Will news creators kill off influencer marketing?

Sponsored by the Influencer Marketing Trade Body

Issue #144 | 1,595 words. Your reading time this week is 5 mins. 45 secs.

Welcome back to the Creator Briefing.

Here’s just some of what I’ve been thinking about this week:

• The way we access news is changing. Will news creators kill off influencer marketing?

• 5 key insights into next-gen influencer marketing

• Is the ASA doing enough to keep up with regulating the creator economy? Sign up to the webinar and find out

• New salary and benefits report is in development. Have your say by taking the survey

• Apple wants its 30% cut of the creator economy

🙏Can you help me out? Please consider sharing this newsletter with a friend, colleague or student who might be interested in creator marketing. And, if you were forwarded this newsletter, sign up here to get your own weekly copy.

Internet tops TV as UK’s most popular news source - but that’s not necessarily good news for influencer marketing

Online news sites and social media sites are now more popular than TV for accessing news according to Ofcom. 

‘News consumption in the UK: 2024’ - a report published this week by the UK’s communications service watchdog shows that whilst nearly all (96%) of UK adults say they consume news in some form, the ways in which people access news are changing. 

• 71% say they consume online news in some capacity - giving it a hair’s breadth lead over news consumed via TV and on demand (70%). 

• For the first time over half of UK adults (52%) turns to social media platforms to access news, up from 47% in 2023.

• Focusing on 16-24 year olds shows that 82% access news via social media. Only half of 16-24s (49%) use TV for news. 

• And, for 12-15 year olds TikTok remains the most-used single source of news across all platforms, followed by YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

  

Ofcom’s findings chime with those published in June by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in its 2024 Digital News Report. This report echoed that younger people were accessing news via social media - especially TikTok - and were ignoring mainstream journalists and media outlet profiles in preference to watching influencers. 

U.S. President Joe Biden recognises the growing importance of creators in the news gathering and dissemination process. Last month at the White House Creator Economy Conference Biden said: 

“I have a bunch of grandchildren, and, with all due respect, they don't read the same newspapers or watch the same television I do. They listen to all of you [content creators]. … You are the future. … You are the source of their news.”

So, why isn’t this gravy for influencer marketing? Well, it depends on the calibre of the creators’ news reporting. Is the content accurate, reliable, and well-researched? Does the creator always verify information with a credible source before sharing it with their communities?

Biden went on to tell the Creator Economy conference - “You all understand that you have an obligation -- an obligation to record what you think is true and say what you think is true”.

The president added: “The biggest thing you’ve got going for you and I hope you keep it is you’re trusted”. 

Here’s the heart of it. Ofcom’s report notes that whilst online and social media have increased in use, traditional platforms outperform them on a number of attribute ratings; in particular, trust, accuracy and impartiality. 

If creators lose the trust of their audience then influencer marketing is finished. 

New report: Aspirational content loses to relatable realism

Aspirational content is shifting towards relatable realism argues We Are Social in its new Next Gen Influence report published this week. 

The social media agency says social comparison is only effective if the goal you’re striving for is within the realm of possibility. 

Luxurious escapism still has its place as influential entertainment, but truly aspirational content is having to change shape to stay realistic. 

With soaring cost of living, new challenges in forging romantic connections, and the ever-present chance that much of today’s housing could be underwater in a few decades, most people are striving for stability, not luxury. 

What does this mean for brands? Aspirational lifestyle content is a harder sell in today’s economic climate, meaning brands have to think carefully about how they position themselves and their products

Relatable realism is just one of five key insights put forward by We Are Social in this new report. The others are: 

• The right to reinvention

• Influential allies

• Credible creativity

• Extreme influence

The Influencer Marketing Trade Body and the Advertising Standards Authority are hosting a webinar to discuss ad regulation and the creator economy.

Recent rulings by the ASA against creators including Grace Beverley and Steven Bartlett have brought the UK’s advertising regulator into sharp focus.

In this webinar I'll represent the IMTB and ask Emma Humber-Smith of the ASA whether the regulator is doing enough to keep pace with the changing face of the creator economy.

