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Stay up to date with the latest trends and insights in the influencer marketing world.

  • Thyga: taking influencer marketing to the next level

    Date: April 5, 2023

    Categories: Influencer Marketing, Social Media, Tech & Entertainment

    Influencer marketing has become an increasingly popular tool for brands to connect with their target audience on social media. However, with so many brands jumping on the influencer bandwagon, it can be challenging to stand out and make an impact. To take your influencer marketing strategy to the next level, you need to incorporate paid media and data intelligence.

    Thyga brings creativity, data and strategy together to create the most efficient paid media plan at a fraction of the cost. And, by being part of the Samy Alliance network of digital agencies, SamyRoad can integrate efforts with Thyga to boost the results of our campaigns. 

    We focus on four key pillars: finding the right person (overcoming targeting restrictions to ensure only the target audience is exposed to the campaign), partnering with innovative social platforms, utilising relevant influencers and ambassadors, and optimising the media spend to conversion rather than just engagement. 

    Thyga uses unique research, creative, and influencer capabilities to improve media performance. As a paid media agency obsessed with delivering the right message to the right person, the data-driven approach allows us to understand your audience better, deliver effective messaging, and reach them with higher cost efficiency.

    Our data intelligence suite is used to identify the right influencers to work with. By analysing data on social media engagement, audience demographics, and interests, we can identify the social media authors who are most likely to resonate with your target audience. This ensures we find ultra relevant influencers that are more effective in driving engagement and conversions for your campaigns.

    With this approach, Thyga can use paid media to amplify the reach of influencer content, ensuring that it reaches a wider audience that may not have seen the post organically. And, with that, we track the performance of your influencer campaigns by monitoring metrics, comparing them with our predictions and therefore gaining insights into what’s working and what’s not. This information can be used to optimise future influencer campaigns and improve ROI.

    Our ultimate goal at Thyga is to increase the effectiveness and precision of your influencer marketing strategy. We do this by leveraging top-notch influencer content, tracking campaign performance in real-time, and having the guarantee of results. With over 10 years of experience creating innovative and disruptive experiences, our team of experts is committed to helping your brand reach its target audience on social media in the most effective way possible.

    For more information on Thyga, visit our website or get in touch at contact@thyga.com

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  • The future of Influencer Marketing: live now

    Date: March 19, 2023

    Categories: Data & Metrics, Influencer Marketing, Influencer World, Influencers, Social Media, Tech & Entertainment

    Influencer marketing has become an essential tool for brands to connect with their target audience, and that’s already said and set, embraced by companies of all sizes. As the industry continues to grow and evolve, it is crucial for brands to keep up with the latest trends in influencer marketing to stay ahead of their competitors, and the way to go on this is by understanding the shape of influencer marketing strategy for these upcoming years

    “Brands are increasingly recognising influencers as professional publishers with valuable audiences (…) Even behemoth social media companies recognise the pull influencers have in connecting people and keeping them engaged on their platforms—so much so that they’re actually designing some of their new features specifically to support creators’ business efforts ”

    Forbes, 2023

    The need for authenticity: believe the expert 

    Authenticity has become a buzzword in the influencer marketing world. Both brands and consumers are becoming more aware of fake followers and fake stats on social media, and users resent that. They are not looking for perfect idols anymore, but authenticity and realness. Brands that collaborate with influencers need to ensure that the influencers they work with have an actual and genuine connection with their audience, and have a place among them as equals.

    In 2023, we can expect to see brands focusing more on authenticity and collaborating with influencers and niche influencers who have an honest connection with their audience, based on interests and talents.

    Consumers are more likely to trust an influencer who they perceive as an expert in their field, this means that brands need to work with influencers who have a solid understanding of the industry they are promoting, but also rely on their knowledge and expertise; no one understands the target as they do.

    Partnering with influencers who have an intimate knowledge of their niche will enable brands to establish a deeper level of trust with their target audience, thus significantly improving their likelihood of success in influencer marketing campaigns. To achieve this, choosing the right influencer is key.

    Exploring the Metaverse

    The Metaverse needs no explanation at this point, and it has become an exciting platform for brands to connect with their target audience, offering new spaces, goods, and experiences worldwide – all from the comfort of each individual’s home.

