Here are the 16 Trends in Influencer Marketing and Across Social Media that Are Going to Have an Impact on Your Digital Marketing Strategy This Year

We’re still pretty early in to 2019, so it’s the perfect time to welcome in a new era of changes. From video content to branding practices, using AI to keeping it personal – here is our roundup of the biggest social media trends to not just follow but leverage in 2019.

Let’s Start with a Look Back at Social Media in 2018

First, let’s take a quick look back at how social media evolved last year. 2018 brought a number of key changes to the social media marketing landscape. There were algorithm changes (aren’t there always algorithm changes?), new platforms emerging, and a BIG shift in the type and frequency of content brands needed to produce.

Some crucial algorithm changes happened

Both Facebook and Instagram rolled out sweeping changes to its algorithms and changed the way users saw content… AND the way brands and marketers distribute content. Facebook feeds heavily lean toward showing content from a user’s personal networks and groups as opposed to posts generated from business pages. Instagram did away with the chronological feed (much to the chagrin of the majority of users).

Whether you were pleasantly surprised or raging in your office, both changes were designed to help the platform’s users see the content they were most likely to find interesting. Marketing challenges aside, the platforms are just better now… for users, at least. Of course, the changes have made organic reach a virtual nightmare for brands that aren’t willing to invest loads of time into creating and sharing content that looks like it’s native to each specific platform.

We beefed up the influencer marketing space

In 2018, influencer marketing was stronger than ever. Social media users started to expect more relatable, and personalized content from brands, and influencers are the logical choice for creating trending, relatable, hyper-targeted content.

On the heels of the Fyre Festival fiasco, and numerous instances of influencers promoting products without disclosing they were being paid to do so, brands and governments made measurable moves to formalize influencer marketing and ensure brands and creators alike were held accountable for the content being produced and pushed out to the masses. There was a rise in regulations and laws to protect the public from underhanded techniques.

The UAE even implemented a law requiring influencers to be licensed as publishers… for a hefty fee. And transparency was THE buzzword in this space last year. Brands wanted influencers to be transparent about their actual reach and influence. Governments required influencers to clearly disclose ties to any brand whose products were mentioned in or featured in a post.

Take heart, with more regulations, it’s now a more trusted marketing method than ever before.

Fast forward to today and we’ve already seen a number of predictions come to life for social media marketing in 2019.

Let’s look at what we can expect from the next 12 months.

Here Are the Social Media Trends We’re Getting In On in 2019 (Maybe You Should, Too!)

Social Media Trend #1: Video as a Core Content Type

This may legitimately be the one trend that’s been on everybody’s list for the last few years: Video.

marketers foretold the growing utility of creating video content. Video is THE BEST way to reach a wider audience on social media. Social media platforms give preference to video content, and each generation that’s active on social media right now is consuming millions of hours of video content A DAY on platforms like YouTube.

So, it’s not just about making marketing reels featuring glossy product shots and peppy models (hasn’t been about that for years and years). Instead, content marketing has shifted in tone from presenting products to documenting the culture, production, and processes of companies and brands. This is important because Millennials are notorious for leaning more toward brands whose values align with their own. So, videos that feature real people in raw, unscripted scenarios are replacing the traditional idea of what brand-owned content looks like.

Social media Trend #2: TV & Vertical Video</h2

One of the biggest shifts we’ve seen with video content is the flip from horizontal to vertical video that resembles what we see on old school TV. But vertical is native to social media in large part because of how we access social. Right now, 61 percent of North Americans access social via mobile. Another thing that impacts how creators make videos now is Instagram’s 2018 launch of IGTV.

The consumption of video on mobile devices has been steadily growing over the last few years, and now more that 50 percent of videos are being viewed vertically, on mobile. This means that brands are having to adjust their video production strategy (by 90 degrees) to stay current and effective.

Social media Trend #3: Branded Stories

The rise in vertical video was born out of the popularity of disappearing Stories across social media platforms. If you remember, Snapchat’s initial claim to fame was the fact that its content disappeared after 24 hours. One of the coolest things about this kind of ephemeral content is that is gives creators a greater sense of freedom. The content creators post won’t be around forever, so the pressure to perfect the content (lighting, editing, etc.) simply isn’t there.

The disappearing content trend has spread to Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp, and new platform TikTok. So now, across social media, these disappearing Stories are pretty much the norm.

Here’s the pivot in the industry though… This more relaxed approach to content creation also gives brands and marketers a group of platforms on which they can post “un-produced” content to do things like give “behind the scenes” looks and take customers along on almost every step in the product journey. Customers can see the production line, the brainstorming sessions, product testing, and even company parties. These insider looks allows them to feel more involved, like they’re part of the decision-making process, too.

According to The Drum, one in three Instagram Stories are now from brands. Not only that, but increasingly, brands are negotiating Stories-only deals with influencers, despite the obvious obstacles disappearing content presents for measuring the ROI of a campaign.

Thanks to advances in technology, Stories have become super effective tools for marketers, beyond simple storytelling devices. Integrated shopping features now allow viewers to buy directly through social media platforms, adding another layer of impact to video strategies. And, with over 90 million people clicking tags in shoppable posts every month, including Stories as part of your social media strategy can help you convert followers to buyers.

Social media Trend #4: TikTok Is a Thing

Let’s face it – kids don’t want to share the Internet with their parents, at least not as far as social media is concerned. And TikTok is specifically suited for younger users.

TikTok has emerged as one of the most popular social media apps in the world. As of this writing, it is the top free app for Androids. The platform was created as a lip-syncing app that allowed its users to post create 15-second videos of them performing songs. As the community has evolved, the videos span a much wider range of content.

TikTok has been growing from strength to strength as well. The app merged with Musical.lyback in August 2018, and the most recent user stats put TikTok at 500 million monthly active users ALTHOUGH the app was reportedly downloaded more than 800 million times in the US… in October 2018 alone.

TikTok is popular with younger users (41% of users are between 16-24), and only recently instituted a minimum user age of 13 after the app got fined $5.7 million for collecting the user data of minors without parental permission.

Still, the app has grown immensely in recent years when most adults have no idea it even exists.. And, the adults who do typically have zero idea of how it actually works.

Marketers have been watching the platform for months and months. Ahead of the TikTok even rolling out ad inventory, Universal Pictures tapped TikTok influencers to promote the film The House with a Clock in Its Walls.

Source: On TikTok @OurFire

This year will prove important for the platform. In January, it rolled out its first batch of ad inventory. While the platform doesn’t have a program just yet to help Creators monetize their content, brands are taking their first careful steps onto the platform to leverage a young audience that has proven to be highly engaged with the content being created for the platform.

Social media Trend #5: Personal Branding > Company Branding

Personal brands are making a comeback! Not that they ever left, but you may remember the days when solopreneurs had access to a slew of products designed to make themselves seem like a corporation rather than an actual person.

That’s the past.

More than ever, people want brands to be relatable. Big corporate shills are being shunned in favor of local businesses and social media brands. So, you need to put a face on your brand pronto if you want to win over consumers in 2019.

Social media Trend #6: Transparency

For 2019, craft campaigns to your audience’s interactions with your brand on social foster trust. That means transparency… and lots of it.

Social media users don’t like being blindsided by privacy issues and you know privacy issues have been a huge stumbling block Facebook users, and with the news that TikTok has been illegally collecting user data… brands have to be careful.

Consumers expect brands to be more transparent than ever on social media, but only 55 percent of users feel that brands are “somewhat transparent” right now. Somewhat is not a word you want to hear in marketing. Millennial users are even expecting brands to be more transparent than their friends and family!

One of the best ways to make your business more relatable is to be honest. Admit your mistakes. Admit when you don’t know. Take credit when you’re crushing it. Being honest about things you’ve done wrong, or wish you had done differently really helps to humanize your brand. Likewise, being honest in your customer interactions, and showing exactly how your products are manufactured can show the level of transparency users are really after.

Social media Trend #7: Employees as Influencers

Building on the importance of humanizing your brand, influencer marketing will continue to become more popular into 2019 and beyond. Despite the headlines, slam pieces, and documentaries (talking about the Fyre Festival here), influencer marketing remains mostly untouched. Yes, regulations have been tightened, but influencer marketing continues to flourish and bring in great ROIs for businesses.

