It's 2023, and everyone wants more. As a marketer, you know that a star-studded collaboration should yield more than a few viral Instagram posts. To open hearts (and wallets), you need a strategic approach. Enterprise companies know this to be true, and as such, they’re getting strategic with celebrity and influencer partnerships.

It’s proven that including influencers in a brand’s marketing strategy equals sales: Statista reports the value of influencer marketing alone is worth over $16 billion, while a study done by the Harvard Business Review found that on average, a 1% increase in influencer marketing spend leads to an average 0.46% increase in engagement.

You’d be surprised. Influencer marketing isn’t always a strategy for borrowing name recognition from celebrities. Legacy brands have big budgets and decades of goodwill already working for them. 

The average attention span is shrinking. In fact, a recent Microsoft study found that our attention span is down to about eight seconds or less. This extends to attention spans while browsing the web. And in the creator economy, those eight seconds are precious currency.There’s no doubt that in recent years, short-form video has either created this trend or capitalized on it. And it’s officially a trend creators can’t afford to ignore. 

After an internal study of sales data, executives at Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch found that brands targeted toward teens were losing sales. Part of this was due to inflation and the rising cost of living, but they found the key pain point was an age-old reality: most teens simply don’t have much purchasing power. After researching today’s Gen Alpha (teen) consumers, Hollister created the Share2Pay app to tackle this problem.

Unless a shopper can picture him or herself using a product, it’s difficult to validate a buying decision. This is especially true within the eCommerce environment, as shoppers face the hurdle of not being able to touch/feel/try on an item before buying. So why, then, are so many eCommerce brands still utilizing plain product images on a flat, white background?

The world of eCommerce marketing is like a jungle, densely packed with mainstream content for as far as the eye can see. You need an appetite for experimentation to survive this saturated eCommerce space and create a standout brand name. With strategically designed marketing experiments, you can create mind-blowing campaigns to deliver a great customer experience that gives consumers a reason to hit the “buy” button. It’s a great way to test your risk tolerance, go beyond generic marketing tactics, and discover new solutions to maximize your marketing ROI. 

Instead of displaying the latest Yeezy x Gap collection on traditional hangers and display plinths, the clothes appeared in giant black bags placed around the store floor. There was a firestorm of comments on social media after a tweet showing the offbeat visual merchandising for the Yeezy x Gap collection went viral.

If you want to stay competitive in the world of eCommerce, you need to understand how social media algorithms work, how they’re changing, and how this will affect the way you market your business on social media.

While beauty, fashion, and lifestyle brands dominate TikTok, more “traditional” (see also: un-sexy) brands can also use the social platform to share educational and entertaining content. 

The rising tide of the creator economy will benefit DTC brands as well as they adapt to the changing landscape and leverage the growing influence of creators. Brands need not view the boom in influencer-led brands as competition but rather as an exciting white space. 

Social Media and ecommerce channels were historically siloed. As it matured, social media became more commerce-focused, and ecommerce has started to integrate more social content

Consumers don’t want brands to simply dump money and hire famous faces to promote their products—they’re becoming more marketing-savvy every day and don’t like being sold to. They want meaningful partnerships that they can believe in. And when brand collaborations with celebs and macro-influencers easily come off as inauthentic and lazy, it’s difficult for consumers to move forward.

With the influencer marketing industry predicted to reach $10 billion in 2020, it’s a must-have for most brands. The problem is: Managing it is a ton of work.

Vacation’s launch is rife with clever marketing strategies cloaked under Poolside FM’s perpetually laid-back approach.

Getting your brand’s TikTok off the ground will require some work. It’s smart to start by using some tried-and-tested content formats.

With the creator providing free promotion to their audience, a well-done creator collab is like minting money.

Retail hasn’t died—it has evolved. Smart DTCs and brick-and-mortar stores reinvented themselves as true destination experiences.

Businesses need to adjust and embrace the future of retail. Here are some things to consider for the rest of 2021.

15 Examples of Brands Using Health & Wellness Influencers

The truth is, the economy is shifting. Employees are free to find followings online—and with those followings, they can leverage new opportunities.