    One of the most interesting aspects of the Metaverse is the possibility of having virtual ambassadors, also known as digital influencers. These are characters developed by brands or individuals that can represent them in the virtual world and, getting ahead of the upcoming Fashion Week, beauty and fashion brands are the ones rocking these virtual ambassadors, showing how amazingly effective they can be in promoting products and the brand itself in the Metaverse.The use of virtual ambassadors is just one example of the many opportunities that the Metaverse offers to brands. As more and more people spend time in this virtual world, brands have the chance to engage with their target audience in new and innovative ways. By building a presence in the Metaverse, brands can create a unique experience for users and establish a strong connection with their audience that can translate into increased brand awareness and loyalty.

    Live Shopping

    Live shopping is becoming increasingly popular in the influencer marketing world. It allows consumers to interact with influencers in real-time and purchase products directly from the live stream, a whole entertaining and unique experience.

    The game changer here is to build confidence: people want to be sure about what they are buying, as well as excited to see their favourite influencer talk about it.

    According to Statista, the primary benefits of livestream shopping globally are the ability to access exclusive discounts and use it as a source of inspiration and ideas. Additionally, 31% of respondents stated that this purchasing channel enabled them to shop smarter and make more informed buying decisions.

    Therefore, we can assure that collaborating with influencers to host live shopping events will represent a great strategy in the upcoming years, and it will result in a highly engaging and interactive shopping experience that will significantly increase the possibilities of consumers making a purchase.

    Niche Influencers

    As stated in our report “The rise of niche communities”, with this action involved in a strategy brands will have direct access to the target audience, meaning they can talk and communicate with them directly. Not only will they increase loyalty towards the brand, but also will get first-hand insights, challenges, goals and feedback.

    Either way, users are extremely jealous and protective with their close spaces, therefore the best way to access to them is through niche influencers; who’s that might not seem as shiny, but have the strongest bond in the community, and understanding why they are there is the base to give proper information that will result into buying decisions for them.

    Why are communities looking for decentralised spaces?

    Discover new things77%
    Connect with people who have similar interests66%
    Find funny/entertaining content62%
    Keep up with the news/current events60%
    Ask a question to people knowledgeable about a topic60%
    To seek honest advice55%
    Get a recommendation for a product/service to buy54%
    To have a safe space to share ideas, thoughts, etc.49%
    To have genuine conversations with other people44%
    To share advice38%
    As we can see, it’s not only about showing off a product in these spaces, it’s about offering a solution based on the interests of people who belong there. And that’s why we, as brands, need an insider.

    Best Platforms to be IN

    In today’s ever-changing digital landscape, influencer marketing has become a crucial tool for brands to connect with their target audience. As the popularity of social media continues to grow, so does the number of platforms available for influencer marketing. While Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are currently the most popular platforms for influencer marketing, it is important to note that the best platform for your brand may differ based on your industry and target audience. For instance, a brand that caters to young people may find TikTok to be the best platform, while a brand targeting professionals may find LinkedIn to be more effective.

    Looking ahead, we can expect to see more brands explore new and emerging platforms for influencer marketing. Clubhouse, the audio-based social media app, has already gained significant traction among certain audiences, and brands are starting to take notice. Similarly, Reddit, Twitch, and Discord are all platforms that have the potential to become popular for influencer marketing in the near future.

    By staying informed on the latest trends and platforms, brands can stay ahead of the curve and effectively reach their target audience through influencer marketing.

    Down to business: is it worth the Investment?

    Influencer marketing has been proven to be a valuable tool for brands to reach their target audience and increase brand awareness. By connecting with their audience in a more authentic and personal way, brands can increase sales and revenue. As such, we can expect to see more brands investing in influencer marketing, since 8 out of 10 marketers intended to dedicate from 10% to 20% of the marketing budget to Influencer Marketing in 2022, given the potential for high returns on investment.

    However, influencer marketing is an ever-evolving industry, and brands need to stay up-to-date with the latest trends to stay ahead of competitors. It’s, indeed, a huge effort and strategy that needs to guarantee that this ally will retrieve the investment in terms of growth and driving sales, and understanding the needs of brands and considering the over 90.000 content creators that signed up for TikTok only in 2022, we saw the need of developing specialised high-tech tools to assure effective influencer marketing campaigns.

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  • TikTok Ads: How to get started

    Date: October 31, 2022

    Category: Social Media

    TikTok Ads provides you with plenty of options to advertise on the platform. But first of all, it is important to recognize that TikTok has taken the internet by storm in recent months and a few years, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. 

    The platform has been downloaded over 2 billion times and has over 800 million active monthly users. 

    And with users spending an average of 52 minutes per day on the app, it’s no wonder that brands are starting to take notice and need to invest.

