This week on Earned, we explore the transformative world of creator marketing with mini interviews recorded onsite during our CreatorIQ Connect LA event. Industry experts and creators like Kate Brady from PepsiCo, Brian Manning from Wayfair, Leah Walker from Adobe, Dana Paolucci from Dove, and Amy Johnson from Wasserman discuss how storytelling and authenticity are redefining marketing strategies.
Explore how brands are embracing community-driven growth and the transformative power of qualitative metrics over traditional engagement measures. We highlight the emerging trends reshaping the industry, such as the rise of macro and nano influencers, and the growing integration of creators in product development. Additionally, the episode examines the pivotal role of AI in amplifying creator value and the critical importance of precise ROI measurement. As we navigate the challenges of the digital age, we underscore the enduring power of storytelling and personalized content, envisioning a renaissance of authenticity in this ever-evolving landscape. Tune in for a compelling discussion on the future of creator marketing and its limitless potential to forge genuine audience connections.
Check out highlights from the episode below, or or tune into the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!
The following interview has been lightly edited for concision.
Brit Starr: How are you proving the ROI of creators today?
Dana Paolucci, Dove: When we work on such a big brand like Dove, we have several different pillars of our creator marketing strategy. One is 360 campaigns. They're very, very fueled by paid media, creating content across the funnel and also creating really engaging content that actually entertains and drives shares and saves. We're seeing those pieces of content go viral and reach beyond the creator’s audience. We have other pieces of content that perform very, very well to our targeted groups. It's hard for me to answer this question because we measure success in so many different ways and we have 10 KPIs per program. Making sure that we look at both the organic reach of our campaigns, programs, talkability, and reach organically alongside the traditional performance metrics that come with putting paid on your content and reaching those audiences. You can't isolate one or the other. You have to think in a 360 capacity when you're thinking about your creator marketing campaigns.
Leah Walker, Adobe: We prove out the ROI of influencer, creator marketing through the full funnel, all the way from brand reputation and share of voice to conversion and ARR that's driven by creator content. We truly look at it multidimensionally across the entire marketing funnel.
Amy Johnson, Wasserman: The ROI from a good creator brand objective is looking at how the campaign actually matches with the creators authenticity and their audience. Making sure that the brand objective and the creator either extend what the brand is looking for or double down in the fandom that they currently have.
Brian Manning, Wayfair: ROI is a tricky conversation. In any type of marketing, our world is particularly challenging to measure. It's all about triangulation. It's about looking at a variety of different sources of measurement. We have a proprietary multi-touch attribution model that we use, but that alone is imperfect. We also look at how we run conversion lift studies when we do creator boosted content. We look at proxy metrics, things like impressions, reach, engagement, and the classic upper funnel metrics. It's really the combination of all these different metrics to determine where you want to lean in, where you want to pull back, how aggressively you want to grow.
Kate Brady, PepsiCo: I do think that that is the question of the year and, to be honest with you, we haven't figured that out yet. We are focused on trying to get better insight and better understanding as much as we can in the future. We're collaborating across our marketing sciences teams and our insights teams to really formulate what is the best approach, taking into consideration the things like table stakes, the impressions that are being delivered, and the engagement rates. Balancing it with audience building and how is that really compounding the impact there? Additionally, the brand equity metrics. Brand equity is a key focus for us, so it's important. We see this as a valuable tool to drive that longer-term impact.
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