The Social Media and Influencer Marketing News You Can Use in June
As we get closer to the Juneteenth holiday, I am reminded of the progress we as a country have made so far, and how progress requires consistent effort. I hope we can all enjoy the time off and to reflect on this country’s history.
Let’s dive into this week’s news you can use, where we’ll cover the latest social media and influencer marketing news that you need to be aware of in June. This week, we’ll discuss two potential platform updates coming to Instagram, Snapchat’s user base is growing older and get a brief introduction on how influencer partnerships come to life behind the scenes.
Need a Gut Check Before Posting? Instagram’s Got Your Back With New Features
Instagram is testing out two exciting new features to enable users to get feedback on their Reels prior to posting them to the public. Both features are currently being tested on select accounts.
The first feature lets users send a preview of their in-progress video creation to friends. On a personal level, it's a chance to ask, "Do I look ridiculous in this outfit?" For brands, it's an additional review step to catch spelling errors, evaluate background music choices, check cuts, assess video length, and more. This process is completely private and visible only to those you choose to share it with.
The second feature allows users to share their Reels with a randomly selected audience of non-followers before officially making them public. For brands, this could be a way to test new concepts or edgier ideas and gauge reactions. You have 24 hours to decide whether to post it publicly or archive it.
Instagram's goal with these features is to improve content quality and encourage more users to give posting Reels a try by offering these safety nets.
Snapchat’s User Base is Growing Up and That’s A Win For Advertisers
Think Snapchat is just a playground for Gen Z? Think again. The platform is experiencing a significant demographic shift, with a growing segment of mature users. In an interview with Marketing Brew, Patrick Harris, Snap's President of the Americas, revealed that nearly a quarter of Snapchat's user base is 35 or older. This data point presents a compelling business opportunity for advertisers seeking to engage a diverse audience beyond younger audiences.
Snapchat's evolving brand positioning is underscored by a new ad campaign that sets the platform apart from its competitors. In conjunction with this campaign, Snapchat has rolled out an array of innovative advertising capabilities, including enhanced Dynamic Ads, generative AI and AR capabilities, and a suite of tools designed to empower advertisers and brands.
With a growing segment of older users and a revitalized ad platform, Snapchat is positioning itself as a potent force in the advertising landscape, ready to cater to the needs of a broader range of brands and businesses. And these efforts are yielding results as an advertising platform, with a reported 85% year-over-year growth in its small and medium advertiser base in Q1. This momentum is further bolstered by Snapchat's expanding user base, which recently surpassed 422 million daily active users.
A Brief Introduction to Influencer Partnerships (Through Legal)
Having a clear partnership agreement is crucial for successful collaborations. We wanted to share some behind the scenes info as to how we bring their content to life, while protecting our clients from any serious issues. Now you’ve probably heard the terms "contract" and "agreement" thrown around on status or internal calls, and are sometimes used interchangeably, but understanding the distinction is vital.
Agreements typically outline the partnership's scope, defining each party's responsibilities. For example, a brand might want an influencer to create content around a certain product and promote the product page on their Link in Bio.
Contracts, on the other hand, often delve deeper, specifying the terms under which the work is carried out. They might include restrictions on language use, guidelines on discussing competitors, and payment details.
Ideally, an agreement and contract are finalized and signed before any creative work begins. Now why are contracts and agreements important? They provide clarity by eliminating confusion by defining roles and responsibilities, ensuring everyone understands their part in the collaboration. And they help our clients mitigate risk by addressing potential disputes by outlining content expectations, how creative revisions happen, ownership of intellectual property, usage rights and termination procedures.
If you enjoyed this week’s “news can use,” you won’t want to miss the latest on TikTok in my blog update surrounding the latest legislation that is forcing TikTok to be sold or be banned in the United States.
Cannabis and Social Media Trends You Need To Know
Happy Black History Month! Without further ado, I have the latest cannabis and social media trends for you. If you’re looking for more info, I’d recommend some of my more recent blog posts, which you can find here, or here.