One big shift we have seen is brands using their own employees as influencers and brand advocates. Even more so than regular influencers, these kinds of partnerships are allowing brands to give followers a human touch to their marketing. By using their own employees, they are presenting customers with genuine, “real” people who love their brand.

But, as an employee of the brand, you’re unlikely to say anything negative, so there is still the question of trust when adopting this kind of practice. Either way, we are still much more likely to trust the voice of an influencer than we are of a business thanks to the human connection we feel we have with them. Influencer marketing will continue to rise in 2019 and will begin to diversify even more across new and emerging platforms like TikTok.

Social Media Trend #8: Facebook Groups

One problem that many marketers had in 2018 stemmed from Facebook’s algorithm change that favored personal content over business pages. Organically reaching the number of followers you once had became harder and harder. The easiest way to get around this block was by leveraging the organic reach of Facebook groups.

Brands can create a group linked to your business page, and members of that group are much more likely to see your posts than the followers of your page.

This has sparked a rise in the number of private member groups on Facebook, with brands using them as engagement tools, sales funnels, and avenues for gaining feedback from their customers.

Social Media Trend #9: Using Social for Storytelling

Going hand-in-hand with the need for personal branding, storytelling should be at the heart of your social media efforts in 2019.

The need for transparency from brands, as well as the rise of influencer marketing, has lead to a social culture of storytelling across platforms.

Social Media Trend #10: Partnering with Influencers Who are Great Storytellers

Simply writing a post about your brand is no longer enough on social media. If you really want to tell, and sell, your story – you’re going to need video. But, this doesn’t mean you have to create it on your own. Partnering with influencers is a great way to get your brand story in killer video content, without having to film a single shot.

Working with influencers, you can employ them to create user-generated content centered around your brand that they can then share with their followers. Product reviews are incredibly popular right now, so that’s a great way to get started. Working with them to feature you in their Instagram stories is even better.

There are so many options available to you when looking to partner with an influencer. Be sure to check out our articles on finding the perfect influencer, video marketing basics, and the power of UGC before you dive in.

Social Media Trend #11: Documenting

The rise in popularity of Stories and disappearing content doesn’t mean a switch in video styles. It means a change in the kind of content we produce.

Followers find candid content intriguing, often even more than scripted. There’s a rawness to in-the-moment content that feels real and authentic.

Selfie-videos are huge, so you’re going to have to get over the fear of talking straight to the camera and producing your own video content. Live videos are more popular than ever, mostly because many social media platforms seem to favor this form of content over pre-recorded video.

On Instagram, a live video will disappear after 24 hours, just like a normal Story post. But, over on Facebook, those live videos will stick around and remain as video content on your page, or in your dedicated groups. This makes going live on Facebook a great way to build up a library of video content while engaging heavily with your fans in the process.

Social Media Trend 12: Using AI for Customer Insights

We’re living in the future now, so it’s no surprise that advances in AI technology are starting to influence our online interactions. We’ve already seen the majority of businesses utilizing or hoping to utilize basic chatbot features on their websites with 60% of the Millennial population using them to interact with brands.

Online customer service has been using chatbot technology for some time now. These simple forms of AI walk customers through the basic options in a chat, almost like the old-fashioned “Press 1 to continue” style. But, as technology advances, so does how businesses use AI for their customer service.

Some companies have built their entire brand around chatbot technology, and what they’re using is way more advanced than you might think. But, despite all this, only 0.5% of trending B2B companies are using chatbots to their advantage. For many, it is still a new technology that they can’t fully trust yet. The same was true with social media marketing, and influencer marketing – it can often take larger businesses a little longer to catch on.

Without getting too technical here, the introduction of things like the business API for WhatsApp has begun to pave the way for brands to have more control over their chatbot technologies. By 2020, 80% of businesses want to be using chatbots as part of their online presence.

Social Media Trend #13: Paid Ads on Social

Now that more and more brands are taking up social media real estate, businesses can no longer ignore the importance of ads. In 2018 alone, we already saw businesses up their social media ad budgets by 32%, so it’s clear that this is a fast-growing area.

Facebook advertising currently makes up 23% of total US digital ad spending. Nearly a quarter of all digital ad revenue is going into one social media platform. If you haven’t been using social media ads yet – what have you been doing all this time?!

We already mentioned the changing algorithms on social media and how much they have restricted the organic growth of businesses. Ads are how you get around this in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.

Social Media Trend #14: Hyper-targeting and Personalization

Social media users have become accustomed to seeing ads that are expertly tailored to their specific needs and interests. We’ve all been a little spooked out when an ad pops up on Facebook about the thing we were just talking about, right? Creepy as those borderline invasive ads are, they are helping to shape an online experience that is making users less and less tolerant of poorly targeted ads that don’t apply to them.

Every social media platform has targeting tools for ads, and we can expect these ads to become more nuanced (and thus more effective) as time goes on. By further segmenting your audience with these targeting tools, you’ll be able to bring only the most relevant content to users news feeds, and see the best ROI possible.

Social Media Trend #15: Nano-Influencers

Another cool trend that surfaced last year and that is playing a greater and greater role in influencer marketing strategy is the use of nano-influencers. These are people who have smaller followings, but who exercise quite a bit of influence with their audiences, as evidenced by their tendency to have high engagement.

Nano-influencers (sometimes called unfluencers) typically have anywhere from a few hundred followers to a few thousand followers.

We typically say users who have between three thousand and 100,000 followers falls into the category of a micro-influencer. But modifying that scale a bit, nano-influencers can have anywhere from 800 or 900 followers up to about 10,000 followers. So, using three thousand as the benchmark makes sense.

Source: Mediakix

Why would a brand want to work with a nano-influencer? Well, to answer that question, you have to sort of think about how people first start growing their networks on social media.

On Facebook, they start with their friends and family – these are people they know and with whom they already have a relationship.

On Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, people start by following their interests and grow their communities by engaging with other people who share similar interest.

On LinkedIn, people typically follow their industries and the sectors and categories within their industry. Thought leaders emerge by engaging thoughtfully with content created around certain industries.

We know from influencer marketing that as an influencer’s audience grows, the interests of the audience members become more and more varied. In fact, one of the biggest challenges brands face with mega influencers is they can get the brand in front of lots of people, but the audience of a celebrity influencer or other mega influencer is often far less targeted than the audience of a micro-influencer.

So, you actually will find big brands leveraging the authentic influence of social media users who have smaller followings to get eyes on the brand… the difference is the eyes will be more likely to buy.

Social Media Trend #16: Metrics Mania

The in-built analytics dashboards you find on your business’s social media accounts may no longer be detailed enough to get an edge online. There is a huge variety of independent programs out there now that offer insights on a much deeper level. Here are three of our favorites right now:

Brandwatch is an amazing tool that focuses in on something called social listening. This means it helps you to monitor brand mentions across platforms, runs awesome competitor analysis, and helps you build better brand awareness on social media.

BuzzSumo is one of the more popular and well-known tools, and for good reason. It provides you with detailed engagement reports for social, helping you to pinpoint your most popular content, as well as the best times to post on each platform.

And, finally, Vizia is an amazing tool for producing detailed – and hella good looking- analytics reports. This tool is especially useful for sharing progress and updates company wide, and keeping an eye on how your social media platforms are progressing.

Moving through 2019, you’ll want to find programmes like these that gather and analyze important data, especially since most brands will be using multiple social platforms to target audiences. Use the data you collect to inform your decisions throughout your marketing efforts: which platforms to focus on, which influencers to work with, even which product to launch next.

Let’s Wrap it Up

A lot of what is predicted to happen in 2019 is building on what already happened last year. Sure, nobody has a crystal ball, but we do have analytics and surveys to back us up. So, here’s a TLDR; to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

• Video content should be at the top of your content priority list

• Your team members need to develop and nurture their personal brands in addition to supporting a companywide corporate brand

• Influencer marketing can help you build trust online

• Your content needs to tell a story

• Don’t be afraid of integrating AI into your online marketing

• If you’re not using social media ads yet, make that a priority.

