Influencer marketing has demonstrated that it is here to stay. Powerful signals are the recent news we have seen coming in from the platforms. As they compete to attract eyeballs, they have realized that in this process they must support the creative community.
Here are the most recent announcements:
After years of complaints, Instagram recently announced they will be implementing two big changes to improve the user’s feed:
- The platform will test a “New Posts” button that lets users choose when they want to refresh content, rather than it happening automatically.
- Feeds will be back to being more chronological. The Facebook-like algorithm didn’t seem to improve the user experience. This is great news for influencers who have been complaining about low engagement rates.
Snapchat
Snapchat’s new hire announcement has been big news for the influencer marketing world. Marketing expert, Lauren Gallo, was named Head of Talent Partnerships. She will oversee the company’s relationship with official stories accounts designated for celebrities or influencers, as reported by Variety. Some may argue it’s a little too late, but it seems like the company is looking to make amends with influencers and celebrities after all the recent negative backlash.
Throughout the years, Facebook has been improving its video player with new tools but hasn’t been able to win the video marketing battle against YouTube. One of the main reasons has been the lack of support to creators. This is something YouTube understood from the very beginning. They recognized they are the main reason why people want to come back to the platform.
Facebook started to invest in this area last year with the Facebook Creator app and Facebook for Creators site. But now the platform bets big by testing Patreon-Like memberships for creators and their fans.
“We’ve been working closely with creators to understand what they need to be successful on Facebook,” wrote Fidji Simo, VP of Product and Sibul Goldman, Director of Entertainment Partnerships on Facebook’s blog. “To support them, we’re focused on three areas: helping them engage and grow their community, manage their presence, and build a business on Facebook… In the coming months, we’ll be testing a range of new tools for creators. We’re still in an experimental phase and will be iterating on these tests in the coming months, but we want to share a preview of what we’re working on.”
YouTube
2017 was a tough year for YouTube. The platform has been under advertisers’ fire over inappropriate content. Logan Paul’s controversy at the beginning of 2018, sparked an unstoppable global backlash. YouTube had to take action: Set stricter requirements for Creator Partners.
This year the platform’s main focus is protecting the creators’ ecosystem and ensuring a more stable revenue.
“We’re making changes to address the issues that affected our community in 2017 so we can prevent bad actors from harming the inspiring and original creators around the world who make their living on YouTube, said Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer and Robert Kyncl, Chief Business Officer in an official announcement. “A big part of that effort will be strengthening our requirements for monetization so spammers, impersonators, and other bad actors can’t hurt our ecosystem or take advantage of you, while continuing to reward those who make our platform great.”
We are excited to see how these changes power content creators and the entire industry.
