The Real Value of Influence

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Based on a report by eMarketer, influencer marketing effectiveness is high, with many U.S. influencer marketing programs going 1.4 times higher in the first half of 2015 than the overall average for last year altogether. That calculates to $9.60 for every dollar spent, compared to $6.85 from last year.

The average earned media value (EMV, for short) was highest in the consumer packaged goods food industry, up to $14.29, followed closely behind by tourist destinations and travel ($12.54) and bath, body, skin and beauty ($12.21).

In addition, social engagement rate amongst influencers was impressive as well, averaging 3.4 percent for the first half of the year. Food was the leader in this area as well, at 4.1 percent, with home and garden and bath, body, skin and beauty close behind.

When it comes to social amplification rate, Instagram leads the charge over other social networks, by 1.77 percent, according to the numbers. Facebook could only muster .21 percent, followed by Google Plus with .15 percent and Twitter and Pinterest bottoming the list with .13 and .11 percent, respectively.

As for where social amplification was highest in terms of categories, electronics seemed to have the biggest reach with .66 percent, followed by home and garden (.59 percent) and tourist destinations and travel (.55 percent).

Finally, interest in influencers was divided pretty well, according to a Q2 2015 polling by the Altimeter group. 35 percent of social media professionals across the globe preferred a mature or optimized influencer relationship management program. Meanwhile, an additional 19 percent were in their first year with the program, while 32 percent were planning to form some form of agreement with an influencer. Only 14 percent of those polled had no interest in teaming up with an influencer.

 

Snapchat Offers Enticing Native Advertising Model

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By Jody Simon

Native advertising is one of the hottest topics in digital media, and platforms working to find innovative, organic ways to deliver robust digital advertising campaigns have taken notice.

Native advertising is a form of online advertising that closely resembles the form and function of the platform on which it appears. By creating ads in the same format as the content the users are there to consume, brands hope to provide a more organic advertising experience. With native advertising, brands experience above average user engagement, drawing higher click rates and shares.

While banner ads and online video pre-rolls may have some interactivity, they are not really all that different from traditional magazine ads and TV commercials. Even so, traditional forms of digital advertising take on extra power from improved targeting with consumer engagement, realizing an average of $3 on incremental sales for every $1 spent on advertising, according to Nielsen. This return on investment is why digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, Snapchat and others constantly look for novel new ways to generate revenue through advertising. Their next step is to combine demographic targeting with native formats to further consumer engagement in more organic ways.

The challenge for many digital advertising platforms is to exploit the advantages of consumer targeting while delivering an authentic connection with users, rather than delivering advertising content that feels like a creepy big brother watching every move. When computerized algorithms track clicks and likes, the distinction between traditional and native advertising can be painfully apparent. For example, if you type in a search for information on franchising a business, every pop-up and banner ad for the next month will be about franchising. Many users find these unwanted ads uncomfortable and intrusive. But how can companies cut through the content clutter to deliver their message effectively

Keep reading…

This article was originally posted on VideoInk and is reposted on [a]listdaily via a partnership with the news publication, which is the online video industry’s go-to source for breaking news, features, and industry analysis. Follow VideoInk on Twitter @VideoInkNews, or subscribe via thevideoink.com for the latest news and stories, delivered right to your inbox.

Is Instagram Getting Oversaturated?

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Instagram has been in the news a lot lately, between its new brand engagement programs and its recent surge in display ad revenue {links no longer active}. However, not all the news is good for the media-driven site.

Findings from Locowise indicate that both growth and engagement for Instagram have dropped off quite a bit last month. How bad Let’s look at the numbers.

Looking across 2,500 Instagram profiles and tracking their progress throughout the month, Locowise found that average follower growth dwindled down to just .34 percent, down 77 percent from May.

In addition, organic growth also took a nosedive, dropping from 1.95 percent in April to below .35 percent in July. It was gradual at first, going down to 1.48 percent in May, but then dropped a full percentage point in June, down to .49. That said, Locowise did note that it’s still better than the .21 percent organic page likes growth on Facebook, and the .19 percent growth on Twitter.

As far as engagement goes, it declined in general, down from 2.8 percent back in April to 2.12 percent in July. That still shows improvement over Facebook (.52 percent) and Twitter (.15 percent), but there are still signs for concern.

