efficient experience to happen, we need to think of ourselves as being part of a broader ecosystem that connects the brands and the agencies to the community that helps them activate social content. We already have the critical masses on each platform, and it’s where brand activity needs to happen. Our role as a technology provider is connecting all these parts back to creators, who really exist at the core of this ecosystem.”

He shared key insights brands should consider adopting, in order for them to future-proof their influencer marketing strategies. This includes moving away from a one-size-fits-all perspective and instead thinking of platform-based approaches to be in line with the brand’s overall marketing objectives.

Speaking from his experience with Vamp’s clients, Brooks likewise mentions the importance of boosting creators’ organic content to drive results. “This is really important for a few reasons. When clients boost their organic content through paid media, you are basically giving the content a second lease of life that helps push customers further down the purchase funnel and drives the performance element of a campaign,” he explained. 

He specifically mentioned the importance of leveraging the power of video for content creation. According to Brooks, about 79% of TikTok users said they discovered new brands through the app. From a content format performance perspective, he referenced Instagram reels being 29% more efficient than stories, and 3.8 times more cost-efficient than feed posts. Reels also have 25% more return on ad spend (ROAS) than other IG content.

As Brooks wrapped up his presentation, he shared some actions brands can apply to their influencer marketing approach. His first tip is to apply a squad strategy when selecting a creator mix for your brand, in order to reach all consumer types and sub-niche audiences. This includes recruiting micro-creators who tend to have much more engaged audiences, and using creators from a broad selection of interest groups. He also mentioned it is important for brands to “mirror the fabric of everyday life” by creating authentic advocacy content. Lastly, he recommended using creators to build a digital asset library that has a constant stream of original content, so brands can rise to the challenge of continuously engaging with consumers on different online channels.

Brooks was later joined by industry experts for the panel discussion during the latter part of the webinar, including Ruben Ahmed, director of marketing at HP ANZ; Isabel Falco, chief digital & marketing officer at L’Oréal Philippines; and Jonathan Gerard, head of production at VaynerMedia Asia Pacific.

On-demand access to the What’s NEXT 2023: Influencer Marketing in APAC webinar is now available here.