Emily in Paris 0 741

5 reasons why Emily in Paris could not be an influencer in real life

In a year that people would rather fast-forward their lives, Netflix’s easy to watch ‘Emily in Paris’ has achieved an impressive entry on the list of the streaming platform’s 10 most watched shows. The plot is far from elaborate: An American millennial goes to work in Paris even though she cannot speak a word of French,  falls in love with the city, its cuisine, and its men – oh, and on the way, she also becomes an overnight influencer without much effort.

Created by Darren Star, the same man behind HBO’s Sex and the city (1998 – 2004), “Emily in Paris” stars Grammy and Tony nominated actress Ashley Park, and The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones’ Lily Collins (who was also executive producer).  The series was shot in France last year, from August to November, in a pre-Covid era when people could still go out and maintain normal lives.

It is hard to realistic place Emily as a normal girl. She is perhaps the only twentysomething American with just 58 followers to be transferred abroad to work in a marketing agency. Even more bizarre, she is taking a post at what must be the only marketing agency in the world without any social media accounts, which makes it even harder to imagine the character thriving as a content creator.

Over the years, I have worked with hundreds of content creators and brands in Asia, Europe and America. So, believe me when I say that although the influencer marketing ROI is higher than most traditional sales approaches, it is way more complex than it looks. 

Here are the five main reasons why Emily in Paris could not be an influencer in real life.

 

Zero interaction

Emily is often impressed by the number of people finding her account, for no obvious reason, and following her, for no obvious reason, either. However, she doesn’t make any effort to check who those people are, nor to interact with them. Despite the fact that her Instagram goes from a few dozen followers at the series pilot, to thousands of people following her short posts once she starts sharing her Parisienne life in later episodes, Emily never replies to a comment or leaves even an emoji on others’ accounts.

Ask any real-life content creator and they will tell you how many interactions they have to create every day to keep people commenting and sharing their content. From a simple ‘thank you’ to a more detailed reply, influencers can’t afford to simply ghost post. Ghost posting is an expression created to describe people who disappear after uploading their content, instead of interacting with followers within the first few minutes of their content going live – these are the crucial minutes that will make or break a piece of content on social media.

EMILY IN PARIS (L to R) LILY COLLINS as EMILY and ASHLEY PARK as MINDY CHEN in episode 101 of EMILY IN PARIS. Cr. CAROLE BETHUEL/NETFLIX © 2020

No planning whatsoever

Emily is a free spirit in a new city and posts away with the same carefree attitude. here is no content planning. Emily just creates her next post in an improvised way. 

In real life, influencers spend hours planning their content. This includes crafting great captions, creating outstanding photos and videos, and meticulously planning what time they will post based on research and a deep understanding of their own Instagram insights. Knowing their followers well and what time they are most likely to be online is the key difference between content performing well or falling flat.

 

Ignoring Instagram’s tolls

In Emily’s world, it is good enough to post on the main grid. She lives in an unrealistically simple digital world.

In the real world, all tolls released by the Facebook-owned platform over the past decade massively help to drive engagement. We know that the protagonist is aware of Instagram Live, as we see Emily watching a live stream of her friend, Mindy, singing in a bar. However, she doesn’t explore Instagram Live while creating her own content, nor does she use stickers, location tags, filters, or any other available tolls.

 

No video content

Although Mademoiselle Emily works in marketing, she blatantly ignores the fact that, according to a survey by Cisco, the worldwide leader in IT and networking solutions, by 2022 online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017. 

The changes in the way people consume video content is a forecast widely spread across the marketing industry. So much so that, a few years back, while outreaching content creators to be part of a new campaign, I would often be asked in which format the brand expected them to post – as they had different fees. 

Video content takes longer to be created and approved; therefore, it commands a higher price. The difference is that in 2020 most influencers are posting in any possible format to maximize their reach. So, instead of negotiating a static post, savvy content creators are now more likely to offer brands a package that will include videos, stories, Instagram reels and, in some cases, even blog entries and cross promotions. With the latter, the influencer would also post across different social media channels.  

 

No follow up

Influencers spend a reasonable amount of time doing something that only a few people see: following up with brands. Once they land a collaboration, be it paid or in exchange for a free product to review online, the partnership doesn’t end once the post is up on social media. In fact, this is actually only half-way through the process. Within the first hours of a branded content going live, often people will ask specific questions that will require the content creator to liaise with the sponsor to answer them. The more related to the post, the better the engagement. Companies and their marketing agencies also expect influencers to follow up with them, after a while, to share content insights (how many people interacted, how many clicked the promotional link etc). It is worth spending some time doing it properly and in a professional way because that follow up will allow brands to decide if a content creator is a good fit to work on future campaigns.

 

All 10 episodes of Season 1 of “Emily in Paris” are now available on Netflix. 

Previous ArticleNext Article
Marcio Delgado is a Journalist, speaker and a Content Producer working with brands and publications in the UK and Latin America.