Introducing Black Cannabis Farmers
To kick off Black History Month, I wanted to share a piece about Black Cannabis farmers. Specifically, Damian Fagon, founder and head farmer of Gullybean, a hemp farm.
Learn about Damian's story and how his entrepreneurial journey could lead to more Black and Brown people gaining access to a growing, multi-billion dollar industry.
"The people who've had access to growing cannabis own farms, and they own land, and they live in communities that have very traditional agricultural roots," said Damian. "And only 2% of farmers nationally are Black, and so the disparities that already existed in agriculture and land access are just being amplified in the cannabis space.
Want to learn more? Watch BIPOCANN Founder Ernest Toney and I talk about his company’s efforts to shape a more equitable and profitable cannabis industry for BIPOC business owners and professionals
Two Years After Illinois’ Cannabis Market Goes Recreational
As of January 1st, 2022, Illinois has completed two years of legal recreational cannabis sales. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation is expected to pull upwards of $1.3 billion in revenue through legal cannabis sales for 2021.
The NACB shares their insights and predictions for legal cannabis in Illinois for 2022, including:
Grants that will support programs meant to reinvest in communities.
A plethora of new dispensary licenses in the state.
A rethinking of cannabis laws for licenses and drug testing policies in the state for the years to come.
Hybrid Shopping Trends In 2022
Finally, I wanted to share more from G2's 2022 Digital Trends series, specifically around hybrid shopping. We've seen this trend before when it comes to new ways for consumers to buy products, through things like subscriptions for products and services (like the new Taco Bell "taco pass"), curbside pickup, self-checkout, and buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS).
No surprise, but consumers are comfortable purchasing via e-commerce and in-store retail. Brands don't need to be mutually exclusive though, with some of the most successful brands doing both well, with NRF data indicating 9 of the 10 top e-commerce websites being managed by companies with brick-and-mortar locations.
Until next time!
Social Media Tips
With all this newly found free time, I'm finishing off the many half-read books scattered across our apartment. The book I'm finishing up now is "We're All Ears: How to increase your impact, influence, and success online in a noisy world." by Valerie Morris. I had the privilege to share the stage with Valerie at SocialRock Conference 2019 , and even today, hundreds of miles away, I’m learning from her.
One thing, in particular, Valerie touches on is how to build influence by creating authority-building content. And the majority of the time it's done, you have to give first, be helpful. Specifically, "giving away free information is perhaps one of the best ways to build influencer."
So I'm going to do just that, and share some tips, best practices, and learnings around Social Media. The goal will be for you to walk away with ways to maximize your efforts on each platform. To start, we'll be talking about the current social media ecosystem, what's changing there, and how you can implement strategic approaches on various social media platforms.
When Art + Science Intersect
We all know that social media is a blend of both art and science, requiring not only the ability to understand "how" a piece of content performs but also "why" it performed the way that it did. And as social media best practices continue to evolve, and user-behavior on these platforms shifts, brands are continually looking to establish themselves in the social space. Often, the companies behind these social platforms define what successful content is.
And from my experience, it's actively managing and engaging with audiences online that leads to a brand's success. There is a need for brands today to establish an online community that can directly support and embody their goals. I believe that each social media platform can have a purpose for a brand, regardless of size or industry. I'll focus on four big ones for small businesses and entrepreneurs, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter for brevity's sake.
Facebook has one of the most massive, most diverse audiences, which is excellent for social content that needs to reach an audience at scale through organic and paid social. Facebook encourages consumers to showcase their love of a brand to their friends and family, which can be done through direct messaging, viewing, liking, or sharing content, engaging with chatbots, and even providing useful contact information directly to the brand.
A tip for improving your content strategy on Facebook is to remember that you don't always have to push out your published content! If you offer useful advice or information to someone and link them to a third-party website or piece of content, they may be more receptive to your brand at a later date since you've already established trust with them by providing useful information, regardless of the source.
