Happy Monday and Happy August!

July just completely flew by! It’s been a lot of fun though – the office has the Olympics on the big screen, the team was in NYC last week for Affiliate Summit East, and we’re gearing up for another quarter of big wins for our clients!

With that, here’s the biggest DTC & influencer marketing stories from the last few weeks:

Glossier and Shopify created a shoppable treasure hunt to promote a new product: 

Consumers who find shoppable posters in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago get early access to order Glossier’s new Boy Brow Arch. It’s further evidence that brands and eCommerce platforms need to get more creative to keep customers engaged

Publicis Groupe looks to acquire influencer marketing platform Influential: 

It’s yet another sign that influencer marketing will be an imperative component of digital media

US Department of Justice sues TikTok over child privacy law violation: 

TikTok’s relationship with the United States continues to heat up

Threads gains momentum, now with 200M monthly users: 

The reason? Probably escalating political environments globally; and people want to chat about them online

Household names see big Q2 wins with continued DTC push: 

Brand strength drives an 8.9% rise at Crocs, Canada Goose grows through Chinese consumers, and Levis posts gains due to global demand and consumer preferences for looser fits

Cheers,
Al & Alexa

🗞️ Industry News by Al

With Publicis Groupe’s acquisition of Influential for $500M, influencer marketing has truly gone from nice-to-have to imperative in the eyes of many.

Publicis Groupe’s acquisition of Influential joins other big influencer marketing moves of the post-pandemic era.

• 2 weeks ago, marketing giant Stagwell acquired InfluencerMarketing.Ai to boost influencer marketing AI capabilities
• In 2023, WPP acquired two tech-centric influencer marketing agencies Obviously and The Goat Agency
• In 2023, social media giant Sprout Social acquired Tagger Media

All of this comes amid what will likely shape up to be the biggest year ever for influencer marketing spend. Influencer Marketing Hub expects spend on influencer marketing to hit $24 billion by the end of 2024, up 14% from the year prior.

No one doubts the momentum behind influencer marketing in 2024. It’s a very exciting time to be engaged with the creator economy!

🛍️ Brand of the Week by Alexa

We’re in the heart of summer now (or should I say heat?), with vacations happening non-stop. This week, I’m excited to feature Kiwi.com, a brand on a mission to make travel accessible for everyone. Their unique campaign this year, called World Travel Hackers, gives content creators the chance to win €10K to explore the world and share money-saving travel tips. Talk about the perfect summer job!

Content creators can apply for the campaign by submitting 3 posts explaining why they should be chosen, introducing a travel buddy, and sharing some of their money-saving travel tips. Even if they aren’t selected as the main winner, they can join Kiwi.com’s ambassador program to enjoy travel perks and rewards.

In less than 2 months, Kiwi.com was able to achieve:

•  Over 18K applications
•  460% increase in overall user-generated content on Instagram
•  3K% increase in overall user-generated content on TikTok
•  $145.1K in earned media value

To learn more about their campaign and its success, click here. 

📺 Content of the Week by Alexa

Social Commerce in 2024: 101

Brands need to continue leveraging user-generated content to improve the shopping experience across multiple channels and start experimenting with social commerce platforms if they haven’t already. Check out LoudCrowd CEO, Gary Garofalo’s updated list of types of social commerce options:

• Social media platforms with built-in commerce features – Instagram, TikTok, etc
• Third-party shopping platforms – LTK, ShopMY, etc
• eCommerce platforms integrating social selling – LoudCrowd, Bazaarvoice, etc

Dive into your strategy deeper by reading the full blog here. 

🤝 Partner of the Week by Al

As promised, our episode with Retention.com dropped last week. LoudCrowd CEO, Gary Garofalo joins Retention.com’s VP of Marketing and Partnerships, Kyle Standaert, to discuss the impact of social commerce, community, and brand advocates for brands.

The TLDR:

Pros:
– Adding a new 3rd party social commerce channel like TikTok Shops almost always means new revenue

Cons:
– Less brand exposure, will consumers even know the brand they’re purchasing
– More cart competition with other brands -> smaller average order values for your brand
– No first-party data for identity resolution or post-purchase marketing and data analysis

Check out the full episode here.

👑 LoudCrowd Updates by Alexa

A few of the LoudCrowd team members went to NYC last week to attend the Affiliate Summit East conference. One session that stood out to them was ‘The Founder’s Guide to Authentic Branding’, hosted by Alex Brown, founder of E-commerce Rockstars.

Here are the key takeaways from that panel when it comes to building a brand that resonates deeply with your audience:

Relatability:
Show your customers that your brand understands and reflects their values and lifestyle.

Customer Acquisition First:
Focus on diverse awareness strategies to attract customers, then use this foundation to narrate your brand’s story.

Creator Partnerships:

Choose creators who align with and protect your brand’s message. Avoid compromising your brand for short-term gains.