Can IGTV help a business to engage with and sell to an audience? 0 570

In 2020, video content remains a strong tool for marketing. IGTV continues to grow exponentially and is not showing signs of being replaced by other media formats any time soon. The pandemic has only further boosted social media usage in 2020 and Instagram’s determination to make its answer to YouTube work at all costs.

When Facebook first launched IGTV, in 2018, brands were reluctant to use it. The service would allow users to watch longer videos made for mobile devices directly through Instagram or through the stand-alone IGTV app. However, brands did not believe the new tool justified spending extra money and time in adapting content to a vertical format, as part of a marketing strategy.

To attract viewers and creators, Instagram has moved fast in the last few months.

Firstly, Instagram enabled users to share a 15-second preview of IGTV content to their feed. The aim of this was to lure audiences to check the rest of the content on IGTV. In May, the social platform announced that they would introduce ads and share IGTV revenue with influencers. And, to make sure the video segment of the platform would get a boost in content, Instagram introduced a feature allowing people to upload Instagram Lives directly to IGTV. This decision benefits those viewers who missed a Live and, by default, is helping Instagram to increase its IGTV content.

2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report shows that more than 50% of marketers are producing videos on YouTube and Facebook, with 38% of digital marketing professionals using Instagram Stories, and 26% using native Instagram videos like IGTV.

But the question that everyone is looking for an answer to is: Can IGTV help a business engage and sell to an audience?

Social media experts and business owners share their successful tips ahead of 2021. According to a study by Cisco, the worldwide leader in IT, networking and cybersecurity solutions, mobile video will account for 78% of total mobile data traffic by next year. If IGTV hasn’t made its way into your content calendar, the right time to start doing it is now.

 

Subtitles are key for IGTV engagement

“We find that video content is king when it comes to engagement and IGTV has been an excellent add-on paired with an existing robust strategy. If it’s teachable, listable, informative, and a on brand IGTV can be an engagement powerhouse.

Keep in mind that subtitles are key! Over 85% of users view the video on social media with their sound off. You don’t want to put all of your efforts into crafting an amazing video, only to have people scroll right past it.

Unfortunately, for a few businesses, there is a lack of understanding around IGTV’s value. This can then translate into lower engagement and enthusiasm overall. On the flip side, however, clients who are in the health and beauty industry have benefitted from the extended engagement. Audiences are hungry, during this pandemic, for content that they can learn from.”

Kris Lal – CEO at content agency www.curatorsocial.com

Never stop making it better

“IGTV can help engage your existing audience and also help grow your audience further! IGTV takes some time to master and you want to ensure that your entire video runs smoothly. My best advice before implementing IGTV into your digital marketing strategy is to practice. Your audience wants concise and engaging information, not forced sales messages.”

Cali Saturn – Digital Marketing specialist at SEO agency www.direction.com

 

Add a call to action to promote your IGTV

“Yes, IGTV can help a business to engage and sell to an audience. Importantly, the aesthetic of the video content is important. Repurposing the video for use beyond IGTV is the key. Add a “Call to Action” on the short clips or snapshots on Instagram Stories. Additionally, start planning for the 15-second version of the content for Instagram’s new function – Instagram Reels.”

Bernie Wong – Founder at www.social-stand.com

 

Keep it genuine

“If you’re in the medical industry, like me, the material you post might be behind-the-scenes footage of specific medical procedures. Or, it might be basic talks about intimidating medical procedures. People also want to see genuine stuff. So, producing original content with audiences can allow you to create a successful IGTV channel with a devout audience.”

Dr. Vikram Tarugu – Gastroenterologist and medical professional at www.detoxofsouthflorida.com

 

Make the most out of your current followers

“Something to keep in mind is that IGTV works well when you already have a large enough audience. This is because it does not appear in hashtag rankings as well as posts do. So, depending on what your strategy is, IGTV can help boost existing follower engagement rates. IGTV promotes resharing or saving content to accounts. In comparison, posts usually promote a user to hit the like or comment buttons.”

Terry Tateossian – Founding Partner of full-service boutique agency www.socialfix.com

Use it as your permanent shop window

“IGTV can be very beneficial for business, particularly for selling products rather than services. With IGTV you’ll be able to describe the product in-depth. Show BTS footage and you can even have potential customers take a closer look at the material.”

Sharon Mills – Lead Publicist at public relations and partnerships agency www.bysbm.com

 

Grab viewers’ attention as fast as you can

“I use IGTV to promote our podcast, Entrepaidneur Sessions. We post highlights from our episode, which gets our viewers excited about watching a full episode.
It has worked. My super tip is to make sure that the content you post is engaging. If you can catch people’s attention in the first 30 seconds, the likelihood that they will watch the entire video, and take the recommended action you want them to take, is much higher.”

Jennifer Onwumere – Founder at Jen-gerbread Marketing

 

Repurpose content that appeals to your audience

“Generally speaking, Instagram is great for younger audiences and niches where rich visuals sell. You don’t necessarily have to create more content, you just have to focus on repurposing it accordingly, as businesses need to try to find ways to turn one piece of content into seven or eight pieces of content.

But you will need to know well your target audience to decide if it worth the extra work. Are they likely to consume IGTV?