The Rise of Recommerce and Online Resale Sites Part 2: How Retailers Like Depop, ASOS, and Stella McCartney Are Appealing to Thrifters

Despite FANTASTIC holiday sales the retail industry is still experiencing a seemingly unstoppable tumble in revenue. As companies like Macy’s and Sears scrambled to implement a legitimate plan B in response to the exponential growth of e-commerce, fewer in-store visits from customers often mean dwindling sales, smaller inventories, closing stores, and in some cases bankruptcy.

Last week, we analyzed the campaigns of three luxury brands… luxury goods represent one segment of the retail industry that is still experiencing growth. This week, we’re analyzing another profitable segment in the retail sector, also experiencing massive growth – resale.

So… we published The Rise of Recommerce and Online Resale Sites a few weeks ago to give you an overview of the resale industry as a whole. You can read that post here. In this post, I want to take a look at the marketing strategies of clothing brands that are successfully targeting thrifters.

Resalers are Nudging Traditional Retailers Out of Closets

Uh… thrifters. Why thrifters? Aren’t they sort of like the anti-target? Yes, and no. By definition, thrifters do spend a portion of their hard-earned money on used stuff.

The thing is, thrifting isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, the resale market is expected to double in size, reaching $41 billion in annual sales by 2022, according to ThredUP’s 2018 Resale Report. Just a few years ago, thrifting was sort of an acquired taste. In 2012, only 11 percent of the items in the average thrifter’s closet were used. By the year 2022, 40 percent of the stuff in their closets will be used. That means the money shoppers are spending on vintage goods and previously-worn clothes are being moved out of the hands of traditional retailers and into the hands of resalers – that includes individuals resalers, apparel brands, and resale stores.

It is projected that the money shoppers spend at department stores like Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s and even mid-priced specialty stores like Banana Republic and Ann Taylor is going to shrink and that money will instead be spent with off-price stores like TJ Maxx, and you guessed it, resale stores like Poshmark and ThredUP.

For Millennials, Thrifting May Make the Most Financial Sense

That makes sense, right? We’re always harping on how Millennials have more debt than their Boomer parents, and are making different buying decisions than their parents would have made.

So, let’s look at the some numbers. Thrifters pay, on average 70 percent less shopping resale than they would buying the same items new. They pay 40 percent less shopping at off-price stores than they would shopping with traditional retailers.

That’s why resale sites like Depop, ThredUp, and The RealReal have all been experiencing year-on-year growth as consumers become more ethically conscious with every purchase.

The Resale Market Has Officially Become THE Thing

The resale market is rapidly growing. True. But how is an industry based around used clothing making such a high revenue?

Well, according to that report I mentioned earlier, one in three women shopped secondhand in 2017, and that was about 10 million more women than the year before.

Millennials play a big part in the success of the resale industry because they are weirdly both wasteful and waste-conscious. Here’s why: The average Millennial discards a clothing item after just one to five wears. The flip side is 77 percent of Millennials are more likely to buy from brands that are environmentally responsible. #kanyeshrug. In our deep dive into how to market to Millennial women, we discovered that 34 percent of Millennial women are more likely to spend their money on products that are environmentally friendly.

Consumers Are Moving Spending Dollars to Resale Stores

There are a couple of reasons buyers are shifting their spending from buying new at traditional retailers to buying used at online and offline resale shops.

People are spending more time shopping online and choosing to shop from their phones in lieu of venturing into stores… and getting those all-important impulse buys (socks, lip glosses, matching earrings, a bangle that would be cute with another thing in your closet) isn’t so easy online as it is in-store.

People are buying clothes direct from China. From baby clothes to prom accessories, it’s now simple and inexpensive to buy high-quality goods directly from China and skip paying the premium franchises, big box retailers, and physical store locations charge consumers to get access to the same (or close to the same) goods and services.

Casual Friday starts on Monday. Who needs a work wardrobe when more and more employers are allowing employees to dress down for work? Street clothes and work clothes are often the same.

Signature outfits. Buying 5 black turtlenecks and 5 pairs of acid washed mom jeans to wear Monday through Friday is a REAL THING. Popularized by Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg (and driven by the minimalist movement), more people are relying on signature outfits – self-appointed uniforms that reduce the amount of time spent deciding what to wear to work every morning.

Remote teams. Four in ten American employees now work remotely at least part of the time. At The Shelf, those of us who work at the Brooklyn headquarters work remotely two to three times a week. The rest of the team is spread out all over the globe – British Columbia, the UK, Russia, California, Atlanta… this is fast becoming the new norm.

Social media. Social has changed the way we live in multiple ways. One key way is that people no longer have to rely on apparel as their primary form of self-expression. Many of us now prioritize experiences over things. We’re seeing people care more about having an Insta-worthy life that they can show off on social (and create a business from) than spending their money on branded items.

Athleisure. Athletic wear is getting smarter. With retailers like Outdoor Voices (which we profiled in this post) selling athletic wear with no-sweat technology, people with active lifestyles can move seamlessly from gym life to life-life without having to stop and change clothes.

Is it any wonder spending on apparel has plummeted?

Consumers are planning to reduce their spending in traditional clothing avenues such as department stores by as much as 71 percent over the next five years, and at the same time, increase their spending on thrift products by the same percentage. Thanks to this shift, we’ve seen a number of resale brands experience phenomenal growth recently… which brings me to the next part of this article – how clothing brands – even traditional brands – are targeting the thrift market.

These are some of our favorite brands and the marketing strategies they’ve employed to take advantage of this growing retail trend.

Luxury Resaler The Real Real

The Real Real is probably the most popular luxury resale platform in the space, though platforms like Vestiare Collective are also making noise in the luxury resale space. The Real Real only works with luxury brands and offers customers a slick experience when shopping with them online. The Real Real has the authentication process locked down so buyers don’t have to worry about being sold knock-offs.

Luxury goods are ideal for resale sites. Sixty-six percent of resale customers buy luxury goods second hand. This enables them to own brands they otherwise wouldn’t (or couldn’t) pay full price to own. Thanks to the growth and rebranding of the some of the biggest names in the luxury retail industry in recent years, luxury goods are more accessible now than ever before.

The Real Real – Stella McCartney Partnership

The Real Real pushes the overarching brand message of eco-consciousness, and the brand has partnered with fashion icon Stella McCartney to launch a circular fashion promoting the message of “make well, buy well, resell”. Resalers get a $100 voucher for selling a Stella McCartney item on The Real Real.

The campaign included social media posts, TV spots, and print ads encouraging people to resell their unused items. You may know Stella McCartney has a reputation for creating ethical fashion, making vegan sneakers, trying to push fur bans, and using recycled materials as often as possible.

By teaming up, the two brands were able to tap into to each other’s followings and add to their own. The campaign gained some serious traction online, thanks in part to the growing trend of sustainability both in and out of the fashion world.

(@therealreal)

Why It Was Sort of Magical

Finding another brand that perfectly lines up with your own core values to form a partnership is always a win.

Shared values. Partnerships inherently lend each partner the other’s values. allows you to tap into their following while staying true to your brand. The Real Real’s partnership with Stella McCartney was 100% on-brand for both companies.

Wider reach. Whenever brands with different core audienes join forces, the result is greater exposure. The key is to choose partners carefully so you can leverage the exposure for the mutual benefit of both partners. Double the impact without double the work.

Customer Rewards. This partnership provided The Real Real with a new and exciting way to reward their loyal customers, something that probably wouldn’t have happened outside the partnership with Stella McCartney. Customers like to feel valued, and rewards like gift vouchers, discount codes, and free items with purchase are a great way to do this. By teaming up this reward system with another, related brand, they made it feel even more special.

The Hip Resale Community Depop

Depop is a social marketplace used by over 10 million people worldwide. Unlike The Real Real, Depop is more peer-to-peer selling, whereas The Real Real serves as an intermediary to authenticate products being sold on its platform. Depop is a much more accessible platform, especially for Millennials because it gives the whole shopping experience a personal feel, as people are buying directly from individual sellers.

The platform features a mixture of people selling items straight from their wardrobes… plus, small business owners and designers use the platform to sell their own products. We’ve talked before about how a third of women only wear an item five times before getting rid of it. That’s just one workweek of wear time. And, with many of us more focused than ever on our environmental impact, simply throwing our garments away is… well, it’s frowned upon. This is where social selling networks like Depop become super useful.

Often lorded as being a mash-up of online bidding store eBay and Millennial favorite Instagram, Depop engages in some rather unorthodox marketing to reach its ideal demographic.