    If you’re thinking about using TikTok for your business, here’s everything you need to know about getting started with TikTok advertising.

    What is TikTok Advertising?

    As with other social media such as Facebook Ads, TikTok has launched its ad manager, called TikTok Ads or TikTok Business, to help brands and consumers with their campaigns and advertisements. 

    TikTok Advertising is a new and exciting way to reach out to potential customers on the popular short-form video app. 

    With over 800 million active users, TikTok offers businesses a huge opportunity to reach a wide range of people with their advertising campaigns. 

    Getting started with TikTok Advertising is easy and can be done in just a few simple steps.

    First, businesses need to create a TikTok account and start creating engaging content that will resonate with their target audience. 

    Once they have a solid following, they can then start running ads on the platform. TikTok offers a variety of ad types, so businesses can experiment to find what works best for them.

    TikTok and its audience diversity

    As TikTok becomes more and more popular, it’s important to remember that there is a diversity of audiences using the platform. 

    While some users are there for entertainment purposes, others are using it as a tool for marketing, networking, or even education. 

    It’s important to consider your audience when creating content for TikTok, as different types of users will be looking for different things. 

    Keep this in mind as you create content, and you’ll be sure to appeal to a wide range of users.

    TikTok is attracting a more diverse audience than other social media platforms for a number of reasons. 

    Firstly, the platform is extremely user-friendly and easy to use, making it accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. 

    Secondly, TikTok offers a wide range of content, from funny clips and videos to educational content and vlogs. 

    This means that there is something for everyone on the platform, regardless of their interests. 

    Finally, TikTok is constantly innovating and evolving, which keeps users engaged and coming back for more. 

    As a result, it is no surprise that TikTok is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media platforms around.

    Check some numbers:

    • 57% of Tiktok users are women and 43% are men. 
    • 43% of Tiktoks global audience is between 18 and 24 years old  
    • 32% of its users are between 25 and 34. 
    • Only 3.4% of Tiktoks audience is over the age of 55. 
    • 138 million users are from the United States. 
    • 21% of Americans have said that they have used tiktok in 2021. 
    • 90% of tiktok users visit the ap more than once in a day. 
    • Bytedance, the company that owns tiktok, has a collection of apps that has over 1 billion total monthly active uses.

    The Different Types of TikTok Ads

    There are 3 main types of TikTok ads: in-feed, branded content, and hashtag challenges. In-feed ads are the most common and appear in between users’ videos. 

    Branded content ads are sponsored videos from influencers or brands that are clearly marked as ads. 

    Hashtag challenges are creative campaigns that encourage users to submit videos using a specific hashtag.

    Also, we have picked out the various types of TikTok Ads so you can choose what will be most effective in reaching your target audience. 

    In-feed video 

    These are ads that appear for TikTok users on the “For You” page.

    Brand takeover 

    This kind of ad is called “brand takeover” and enables you to dominate the conversation by taking up the whole screen for a few seconds. It then turns into a video ad.

    Spark ads 

    TikTok launched this ad type in 2021, giving brands the ability to sponsor organic content created by influencers who engage with audiences about that brand and its products.

    Image ads 

    Brands can place image ads in video ads that will appear on news-feed apps that are accessible through TikTok: BuzzVideo, TopBuzz and Babe.

    Video ads 

    These ads appear full-screen videos of 5 to 60 seconds in a user’s “For You” feed.

    Pangle ads 

    Pandle, a video management platform integrated with TikTok, offers different options for you to promote your videos on the platform. 

    By using video ads, you can target any audience from a specific country or demographic.

    Carousel ads 

    These ads allow you to provide up to 10 images that appear in TikTok’s news feed apps.

    To get started with TikTok advertising, businesses first need to create a profile on the app. Then, they can create an ad and choose their target audience. 

    TikTok offers a variety of targeting options, including location, age, gender, interests, and behaviors. 

    Once the ad is created, businesses can choose to run it as a promoted video or as an in -app photo story with multiple images

    The Different Types of TikTok Advertising Campaigns

    There are a few different types of TikTok advertising campaigns that brands can use to get started with this new and exciting social media platform. 

    For example, some brands choose to run influencer-led campaigns, where they work with popular TikTok users to promote their products or services. 

    Others opt for more traditional advertising methods, like running adverts in between users’ videos.

    Whichever approach you decide to take, it’s important to ensure that your TikTok advertising campaign is well-targeted and engaging. 