On Instagram, content performs well when it highlights an individual or brand's 'best of' moments, inspiring people to go out and live a more aspirational life. Instagram as a platform is an excellent medium for visually-arresting creative while relying less on hard-hitting product messaging, otherwise knowns as the Reason To Buy (RTBs).
For Instagram, think about creating 'Engagement first' content utilizing unique formats like Boomerangs, as a great way to foster engagement. If this is your audience's preferred channel, use key platform features like Instagram Stories and unique functions within them, like Polls or Quizzes.
Linkedin is a great platform to become a thought-leader in your industry by engaging with your current and future LinkedIn connections. It's also an opportunity to share your company's culture with potential customers and job recruits. When thinking about what type of content lives best on LinkedIn, a recent platform survey said 44% of respondents said the last piece of content they read on LinkedIn was straight to the point and provided real value to businesses in their industry.
Finally, Twitter is the best social channel for facilitating brand awareness and direct communication with consumers, and not just because it's my favorite platform. I view Twitter as an excellent platform for connecting with people in real-time and integrating the brand into cultural conversations.
Use Twitter to help your brand stay top-of-mind with consumers, and you can do that without as much of a need for paid support than the other platforms that I've mentioned.
Overall Tips
Regardless of platform, staying top of mind with your consumers is more than just pushing out your content. Impactful social and community management is all about joining conversations and building on them. That doesn't mean only replying to people talking directly to you. I'm talking about joining conversations about your brand, general chatter about your business' industry, and even introducing community members to one another to spark further discussions.
With that said, brands have an opportunity to play a vital role in consumers' daily lives on social media, in a way that feels natural and non-invasive. And through research on user behavior, we know that consumers want to showcase how their favorite brands play a role in their lives online. Consumers expect their favorite brands to engage with them on social when appropriate. They want to see brands' heart,' 'favorite,' and share their content.
Photo by influencer Violet Ezedimora - @violetezedimora
The image above is from an influencer I randomly came across, Violet Ezedimora; please give her channel some love. One of the things about her post that I wanted to talk about is all of the brands she tagged. Violet’s tagged asos, Closet London, and even her Wandler bag.
Community Management
One of the better ways to engage with your brand or client's audience is through community management. Community management is a low-cost, high-reward initiative for brands to stand out in their respective industries and as a brand in the overall social media space. One of the great things about community management is that a company of anywhere between 1-5 people can punch above its weight class and compete with much larger companies by dedicating a little bit of time each day through community management.
We're nearly done with 2020 (don't remind me), and there are STILL are too many brands that believe that social media and community management are a marketing afterthought. Social media is a must for every brand, regardless of industry or size.
And we know this because consumers want to participate in a brand's online community for various reasons. A crucial part of community management is giving consumers an opportunity for dialogue, not only with the brand itself but also with other consumers.
Consumers are looking online and through social for information about a brand through product news or updates. They look for entertainment through engaging or shareable content, more often than not, repurposing content across platforms. And at the end of the day, we're human beings that are looking to build social relationships with one another, and consumers can do that by connecting online.
Community Engagement
These social interactions between brands and consumers can help elicit an emotional reaction, directly attributed to the brand. The photo above is from a recent post by the big-box retailer Target. Prompted by a user’s comment asking the brand to make it easier to label products that Target sources from Black-owned companies, the brand listened. Now on Target.com, there are icons to help shoppers identify and support Black-Owned or -Founded brands.
This is an excellent example of a brand investing in their online communities by listening to their community. This post highlights that Target is creating a two-way conversation for its customers, allowing them to break through an already cluttered timeline.
User-Generated Content
A great way to support an effective yet scrappy content strategy is to leverage User-Generated Content. User-Generated Content, or UGC, is an excellent way to share engaging social content and promote conversations around a brand. UGC enables companies to build brand affinity and foster community growth through additional reach and engagements.
