Welcome to this week’s BANKNOTES newsletter.

There are 19 days until Christmas and if you’re anything like us you’re being inundated with shopping and sales ads.

But as brands are learning, the trick to gaining favor with customers is not to beat them over the head with ads but to speak to them through creators and organic, conversational social media.

This week we’ll dive into the cheat code for creating quality social media content that resonates with Gen Z (spoiler alert: it’s creators.)

Also this week:

• Cyber Week traffic sees huge spikes in social media referrals
  
• TikTok launches Audience Insights tool
  
• ChatGPT’s take on influencer marketing and eCommerce
• Creator Corner: Meet Claire Tadokoro

Gen Z has money to spend!

According to a recent report from Business Insider Gen Zers are bringing more than $140 billion in spending power to the table.

So how are brands going after those dollars?

First and foremost they’re utilizing authentic and often humorous social media content and deploying that content through channels like TikTok.

Businesswire reports 61% of all consumers trust influencer recommendations over branded content. And Higher Visibility found that 26% of Gen Zers trust influencer reviews more than product page reviews.

Often that content is coming from creator partners, but now more and more of those creators are being brought in house to manage a brand's organic social media team.

Why?

Well creators understand Gen Z!

As Ashley Cummings wrote for BANKNOTES this week: “TikTok creators have cheat codes. In other words, they’re already creating content on TikTok and understand how to leverage the platform’s algorithm, grow a loyal following, and engage users.”

So what does this mean for marketers and sales teams?

1. Gen Z has a spending power that can’t be ignored. In addition to the $140 billion in spending power, Business Insider reports Gen Z will account for about 40% of global consumers this year.
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2. Gen Z explores and even shops via social media. Reports show Gen Z used social media more than Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers—across all categories.
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3. Gen Z is different! As a group they’re bored by polished and overly-produced videos. Instead, they want to see raw and relatable content on brands’ social media accounts. (and some humor
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4. Creators are at the core of authentic content. So bringing a Gen Z creator in-house to manage social makes sense, but you also need to consider a network of creators to continue generating authentic content for your brand.

As Isabella Bedoya, founder of Fame Hackers, stated for BANKNOTES:

“There's a huge disconnect between the way brands think marketing works and what Tiktokers want to see. By hiring creators, brands have the unfair advantage that they are hiring creators that know exactly what's working on the platform and how to join the conversations already happening on TikTok.”

Read more over on BANKNOTES

Salesforce reports social media as a huge driver of Cyber Week traffic

Social media! We all know what it is, we all use it. We all doom scroll and we all know we now use it not only to connect with friends and family but also to explore new products and trends.

And all of that exploration paid big dividends for brands during Cyber Week 2022.

According to Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce, social referrals grew by 20% during Cyber Week 2022 when compared to the same period a year prior.

“So social had a huge moment in 2020, as being a driver of inspiration for Cyber Week shoppers,” said Schwartz. “In 2021, it flattened out, maybe it was digital fatigue, mobile fatigue, or social fatigue. But in 2022, it's back! Traffic coming from social referrals grew around 20%. And that is growth that we haven't seen from social in a really long time.”

What does this mean for marketers and sales teams?

While it’s still difficult to track social media as a conversion tool, Schwartz says it’s a huge driver of traffic that is inspiring customers to make purchases, though maybe that’s occurring on another browser or device.

“We really see it as being an important top-of-funnel channel,” she says.

ChatGPT, tell me about influencer marketing and eCommerce

For those not aware, ChatGPT is a new AI tool that has taken the world by storm over the past week. It's the latest iteration in the GPT family of 'text-generating AIs.' Ask ChatGPT any question, for instance we asked it to write an article about creator marketing trends and another about eCommerce tactics, and see what it churns out.

Not for nothing but the copy ChatGPT returned was pretty spot on.

For instance, ChatGPT wrote for us: “Optimize Your Website: Your website is the foundation of your eCommerce business, so it’s important to make sure it’s optimized for maximum performance. This includes making sure your website is mobile-friendly, has a fast loading speed, and is easy to navigate. Additionally, you should make sure your website is secure and has a clear checkout process.

While we couldn’t have written it better ourselves, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a ton of respect and admiration for the roster of authors who write for BANKNOTES. AI will never replace them!

TikTok launches Audience Insights tool

TikTok has rolled out a new tool that will deliver brands additional insights into the customers who are checking them out on the popular social networking platform.

According to Search Engine Journal: “Accessible through TikTok Ads Manager, TikTok Audience Insights provides aggregated information about users that have been active within the last 30 days.”

Search Engine Journal goes on to say, “One of its more intriguing features is the ability to explore the top ten hashtags your audience engages with. You can start appending those hashtags to your videos to quickly and easily boost engagement.”

It will be exciting to see how TikTok’s audience insight tool expands as the platform goes beyond social media platform and solidifies itself as a discovery tool for customers.

Creator Corner: Meet Claire Tadokoro

Sometimes the best way to connect with an audience is through laughter. That’s what Claire Tadokoro does best.

Able to create something for anyone—her storytelling, soothing voice and comedic flavor are all part of her secret sauce. Recently, Claire worked with Taco Bell and the video 10x’d her average views! It had all the right elements: 1. She’s very relatable 2. Her humor was timely as the video was related to BeReal and, 3. It made the audience feel something.

Follow Claire:

• Instagram
• TikTok

Upcoming Events: How to recession-proof with influencer marketing

Experts predict there is a chance of a recession in 2023, so how can you recession-proof with influencer marketing? Consumers are still expected to spend, but how they will spend is predicted to be different.

Join the #paid team, as we talk about trends, tactics, and creative solutions. You will leave the session having takeaways on how to implement creator marketing to decrease your risks and drive bigger impact in your marketing plans.

Save your seat!

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