Depop Rolled Out a Killer Marketing Campaign…

The majority of Depop’s early growth came from user word-of-mouth, but the brand built on the momentum with a campaign that partnered digital and print together and focused on the users themselves. Depop created a collection that highlighted its users, including a few well-known faces like model Jazzelle Zanoughtti of @uglyworldwide.

(Image: The Drum)

Depop highlighted what customers already loved about using the platform – the feeling of community. And, thanks to the diversity of people featured in the ads, Depop was able to celebrate the diversity of its user base – another important factor for Millennials and Gen Z.

…. Then Opened a Friggin’ Depop Coworking Spot

But, the fun didn’t stop there. Depop also opened a brick-and-mortar location in L.A.their own. The store was not filled with stock, and it wasn’t marketed as an IRL place to buy the items you might see on the site.

(Image: Fashionista)

Instead, Depop designated it a hub where sellers could attend workshops to improve their sales, photograph products with the right lighting, and even book a session with the staff photographers to do it for you. It is a place for users to meet, discuss, and build their own businesses through Depop’s framework.

Depop’s marketing strategy of print ads and brick-and-mortar stores may seem odd, especially since 75 percent of the platform’s users are under the age of 24, but it definitely worked. The company successfully tapped into the minds and desires of the #hustle generation and its disenfranchisement with traditional retail. Depop has become a community.

Traditional Brands Are Targeting Thrifters, Too

Urban Outfitters

Wait. What? Urban Outfitter’s Urban Renewal line is a good example of a traditional apparel brand targeting thrifters and proponents of circular fashion by including a section on its site for shoppers to buy Urban Renewal, Urban Outfitters’ curated selection of previously-worn apparel.

So, trust that dedicated marketplaces aren’t the only brands cashing in on this resale revival. Urban Outfitters is one of a growing number of high-street brands that are working hard to claim their own piece of the resale market.

Urban Renewal is classified as a brand under the Urban Outfitter umbrella, so it’s not a marketplace since users aren’t the ones selling apparel. Instead, items in the Urban Renewal line are carefully selected by UO’s own buyers then resold to the public both online and in-store.

This Urban Renewal line comes in four flavors; Vintage Originals, Remade, Remnants, and One of a Kind. With products that range from unique high-end luxury pieces to new items made entirely from discontinued fabrics. A brand that has always catered to the Millennial crowd with their stylish and vintage-inspired designs this supplemental line suits them perfectly.

ASOS

Online retail giant ASOS has had a resale marketplace as part of its online store for years. The ASOS Marketplace. independent brands and vintage stores from around the world into one easy-to-shop online marketplace. The company represents over 800 different brands with products varying from vintage designer sportswear to one-of-a-kind handmade items.

ASOS talks openly about its commitment to a more sustainable fashion industry and has a collection of Instagram Stories under Sustainability that double as a fast fact resource and a way to promote recycled items posted to the ASOS Marketplace.

Let’s Wrap it Up

The phenomenal growth of the resale market teaches us that the influence of the millennial generation is not to be underestimated. Eco-conciousness is fueling spending habits, and feeling good about your purchases seem to be the driving factors between a lot of retail spending.

Even if you’re not participating in the resale industry, there are still some pretty good lessons to be learned in this post… like understanding who your target market is, what they’re about, and what would resonate specifically with them can bring back good, old-fashioned work-of-mouth advertising. These are the types of strategies that work all the time, every time, across every vertical… if you execute them well.

How Brands Are Partnering with Kid Bloggers to Sell Toys, Clothes and Fun This Holiday Season

People are spending more time online today than ever before. According to Pew Research, 26 percent of American adults say they are online almost constantly, and 77 percent of Americans go online at least once a day. But kids under the age of 13 are also upping their online time.

The digital media market is currently seeing 25 percent year-on-year growth when it comes to the under-13 demographic. The average toddler is already using the Internet by the time he or she turns three years old and spends twice as much time online as Mom or Dad think. According to CNN:

• 42 percent of kids under the age of nine have their own tablets

• Kids in that same age groups spend two hours a day on screens

• The time children under the age of eight spend on mobile devices has tripled since 2013

This really isn’t a huge surprise as kids from Generation Z (born around 1996 and later), and Generation Alpha (born around 2010 or after) have grown up surrounded by technology – not just for entertainment purposes, but as part of their education, communication, and future career prospects.

Kids today seem to have a knack for technology. Add to that their affinity for all things digital and virtual and it’s easy to see how preteens can be the perfect target for effective influencer marketing.

Of course, targeting kids also brings up ethical questions that the toy makers and cereal manufacturers have been grappling with forever. But Generations Z and Alpha are consumers, indirectly controlling upwards of $143 billion in spending power annually when we consider the substantial influence they have on their parents’ purchases.

For the purposes of this post, we want to look at elementary and middle school-aged kids, from about ages 5 to 13. This includes the intersection of where Gen Alpha kids intersect Gen Z preteens and how kidfluencers are impacting the desires and spending habits of kids.

Until now, the influencer market has been controlled by Millennials and older members of Gen Z… mostly for their awesome ability to craft the perfect instagram feed and create content fearlessly (which lends itself rather nicely to authenticity and uniqueness).

Now that Millennials are having kids of their own, they are passing on their social media know-how to a new generation of influencers and helping them flourish online.

The Toy Market Was Already Slowing Down, Then…

Brands and marketers are stepping in to partner with these kidfluencers and their parents, and ever the more as the holiday shopping season picks up. The big boys in particular – Walmart, Target, Amazon and eBay – are vying for a greater share of the toy market recently vacated by Toys R Us, which closed down more than 800 stores in June of this year.

For decades, Toys R Us has been the home of all things toys. I mean, even if you didn’t necessarily buy all your toys there, making the trip to Toys R Us with the kids was a holiday tradition. It was an easy way to figure out what the kids wanted in one shot.

Since Toys R Us announced it was filing for bankruptcy, there have been multiple mergers and acquisitions happening in the toy market. On the heels of the Toys R Us toy closures, Mattel said it would cut more than 2,000 jobs due, in large part, to lost sales that would otherwise come from Toys R Us customers.

Deals made since the announcement have totalled at least $962.7 million, quite a leap from the $85.4 million in the same period last year. These have been characterized by big brands buying up other big brands – like Hasbro’s purchase of the Power Rangers brands from Haim Saban – to further solidify their share of the market.

It’s worth noting that while Toys R Us was responsible for a hefty 12 percent of all toy sales in the US before its demise, the toy sales industry has been slowing in recent years. Toy manufacturers are losing market share to mobile games – which now account for 20 percent of the $187 global toy and games market.

Kidfluencers May Be the Answer to Breaking Into New Markets… and Grabbing That 12 Percent

One thing remains true this holiday season: If the shuttering of Toys R Us (how ever temporary the toy retailer’s closure may end up being) impacted a heavyweight like Mattel who relied on Toys R Us to drive consistent, year-round sales, surely the closure has posed unique challenges for smaller toy makers who relied on Toys R Us to reach new markets.

For small toy companies, it can be difficult to get on the shelves of megastores whose stores sell tens of thousands of products across many verticals instead of tens of thousands of toys. Retail giants like Walmart and Target have limited shelf space for toys, and typically only carry legacy brands like Barbie, Hasbro, and Hot Wheels or toys that are new, promising, and trending.

Smaller toy brands are now in a position where they are competing with these types of megabrands for shelf space, and they are usually fighting a losing battle. Perhaps shifting their focus from pursuing top retailers to partnering with top influencers is the way forward.

Influencer marketing provides a way for small toy companies to cut through the noise and insert their brand in front of potential customers just as this year’s shopping season gets under way.

Here’s Why Kid Influencers May Be the Fix

By 2020, Gen Z – most of whom are now teens and preteens – will make up 40 percent of the consumer market, and the children who make up Gen Alpha have mad sway over how Mom and Dad (and Papa and MeeMa) spend their money.

Thanks to the prevalence of social media, influencer visibility is increasing, and fact is, the younger generation looks to their peers for assistance and guidance… not old fogies like you and me.

