TikTok Challenges Amazon Prime Day 🛍️
TODAY’S EDITION
TikTok will take on Amazon Prime Day with its Deals For You Days shopping event — if you read my predictions piece, you saw this coming.
Instagram tests public share counts — why creators and brands should care and what they can do.
With Apple now charging a 30% fee on Meta boosted posts —a look at how to avoid these fees.
Pinterest introduces Board Sharing so creators can share their boards across social media — Rachel Hardy, Director of Consumer Product Marketing at Pinterest, shares insights on the feature with me.
The White House is hosting its first-ever creator economy conference — find out how to attend.
SUBSCRIBE
Sign up here for the beehiiv version (preferred) of this newsletter to get future editions delivered earlier, as well as Beehiiv-exclusive editions soon.
DEEP DIVE
TikTok Announces Deals For You Days Shopping Event to Take On Amazon Prime Day
TikTok has announced Deals For You Days, a US shopping event scheduled for next month.
The Details:
Starting on July 9th, brands such as L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Our Place, Too Faced, Zwilling USA, and more will offer exclusive discounts on fashion, beauty, backyard entertainment, and other products through TikTok Shop.
Brands and creators will participate in content challenges through short-form videos and live streams, showcasing products, highlighting deals in real-time, and engaging with viewers.
TikTok to Rival Amazon:
TikTok’s shopping event will rival Amazon Prime Day (as predicted here), set for July 16th and 17th. With social commerce a major focus for TikTok, this event has the potential to significantly increase adoption of TikTok Shop.
While Amazon Prime Day is expected to be another record-breaking event, TikTok can divert some attention due to its strength in creators and content, which are playing an increasingly important role in how consumers discover and shop.
However, it will take time, as Amazon has a significant head start and a strong infrastructure. Yet, in the short term, TikTok could impact some of Amazon’s business, particularly with demographics like Gen Z. Amazon is aware of this, which is why it too has been investing in more social media-like features, such as the TikTok-like Inspire feed.
What It Means for Creators:
With Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and now TikTok all hosting summer shopping events, creators have more opportunities to earn through affiliate commissions and paid brand collaborations. These companies not only need to provide the best deals for shoppers but also the best money-making opportunities for creators to entice them to invest in their particular shopping event. This rings especially true as creators can spend weeks gearing up for events like Prime Day to maximize their revenue.
ICYMI: Forbes & Walmart Team Up For First-of-Its-Kind Creator Upfronts
NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS
Instagram Tests Public Share Counts As Send Rate Becomes A Priority Metric
Instagram is testing the display of public share counts on posts. Now, some users will see share counts prominently displayed alongside the icons for likes, comments, and shares.
Why It Matters: The send rate, or the frequency at which a post is shared relative to its reach, has been a topic of discussion for weeks now, thanks to Instagram head Adam Mosseri highlighting the importance of this metric in the platform’s mission. Instagram has also been testing features that promote content sharing, including prompting creators to send their posts to friends.
As Instagram increasingly emphasizes shares, creators should monitor how often their content is shared. Brands collaborating with creators on sponsored content should also consider this metric when evaluating potential partners, especially if their goals revolve around reaching new audiences.
How Creators May Adjust: Because of how much Instagram is leaning into shares, we could see creators start to incorporate calls to action around this. Instead of urging viewers to like, save, or comment on their posts, they might suggest sharing the post with a friend.
Instagram is Developing a Shared Access Feature to Enable Users to Share Their Account Access
Instagram is developing a Shared Access feature. This feature allows users to invite up to three people to manage their accounts without sharing passwords. Those with access can post content, manage messages, and perform other tasks. However, they cannot delete the account or change the username and password. Users maintain full control over access permissions and can revoke access at any time. They can also monitor all actions taken.
Why It Matters: Many creators depend on support from various sources, such as virtual assistants, talent managers, and dedicated teams. This feature simplifies the process for creators to give account access to others, while ensuring oversight to prevent misuse.
Supporting Creators Also Means Supporting Their Teams: Meta, TikTok, and YouTube have recently enhanced their toolsets to support creators and their teams with Meta’s Creator Management Tool, TikTok’s Talent Manager Portal, and YouTube’s Channel Permissions. These developments recognize that the creator experience also extends to those who are helping them.
Meta Highlights Ways Creators & Small Businesses Can Avoid Apple’s 30% Fee on Boosting Posts
Since February 2024, creators and businesses using the Facebook and Instagram apps to boost their posts have been subject to an additional 30% Apple service fee due to updated App Store Guidelines, now expanded globally.
