The Latest Social Media and Influencer Trends
If you haven’t seen my other blog covering the latest social media trends, you can view them here, and here. I also recently addressed some misconceptions around influencer marketing that’s worth a read.
Without further ado, let’s dig into the latest trends and news for all things social media and cannabis.
Impact on Data Privacy Changes
I’ve touched on data privacy and its impact on brands and marketers in the past. And after nearly three months since that shift began to take place, figures are coming out to showcase the potential impact.
According to a Marketing Brew article, Facebook is on record saying that at a minimum, 15% of total sales attributed to paid ads are now being underreported based on internal data. Anytime "at a minimum" is used when describing a figure, assume that figure is much higher.
This issue only compounds for many direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands due to a large portion of their purchases occurring through paid ads on Facebook's platforms. Working on cannabis brands, we cannot advertise on Facebook or Instagram, but this highlights another example of something good for society but bad for marketers.
IL Cannabis Industry News
In Leafly's inaugural Cannabis Harvest Report, cannabis became the third-most valuable crop in the state, behind corn and soybeans. This means that cannabis in Illinois now accounts for roughly $322 million worth, which is $100 million more than the next most-valuable crop in the state, hay.
My home state also surpassed two significant milestones recently, the first being over $1 billion in adult-use cannabis sales in 2021 alone, and Illinois continues to take in more tax dollars from cannabis sales than alcohol sales, according to the state's Department of Revenue. There is still much work to be done in Illinois’ market regarding social equity and CSR, but many look forward to the positives this market has already given back so far.
What Happens When You Put Influencers and Capital One In The Same Room?
You get a successful marketing campaign, that's what. Last week, Capital One revealed their new travel-focused credit card called the Venture X and leveraged influencers to help get the word out.
In conjunction with traditional marketing channels like print, email, radio, and more, Capital One partnered with their agency, MullenLowe, to create a supporting influencer campaign. The end goal was to identify and collaborate with travel and lifestyle-focused influencers to sign up for the card.
Influencers in the program include Becca Tobin, Cody Rigsby, Shiona Turini, Cameran Eubanks, and the brand even extended an invitation to a "creator mansion," where influencers could capture additional photos for their campaign, with each being compensated for their work.
This campaign is not the first example of a financial institution partnering with influencers but is another example of brands authentically inserting themselves into the conversation (i.e., Travel and a premium travel card) through influencers.
Thank you as always for taking the time to read these updates, until next time!