By highlighting individuals that embody a brand's essence through UGC, other consumers are encouraged to share their content using branded hashtags. In turn, this User-Generated Content helps amplify a brand's message through what we call brand advocates.
One brand that I believe does a great job of utilizing UGC is Starbucks and their Instagram feed. In the images above, you’ll see a photo from a woman based in Seattle, Maria, and her fantastic shot of the Haleakala Sun Rise Viewpoint, garnering 51 likes since her posting it on March 08. About 2.5 months later, Starbucks touched the photo up a little bit and reposted it on their channel; it garnered over seventy-thousand likes.
A quick tip about branded hashtags before we move on: create a branded hashtag that's own-able, yet the average user would easily read aloud.
When I worked on Oscar Mayer, we were launching a brand-wide campaign for their new and better hot dogs. I had to sell in the idea of using an unbranded hashtag that allowed us to own the conversation around hot dogs, while still providing utility to users that may feel nervous about using a branded hashtag. Something like For The Love Of Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs didn't feel right to us as a team back then.
If you're launching a new business and don't have enough current customers to create UGC for your company, enroll your team! You may not have a marketing department like larger businesses, but you can still enroll your organization to help support your marketing efforts by capturing and posting content on your behalf.
Stay tuned for more!
243 Years Later, We Endure
On August 26th, my world changed in a few different ways. After nearly 14 months leading all things Social Media for the largest privately-held company in the Medical Cannabis industry, I was being laid off. That alone is a scary enough moment, and only becomes amplified in the middle of record-level unemployment in conjunction with a global pandemic.
Not even before I had 6 hours to process this new change in my life, something bigger happened on that day that affected me, specifically as a Black man living in America. Players in the NBA, WNBA, MLB, and professional tennis player, Naomi Osaka, effectively all went on strike to raise awareness around social justice and racial equity, refusing to play in their respective sports.
Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida.
This mass strike across multiple major sports professions was all sparked by the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team deciding to sit out of a playoff game to raise awareness around the shooting of James Blake and those individuals who lost their lives in Kenosha at the hands of a murderer.
I tried to focus my energy on finding my next career opportunity; however, as a Black man living in America, I can't put what's going on regarding racial and economic justice on hold. At times like this, I think of a quote from Trevor Noah, "Time and time again, Black people have seen the contract they have signed with society, is not being honored by the society that has forced them to sign that contract."
Everyday citizens are fed up; athletes are fed up, suburban moms are fed up, and young adults in rural areas are fed up. There will always be people saying, "This isn't the right way to do this." But we have a chance to push for real change here. Like anything else in life, we have to choose "Comfort or Growth?"‘
Even now, I think of how African-Americans have been fighting for equality for hundreds of years, and it still feels like we're decades away from true equality. I think about one of my ancestors, who had to buy their freedom and whose entrepreneurial spirit is recognized today.
I'm talking about my Great x5 Grandfather, Free Frank McWorter, and he was the first African American to found a town in the United States. Born in 1777 in South Carolina, Frank McWorter lived as a slave for 42 years and spent years planning his freedom.
Free Frank McWorter - Courtesy of National History Museum of American History
That's right; Frank McWorter was born enslaved nearly two months after the United States of America was born. In 1817, at the age of 40, he had earned enough money to buy his wife's freedom, and two years later, his freedom. In 1836, he later founded New Philadelphia, IL, becoming the 1st African-American to establish a town in U.S. history.
My Grandmother, Dr. Juliet E.K. Walker, worked tirelessly to get his story told, founding the Free Frank New Philadelphia Historic Preservation Foundation. The goal of "The Foundation" is to preserve and bring to the public information about the extraordinary life antebellum African-American pioneer businessman and entrepreneur.
