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Eight seriously good tips for WINNING your creator-brand partnerships
Hey! Welcome to the Creator Economy NYC newsletter — the premier place for all things creator economy in the Big Apple.
If you’re new here, welcome to the community and congrats on receiving your first newsletter edition!
We’re closing out the week strong after our amazing first panel event of the year on Tuesday that focused on creator and brand partnerships. It was great to see many of you there! More to come…
This week, I’m spotlighting key takeaways from the panel. And thanks to our friends at B&H, I’m also sharing with you a recording of the whole panel you can watch!
Our panelists shared such amazing insight and you’re bound to walk away with some new learnings and takeaways.
Let’s get into it.
Other stops along the way:
Upcoming events
Cool stuff from the community
News bits
Personal picks
Was this email forwarded to you?
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Crafting Win-Win Partnerships: 8 Key Insights from Danielle, Jack and Jen
Photo Credit: Kaila Lim
We joined forces with Passionfroot and Notion to bring together our city's leading creators, influencer marketers and founders to discuss the strategies behind building successful creator and brand partnerships.
Our esteemed panelists included: Jennifer Phan, Co-Founder and CEO at Passionfroot, Jack Appleby, Founder and Creator at Future Social, and Danielle Ito, Influencer Marketing Manager at Notion.
Our panel discussion ranged from identifying key qualities in creators and brands for partnerships to the trends shaping the industry.
Here's a recap of the top takeaways from the panel:
1. Identifying the Ideal Creator-Brand Fit in 2024
When considering creators for partnerships, brands and agencies should look beyond mere follower counts to instead focus on a creator's alignment with brand values, their ability to engage authentically with their audience, and the quality of their content.
“Micro-influencers,” with their highly dedicated and niched-down audiences, are proving to be invaluable for brands seeking authentic and effective partnerships.
TLDR; Choose creators who mirror your brand's ethos and can authentically engage their niche. Even if they aren’t a current user of your product, there is still a story there!
2. What Draws Creators to Brands
From a creator's perspective, brands that stand out are those offering creative freedom, demonstrating a genuine understanding of the creator's unique voice, and aligning with their values and audience interests. Authenticity and respect for the creator's artistry are key attractors.
TLDR; brands should stay out of creators’ way and let them do their thing!
3. Redefining Value in Creator-Brand Partnerships
When approaching brands to partner with, the panelists shared advice to creators about leading with unique positioning rather than just engagement stats.
This perspective encourages creators to articulate their distinct value proposition, focusing on how they can align with a brand’s mission and contribute to storytelling, rather than merely providing numbers.
For example, consider pitching a unique campaign idea to a brand to stand out!
TLDR; Creators should highlight their unique storytelling and audience connection, not just numbers.
4. The Importance of Direct Brand-Creator Interaction
The panelists emphasized the value of direct interaction between brands and creators, challenging the traditional reliance on talent managers for communication — especially in meetings. This direct engagement fosters a more collaborative and personalized partnership, allowing creators to contribute creatively to campaigns and ensuring alignment with the brand's vision.
It's a mutual benefit scenario, where brands gain insights directly from creators, and creators have a say in how they're represented and integrated into campaigns.
TLDR; Direct dialogue between brands and creators leads to more authentic, effective and long-term collaborations.
5. Making Creators Accessible to Brands
The panelists advised creators to facilitate easier contact by brands, suggesting practical steps like including contact information in social media bios. It may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many creators don’t think to include an email in their bio!
TLDR; Creators, make it easy for brands to reach you.
6. Measuring Campaign Success
Success metrics, as discussed, go beyond traditional KPIs to include areas like brand sentiment, audience engagement, and qualitative feedback (e.g., what are people saying in the comments!?)
That’s why some agencies and managers are getting ahead and using tools like siftsy to better holistically understand campaign performance and improve storytelling.
TLDR; Success is more than just likes or views; it's about engagement and audience sentiment.
7. The Rise of LinkedIn
A consensus on the panel pointed to LinkedIn as a platform with untapped potential for creators. With B2B influencer marketing on the rise, brands and advertisers are increasingly turning their attention to LinkedIn and newsletters.
There's a ripe opportunity for creators to negotiate better rates and secure more lucrative partnerships here!
TLDR; LinkedIn and newsletters are valuable platforms for creators seeking B2B partnerships. And, you should probably consider creating content there.
8. Creators Are Part of Your Marketing Strategy, Not Responsible For It.
An important reminder for brands is to view creators as integral components of their marketing strategy rather than as sole drivers of marketing goals. This perspective encourages a more holistic approach to marketing campaigns, recognizing the value of creators in the broader marketing ecosystem.
TLDR; Integrate creators into your marketing strategy as valuable contributors, not as the sole strategy.
To view the whole panel, check out the video below. Shoutout to B&H & Bridget for recording the panel, now we have some evergreen content! 👇
Finally, a few closing shoutouts:
Mitch from Big Whoop for generously photographing the event (pics to be shared next week).
Onda for providing us their tasty tequila seltzers to enjoy! You’ve probably seen Drake’s “Onda Civic” mix.
Elizabeth, Celeste, Brendan, Kaila, Janel, Emily and Isabela for volunteering to help with on-site event operations.
Some great event recap posts from Hanna, Amanda and Natalia that inspired my recap above!
CITY HAPPENINGS
Upcoming Events
A lighter section this week!
I’m organizing a Winter Mixer in late February and have 2 spots remaining for sponsors towards food and beverages who want to get in front of this influential community.
If that’s you, shoot me an email here by the end of next week!
Other events for the year are being mapped out, so stay tuned in future newsletters for more deets.
Subscribe to the events calendar here.
FROM THE COMMUNITY
Cameron Galbraith's latest podcast episode, Invested, with Brett Perlmutter from Bullet Pitch.
Happy 3 year birthday to Fallen Media!
Jade Beguelin being invited back to her alma mater, Georgetown, to talk about all things entrepreneurship and her brand 4AM Skin.
Have something to include in a future edition? Submit it here!
THE NEWSSTAND
Most creators making six figures have less than 1 million followers, new study finds (Elizabeth de Luna, Mashable)
BeReal announced the launch of RealPeople and RealBrands (aka official accounts). We’ll see what this move does.
Why Algorithm-Generated Recommendations Fall Short (Carey K. Morewedge, HBR)
BRETT’S BITES
This video on B&H Photo & Video’s brief history!
Accurate depiction of me with plans this weekend. Anyone relate?
Have been enjoying using Notion calendar recently over Google Calendar! Now my main calendar and Notion calendars (eg. content calendar) are all synced up in ONE place.
STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS PLEASE
Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you thought by replying back to this email.
See you next week,
Brett
P.S. see the nyc easter egg in this newsletter? Lemme know.
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