Social Influencers: The Rise of Cross-Platform Serialized Content Creators
A universal innovative strategy beyond the traditional banner ad and pre-/post-roll that substitutes programmatic for organic marketing has yet to crystallize.
The amount of online content is increasing exponentially. Short-form video, in particular, continues to experience rapid growth across various platforms and audience segments. YouTube remains the most productive player but competitors are stepping up their game. Twitter and Vine, Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr are all experimenting with new ways to monetize online video and generate revenue through their established user bases. Technology leads but strategic planning and creative positioning grow more important as platforms evolve into publishers.
The opportunities for content creators and advertisers in this context are ample but a universal innovative strategy beyond the traditional banner ad and pre-/post-roll that substitutes programmatic for organic marketing has yet to crystallize — online video publishing is another segment for media buying but, overall, it also offers a much more agile and scalable model. The most viable approach so far has involved reaching out to influencers, social media celebrities with massive loyal followings, and leveraging their potential for consumer engagement and reach. The celebrity cult around influencers has even seen online video evolve beyond the computer screen into television and film.
“Whether or not Dallas will take Hollywood by storm remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: His career as a fashion insider is off to an impressive start” — Vogue, January 20th, 2016
The online video industry is in the process of developing new business models to scale their efforts and create operational ventures that leverage influencer/user engagement and reach on a grander scale to optimize advertising solutions and revenue. From a marketing point of view, there is a vital need to develop synergies between social media and other media channels; be it through the creative side (using a branded Vine as a YouTube pre-roll ad to lower the ad skipping trend) or the media side (leveraging social insights and content into other formats such as display).
Moving beyond one-off branded content: The traditional approach involved simple influencer endorsements on a one-off basis. This approach evolved primarily due to the slow roll-out of a systematic advertising model on social media platforms. Social media platforms generally set up capital by emphasizing strategic user growth and building a comprehensive data infrastructure over time which they later leveraged into ad value. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, all followed this approach — with Snapchat and Vine slowly moving into the same direction. The solution for brands to gain an entryway into the ad business on social media was to connect directly with its most popular users: influencers.
Evolving through a scalable social marketing platform: Influencer marketing reached another stage when it became integrated into the advertising offering of online distribution platforms. YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook recognized the crowd-sourcing capabilities of their popular and influential users, activating them for vertical business. YouTube, in particular, invested heavily in talent development and channel aggregation to drive up the value chain and emphasize long tail monetization which eventually led to the emergence of multi-channel networks (MCNs). The business approach has remained largely traditional, emphasizing banner and pre-/post-roll ads, with sponsored content initiatives. Original content development with brands remained a one-off ad-hoc strategy.
The industry has reached a point where influencer marketing has been corporatized to the point of limited agility. Influencer deals, in general, have become part of media buying strategies and package deals. The focus of influencer work remains limited to video creation for larger campaigns, with no control over strategy or impact.
Reaching structured cross-platform brand building: The new evolution of this industry model is similar to the innovative approach developed by Beats by Dr. Dre. A few stealth companies are trying to apply the same approach to online video influencers. The idea is to assemble and engage a portfolio of cross-platform influencers (YouTube, Vine, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat) and to connect them with brand advertisers for specific projects — similar to the talent agency model. But, unlike a talent agency, this approach does not aim to create branded video one-offs. Instead, it enlists influencers as creative directors with more leverage over the brand, with the goal of developing new IP and franchises. These companies innovate by adding technology and product development to the relationship between brands and influencers. The idea is to emphasize synergy and adopt an agile multi-platform approach that can be tailored to clients’ needs.
Unlike MCNs, this approach sheds the unnecessary weight of aggregated channels with low following, focusing specifically on the premium talent. This cross-channel integration promises more reach and increased targeting capabilities. The focus on IP and franchise opens up new integrated revenue streams, including branded product commerce and premium content. Profits are shared, as is the publicity. This approach promises more scalability through vertical business development.
18Hubs is the innovation research facility of Havas Media, headquartered in Paris, with offices in Los Angeles, Seoul, and Tel Aviv. Together, we are building a satellite network of innovation hubs to be 18 months ahead of new developments in the converging industries of media, culture, technology, and data science. In each office, we connect with established market leaders, first-rate universities, and startups.
Written by Thomas Jorion and Matthias Stork