    After all, TikTok users are notoriously fickle, and if they don’t like what they see, they’re likely to move on to the next video in a matter of seconds.

    TikTok advertising might feel completely different from the other social platforms you’re advertising on, like the differences from Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. But once you understand how to run ads on TikTok, you could see impressive results for your business.

    Now that you know what TikTok Ads is and how it works, whether you’re a company or an influencer, you can count on an Influencer Marketing team to help you grow. 

    At Samy, we have a community of influencers, who are directed to produce efficient content for your brand, including within TikTok.

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  • Social animals and the future of social media

    Date: July 1, 2022

    Category: Social Media

    I feel very fortunate to be part of the generation that experienced the transition from the analogue to the digital world. I was neither too old nor too young. It allowed me to understand the potential of new technologies and simultaneously experience it as something almost magical: the first email, the first web page, the first search engine… A new world to be discovered, and every day was an adventure.

    But the unforgettable memory that blew my mind was when I was visiting a friend, and he showed me the chat on a page called ole.com. He said, “I’m talking live with other people”. That was witchcraft! To talk to people worldwide in real-time on the computer was completely revolutionary for me. 

    We were living in the early days of the internet with 56k connections, ISDN, and the first ADSL… and we were already using the net to connect with others. Later new sites would call themselves ‘social media”, but these networks were already in place from the beginning of time. We talked to our school friends via messenger, met people with the same interests as us on forums, and shared our first university photos on pages like Fotolog. Social media were always there, although we didn’t call them that. 

    We have empowered our relationships through social media that our physical reality cannot be understood without them. I’m not saying anything new, am I? We all know it, and brands know it. Their perception depends on what they say and do through them, who their digital ambassadors are, and what users talk about. It is well known that a tweet can change your life, and this risk is multiplied infinitely in the case of brands.

    We know the power of Facebook, the revolutions of Twitter, the paradigm shift of TikTok or Twitch… We interact with others, known and unknown, in the same ways. We meet new people, debate, create our own tribes, dogmas, taboos… 

    And now, we are at the forefront of a new community model. Platforms like Discord enable users to create smaller closed spaces only invited people can join. Users enjoy this private space since it is where they can discuss with other like-minded individuals with similar values and knowledge around specific topics. Why should I talk to everybody if I want to interact with particular individuals? This thinking is step-by-step arising, especially after Twitch became the most relevant communication platform of the future.  

    Today, The so-called Internet 3.0 is looming on the horizon, but there is still too much talk about it. We don’t know what’s coming up next, we can only dream about what our following networks will be. 

    Martín Brotons

    Planning and Creative Director at Samy Alliance

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  • NFTs can be the tipping point of a 360 business

    Date: June 23, 2022

    Categories: Social Media, Tech & Entertainment

    Several content creators and entertainment personalities have joined the NFT craze. 

    People still struggle to understand NFTs, which continues to give the feeling that the majority who bet on them are looking more for speculation on the asset than for their benefit.

    World’s Famous NFTs

    Some of the most famous NFTs in the world are valued at millions of dollars and their main characters are becoming the new Mona Lisa of our time. 

    There are world-famous NFTs artists such as Beeple, a digital artist. He created a series of digital art called Everyday, where the artist created one piece daily. Beeple created an NFT by collecting the first 5 thousand and titled it; “Every day, the first 5,000 days.” This work was auctioned at Christie’s in March 2021 and reached 70 million dollars, becoming the most expensive NFT in history. 

    The Invisible Friends NFT collection created by Swedish artist Marcus Magnusson is becoming the most famous moving collectables in the digital world. Five thousand funny invisible friends with different characteristics, clothes and accessories.

    The Bored Ape Yacht Club collection has 10,000 NFTs with diverse characteristics, attributes and qualities, but one thing in common: they are all bored ape avatars. 

    And many other NFTs collections worth knowing about, are changing the blockchain scenario. 

    What’s going on with these NFTs

    Until now, all the famous stories, books, movies, and characters that have made it in history go viral whenever you start to see all the merchandising. Disney opens a section at their park; you see T-shirts, mugs, posters, toys, and any merchandising you could imagine, and it all falls from a story. 

    Lately, we have spotted a slight change in how we commercialize a character or a story. We´ve seen the order of the events slightly shift, and we build our stories from an image instead of the other way around. 

    We´ve seen how gifs and emojis have developed their storyline; now, these new NFT characters are starting to do so. 

    We no longer need to write the story;  our image needs to be viral and the character in it.