Other statistics that came from the report are as follows:

  • The 2,500 profiles Locowise studied posted 2.39 posts per day on average
  • 93.29 percent of all the posts were images, while 11.28 percent of all comments were on videos, despite video being only 6.71 percent of all content posted
  • 97.64 percent of all interactions were likes, 2.36 percent were comments and the response time for the first comment to be posted was 49 seconds on average-Photos engaged 2.16 percent of followers on average, while videos engaged 1.58 percent
  • Up to 24 million Instagram users could be bot accounts. These are fake accounts that are active on the platform and are interacting with other users. These spam accounts have posted 6 images on average and have a follower-to-following ratio of 1:41. (That would put a serious dent in the 300 million monthly users the site has.)

There’s no word from Instagram yet on reaction to these results, but we’ll see what it has to say in the months ahead.

In the meantime, the full report can be found here.

YouTube’s Top Techies Get Ranked

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These days, when someone is about to drop some cash on expensive headphones, a brand new phone, or any other number of gadgets, they don’t just check out written reviews– they get hands on insights from their most trusted YouTubers. ION looks into the top techies reigning on YouTube this week, whether it’s putting iPhones to the test, giving a product’s packaging full appreciation and more.

 

Barbie Goes Native on YouTube

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LeAnne Hackmann, Sr. Director Global Content Strategy & Activation, Mattel and Julia Pistor, Executive Producer, Playground Productions, Mattel, discuss Barbies vlogging debut with Heather Vernon, Director, Client Service, Ayzenberg. The focus of this case-study is on incorporating YouTube prevailing trends to re-imagine Barbie as a vlogger to drive brand awareness and engage our fans in a manner that was native to channel.

“Giving Barbie a voice on YouTube seemed the most authentic thing we had ever done,” said Hackmann. “How do we really deliver the first animated character in this form ” asked Pistor. “It scared us.” Hackmann noted that she runs everything by her 16-year-old daughter to help make sure the Barbie voice is talking about things a teenager would talk about.

“We’ve created what is for us a really new animation model,” said Hackmann. “It’s not scripted a long time in advance. It’s done in real-time as much as possible and mo-capped.” “You get that instant feedback from the audience,” said Pistor. “We can change things in real time, that’s what’s so great about this platform.”

The channel launched three months ago and already has over one million subscribers. “Getting the likes we see is one important KPI for use,” said Pistor. “Engagement is also critical. For us it’s a global brand, so we’re considering how this content resonates with our fans. Last but not least, how are our fans discovering this content It’s a mixture of all of those things we’re looking at, but engagement is really important.”

“We deliver content long form to short form across a variety of platforms,” said Pistor. “It’s really about the right content on the right platform. The vlogger is so appropriate for YouTube, I think that’s where it remains.”

Vernon wanted to know what’s next will we see Skipper or Ken “We’ll see all the sisters,” Hackmann said. Ken may have to wait a while, until they’ve built that asset, Hackmann noted. Other platforms will someday enter in. “Barbie’s really into Vine, Hackmann said. “We’ll see her on Vine someday.”

The Future of the Data-Driven Studio

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JC Cangilla from New Form Digital, the online studio joint venture of Discovery, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, speaks with Allison Stern, co-founder of Video Intelligence firm Tubular Labs, about the future of the data-driven digital studio. New Form Digital uses Tubular insights to identify rising star storytellers, create engaging digital scripted content, and successfully grow engaged digital audiences.

Video will be 74 percent of all Internet traffic in a few years, noted Stern, and it’s fragmented across multiple sources. That’s where Tubular comes in, providing data about video data from 30+ platforms. Now, “Anyone is a video creator,” said Stern. “What does that mean for creators ”

There are 2.5 million providers on YouTube, and over 1200 of them have over 1 million subscribers, Stern pointed out. Cangilla described one influencer that New Form Digital, a digital studio, found through use of Tubular’s data. New Form has produced 25 pilots over the last 18 months, and sold 17 of them into series. “We use Tubular to find new talent, and then to cast additional talent on projects,” said Cangilla. “Our business model is funding pilots and then selling them as series.”

The process uses Tubular’s data to help choose talent, but it’s not that simple. “It’s not just taking influencers and putting them into the content they typically create,” said Stern. “It’s giving them the resources to do something even better. It’s an exciting thing you guys are doing.” “Our creative assumptions are that YouTubers, Viners, etc. are the creative talent of the future,” said Cangilla. “And that people will stick around to watch a 15 minute pilot on their page.”

