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Hi, this is Amanda Perelli and welcome back to Insider Influencers, our weekly rundown on the business of influencers, creators, and social-media platforms. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Some music marketers trying to make songs go viral on TikTok are turning to a wider swath of creators who are less well-known.
Dan Whateley wrote that a big part of the shift in strategy is tied to cost.
Hiring less-famous creators allows marketers and labels to test out new ideas at a cheaper rate.
Here are some takeaways:
Flighthouse is looking into the idea of "leaking" a snippet of a song on TikTok before its official release. And hiring less-famous creators is a cheaper way to experiment.
Hiring a few big stars to try to drive hype on day one of an album's release is thinking too short term, some marketers said.
RCA Records will sometimes hires top stars to promote tracks, while other times it enlists between 10 and 30 micro influencers for a song campaign.
"There's never been a viral hit on TikTok that just took off over night," said Johnny Cloherty, CEO of the music-marketing agency Songfluencer.
Amazon is building out its influencer program to try and build a network of social-media creators.
The Amazon Influencer Program offers a variety of different tools and programs for influencers.
I broke down key takeaways from the company's influencer marketing strategy.
Here are some new features currently being beta tested:
Creator Connections, a marketplace that matches brands and influencers for paid partnerships.
Creator Ads, a program where influencers can appear on shoppable Amazon ads across social media (like Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram) and the creator will earn a commission every time someone buys something from that ad.
"We don't look for just one particular influencer," Katie Scott, director of the Amazon Influencer Program, said of the program. "Similar to how we attract customers of all different backgrounds, we think about it the same way for influencers."
As the battle for short-form video heats up, YouTube is looking to be seen as a platform where creators can make money and reach new audiences.
Since its launch, Shorts has boosted viewership for some creators and lead to quick subscriber growth.
The platform is also in the process of launching a $100 million Fund for top creators on Shorts, which the company said will release "in the coming months."
I spoke with creators about how it has impacted their views, subscribers, incomes.
Here are some takeaways:
Viewership is generally higher on Shorts, and creators are seeing a boost in engagement.
Creator Nigel Braun said his subscriber growth became supercharged this year when he started experimenting with Shorts.
But many creators said monetization was still lacking with the feature.
"YouTube is a platform that has the absolute highest barrier to entry when it comes to social platforms," said Samir Chaudry, who co-runs the Colin and Samir YouTube channel (268,000 subscribers).
Insider is compiling our second annual list of the top managers and agents in gaming and esports.
In this list, we are highlighting the managers and agents who are successfully assisting creators with their businesses and in adapting to changes in the industry.
And before you go, check out the top trending songs on TikTok this week to add to your playlist, according to data collected by UTA IQ, the research, analytics, and digital strategy division of United Talent Agency (UTA).