    You can see it for yourself, how a bored ape with goofy glasses and a resting face has gone viral worldwide. 

    The Bored Ape Fever

    Within the NFTs, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, or NFT monkeys, are possibly the best known. Many personalities have their monkey and highlight it on social media.

    But what’s next for the Bored Ape? 

    The possibility of turning the bored ape into a video game is one. It will be a play-to-earn game, a standard formula in recent times within the NFT world. The launch this past March 16 of ApeCoin, their cryptocurrency, with which they intend to enhance this title further. A style of games that consists of obtaining products with a monetary value, with the aim that we also add some money.

    Where are we going

    NFTs are no longer one only piece; they can be 100 different things or even a whole 360 campaign. NFTs are a new channel from which we can build a brand from scratch and a unique story to sell and commercialize. 

    It turns out that it is a central axis on which we can franchise and generate products from there. At Dogma, our fellow agency, one of the primary purposes is to manage and store the meta communities where these NFTs and the new 360 business model will live. 

    That is why the management of meta communities is crucial to be able to commercialize these new NFTs. 

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  • Instagram Avatar: Your Profile Pic for the Metaverse

    Date: June 16, 2022

    Categories: Influencer Marketing, Influencer World, Social Media

    “Avatars are a key building block for the future of personal identity in the Metaverse,”  said Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram. 

    Said and done.

    Instagram has announced/released a new feature that is oriented to keep getting closer to the Metaverse. We are talking about its new avatars.

     The Metaverse is a big puzzle, still to be understood and defined, but these digital personas are the first part of the puzzle.

     Instagram Avatars are customizable 3D personas, and they can reproduce your physical features or reflect how you want to be perceived online.

    Adam Mosseri states that these avatars will be the virtual identity people will use to show up across the Metaverse – whether in an app built by Meta or any other company. 

    They are another forward step towards making the Metaverse a reality. 

    Who are these avatars?

    In the Metaverse, users will be able to interact with each other in a virtual environment. However, not everyone has access to a VR/ AR headset. Therefore, Meta has found its way of bringing a glimpse of Metaverse to its users in 3D avatars.

    These 3D avatars are functional, and users can customize them to be more aligned with their virtual identity. 

    Manish Chopra, Director and Head Partnerships at Meta, said, “Representations in the Metaverse should reflect the real world’s diversity. Avatars are just the first step toward enabling everyone to express themselves in their unique ways.”

    Why create your digital avatar?

    We see people comfortably talking to the camera, posing and feeling themselves, while we, on the other hand, can’t. Creating our avatar can help us confront this struggle and feel comfortable in front of the camera. Creating an avatar maximizes your creativity and freedom to be whomever you want. You can create a fictional character that does not depend on your physical barriers, just like when you are playing a video game, and you have to choose your skin. It encourages you to boost your creativity and develop new, breaking content beyond the physical world. 

     

    How can these avatars help your brand?

    The possibilities that an Instagram avatar will have for brands and advertisers is something that we will be able to assess in time. This inclusion of avatars has a lot to do with Meta’s attempt to enhance the Metaverse. Therefore, we can assume that Instagram avatar applications will follow this line. And trying to draw some conclusions, the avatar of a brand may become a communication channel for the brand with its customers. Suppose the avatar is sufficiently developed and capable of creating a loyal audience. In that case, it may replace some Instagrammers when promoting x-brand products or offering content. 

    However, it will be difficult for the avatar to supply the impartiality that flesh and blood Instagram is supposed to have when choosing what to tell us. 

    Everything that we choose to offer through the avatar of our brand will have to be measured because we run the risk that the public will finally assimilate our avatar as a mere customer service channel.





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  • Virtual Influencers: The New Reality

    Date: April 8, 2022

    Categories: Influencer Marketing, Influencer World, Social Media

    Virtual Influencers are the new avatars that live on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and different brands’ advertising campaigns. Over the last few years, virtual influencers have been a growing reality of internet interaction, and their influence is such that some of them have managed to collaborate with large companies.

    Although they are not real people, virtual influencers (an avatar created digitally) seek to create a community on social networks and show a lifestyle like anyone else.

    Because of their continued growth and high engagement, large companies choose them to create advertising collaborations.

    Not the first virtual influencer

    We tend to think that virtual influencers can separate us too much from reality when the truth is that we’ve been exposed to this fiction forever. 

    We must remember that all the characters we’ve created through literature or the movies industry are virtual influencers. 