Dr. Juliet E.K. Walker, founder/director, is the author of the only scholarly study that details the life of Free Frank as both a slave and freedman, his founding of New Philadelphia, and his activities as a proprietor to promote its growth. Dr. Walker's book, Free Frank: A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1983, 1995), a carefully researched study, provides the only documented information on Free Frank economic life and his town of New Philadelphia.
Free Frank: A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier
The mission of the Foundation is to capture the significance of Free Frank as a historical figure, and as a basis to further serious inquiry into the historical continuity of African-American entrepreneurship. Including slave and free, Black men and women who lived in the United States during the age of slavery.
Through intensive lobbying and effort, Dr. Walker had the gravesite of her great-great-grandfather declared a National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Free Frank's gravesite is one of three in Illinois listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The other two are President Abraham Lincoln and Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas. The Free Frank New Philadelphia Historic Preservation Foundation has launched plans to restore the Free Frank Family Cemetery and film a documentary on the life and history of Free Frank and New Philadelphia, Illinois.
The geographic location of New Philadelphia, Illinois. Courtesy of Department of Anthropology University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
She even started a website back in the early 2000s (I should ask Grandma for the keys to update the site) to raise awareness of this American entrepreneur. It took decades of hard work, but President Barrack Obama finally listened. President Obama's support led to New Philadelphia's designation as a National Historic Landmark (p. 709).
3 Generations of the McWorter Family
I am fortunate to have the ability to trace my ancestors' journey in this country, all the way back to 1777. Many Black people in America are not as fortunate, which can weigh on someone both mentally and spiritually. And yet, people who look like me still hear "Go back where you came from" from people who don't look like me. Good thing I'm already home.
My family has fought for equality and a better life since the founding of our country. And on August 27th, 2020, I plan on continuing that fight for those before and after me.
For more information about Free Frank McWorter, and my Grandmother's work, click here.
A Nation In Unrest
I knew things were different the moment the 1st coworker to reach out to me asked how I was feeling, and I broke down shortly afterward for the 1st time.
Photo Credit: Alice Xiao (@AliceXiaoCreative)
I don't know where to start, but I do know when things will end.
I knew things were different the moment the first coworker to reach out to me asked how I was feeling, and I broke down shortly afterward for the first time.
I knew things were different when I struggled to get back to work as if nothing had happened. My heart hurt because I knew that was being expected of me and many others that look like me. To just grin our teeth and persevere on top of the everyday struggles we face.
Photo Credit: Alice Xiao (@AliceXiaoCreative)
I knew things were different when, like many of you, I didn't know what else I could do. I read articles, used my platform to amplify others' voices, reached out to my friends of color, connected with my white friends, and donated money. I saw my favorite artists bringing life to boarded windows. I watched my friends cook meals for first responders, protesters, and those in need out front of their bar, doing what they can.
I knew things were different when I marched with 30,000+ Chicagoans in peaceful protest, taking up all 4 lanes of traffic for 3+ miles. I met friends there before we marched, another friend tapped my shoulder after bumping into us, and we walked home with a different set of friends.
I knew things were different when I woke up today, energized, and with a heart full of pride. I’ll look back, knowing we made the right decision to stand up against injustice. And I’ll look forward, knowing my ancestors proud will be proud of my actions.
Joining The Cannabis Industry
As a Chicagoan, seeing your brands in the publications you grew up reading is a special feeling.
As a Chicagoan, seeing your brands in the publications you grew up reading is a special feeling.
It’s icing on the cake that I’m starting 2020 seeing my Chicago-based brands in @ChicagoMagazine’s cannabis edition celebrating the legalization of weed. And I’ve been fortunate to meet folks that have been leading this industry for years.
But we can’t celebrate something so great without acknowledging the price we paid to get here. As a Black man living in Chicago, I always feared that I was at a higher risk for being arrested for marijuana consumption or possession, 3.73x as likely.
I was luckier than others, and that can’t be forgotten.
Progress takes time, and there will be some hiccups in the road. But I look forward to sharing this journey with you.