Ecommerce is evolving into something bigger and more meaningful in our lives, and sustainability efforts are moving front and center as shoppers and brands alike ask: What’s best for the environment?

What trends can you cash in on to up your social media game in a constantly-evolving social media landscape? Let’s take a look at how social media is changing and what you can expect in this space during 2022.

Savannah lives and breathes social media, and she has the answers on why TikTok is so special. We interviewed her to find out her best tips on how to achieve impressive results there.

Curie focuses on natural and effective body products. The star of the show is the brand’s aluminum-free deodorant, sold in both solid and spray form. Additional products include a clay detox mask, whipped body wash, moisturizing body oil, hand sanitizer, and candles featuring their three unique scents.

An overview of Red Bull's marketing over the years

Retail and DTC are evolving rapidly due to the increasing costs associated with advertising and customer acquisition.

Polaroid was founded over 75 years ago in 1937, since then, the brand has been running at an intersection of technology, innovation, art, and photography.

Short-term influencer partnerships work well as a sandbox to test your foundation: they give you the flexibility to experiment with different creators and platforms, and in time, you’ll start to get a sense of which content (and which creators) stick.

Nike has created some of the world’s greatest marketing moments and innovations which put their name on the athletic apparel map forever.

Marvel has come a long way from its origins as a comic book series to become one of the biggest media empires in the world.

I recently interviewed Joanne Coffey, a data-driven email and SMS marketer who works with early-stage startups in the DTC beauty industry.

While Jason initially brought lash bundles onto the scene to raise AOV, Doe has since discovered that their bundles provide the brand with plenty more benefits.

Here's something that might shock you: Most creators aren't satisfied with the revenue they're earning.

Instagram recently rolled out a new feature that has brands buzzing: Collabs.

How an Instagram trend inspired a new sales tactic for Industry West

The reason: UGC humanizes your brand. There’s a certain level of authenticity it creates that’s hard to replicate in any other format. And this is critical, as there’s a real disconnect between brands and consumers right now. 91% of marketers think they’re creating authentic content on their websites, but only 51% of consumers agree.

In the 1980s, we saw the power of popular culture and its effect on brands’ bottom lines as it dominated American consciousness. So let’s look at some of the most noteworthy marketing campaigns that joined high-impact 1980s celebrities with creative marketing campaigns, shall we?

A year-by-year look at influencer marketing from the 90s

How a top-of-funnel content experiment led to a strategy rehaul

To attract foot traffic and inspire user-generated content (UGC), retailers are dreaming up visual environments they hope will become can’t-miss photo opps

Against all odds, Jones Road Beauty videos went viral multiple times, reaching 1M views within 24 hours and attracting over 130,000 followers in less than a week.

We can draw inspiration from brands that already have a system in place for finding their ideal partners.

With the Halston collection, Netflix is setting foot in high fashion for the first time.

19 eCommerce and DTC experts share their top three gift recommendations for this holiday season. Keep reading to discover 50+ unique gift ideas for your holiday shopping.

DTC brands now face an uncomfortable truth—you can only do so much with paid advertising. Moving forward, the key to success will be building a self-sustainable strategy centered around content, commerce, and community.

The rise of the subscription model is rewriting the rules of fashion in favor of access over ownership.

I recently connected with Alec to discuss his entrepreneurial roots and how he started his career in the tech and music industry.

Cookware-focused Equal Parts, and home organization-focused Open Spaces talk marketing strategies

There’s an opportunity to repackage your popular content into various other forms for different mediums (like audio, visuals/video, and syndicating it to your website) so it can reach even more people in their preferred formats.

Here are 25 examples of how brands are using influencer marketing to get to consumers during COVID-19.

From being seen as just one more social media channel to becoming an important part of every successful brand’s marketing playbook—TikTok has revolutionized social media marketing. By the end of 2022, TikTok’s ad revenue is expected to triple, and they’re projected to own 20% of the social media market share, according to CNBC.

What are the unorthodox trends gaining traction in 2021? We’ve sifted through the data to uncover exactly what’s going on.