    Imagine if Harry Potter was an influencer? How would his IG be? Which brands would he work with? 

    Stories create characters for readers or viewers to interact with, fall in love or follow. They create communities and a lifestyle and even dictate trends; in other words, fictional characters were the first virtual influencers.

    Who are these new virtual influencers 

    Lil Miquela describes herself as a “19-year-old robot living in Los Angeles with 3 million followers.” Her publications reach more than 60 thousand likes. Among the brands that have decided to collaborate with her are MINI Cooper, Givenchy, Spotify, and Samsung. She has created a large community with whom she even shares parts of her life that have led her to existential crises. 

    Ronald F. Blawko, known as Blawko, is a self-proclaimed low-life who ident

    ifies as a robot man. He spends his time with his other virtual friends on IG or venting on Youtube to his subscribers.  

    Blawko has worked with brands such as Aliexpress. 

    KnoxFrost, another male virtual influencer with more than 600.000 followers on IG, has partnered with global organizations from the World Health Organization to Rock the Vote. Knox has also appeared in various media: Forbes, Business Insider, AdAge, Fortune, Adweek, Buzzfeed, Mashable, Dazed, Betches and CNN. 

    Mar.ia is the first Mexican virtual influencer. Her main focus is to raise awareness about different issues the world faces, such as climate change and other human issues such as gender equality.

    Shudu is a digital supermodel in her mid-to-late 20s from South Africa. Shudu advocates for the virtual human race; having worked with Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Balmain, and Smart Car, Shudu spends her time posing in premier, mystical shoot locations to display eye-popping fashion pieces. 

    What are the pros 

    The planned and implemented strategy behind each post or story of the virtual influencer encourages brands to work with virtual influencers as alongside being cheaper to work with, they also reduce the risks of working with a human influencer. The team behind each virtual influencer decides what the avatar should look like, what it publishes, its principles and values, and what brands they work with.

    Virtual Influencers could be less controversial than human influencers; these avatars are less likely to receive negative comments, similarly for brands that use these influencers.  We live in a cancel culture; anything an influencer says or does can have huge and lasting effects on an influential figure’s public perception. Working with an influencer who aligns to the brand values is monumental.

    The virtual influencer content is highly customizable; there are endless possibilities for creative and seamless product integration. There is nowhere a virtual influencer cannot go and nothing they cannot do.

    Carlos Mendiola, associate director of the Department of Media and Digital Culture at Tec de Monterrey Campus Santa Fe, states that it may be irrelevant for brands if the influencer is an avatar. Brands are looking for someone who can engage with an audience and raise awareness about their products. 

    Should brands create their virtual influencers?

    Brands should be asking themselves whether they should start thinking about creating their avatar. This virtual character can represent them on social media and build a community like any other influencer. 

    Today we can see quite a few brands that have already created a character in their likeness, a virtual influencer who shares all their values and aesthetics and intends to create a community. 

    KFC’s fast-food brand transformed the iconic Colonel Sanders into a virtual avatar and used him for several campaigns as the new image. Like any other model, the new Coronel performs and acts within the brand’s values and creates a stronger bond with the KFC community.  

    In South Asia, the fashion brand Puma launched a new campaign for their Puma Future Rider sneaker and created a virtual influencer for the campaign named Maya. Designed by UM Studio and Ensemble Worldwide, Maya’s personality evolves as her interests are built according to her interactions on social media, thanks to Artificial Intelligence.

    Prada is another perfect example of how creating your brand virtual influencer can help you control what they say, how they say it and where. Prada created their first virtual influencer named Candy to represent Prada’s aesthetic and values through their campaigns, building a stronger connection with their audience. 

    These brands are an example of how the future is within the virtual world; future generations, such as Gen Zs, believe in these new adaptations and feel comfortable creating a community around these virtual avatars. 

    Virtual reality is the new reality. 

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  • Exploring Metaverse Fashion Week: What’s the opportunity for influencers?

    Date: March 30, 2022

    Categories: Influencer Marketing, Influencer World, Social Media

     

    Source: @mahaha0

     

    The first-ever Metaverse Fashion Week took place in Decentraland from March 24th to the 27th. 

    Over 60 different fashion brands showcased more than 500 looks throughout the event. 

    From virtual runways, meets with designers to opening stores and afterparty events, the MVFW was one of the biggest game-changers for the fashion industry we have ever experienced. 

    The MVFW opened their audience from a small niche to a vast audience; anybody on Decentraland could assist since it was free.