Were you to spend half an hour watching cartoons on Nick Jr., you would see traditional TV ads during the five to eight minutes of every sitcom that’s set aside for paid advertising. So, television ads aren’t going anywhere, but we’re two years past the point when time spent online overtook time spent watching television for five to 15 year-olds. That means kids today are spending more time on screens and less time in front of the tube.

More and more, kids are going to the web for entertainment and education. And the key to marketing to this generation is to meet them where they are. And nobody knows how to reach kids like other kids, which is why partnering with kid influencers for your holiday campaigns may be the most effective (not to mention cost-effective) ways of reaching the your target audience.

There are some challenges, though…

UGC – Working with any influencer has its challenges and there are legal aspects you must address each and every time intellectual property (aka user-generated content) is created for a campaign, whether it’s the rights to a photo, the caption or both.

FTC – As well, kid influencers – like all U.S.-based influencers – are beholden to the Federal Trade Commission’s Endorsement Guidelines. Failure to adhere to social media laws can result in hefty fines and even legal trouble. So, brands should be even more vigilant (and even a bit more adamant) over the nuances of the content that’s created and posted for a SMM campaigns, particularly when working with a kidfluencer.

Parents – Of course, it should go without saying that every aspect of your campaign should go through the child’s parent, guardian and/or agent for all decision-making and all things contractual. And the parents will be the first in line for you to communicate The parents should always be your first point of contact for any decisions about or changes with your campaign.

So, Who’s Doing the Kidfluencer Thing Right?

One thing to remember about working with influencers of any age is that they are always creating content… which means they are always looking for interesting ideas to create their content around. With younger influencers, some of their most talked about topics are going to be in verticals that are family-friendly, like toys, games, clothes, or family trips.

Perfect example – Early in 2018 popular YouTube gamer and kidfluencer Dan D chronicled his finds during his visit to the 2018 London Toy Fair.

YouTube vlogger and Kidfluencer Dan D at the 2018 London Toy Fair

Source: YouTube

Another good example is from 11 year-old YouTube vlogger Tiana, who posted a video in February 2018 on her Smooshy Mushy party.

Tiana(left)  and her friend Maisie (right) Source: YouTube

Source: Smooshy Mushy

FYI, a Smooshy Mushy is a soft, scented toy pet that comes with its own [favorite] snack called a bestie, i.e…

To date, Tiana’s Smooshy Mushy video has more than 6.8 YouTube million views. Again, it’s captivating content for a kid (and her mom) that makes everyday life a little more interesting.

Side note: If I were a kid with just one Smooshy Mushy, this video would make me seriously consider whether I need to add more smooshy pets to my collection.

As you may expect, some of the bigger brands have already partnered with kidfluencers for important, high-profile campaigns.

Target

Back in 2017, Target launched a children’s clothing line designed, modeled, and promoted by a class of kidfluencers. The 10 kids worked together to design a collection for children aged 4-16 years old, all displaying their own individual styles.

The influencers ranged from 7-year old photographer Hawkeye Huey, to Dance Moms star Kendall Vertes, each with their own unique styles and designs woven into the 100 piece collection.

(Image : Footwear News)

Instead of designing what they thought kids would like, they brought the kids in themselves to design the pieces. And, by keeping the collection affordable, they’re taking a little bit of pressure off the parents of their target market too. We all know how “convincing” kids can be when they really want something.

(@kendallvertes)

(@hawkeyehuey)

Target used this same tactic again in later seasons of their “Art Class” line as well as inviting kidfluencers to come in and assess their other clothing lines each season. Each campaign features a new batch of kidfluencers.

Walmart

Top-Rated By Kids

Earlier this year, Walmart completely overhauled its website, so that it looks more like a traditional lifestyle blog than a e-commerce site.

Old Walmart Home Page

New Look of the Walmart Home Page

Part of that overhaul included adding a section to its site called Top-Rated by Kids.

Smartly, Walmart is using well-known kidfluencers as a way to better position itself to grab a greater share of the toy market, and equally as important, grab a greater share of consumer attention.

Top-Rated by Kids features filmed experiences and unscripted (though not unedited) reviews from Walmart’s cast of kidfluencers (and Walmart really does have a roster of kid influencers that you can check out here, on their Meet the Our Top Rated By Kid Influencers page) about the toys currently lining the shelves of Walmart stores and those trending – the ones you can only get on Walmart.com.

Parents don’t necessarily have to rely strictly on YouTube and social to research products, and the hours Mom and Dad would spend trying to figure out which toys are hot, which are age-appropriate and how toys work before buying can be done on the same site that allows parents to secretly buy and ship the toys they buy – no bulky bags to hide in the trunk and sneak into the house or garage when Junior’s not looking.

Products featured on the left and the kidfluencer reviews accessible on the right. Review are filtered by kidfluencer and age level.

Brilliant, Walmart.

Campaign: Ryan’s World Giant Mystery Egg

Walmart has also included products designed by kidfluencers themselves, like with the launch of their Ryan’s World Giant Mystery Egg created with another YouTube star named Ryan, from Ryan ToysReview.

(Image: Walmart)

But, of course, Walmart and Target aren’t the only brands partnering with kid influencers. eBay has recently began to launch a new advertising offensive featuring a range of influences across a wide range of niches and backgrounds. One of the more surprising choices they made was working with British Dad Blogger and his son –LadBaby. The two of them have appeared in a number of TV commercials, promoting the family-oriented side to eBay.

Tips for Incorporating Kidfluencers Into Your Campaigns This Holiday Season

Now that we’ve gotten all that stuff out, we do have some tips to help you streamline your marketing push this holiday shopping season IF you plan to use kid influencers.

This is the time of year when shoppers will gladly venture into stores and online in search of the perfect gift. Launching a smart influencer strategy by partnering with kidfluencers can help you get in front of buyes.

Work Together

There’s power in a strong collaboration. Choosing the right kid influencer is as important as choosing the right fashion or lifestyle influencer. Not only do you need to earn the trust of both the parents and your young influencer, but you have to be able to appropriately address concerns as they arise. Keep the lines of communication open so you have the freedom to exchange ideas with your influencer partners.

Make Room for Individuality

Remember, the kidfluencers you choose for your campaign have worked hard to build their social media followings by consistently creating great content and honing their unique brand of storytelling. Celebrate that. You need that. But you’re probably not going to be working with ultra-poised, mega-influencers here; so keep that in mind through the creative process.

Let them express themselves fully, and let their humor and style shine through. Your team can help shape the campaigns to protect your brand, but the delivery and presentation is where your influencer can shine. Let them.

Don’t Be Afraid to…

The holidays sees a huge increase in marketing across all sectors, so you need a way to stand out from the crowd.  Partnering with kidfluencers is one way to do that. Kids are well-known for having weird and wonderful creative ideas, so take advantage of this when working with kidfluencers. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Your influencer partners are bound to have some cool ideas – maybe even unorthodox ideas – about ways you can present your products and use it to get traction on social media.

8 BIG Halloween Trends You Need to Know to Shape and Target Your Social Media Marketing This Halloween

Let the Halloween shopping begin!

As you read this post, the people who are planning to celebrate Halloween 2018 (there are about 179 million of them, by the way) are already knee-deep into their Halloween preparations. So, I suppose the more appropo greeting would be, “Let the Halloween marketing begin!”

The U.S. is one of only three countries where Halloween festivities are a big deal. The other two are Canada and Ireland. Even still, in 2017, Halloween sales were expected to reach $9.1 billion, up from $8.4 billion in 2016.

Last year, the average person planned to spend $86.13 on Halloween candy, costumes, and decorations. Not bad. To put this in perspective, the average family spends $5 per person celebrating Thanksgiving Day and about $75 celebrating the Fourth of July. So, as far as spending goes, Halloween is a mid-range retail holiday.

By the time September 1st rolls around every year, shoppers have already spent about $500M on Halloween-related purchases. Interestingly enough, people are shopping pretty early for Halloween stuff. The number of Halloween celebrants shopping earlier in the season has gone up 11 percent since 2013.

That means, Back-to-School, Labor Day, Halloween, and holiday shopping now officially overlap every year.

6.4 percent of celebrants start shopping for Halloween stuff before September ever arrives. Another 29.9 percent shop in the month of September.

Of course, that means, 63.7 percent of the people who plan to celebrate Halloween don’t even start their shopping until October…

WHICH MEANS…

Right now, they’re planning, Pinning, bookmarking, saving, Liking, Following, “tutorialing” and budgeting. So, it’s the perfect time to roll out your Halloween social media campaign.

