viewers to engage in an honest conversation, rather than just a static
image and post. There’s a very strong and unique f lavour that comes with
TikTok in terms of a social platform and we’ll be utilising this as a more
organic way of presenting information to our audience.”
The Chinese-owned platform, which has an estimated 500 million
daily users, hasn’t yet figured out how to monetise the platform, although
it has started to roll out advertising. TikTokers aren’t making a significant
sum from brand partnerships either, with payment per post f loating
around $500 mark. However, Born Bred Founder Clare Winterbourn says
this is starting to change.
“Brand partnerships have risen hugely,” Winterbourn says.
“Now we’re doing a lot of product placement, organic partnerships and
clothing hauls.
“So I see brand partnerships amping up to be very similar to what
we’re processing through with Instagram.”
Currently, TikTokers are making their money from TikTok Live, where
that can be “gifted” money, usually in exchange for a shout out. There
are also other entries from new categories, with Twitch, owned by
Amazon, leading the gaming inf luencer space with a reported 15 million
daily active users. Microsoft’s Mixer is on its heels after poaching one of
its top gamers, Ninja, who had close to 15 million followers and has already
climbed to one million on Mixer.
The emergence of inf luencers across different categories doesn’t sur-
prise some, with Yash Murthy, Social Media and Creative Director at
Switched On, saying inf luencers are no different to brand advocates,
product spokespeople and celebrity endorsements.
“The innate human need to seek reassurance and ascribe aspirational
value to the consumption choices they make hasn’t changed. It’s just the
delivery mechanism that has,” Murthy says.
“In our current media environment, the value of inf luencer marketing
lies at the intersection of accessibility and authenticity. Viewed as such,
as online communities continue to scale and diversify, the opportunities
for growth are massive.
“Inf luencers’ aren’t just YouTube beauty vloggers and Instagram fit-
ness models any more. It will be interesting to see where TikTok goes
from an audience growth and monetisation standpoint, while the
continued sophistication of esports and other rapidly emerging sub-com-
munities only serve to create more opportunities for brands and
platforms alike.”
When Ninja departed from Twitch he made the announcement
through a video posted to YouTube. The minute and a half clip included
a product placement for Red Bull and received 3.5 million views within
a week of being uploaded. The energy drink brand also plastered his face
on its cans.
Big tech is also recognising the value of inf luencers and making moves
to pull in more revenue from them. In Australia, industry bodies such as
the Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA) are also snapping
into action to implement best practices.
These updates from big tech and local bodies are about to inject even
more authority and legitimacy into the space, ensuring it continues its
steady rise. As it does, “inf luencer celebrities” will simply become the
celebrities of the future, morphing into something more akin to creative
agencies with their own audiences to reach consumers.Lingering issues around reporting
Instagram wasn’t built with inf luencers in mind, so from the start it was
ill-equipped to deliver creators the right reporting tools to communicate
with brands.
Influencers overcame this by screenshotting their metrics, giving
social media managers “read access” to their personal account to view
their insights, or by simply self-reporting. All of these methods are less
than optimal and some of them are still used today.
However, reporting has improved immensely within Instagram andlozcurtis A fresh tan and sparkly red eyeshadow can work
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8 AugustlozcurtisTELCO 19:30sammyrobinsonsammyrobinsonTop: Lauren Curtis
Above: Sammy Robinson and GHD
Investigation