Globe Content Studio is the content-marketing division of The Globe and Mail, Canada's foremost news-media company.
Globe Content Studio is the content-marketing division of The Globe and Mail, Canada's foremost news-media company.
Globe Content Studio is the content-marketing division of The Globe and Mail, Canada's foremost news-media company.
Tips for brands on working with influencers
Dulce Rosales
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Welcome to August! Here’s a look at what we’re working on and thinking about at Globe Content Studio.
Behind the scenes
We’ve been thinking a lot about influencer and creator marketing. We regularly work with influencers as interviewees for articles, as social video creators and as panellists at events. What it means to be an influencer keeps evolving, but consumers are still turning to these online tastemakers, and so are brands.
Here are highlights from a report that Ad Standards Canada published earlier this year, plus new numbers on where the money is going — useful for your next stakeholder conversation.
Audiences are watching closely. Canadians believe they can recognize sponsored disclosures in influencer content, but 47 per cent are also of the opinion that paid partnerships are the bulk of what influencers post, according to the report by Ad Standards.
Relevance beats reach. Micro-influencers are building real authority in narrow niches, and audiences care more about fit than follower count. Brands have noticed: In the United States, about 45 per cent of influencer spending now goes to creators with fewer than 20,000 followers, up from 19.5 per cent in 2021, per Emarketer. Target, American Eagle and SoulCycle all run programs open to creators with as few as 500 followers. The logic is algorithmic. Most of what lands in a feed comes from accounts the viewer never followed, so a big following no longer guarantees views — and micro-influencers average a 3.2-per-cent engagement rate against 1.1 per cent for million-plus accounts, according to ATTN. Bloomberg also found the big accounts can cost up to 18 times more to work with.
AI influencers struggle on trust. If the purpose of working with influencers is to have an authentic voice make a recommendation, then it’s no wonder people are distrustful of synthetic personalities. In the Ad Standards report, 65 per cent of respondents view AI influencers as less relatable, and 57 per cent said they would be less likely to make a purchase if the influencer were AI-generated.
So what does this mean for brands? In one of our latest videos, we share our own reminders for working with influencers, plus a few recent partnerships we enjoyed. Watch it here on Instagram.
📌 A cautionary note on AI and influence more broadly: OpenAI’s recent creator retreat at an upstate New York farm drew a fast backlash, with commenters weighing the setting against AI’s environmental footprint. Reaction videos outperformed the original posts from the creators on the trip. A well-executed influencer trip can still collide with what audiences already believe about a brand.
#TrendingTopic
A few more reads on how audiences think — and how they're being influenced.
Ask me anything: On Canada’s busiest online personal finance forum, people anonymously seek advice on their big money questions. (The Globe and Mail)
The Latest Darlings of Social-Media Marketing? Regular People With 500 Followers (The Wall Street Journal)
What we've been working on
💊 How BMO Insurance is simplifying health and dental insurance. BMO is connecting Canadians with more complete coverage, tailored to their unique needs.
🏎️ The Indy’s next lap begins in vibrant, one-of-a-kind Markham. The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy comes to Markham for the first time, Aug. 14 to 16. Plan your visit with this piece, the first of two on what the city has to offer.
🦋 Need a quiet escape? Visit this iconic Ontario attraction celebrating 30 years. The latest in our multi-part series with Niagara Parks heads to the Butterfly Conservatory.
💼 Join us for a panel with Calgary Marketing Association
Hello Calgary! Our director, Sean, will be speaking on a panel called The 5 Skills We Need Now: Capabilities for Impact, Influence, and Boardroom Credibility on Sept. 17. Marketers will learn 5 skills they need to move from tactical supplier to commercial business partner. Learn more and register here!
As seen in our Slack channel
After working on our Destination Markham series, we decided to have some fun asking team members to give their best Indy race-car impression on the spot. Watch it here!
Want to work with us?