    Visitors could buy NFTs of the fashion brands using cryptocurrency MANA’s platform through their digital wallets. They could either buy the look digitally or later transform it into physical. 

    The highlights 

    The MVFW started with London-based retailer Selfridges opening its flagship store with an immersive experience from Paco Rabanne + Victor Vasarely’s collection. 

    Estee Lauder launched NFT wearable, inspired by their famous serum Advanced Night Repair that users could claim and give their avatar a unique glowing by stepping in the virtual Advanced Night Repair “Little Brown Bottle”. 

    Tommy Hilfiger showcased its spring collection and opened a virtual store during the MVFW.

    The items for visitors to buy NFTs were the madras shirt for women and a unisex hoodie bearing the Hilfiger logo. Visitors could obtain physical versions of the items by redeeming the NFTs.

    But, the biggest highlight at the Metaverse Fashion week was the presence of Sophia, the world’s famous humanoid robot created by Hanson Robotic from Hong Kong. Inside Decentreland, visitors were encouraged to spot Sophia take a selfie with her and then share them on Twitter by #findingsophiatherobot.

    The new fashion influencers of the Metaverse

    One of the new world’s most exciting fields is what kind of marketing and content creation can brands offer in the Metaverse—knowing that more data will be available for advertisers and that targeting will be new. 

    Brands will have to create their digital twins and follow or dictate new trends in the Metaverse.

    Influencers have already started thinking about creating their avatars to work with brands in the Metaverse. Post for Rent has built a centre for digital influencers in Decentraland to become the “bridge” between the physical and virtual world.

    Brands like Prada, Puma and Yoox have already created their influencer avatars like Shudu and Lil Miquela. Prada’s new muse and influencer named Candy is an avatar dressed as Prada from head to toe, even adorned, and looks exactly like any other influencer.  

    The Metaverse gives influencers a whole new playing field, not only with their fans but also with other influencers. They can share brand experiences more efficiently, be connected and interact in the same space simultaneously. 

    However, this new virtual horizon for brands raises a big question for the world of influencer marketing. 

    Should influencers build their avatar replica for the Metaverse? Or should brands create a new separate and distinguished influencer world inside the Metaverse? 

     

     

     

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  • “Just setting up my twittr”

    Date: March 22, 2022

    Category: Social Media

    Fifteen years ago, Twitter was born. However, this is not viral on Twitter. What’s viral today is the Korean singer Seulgi, the Boeing 737 crash in China and the Barcelona Club victory. The trending topics on Twitter are sometimes trivial, and others are not. It’s been part of Twitter’s identity from the first day it started and from the first-ever tweet, “Just setting up my twitrr,” Dorsey posted. 

    At first, Twitter was nothing more than an internal communication tool for Odeo, a small San Francisco podcast company. Above all, its first users dealt with the blandest everyday topics until August 3, 2006, when a small earthquake hit San Francisco. Soon the tweets began to talk about whether anyone had noticed it. One of the four Twitter founders, Biz Stone, recognized these “first” earthquake tweets as historical. They were a clear example of how informative and extensive Twitter was and how good of a tool it could be. 

    In 2008, after the Bombay attacks, we confirmed Twitter’s informative effectiveness; images and tweets informed traditional media of the last-minute news. In 2008, two years after that well-known first tweet (“Just Setting up my twttr”) by Jack Dorsey, Barack Obama won the elections, and Twitter was one of the key platforms of his campaign.

    The future of Twitter 

    The “fastest-growing conversation topic”, cryptocurrency, is at the top of the finance category. 

    “We’re witnessing an upswell of passionate crypto-enthusiasts with people on Twitter 3.2x more likely to consider investing in crypto than those not on Twitter,” wrote Jeff Melei, Twitter’s Director of Financial Services

    Twitter is taking a stand on cryptocurrency and NFTs, with the Bitcoin Lightning Network tipping feature and the NFT profile picture integration.

    Currently, the social media platform is also testing a new way to maximize your Spaces content by giving an option to create audio clips of up to 30 seconds directly from your audio broadcasts in the app. 

    The new clipping tool helps you create audio clips from a recorded Space, which can be shared via tweet, linking it to the entire recording.

    In the US, the platform is continuously evolving and improving the experience for its users. Twitter is working to offer a better experience to brands and consumers by opening the Twitter Shop shortly. Brands will be able to present up to 50 products to their followers in this space by just adding the “View shop” button to their profile. 

    This way, brands and users will be able to link their tweets to potential products and create a stronger bond through the platform.