Here’s What’s Changing for Halloween

The world’s spookiest retail event is growing, but it’s also evolving in some really important ways. We’ve put together a list of the things we see in the data that are shifting in this space. Plus, tips on how you can leverage this info to help you better target your Halloween marketing campaigns.

Trend #1: Candy sales are slowing

As you would probably expect, two of the most popular categories for Halloween spending are candy and costumes, both of which are fueled, in large part by trick-or-treaters. According to the Halloween Industry Association, 95 percent of Halloween celebrants plan to buy candy to celebrate, 72 percent will spend money on decorations, 69 percent are planning to buy costumes, and 37 percent of Halloweeners plan to pick out Halloween cards.

Candy is the most popular item people will buy for Halloween. Halloween candy sales are expected to hover between $2.7 billion and $3 billion (or about $16.45 per person). But spending on costumes trumps candy spending by 25 percent.

As it relates to Halloween festivities, candy sales are up, but slowing, and there are a number of important factors contributing to this change. First, trick-or-treating is steadily declining. In 2016, only 29.7 percent of celebrants planned to go trick-or-treating – the lowest participation rate in recent history.

Family-friendly alternatives to trick-or-treating are cropping up all over the place. Halloween festivals are on the rise, stores are participating in community events (I talk more about that later), churches are opening harvest festivities to the surrounding community. Plus, the overall trend toward going for holiday experiences over just grabbing handfuls of candy are all factors that impact this popular Halloween tradition.

Nutrition is also factoring into trick-or-treating. Parents today are more concerned about limiting the consumption of gluten, nuts and sugar for their kids.

Older Halloweeners are further solidifying the “experiences” trend for Halloween by throwing costume parties and participating in fashion shows to display their costumes. And let’s face it – experiences like fashion shows and parties make for more engaging social media posts than trick-or-treating.

HOW TO USE THIS INFO TO GET IN FRONT OF YOUR AUDIENCE

The move away from centering Halloween festivities around trick-or-treating gives brands and marketers room to create experiences or sponsor local events. Makeup brands can work with MUAs with a knack for #halloweenmakeuplooks to teach parents and teens how to add depth to their costume ideas with Halloween makeup.

Source: Instagram @neoniaartist

Skincare brands can partner with influencers who create Halloween looks and provide them samples of wipes, moisturizers or cleansing scrubs that the influencer can test to figure out which products are best to use for which types of makeup removal. After a long night of partying, being able to remove makeup quickly and completely matters.

If you’re interested in getting to smaller children and parents, supplying local stores with branded, reusable canvas bags strong enough to hold treats on the big night and shopping trips for mom after Halloween can get your name in front of parents.

The goal is to go where the people are before and during Halloween festivities, and find creative ways to show your audience just how useful your products are.

Trend #2: People are spending more on costumes… but home decor isn’t far behind

Interestingly enough, even though more people are planning to spend money on decorations than on costumes, Halloween costume expenditures make up the largest share of Halloween spending, with $3.4 billion in revenue in 2017.

That’s more than one-third of total Halloween spending! And costumes aren’t even the most popular category for Halloween spending.

Decorations tie with candy for Halloween spending, generating $2.7 billion in purchases for streamers, ghoulish cardboard cutouts, plastic cauldrons, dangling skeletons, perpetually hissing black cats and a ton of other creepily creative Halloween home decor ideas.

Finally, Halloween greeting cards (which I didn’t even recognize as a thing until just now) will bring in $410 million this season.

HOW TO USE THIS INFO TO SHAPE YOUR CAMPAIGN

And the cup just makes this cooler. Source: Brit Morin on Pinterest

Halloween home decor can be subtle or it can be more obviously Halloween-inspired. There are sub-schemes within the broader Halloween color scheme, meaning decorators aren’t limited to using the traditional orange, black and purple color palette to create Halloweeny looks.

Focus on creating a cool design first and foremost. Companies that sell home goods, crafts, used items, furniture, or interior design services can think about finding ways to integrate your products into really cool interior design ideas instead of trying to design around your product.

Good example: The pic to the right prominently features the Boo mug, though the room design could easily be the focus on this post. The design elements in this post are what get the picture shared. Not the mug. Though, I will admit I love the mug.

Keep things simple. Think about coming up with ideas that will allow customers to transition their interior design from Halloween to Thanksgiving without completely revamping their home.

Source inspiration from existing content You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, here. Big brands are not above recreating existing looks and adding their spin to the look.

The pins below are from Target’s Halloween Pinterest board and Pottery Barn’s board.  The overall design is very similar between the two pics. But the nuances in which accent pieces are used make the difference.

Pottery Barn and Target recreated the same design idea with their own products. Which do you like better?

Trend #3: Pet Costumes

Pet costumes account for 10 percent of total spending on Halloween costumes. In 2016, owners spent $420 million on Halloween costumes for their pets. That’s because 16 percent of the people surveyed admitted (that’s the correct word for that, right?) they’re going to dress-up their pets to celebrate Halloween.

HOW TO USE THIS INFO TO DRUM UP 2-LEGGED and 4-LEGGED FANS

The pet industry is notoriously bulletproof. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. households have companion pets – dogs, cats, birds, and/or horses. There is an opportunity here for marketers to zero in the focus for this Halloween on the furry friends who are considered members of every two in five households in America.

Create Pet – Owner Experiences. Marketers can do that by sponsoring live or virtual pet costume contests or fashion shows, or pet-person costume contests. Create a branded hashtag or use an existing one like #doghalloween (20,753 posts to date) or #doghalloweencostume (13,521 posts to date) to get the contest found. Partner with influencers who prominently feature their dogs or work with pet influencers to spread the word about your event.

An easy voting system would be having users comment or double-tap to vote on the winner. . The comments and double taps will help  you to boost engagement and provide one metric for determining the success of your campaign.

Grabbed this pic of Zulie the Siberian Husky (the sushi) and “Momma” (the Kikkomani soy sauce) from Instagram @zuliethehusky

Trend #4: Halloween IS for Grown-Ups

If you happen to be someone who is fascinated with the story of Halloween, you know Halloween didn’t start off as a day for kids to hang out, eat candy, and let sugar highs fuel their madness. I’ll skip the weird Halloween backstory and just tell you that in 2018 Millennials are big on Halloween. Of all the adults who get dragged out on Halloween to beg strangers for sweets, Millennials are one group who may be doing it willingly. Without the kids.

According to the National Retail Federation, Millennials ages 21 to about 35 spend about 40 percent more on their costumes than other adults, $42.39 compared with $31.03. Millennials are also more likely than other adults to celebrate Halloween. Chances are pretty good Millennials are bringing their A-games to the Halloween bash because for good or for bad, pics of them will inevitably end up on social media.

HOW TO USE THIS INFO TO REACH THE 18 to 34 CROWD

Go back to basics – SEO. A great Halloween costume is worth its weight in Likes, shares, and retweets. But for Millennials and Gen Z partiers, there’s got to be a little innovation in play as well. That usually means they are planning well in advance and sourcing ideas on social media instead of store racks.

When it was prom time a few year s ago, my daughter didn’t go inside a single store for her prom ensemble. Stores are trendy and they carry the same stuff. Instead, she sourced everything online and bought about half her accessories directly from China. It took over a month for her to get everything in the mail.

That’s typical. More than 35 percent of Halloween shoppers will source inspiration from online searches, compared to the 30 percent that will go in-store to find ideas. That means your content strategy has to get you found by search engines for popular search terms like…

• Halloween costume ideas (enormous number of monthly searches for this one with very little competition, comparatively)

• Halloween costume ideas for couples (another big one)

• DIY Halloween costume ideas

• Creative Halloween costume ideas

• Halloween costume ideas for groups (another surprisingly big one)

Reach women on Pinterest and men on YouTube. Social media also plays a key role in how Gen Z and Millennial shoppers source their ideas. According to the National Retail Federation, adults ages 28.4 percent of adults 18 – 34 turn to Pinterest for ideas, and 23.3 percent turn to YouTube for costume ideas.

