NEW YORK — Attendees left GRIN’s sessions at the CommerceNext 2022 conference in New York on June 22 with plenty of actionable insights to lead their respective brands into the future of digital commerce.
During the first session, GRIN Director of Community Katya Allison sat down with Tres Colori CMO Tyler Berglund to discuss how brands can level up their social media strategy with TikTok creators.
Berglund delivered five tips for brands to implement into their approach.
Tip 1: Stop paying creators and start getting creative.
As a smaller brand, Berglund admitted Tres Colori doesn’t always have the budget to pay its creators cash for content. The brand uses a product-seeding structure for 90% of its partnerships, and Berglund suggested other companies adopt a similar strategy for the highest ROI.
“If you’re just paying creators, you’re definitely going to be losing money,” he said.
Tip 2: Develop a personal relationship.
Brands have to treat creators like trusted partners, not transactions. That means collaborating with them on projects instead of simply telling them what to do.
“Don’t look at influencers as, ‘What can you do for me?’” Berglund explained. “Partnerships are about what you can do together.”
Tip 3: Track as much as possible.
The “cookieless” web is coming, and brands need to track as much of the customer journey as possible through UTM codes, affiliate links, and more to help fill the gap.
“Don’t leave any stone unturned when it comes to attribution,” Berglund said.
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Tip 4: Use native tools.
Your brand’s graphic designer should be fluent in more than just Photoshop and Illustrator. They need to have a working knowledge of native tools on TikTok—or your platform of choice—to help authentically develop and repurpose creator content.
“You have to find somebody who feels the vibe of the brand and can really accentuate the things that make your influencers special.”
Tyler Berglund
Tip 5: Have fun.
If you’re not having fun, you’re not developing genuine relationships.
“That’s the most important thing when it comes to working with influencers,” Berglund explained.
Thumb-Stopping Content Conversation at CommerceNext 2022
In a later session, Allison invited Brian Levine, the senior manager of brand marketing at Rhone, for a session on how to deliver “thumb-stopping” content with creators.
Levine reminded attendees that content creators know their audience far better than their brand partners. As a result, influencers need creative freedom to produce the content they know will resonate.
“You have to let [content creators] be their own creative directors and allow them to create the type of content that works best for their audience,” he said.
Levine also emphasized Berglund’s point about the importance of building strong relationships with creators.
As the point person for influencer communication, influencer managers should always be “on-call” if a creator needs to reach out. Whether it’s work-related or personal, Levine said he’s always available to chat with his influencers. He also suggests meeting in person with them whenever the opportunity presents itself.
“Facilitating and building a true relationship and treating these people like human beings, not just a business tool, has proved to me to be one of the most worthwhile tactics.”
Brian Levine
About CommerceNext
CommerceNext is an annual event bringing together a thriving community of trailblazers and change-makers to discuss the future of digital commerce and share strategies for ecommerce growth in the creator economy. The two-day conference features more than 1,200 attendees and over 50 sessions hosted by speakers from diverse brands across the retail and DTC space.
About GRIN
GRIN is the pioneer behind the world’s first Creator Management platform built to support every brand’s journey to connecting with consumers through authentic creator relationships. Thousands of the world’s fastest-growing brands—including SKIMS, Warby Parker, Allbirds, Mejuri, and MVMT—use GRIN to make creators feel like trusted, empowered partners and work with them to build their brands into household names.
Visit grin.co for additional resources and more information on the world’s number one Creator Management platform.