    Brands & Twitter 

    Twitter has been in our lives for 15 years; we all know its essence and power, but we still need to remind ourselves why our brand should be on Twitter and how it should perform.

    Perhaps what distinguishes Twitter from the rest of the social networks is its spontaneity. 

    Unlike networks like Instagram or Facebook, where messages seem to be much more measured, users have the feeling that on Twitter, celebrities, politicians or companies express themselves as they like. 

    This may be due to the social network’s briefness on messages and the simplicity of other users interacting with it. In any case, this main feature is what brands must consider when communicating through it.

    We might all know the main helpful marketing tips we need to succeed on Twitter, but we should always keep them in our minds. 

    • Develop your voice: 

    You need to develop an authentic voice to help your brand stand out from the noise. Show your personality, be human, be original and always spell correctly; there is no edit button. A well-known brand that has managed to define its brand voice is Wendy’s; they are capable of joking around trends and life news without ever leaving their spirit. 

    “We like our tweets the way we like our fries: hot, crispy, and better than anyone expects from a fast-food restaurant.” @Wendys. 

    • Be a hashtag pro: 

    Most social media platforms have the hashtag feature, but Twitter was the first to use it. So be a pro of it. Tweets with appropriate hashtags get double the engagement than without hashtags, but that doesn’t mean you can use all the possible ones you can imagine. It would help if you created branded hashtags and always used industry-related hashtags.  

    • Listen to your audience: 

    Twitter is one of the best platforms to spot your audience. Conversations are fluid and free; you can learn what Twitter users think about your brand and products and learn from other discussions. Use Twitter’s advanced search tool to find these conversations. Twitter is mainly about talking, but you need to listen too as a brand. 

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  • Pinterest jumps into the social e-commerce race

    Date: March 17, 2022

    Category: Social Media

    Pinterest, with 459 million monthly active users (MAUs) worldwide, is fifth in the list of the preferred social media platforms for purchasing, chosen by only 3% of the consumers. Meanwhile, with 1 billion MAUs and 500 million users every day, Instagram is positioned as the second most preferred social eCommerce platform, chosen by 23% of surveyed consumers, and only behind Facebook. (Source: Statista).

    Pinterest is determined to transform its site into a 360 shopping destination.  Pinterest’s latest ambition is to grow online shopping and advertising by offering checkout functionality to customers. 

    Brands and advertisers will promote their products to users on its site. And users will have the chance to buy directly from Pinterest. The aim is to encourage customers to find inspiration and buy more items at once. 

    As we already mentioned in our latest report, ‘Consumer Trends 2022’ by 2026, 60% of millennial and Gen Z consumers will prefer making purchases on social platforms over traditional digital commerce platforms, meaning that probably the next customers’ favorite store will be a social platform. 

    WHAT ARE THESE NEW FEATURES? 

    Users will complete an entire purchase on Pinterest without leaving the app at any time. 

    They will have access to a personal shopping page, called Your Shop, with all the creators and brands’ products. Your Shop is still a pre-release version for U.S users but will roll out nationwide later this year. Now users can save, pin, and buy all the products they desire from their board. 

    The “Shop” will automatically add shoppable products that users save and remind users of their favorite products.  

    On the other hand, brands will significantly impact their customers thanks to new features such as the “Merchant details” that showcase brand values. Or the Verified Merchant Program that helps users find vetted brands in Australia, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland and enhances brands with a “verified” badge. 

    WHY IS THIS A GAME-CHANGER FOR BRANDS?

    “People who use Pinterest weekly are 7x more likely to say it’s the most influential platform in their purchase journey, compared to social media platforms. That’s why, as of today, we’re dramatically expanding our suite of shopping solutions for advertisers,” said Jon Kaplan, Chief Revenue Officer at Pinterest. 

    Bigger carts than other platforms

    Pinterest notes that shoppers have 85% bigger carts than other platforms and spend twice as much per month. Customers scroll down endless products, brands and inspiration through Pinterest. Many of their shopping decisions come directly from the inspiration they find on Pinterest. So why not allow them to buy instantly from it? 

    An enhanced | fully integrated consumer experience 

    Previously, users would be redirected outside Pinterest to a merchant’s site to finish their purchase. Many users would follow through with the purchase but drop off when a new merchant page would pop up. 

    Pinterest’s new features are a game-changer; brands can start an ongoing relationship with their customers, develop different brand interactions and experiences and reach a vast audience focused on strictly social e-commerce shopping. 

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