“What do you see moving forward into the future ” asked Stern. “It looks a lot like your slide,”said Cangilla, “Where you have lots and lots of different distributors. We’ve seen a proliferation of platforms that need their House of Cards, and that’s what we’re trying to produce.”

“What are the secrets to success in building a digital studio ” asked Stern. “One is we had done 25 pilots in a year, and the reason is we feel there’s a need for volume,”said Cangilla. “We’re looking to double and triple those numbers. We want to leverage what already exists and then build upon it. The last piece of advice is to start 18 months ago we’re well on pace and it’s a rapidly changing environment.”

How Multi-Platform Video Strategies Are Changing

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The world s biggest publishers are now getting onboard with Facebook Instant Video, Snapchat and other platforms offering them to publish natively, in mobile apps and outside of walled gardens. How do you navigate this integrated video landscape to reach new viewers who will engage with your brand on the platform of their choice The panel includes Juan Bruce, CEO and co-founder of Epoxy; Rebecca Markarian, SVP digital and social media, Ayzenberg; and Frank Sinton, CEO of Beachfront Media, moderated by Jocelyn Johnson, founder of VideoInk.

Johnson led off by asking some key questions. “How do you get your content out there where you can get the analytics What do you want your world to look like in terms of higher engagement with your audience ”

“It’s about what type of content we can produce for which audience, and where that audience lives,” said Markarian.”It’s very much about the people you’re trying to reach, then the platform, then the content.”

“Your audience has decided where they want to go,” said Bruce. “That’s defining where you have to be. The viewer’s going to decide where they’re going to be, and you have to decide whether you’re going to be there or not. Brands have to act like native digital creators and participate where their audience is.”

“Is it better to migrate to different platforms, or choose one and go deep “, Johnson asked. “I think it wasn’t a question of migration, users were already there,” said Bruce. “It was just a question of whether you want to engage. That conversation is already there, are you using the right tactics to connect with them.”

“Audiences can shift quickly to some platform that’s the hot new thing,” noted Sinton. “You really want to go where the audience is, but you need to have a multi-pronged strategy where you have your own platform as well. You have to treat each platform as if it can be shut down tomorrow. You have to be in multiple places.” “Give them what they want, right where they’re at,” Markarian added.

Johnson noted that some surveys showed only about 20% of YouTube subscribers were active, and asked if the panelists agreed with those numbers. “We can tell on the app side some people will get 70% of their viewers to download an app, and some will get 5%,” said Sinton. “You can tell who really has superfans. The important thing is not to just focus on that top-tier creator, but look at who gets the monthly views. Look at the segments and see who the best mid-tier creators are.”

“Can livestreaming finally take off with Periscope and Meerkat, and should brands focus on that ,” Johnson asked. “I would argue it’s already taken off because of Twitch,” said Bruce. “It’s the following and the social mechanic. I’m not going to make any bets on Periscope and Meerkat, but I think livestreaming is definitely here to stay one way or another. There’s a lot of interesting opportunities going on.”

“I would totally agree with that,” said Markarian. “The content is going to get better, and the creators are getting a lot better, and they’re bringing audiences to it. Livestreaming will be the new normal eventually.”

“I’ts going to be here to stay,” said Sinton. “My prediction is iOS 10 will have it built in.”

ESports Presents Big Opportunities In Streaming Video

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There’s no question that eSports has grown over the past few years — but it’s how it’s grown that’s the fascinating story. And two speakers today at the (a)list daily Video Summit in Hollywood focused on how marketable it’s becoming, especially with various partners and heavy talent on board.

First up was Andy Swanson, vice president of eSports for Twitch, who discussed the big numbers coming out of last week’s International tournament in Seattle, which generated an $18 million prize offering, and generated a live audience of 17,000 people (and even more so online). The winning team, Evil Geniuses, took home $6.6 million, one of the biggest prizes to date.

Swanson then broke down how much eSports is expected to grow over the next few years, with $3 billion in offered prizes by 2020 (up from the $1.1 billion estimate for 2017). These numbers make sense, especially considering that a recent League of Legends tournament managed to gain an audience of 32 million viewers — even higher than most events, like the NHL or NBA playoffs.

eSports breaks down into four categories: competition, entertainment, discovery and community, according to Swanson. It actually dates back to well before the age of the Internet, when pinball competitions and Street Fighter II fights gathered players from around the world to compete.