Send us a message at GCS@globeandmail.com
Studio Vibes is a newsletter inspired by Globe Content Studio's day-to-day life, written and produced by Dulce Rosales. Subscribe for an inside look at our approach to storytelling, access to top industry insights and the latest news in content marketing. You can reach the Studio at GCS@globeandmail.com.
Welcome to August! Here’s a look at what we’re working on and thinking about at Globe Content Studio.
Behind the scenes
We’ve been thinking a lot about influencer and creator marketing. We regularly work with influencers as interviewees for articles, as social video creators and as panellists at events. What it means to be an influencer keeps evolving, but consumers are still turning to these online tastemakers, and so are brands.
Here are highlights from a report that Ad Standards Canada published earlier this year, plus new numbers on where the money is going — useful for your next stakeholder conversation.
Audiences are watching closely. Canadians believe they can recognize sponsored disclosures in influencer content, but 47 per cent are also of the opinion that paid partnerships are the bulk of what influencers post, according to the report by Ad Standards.
Relevance beats reach. Micro-influencers are building real authority in narrow niches, and audiences care more about fit than follower count. Brands have noticed: In the United States, about 45 per cent of influencer spending now goes to creators with fewer than 20,000 followers, up from 19.5 per cent in 2021, per Emarketer. Target, American Eagle and SoulCycle all run programs open to creators with as few as 500 followers. The logic is algorithmic. Most of what lands in a feed comes from accounts the viewer never followed, so a big following no longer guarantees views — and micro-influencers average a 3.2-per-cent engagement rate against 1.1 per cent for million-plus accounts, according to ATTN. Bloomberg also found the big accounts can cost up to 18 times more to work with.
AI influencers struggle on trust. If the purpose of working with influencers is to have an authentic voice make a recommendation, then it’s no wonder people are distrustful of synthetic personalities. In the Ad Standards report, 65 per cent of respondents view AI influencers as less relatable, and 57 per cent said they would be less likely to make a purchase if the influencer were AI-generated.
So what does this mean for brands? In one of our latest videos, we share our own reminders for working with influencers, plus a few recent partnerships we enjoyed. Watch it here on Instagram.
📌 A cautionary note on AI and influence more broadly: OpenAI’s recent creator retreat at an upstate New York farm drew a fast backlash, with commenters weighing the setting against AI’s environmental footprint. Reaction videos outperformed the original posts from the creators on the trip. A well-executed influencer trip can still collide with what audiences already believe about a brand.
#TrendingTopic
A few more reads on how audiences think — and how they're being influenced.
Ask me anything: On Canada’s busiest online personal finance forum, people anonymously seek advice on their big money questions. (The Globe and Mail)
The Latest Darlings of Social-Media Marketing? Regular People With 500 Followers (The Wall Street Journal)
What we've been working on
💊 How BMO Insurance is simplifying health and dental insurance. BMO is connecting Canadians with more complete coverage, tailored to their unique needs.
🏎️ The Indy’s next lap begins in vibrant, one-of-a-kind Markham. The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy comes to Markham for the first time, Aug. 14 to 16. Plan your visit with this piece, the first of two on what the city has to offer.
🦋 Need a quiet escape? Visit this iconic Ontario attraction celebrating 30 years. The latest in our multi-part series with Niagara Parks heads to the Butterfly Conservatory.
💼 Join us for a panel with Calgary Marketing Association
Hello Calgary! Our director, Sean, will be speaking on a panel called The 5 Skills We Need Now: Capabilities for Impact, Influence, and Boardroom Credibility on Sept. 17. Marketers will learn 5 skills they need to move from tactical supplier to commercial business partner. Learn more and register here!
As seen in our Slack channel
After working on our Destination Markham series, we decided to have some fun asking team members to give their best Indy race-car impression on the spot. Watch it here!
Want to work with us?
Send us a message at GCS@globeandmail.com
Studio Vibes is a newsletter inspired by Globe Content Studio's day-to-day life, written and produced by Dulce Rosales. Subscribe for an inside look at our approach to storytelling, access to top industry insights and the latest news in content marketing. You can reach the Studio at GCS@globeandmail.com.