Women are more than twice as likely to go to Pinterest than men, and men are more likely than women to default to YouTube. That said, Pinterest is an invaluable tool for sourcing inspiration for looks of all kinds. Even if your team does most of its targeting on Facebook and Instagram, adding Pinterest to your arsenal will only help you. Repurpose your existing content for Pinterest, YouTube, and IGTV.

Source: Statista

Trend #5: Pop Culture Costumes

Coincident with Millennials taking ownership of Halloween is a trend toward sourcing costume inspiration from pop culture. TV character costumes, Halloween meme costumes, and celebrity costumes are on the rise. Overall, 17 percent of those polled said pop culture would inspire their costumes. For older Gen Zers and younger Millennials who fall in the age range of 18 – 24, that number was 34 percent – one in three young adults say pop culture will inspire their costumes.

HOW TO GET IN FRONT OF THIS POP CULTURE THING

Stay relevant. The first tip is to stay relevant by keeping up on trends. And a simple way to do this is with Twitter and Instagram. A 10-minute review of both platforms once a day will do wonders for you marketing strategies. If your team is able to push out content in hours instead of days, you can capitalize on trends in real time.

Use what you already have. The next tip is to use what you have. The Internet went sorta nuts last year when a 2016 lecture at Getty Museum entitled Designing the Middle Ages: The Costumes of Game of Thrones was mentioned in an article on Apartment Therapy that revealed Ikea rugs are used as capes on the popular HBO show Game of Thrones. Of course, Ikea released its own official instructions for recreating the GoT look with a pretty funny sketch.

The news increased online searches of Ikea’s SKOLD rug by 775 percent.

Ikea’s lo-fi instruction manual for converting their rug into a GoT cape.   

Trend #6: Grocery Stores are the New Front Porch

So, did anyone else have to take their candy to the police station to be scanned by the officers growing up, or was it just me? I remember the fun I had as a kid dressing up and trick-or-treating. I also remember CAREFULLY EATING candies that cleared the scan (not all did) hoping Daddy and his cop buddies got all the bad ones out.  That may have a lot to do with why my family doesn’t do trick-or-treating now. As a parent, the idea of handing my toddlers a piece of “some guy’s candy” is… umm… not really optimal.

Last Halloween, I was in no hurry to get home after picking the kids up from school. I didn’t want to spend my night ignoring the doorbell. So my kids and I stopped off for a few groceries before heading home. I was surprised to discovered Halloween had been moved inside the grocery store – in the produce section.

We spent more than two hours in my local Kroger decorating cookies, collecting treats, and playing games. My teenager hung out with friends from school who were working as ghosts and operating games. My toddlers – though not in costumes like the other kids – got to “go fish” in the produce section… unfortunately they traded their fruit for candy.

My desire to avoid Halloween unwittingly put me smack dab in the middle of a community Halloween party.

And it’s not just my neighborhood. More and more, retailers are becoming the community Halloween hubs because yeah, it’s hard to uphold the “stranger danger” message when Halloween is so awesome for kids.

HOW TO USE THIS INFO IN YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY TO BUILD GOODWILL

Be the hub (or at least be the drinks at the hub). Create family-friendly experiences that parents (like me) can use to distract their kids from the fact that their friends are trick-or-treating. Usually, it’s not that kids want so badly to go; it’s more they want to do something fun.

Your Halloween festivities can be the fun thing they look forward to this year. Marketers can use this time to not only build goodwill in their communities, but to introduce parents to new products like gummy vitamins, sauces, salad mixes, hand wipes, and snack ideas. Let families test the products for free at your event and you will get in front of parents who are happy to add your product to their weekly or monthly shopping lists.

Trend #7: Gender Neutral Costumes

Of the $3.4 billion spent on Halloween costumes last year, $1.17 billion of that was specifically for children’s costumes. But for the past two years, the focus for both boys and girls has been on superhero costumes, relegating the former top costume choice of a princess to second place on the list of kids’ costumes.

The trend toward gender neutral costumes pushes against the idea of traditionally girl or boy costumes. And it’s not really about girls wearing costumes intended for boys. It’s more about there being more female heroes from which to choose.

My toddler the day I surprised her by taking her to a store with Marvel gear. Look at her feet. I snapped this in the one second she wasn’t darting around the store, losing her mind.

Gal Gadot kicked butt as Wonder Woman (as did Lynda Carter in the 70s). Supergirl begins its fourth season on The CW this fall. You can’t deny the strength and cunning of the Dora Milaje, the all-female guard that protects the leader of Wakanda in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And the eight top-grossing superhero movies of all time all have strong female supers and enhanced humans like Black Widow and Elastigirl fighting side-by-side with the men.

Were I to venture a best guess at the costume my preschooler would pick in a perfect world, I would say Colonel Nick Fury (not sure why she likes him so much), Megamind (again, what?), Minions, Thanos (she sees his point), the Black Panther, Batman and Captain America’s shield.

Yeah. Just the shield. So…

She’s no unicorn. For the past few years, it’s been superhero costumes that have been the top sellers for kids, regardless of age or gender

HOW TO USE THIS TREND TO GROW YOUR FOLLOWERS… EVEN IF YOU DON’T SELL COSTUMES

Make yourself useful. You can win loyal fans and generate content that gets shared with parents who support gender neutral costumes (and who often can’t find what they’re looking for) by retweeting, regramming, and repinning helpful posts to help parents find what they’re looking for. If you can, create content that gives parents simple DIY instructions for customizing Halloween costumes for the best fit, look, and experience for their kids.

Trend #8: Haunted Houses

Remember when haunted houses were literally a 4-person cart zigzagging on a rickety track through the detached container of a 18-wheeler? I do.

Today, the haunted house industry is… well, an industry. I want to tread lightly here, as the haunted attraction industry is still formalizing despite its explosive growth, and it’s not easy to find up-to-date stats.

Back in 2013, NBC News reported Americans spent around $7 billion celebrating Halloween. At that time, there were 2,500 haunted attractions around the world, most of which were in the United States. The haunted house industry was generating $300 million a year in revenue then. Since then, overall Halloween sales have grown by 30 percent, and Halloween participation is up 11 percent.  It makes sense to assume the haunted attraction market has experienced growth as well.

Erebus in Pontiac, MI (just north of Detroit) is a seasonal haunted attraction with a half-mile walk-through. Look at that line! –Source: Crain’s Detroit Business

Listverse estimates there are now 2,700 haunted attractions in the U.S. alone, and as many as 4,000 haunted attractions worldwide. In the U.S. 22.7% of the 179 million people planning to celebrate Halloween are also planning to visit a haunted attraction. That’s 40 million people. The averaged haunted attraction costs between $15 and $30 per person, with theme parks charging as much as $100 per person.

I would estimate today, the haunted industry rakes in close to $1 billion a year, which HauntedWorld.com backs up. Here’s a great quote I grabbed from Listverse.

There are more haunted houses in the United States than Targets.

Isn’t that quite possibly the most devilish thing you’ve heard today?

HOW TO USE THIS INFO IN YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

Target North America and Asia. Haunted attractions have been labeled a 100 percent American export, with the fastest-growing market for haunted attractions outside the U.S. to be the Asian market.

Makeup artists are important to the haunt industry. As well, the rise of computer-generated graphics in Hollywood movies means makeup artists who would otherwise be creating horrifying looks are now being replaced by or supplemented with CG graphics. That means there’s an opportunity here for makeup artists who specialize in film makeup and horror makeup to offer their services – at least on a part-time basis – to haunted attractions to help create different looks.

Look into extreme haunts and year-round scare attractions. The emergence of year-round extreme haunts and offshoots of haunted attractions like haunted hayrides, zombie paintball, escape rooms, and virtual haunted houses are on the rise.

Look at the demographics of patrons. The science behind haunted attractions is that they provide a way for people to be downright terrified and to legitimately feel threatened but have an “out” so to speak. Haunted attractions are a great way to be afraid and in a safe place at the same time.

Haunts appeal to both men and women, but men are 24 percent more likely to visit a haunted house than women. As well, most visitors are the 18 to 34 crowd. Thirty-six percent of 18 to 24 year-olds and 31.8% of 25 to 34 year-olds plan to attend haunted houses. On the flip side, that percentage slides down in the teens for people 45 to 54 years old (19.6 percent) and into the single digits for the 55 and over crowd.