This webinar is open to IMTB members and non-members.

📅 26 September 2024

⏲️ 14:00 - 14:45

👉👉👉 Sign up here

Are Mr Beast’s days numbered? 

Jimmy Donaldson aka Mr Beast is shifting from YouTuber to fully fledged production company. But, the transition is not without issues. Garbage Day lays out the allegations of an unsafe work environment on Donaldson’s sets. Allegations that his long-time friend and collaborator Ava Kris Tyson was sending sexual messages to a minor in the MrBeast Discord. And, Donaldson’s old, offensive videos resurfaced following the Tyson scandal.

It’s a tale of poor judgement, tall poppy syndrome and offence archeology. Garbage Day’s Ryan Broderick lays out the issues well, capturning, too, the chaotic state of Donaldson’s philanthropic enterprises. Though Broderick omits mention of Feastibles and the Youtubers other many revenue streams outside of YouTube. 

I'm very pleased to share that SUMO has asked the Influencer Marketing Trade Body back to partner with it on its ground-breaking analysis of influencer marketing pay and benefits.

Last year 1,679 influencer marketers and employers shared their experience of pay, benefits, and training. Your responses helped create a data-rich benchmark report for our industry.

Please spare 5 mins to complete this year's survey

All participants have the chance of winning a 1-night stay at The Ned in London. T&Cs 

Mukbang wallop

Mukbang content creator Nikocado Avocado (real name Nicholas Perry) spent eight years eating gargantuan quantities of food on camera whilst being ‘egged’ on by his followers to eat more. 

In a recent YouTube great reveal the influencer seemingly lost 17-and-a-half stone over night. 

It turns out his last two years of video content were pre-recorded whilst he shed the weight. 

This places Avocado in an uneasy relationship with his subscribers. This transcript extract seems to indicate his contempt for these followers:

“Today I woke up from a very long dream […] having lost 250 pounds off my body, yet just yesterday people were calling me fat and sick and boring and irrelevant. People are the most messed up creatures on the entire planet and yet I’ve still managed to stay two steps ahead of everyone. The joke’s on you.”

We often hear that successful creators are those who scrutinise their analytics and pore through each online comment identifying ‘what works’ before producing more of that type of content. However with Avocado, over the years his followers were encouraging him, in effect, to self harm. 

He certainly doesn’t appear to feel bad about misleading this followers over the last 24 or so months by pumping out misinformation. His audience doesn’t seem to mind. In fact most comments about his weightloss and video are positive.

As The Conversation points out:

Apple keeps coming for creators’ cash

Starting in November, all in-app purchases made on Patreon via iOS devices will be subject to 30% revenue cut with Apple. 

Apple already takes a cut from smaller platforms used by creators to monetise their communities -  Kajabi, Mighty Networks, and Passes.

Similarly, fans on YouTube can reward creators with donations via SuperThanks, Superchats, and Stickers on videos and livestreams. If made in-app via iOS, these donations are also subject to Apple's fee.

Why this is noteworthy: The way creators make money is changing. Concerned about the uncertainty of brand deals, the vagaries of platform algorithms and geopolitical Damocles sword hanging over TikTok, creators are diversifying their revenue streams. 

eMarketer’s research shows that, whilst puny in comparison to platform payouts and brand sponsorship deals, tipping and subscription revenue is spiking. 

• Lucas Boudet, European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), Director General has passed away. Lucas was always exceptionally generous with his time and support. He was passionate about advertising self-regulation but was always extremely welcoming as well - Lucas eased the path for the European Influencer Marketing Alliance to become an EASA industry member just months ago in May. I was honoured to meet with him again in Amsterdam at the EASA general assembly and receive membership on behalf of EIMA. 

• Ted Murphy has stepped down as CEO of IZEA after 18 years. The company has appointed Patrick Venetucci as the new chief executive. 

• 15 academics have come together to form The Content Creator Scholars Network (CCSN). It’s is an interdisciplinary and international community hub dedicated to supporting humanistic and critical qualitative studies of digital creators and emerging platform economies. Here’s September’s newsletter. You can sign up here.