The more you know your audience, the better you can decide what to do when it comes to creating content for IGTV – or any other feature – as part of your digital strategy.”

Jack Choros – CMO at content optimization agency www.ironmonk.com.

How are Influencers pitching to brands in 2020? 0 537

With many influencers’ deals paused and/or adjusted during the first half of 2020, influencer marketing, once again, was put to the test.

Some of the brand campaigns being put on ice doesn’t exactly have anything to do with creators not being able to deliver excellent results through their social graph. Instead, it was related to the advertiser boycott of Facebook, whereby hundreds of marketers committed to moving their budget from the platform, during July.

The main factor instigating the abrupt content shift, though, was the lack of preparation, from many brands, big and small, to deal with a pandemic that wiped away months of sales while people stayed quarantined at home watching the world goes by. And Maybe Netflix.

Coronavirus was one of many factors that have made life harder for those working with Influencer marketing this year and it wasn’t for lack of online audience, either.

From March to July, usage of social media reached an all-time high, as a result of more people working from home, schools being closed, and large proportions of the workforce being furloughed. But before budgets could be revisited and amended, and Influencer Marketing strategies could be put in place, months after the pandemic spread across Europe, Asia and America, a similar pattern of frozen campaigns surfaced due to the worldwide repercussions of the Black Lives Matter protests – one of the most recent movement rightly prompting more brands to pause their campaigns while they re-evaluate their relationship with creators and their corporate voices on social issues.

Has all of this changed the way content creators approach brands to collaborate with? And, moving forward, what will the world, post Covid-19, look like for influencers, agencies, small businesses, and brands who make use of influencer marketing?

 

Authentic brand connections will be a plus

“Influencers (and their managers) are having to work harder to secure partnerships in 2020, specifically by showing that they were already advocates of the brand before they pitch. Influencers who can demonstrate an authentic connection to the brand as a consumer, showing that they use the product and have tagged the brand multiple times over the years, or even in recent months, will be better positioned to win that partnership. Those other influencers, who might have similar data insights and reach metrics but haven’t demonstrated their authentic connection, will get left behind.

Influencers can also provide brands with a solution to their growing demand for content. They bring efficiency and economy to content creation, while also providing deep knowledge of the social space and what works there.”

Jackie Segedin – Director of Brand Partnerships at CookIt Media

 

It is a good time to collaborate

“Influencers are homebound and not traveling to exclusive destinations. Right now is the best time to DM someone within your vertical to plan a collaboration project. This is a rare opportunity to get the attention of busy thought-leaders, with widespread followings, that can give your business more exposure.

Focus less on the medium of attracting influencers and more on building relationships with key players on social media that are experts in the topics related to the services your brand offers.

Mike Zima – Chief Growth Officer at ecommerce digital marketing agency Zima Media

 

A need for flexibility to adapt to new platforms

“To stay active, as an influencer, I adapt to the new social media platforms. Previously, I concentrated on YouTube to interact with my clients. Now, I focus on Tiktok. Who would have thought that a law firm would be on TikTok? You see, it is all about getting yourself into what’s ‘in’ and not getting left behind. I make sure that I’m active and visible on every platform that people are using.”

Jacob J. Sapochnick – Immigration Attorney and Social Media Influencer

 

Exploring the appeal of homemade content

“There is more work for influencers than ever before since normal photoshoots are not currently occurring, but brands still need content! My fiancé is a professional photographer, so we have been creating content at home and outside. I have been speaking with more brands, due to many losing their budget because of a loss of sales (COVID-19). However, other than having to reach out to more brands than usual to be successful, not much has changed for me. It is all about adapting to the change. Working from home and creating your own little studio space. Even if you don’t have a professional camera, iPhone photos still work amazingly!”

Mikayla Rose Becker – Content creator

 

PRO TIP 👍

Neal Schaffer – Author and Digital Social Media Marketing Consultant

Combining reach for lead generation

“As a B2B influencer, I have found that marketing budgets for events, or other inactive areas, are shifting towards influencer marketing for lead generation. For this purpose, lead-generating webinar-based work has actually increased since COVID-19, and although marketers are more conservative in their decision-making they still have budget. This is especially true for B2B influencers who are active on LinkedIn and Twitter like I am. Blogging, podcasting, and having a robust email list also help.”

Neal Schaffer – Author, Digital Social Media Marketing Consultant & Coach

 

Creating relatable content

“As a result of some substantial cuts to marketing budgets across the board, and production studio closures due to Covid-19, the industry saw – and will continue to see – a need for brands to continue to find ways to create content for social media and e-comm remotely. That need created an opportunity for influencers and creators to get their foot in the door. The most successful content creators have been the ones who provide high-quality, relatable content. Influencers who are professional, follow creative briefs, and provide content in a timely manner have been the ones who are in high demand and continue to grow and work with reputable brands.”

Pam Zapata – talent and Influencer Manager at SLAY Media

 

 

#DigitalMarketing #InfluencerMarketing ~ContentMarketing #Influencers #SocialMedia #ContentCreation

Editor Picks

workingwithinfluencers

Load More... Follow on Instagram