Find sponsorship and partner opportunities. Corporate backing and sponsorships of haunted attractions is on the rise. Melissa Cardone’s Ten Thirty One Productions creates spooky hayrides and other haunted events in both Los Angeles and New York. Cardone got a $2 million investment (for a 20 percent stake in her company) from Mark Cuban during her Shark Tank pitch in 2013.

Two million bucks may not be your thing, but drink startups may consider striking a deal with haunt production companies to provide energy drinks, soda, water or novelty foods. Smaller brands could target local haunts to provide novelty items, screen printed apparel, or partner programs that provide discounts for haunted house patrons who visit their establishment within the same day.

This Week’s Big Wrap-Up Isn’t Really That Scary

The big takeaway here is that people are loosening their hold on candy and trick-or-treating as the be all, end all of Halloween. This current evolution of Halloween means there’s room for brands to dream up family friend experiences… or horrifying ones. Depends on your brand and your demographic.

The goal isn’t to sell people, but to find ways to position your products as ways to enhance the thrills people are already seeking for Halloween. Help them make Halloween memorable and they will remember you.

The one thing that is consistent throughout all eight of the trends we talked about here is that the experience you create has to be grand enough, interesting enough, and unique enough to make it into your customer’s Instagram feed. That’s the ultimate goal.

What Influencers Are Doing To Launch Awesome IGTV Channels So FAST

Instagram is officially in the video hosting businesses. IGTV is here, and its arrival stands to transform each of Instagram’s 1 billion monthly users into creators and owners of their very own long-form video channels.

It’s been a busy month for Instagram. The first week of June, the company announced @mention sharing, which gives users the ability to share into their own stories any stories in which they were mentioned. Nice.

The second week, many-a-dream came true (including mine) when shopping came to Instagram stories. When users watch stories that have the little shopping bag icon on the screen, they can click the bag to get more information about the product. Genius. I can’t be the only one who whips out her phone to look at screenshots of cool outfits when shopping.

Last week, Instagram announced the release of IGTV, a standalone video platform that allows Instagram creators to publish videos ranging in length from 15 seconds to 10 minutes for new accounts, and the ability to go as long as 60 minutes for larger, more established accounts.

A replay of the live announcement from Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom (@kevin) at an IGTV launch event in San Diego was posted to Instagram a few days ago (which you can see here). The event included appearances by Manny Gutierrez (@mannymua733),  Lele Pons (@lelepons), Lauren Godwin (@laurengodwin), Bryce Xavier (@brycexavier) and a handful of other social media influencers who are icons in the space.

Here’s How to Make Your Own Smooth Transition to IGTV

Getting Started

Getting started on IGTV is as simple as updating your Instagram app, or downloading the IGTV standalone app.

I did the latter. Hours after Systrom’s announcement I watched a tutorial that showed up in the top Google search results that was supposed to walk me through the installation process. Initially, I thought all I needed to do was update my existing Instagram app.

That didn’t work.

I had to download the standalone app to get IGTV to work.

When I updated Instagram, the only new thing that appeared on my screen was a Facebook icon, that when tapped, takes me to Facebook‘s mobile site.

So, I installed the standalone IGTV app from the Google Play Store, which automatically integrated with Instagram to give me access to IGTV through the main Instagram app. Of course, I now also have the standalone app.

Once there, the first thing I noticed was a string of videos from folks I didn’t know or care about. The For You recommendations are usually waaaaay off for me, but I eventually came across my tribe.

Some of my faves on IGTV include actress and fashion / style influencer Tracee Ellis Ross.

It really didn’t take long for early adopters to populate the IGTV feed with content. Meanwhile  I’ve been trying to decide if the Facebook video I created for my Facebook page for work-at-home moms (sans makeup) could be re-purposed for Instagram EVEN THOUGH I was fresh-faced and my top was a little crooked.

Unsure.

The good news for me is I make most of my videos vertical by default, not just because I’m cool, but because I forget to do it the other way.

But from days of tinkering around on the app, here are the four tactics I consistently see executed by influencers who have already made IGTV their own that will help you successfully onboard the video app yourself.

If you want to work with influencers in 2018, you’re going to need a strategy

The Shelf is an influencer marketing company that designs and implements the highest performing campaigns in the lifestyle space (fashion, beauty, mommy, food, travel, home, DIY, health, and fitness). If you’re reading this post and wondering how to use IGTV to breathe new life into your social media marketing, we’ve got you covered. Sign up for a demo to get your custom proposal.

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Tip #1: Repurpose the BEST of Your Existing Content

The easiest way to start on IGTV is to use some of the great content you already, operative word there being “great”. One of the first videos I actually watched on IGTV was from Gary Vaynerchuk (@GaryVee), and the video I watched was actually about two years old .

Gary Vee’s first videos published to IGTV included repurposed content.

There are 300 million people watching Instagram stories every single day. I can tell you with some certainty, if you’ve produced video content for Instagram in the past, there’s a good chance you already have content you can use on IGTV BUT…Make it your best stuff.

Tip #2: Be Sure to Adapt Existing Content to Vertical Video

I’ve already seen videos on IGTV that weren’t properly edited for vertical video. Sideways videos are hard to watch, especially in long-form, so if you’re publishing your existing content to IGTV, adapt it for vertical.

According to Idea Rocket Animation’s Vertical Video Guide, the aspect ratio for vertical video is 9:16. If that looks familiar, it’s because you’ve spent the last few years creating videos with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Seriously, if you don’t want to be the creator that’s making sideways videos, take the time to do the necessary re-edit of your older videos you shot in HD widescreen.

Of course, my one year of cinema classes taught me a little something about sideways videos that I and every other beginning film buff knows – scenes shot sideways can help drive home a point, like in this scene from Marvel’s Black Panther.

This is the scene of the film villain, the appropriately-named Killmonger taking the throne after defeating the benevolent king T’Challa in ritual combat. His arrival signals a new day for Wakanda, as the newly-crowned king prepares to launch war on every existing government.

Powerful stuff. BUT the entire scene is just a few seconds long.

Tip #3: Bring Your Brand and Persona to the New Platform

Use IGTV as an extension of your brand, and meet (and possibly exceed) the expectations of your existing audience.

During Instagram’s launch event for IGTV, mega influencer Lele Pons talked a bit about what it took for her to perfect the one-minute comedy skits she’s known for posting to Instagram. Her new content plans for the long-form platform include starting her own competitive cooking show because she likes to cook, but she’s not very good at it.

A competitive cooking show created, hosted and judged by a competitor who isn’t a great cook. Sounds like antics should ensue. The idea sounds like it would be a good use of long-form video while maintaining the cleverly outrageous comedy for which Ms. Pons has become known. It’s smart.

Between the time I thought about writing this post and the actual publication (the weekend), beauty powerhouse Huda Kattan (@HudaBeauty) went from one piece of content on IGTV to three, with one of the videos extending past the one-minute mark.

Hilarious as they are, each of Kattan’s three videos is beauty-focused, from time hacks to the gym makeup fail – when your makeup rubs off on your towel at the gym and you’re left with a face full of smeared makeup.

Screen shots from “Gym Makeup Fail”, @HudaBeauty’s first video on IGTV.

Tip #4: Use the “Extra” Time As a Resource

Use time as a resource, if you need it. I’ve already come across lots of videos of people talking for an hour about topics that are probably important to them, but not really all that engaging. The result, I click away after a few seconds.

To celebrate the arrival of IGTV, Netflix re-released a 1-hour version of this popular 1-minute video of Riverdale’s Cole Sprouse (Jughead!) eating a burger.

Some of the most engaging content that has shown up on IGTV so far reflects creators that used the extended time to create a more compelling video. Much of the new content on IGTV doesn’t get anywhere close to the time limit, and for good reason.

The approach for the most successful creators is to figure out how to create a video their audience will love and use time as a resource to get it done. Netflix’s video of Cole Sprouse eating that burger notwithstanding, smart creators aren’t just maxing out the time on their videos because they have it to spare.

Big brands already have their agencies on deck, coming up with strategies to best use IGTV to raise brand awareness (which this platform would be GREAT at doing) and convert swipers to raving fans.

With the recent ability to shop Instagram posts and the ability to integrate @mentions into multiple stories from different users, you can bet monetization is only days away.

Get ready!