Audiences are expected to reach record numbers over the next few years as well. 44 million eSports fans are expected by 2017 for both North American and European markets, while the number will be even higher in Asia, to the tune of 76 million. While that seems insurmountable, keep in mind that many tournaments, like the ESPN-broadcasted Heroes of the Dorm and this summer’s EVO 2015 fighting tournament, already have a tremendous following.

There are several tiers to consider with the success of eSports, including a publisher/developer hosted eSports league (with Guild Wars 2 or League of Legends), which are broadcasted live on Twitch. These have been spectacularly popular, with 89 million spectators worldwide and 368 million total views on Twitch last year alone, with a total of 11 billion minutes viewed.

So how do brands get involved Swanson posed that question and explained  that there are several factors. First, there are devoted media groups that follow the pursuit of eSports full time — kind of like an ESPN specific for the league. There’s also a package of various eSports type tournaments to cover, including DOTA 2, League of Legends and others. Premium event integration and sponsorship also play a part, whether it’s with the events themselves or with the teams that play in them, as Evil Geniuses and other players have no problem gaining partners to back them up. Swanson explained that branding opportunities can also play a part through live player registration, as opportunities to take part in events like the Halo World Championship present a chance to promote products even further while bringing in players. In-broadcast integration can also take a part of the action, and partners can host customized tournaments, like Mountain Dew and Lionsgate, with its action-thrilled John Wick. 

Swanson specifically mentioned Duracell, a company that hosted a 26-hour long Madden football tournament to tie in with its 26-hour battery product at the time.

To conclude his part of the presentation, Swanson stated that viewership for eSports has grown stronger than ever over the past few years — and it’ll keep getting better.

ArenaNet's Steve FowlerArenaNet’s Steve Fowler

Steve Fowler, head of global marketing for ArenaNet, followed, explaining the differences in eSports and talking about the power of the Guild War 2 tournaments, including one that recently took place at the Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany. He talked about the passion of players, and how their increased practice with the player vs. player (PvP) mode can help add more dollars to revenue. General play time for these players can range around 722 minutes, but with PvP integration, it grows even higher to 840 minutes.

Fowler then went into the drama that comes with competition, and how a player, Lord Helseth, drummed up intensity with a forthcoming contest by proclaiming a victory ahead of time. His team ended up being third, so after the event, he challenged another player, NoS, to an arm wrestling contest, only to have his arm broken as a result. The community also reacted quite well to non-gaming competition, as one player accidentally fell asleep with his stream still going — a humorous situation that the community was quick to jump in on.

The panel then concluded with a quick community discussion, and how some eSports players are so devoted to their job, they live in “gaming houses” where managers rent the space, enabling them to practice up for forthcoming events.

Yep, eSports are definitely on the up-and-up.

Influencers: It’s Not Just A Fandom — It’s A Movement

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Over 20,000 young teens, parents in tow, descended on the massive Anaheim Convention center for VidCon and this year. In attendance were also nearly 3,000 industry executives, investors and marketers scrambling to make sense of it all. What are take-aways in terms of where digital video and its new stars and their fans are heading VidCon Industry Track curator Jim Louderback, Ayzenberg and ION principal and director of media Vincent Juarez and Executive Director Jon Roth discuss this, moderated by [a]listdaily s Jay Baage.

VidCon was a huge outpouring of love for the new breed of video stars on YouTube and elsewhere, and this sixth version of VidCon was bigger than ever. “It’s very much of a community thing across the board,” said Louderback. “There was a new track for people who want to become creators, and there were 3,000 people there.”

“It’s not just YouTube any more, there are plenty of new formats,” said Louderback. He referenced Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Periscope, Meerkat all similar to how we thought about formats in the past. “The people whoa re good at one format aren’t necessarily good at another,” Louderback noted. “For a brand it’s important that you work on all these different places.”

“It’s understanding how to better connect, and the old techniques of engaging in a monologue with consumers don’t work any more,” Juarez said. “I’m not saying you throw out old media, but letting clients know there’s a new form of media that needs to be brought in.”

What’s the rationale for all the business deals going on in this space “If you look over the history of mergers and acquisitions, people will buy over build if they don’t have the DNA,” said Roth. “That was Disney’s thinking with the Maker deal.”

“The fans that show up at VidCon are between 13 and 23-years-old,” Louderback said. “The creators are not on a pedestal, they’re friends. The brands that do well bring something to the community they want to be part of it long term.

“Taking a step back from the brand is a risky proposition, but the best way to engage with the audience is to let somebody else do the talking,” said Juarez. “It’s about this new age of marketing where you have to talk a step back and trust things will work out.”