In response, Meta has shared ways for creators and businesses to avoid this fee. They can boost posts directly from Facebook.com and Instagram.com on desktop and mobile browsers. Alternatively, prepaying funds on desktop or mobile browsers also allows them to boost posts without incurring additional fees, regardless of when the boosting takes place.
Why It Matters: Some creators have recently discovered the added fee when boosting their Facebook and Instagram posts within the apps, leading to disappointment. Boosting is valuable for creators to expand their audience, particularly those less familiar with Ads Manager.
Benefits For Creators, Benefits For Meta: Meta's initiative to offer alternatives to avoid fees is notable. It not only provides creators with cost-effective ways to continue boosting their content but also serves as a strategic move for Meta to mitigate the impact of these fees on its advertising business.
Pinterest Introduces Board Sharing for Creators to Share Their Pinterest Boards Across Social Media
Pinterest has introduced Board Sharing, a new feature enabling users to share their Pinterest boards across various social media platforms. When users opt to share a board, a video is auto-generated. They can then edit the Pins included in the video or select different templates. Users can choose "Add to Story" to share directly to Instagram or "Download" to export and share on platforms like Reels and TikTok. (See a demo here)
To date, over 10 billion boards have been created on Pinterest, with a significant increase in the number of boards created by Gen Z in the last year.
Why It Matters: Board Sharing offers a streamlined way for creators to share Pinterest content in a visually engaging manner across other social media platforms. This not only helps them reach new audiences but also drives these audiences back to their Pinterest boards, where they can explore more content and follow.
Board Sharing joins Collages as another feature that caters to the Gen Z demographic, which makes up over 40% of the platform’s global userbase.
Background and Future of Board Sharing: Rachel Hardy, Director of Consumer Product Marketing at Pinterest, answered a few of my questions about how Board Sharing came to be and its potential future developments.
What is the process of taking user feedback and transforming it into an actual feature like Board Sharing? We observed that our users were coming up with all sorts of creative ways to share their boards on social media, like taking screenshots to share with friends or followers and using green screen effects to walk people through their boards. Once we seized the opportunity and committed to building this feature, we partnered with users and creators to get feedback and test with us throughout the development process. This is something we do with every feature we develop.
How do you envision Board Sharing evolving in the future, and are there any upcoming enhancements or additional functionalities users can look forward to? It will be really interesting to see all the different use cases people will come up with, from manifestation boards to the inspiration behind a renovation project, an upcoming trip, or a new aesthetic; there are endless possibilities. We see this as an opportunity to foster genuine engagement among diverse and niche communities by providing a window into the inspiration behind creative projects. We are also evaluating expanding our sharing capabilities to other platforms in the future and adding more templates for sharing.
Patreon
Patreon Announces New Features to Help Creators Convert Fans Into Paying Subscribers
Patreon has announced new features for creators. These include the ability to gift memberships to fans for a limited time, sell individual posts and collections, and generate audio and video clips of Patreon posts for off-platform promotion. Creators will also soon be able to open their community chat sections to both free and paid members.
Why It Matters: These features will help creators convert more fans into paying subscribers, including the 30 million fee-paying members who have already joined their favorite creators' Patreons. The ability to gift memberships and sell individual posts and collections allows fans to experience the benefits available to subscribers. Auto-generated audio and video clips also make it easier for creators to promote their Patreon on other platforms, such as social media, to help drive more sign-ups.
WHAT I’M READING
The White House will host a conference for social media creators (Amanda Silberling, TechCrunch)
Later this summer, on August 14th, the White House’s Office of Digital Strategy will host the first-ever White House Creator Economy Conference (WHCEC). It will feature a group of creators and industry professionals for a day of discussions and breakout sessions on topics such as data privacy, fair pay, AI, mental health, and more. Interested in attending? You can apply here.
‘The darker you are, the less you’re worth’: the influencer pay gap (Raphael Boyd, The Guardian)
A new pay-gap report reminds us that there are still several issues when it comes to pay for influencers from different demographics.
Influencers Aren’t Getting Famous Like They Used To (Stephanie McNeal, Glamour)
More people are gaining popularity online, but fewer are breaking through to mainstream recognition. The influx of influencers has made it harder for individuals to stand out.
SUBSCRIBE
Sign up here for the beehiiv version (preferred) of this newsletter to get future editions delivered earlier, as well as Beehiiv-exclusive editions soon.
THANK YOU
Thank you for reading! If you've enjoyed this, please consider sharing it with a colleague or friend. If you have any feedback, ideas, tips, or questions or would like to advertise in the newsletter or collaborate, please don't hesitate to reply to this email, reach out here, or send me a DM.