Latest / Influencer Confidential / Are Brand Deals Dying in 2025?? (+ Before You Pitch Checklist) #254

Transcript

Are Brand Deals Dying in 2025?? (+ Before You Pitch Checklist) #254 · Influencer Confidential

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Influencer Confidential by Sidewalker Daily. My name is
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Nina Zeta and I will be your host. I love
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  Speaker 1: working with brands and influencers on all things business strategy.
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  Speaker 1: Are you ready to learn what it takes to work
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  Speaker 1: in this influencer industry and see behind the curtain? Well,
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  Speaker 1: let's jump in. Are brand deals dying in twenty twenty five?
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you're hearing more and more creators see less opportunities,
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  Speaker 1: or maybe you yourself as a creator, are not getting
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  Speaker 1: the same brand deals that you got last year. Listen,
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  Speaker 1: the industry is definitely changing. And as someone who's paid
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  Speaker 1: creators hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign budget run
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  Speaker 1: my brand clients, you are not alone and what you're
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  Speaker 1: feeling is totally normal. There are things happening, and listen,
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  Speaker 1: it's not all cupcakes and rainbows anymore. The industry is
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  Speaker 1: changing at a rapid pace. But what I want to
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  Speaker 1: talk about today is how you, the creator can leverage
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  Speaker 1: this and make it into an opportunity, turning what is
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  Speaker 1: happening in our industry and thinking smarter and more strategic
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  Speaker 1: in your pitching. Now, the first thing I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: ask every single one of you that's watching, listening on
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  Speaker 1: the podcast, or whatever is before you sit here and
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  Speaker 1: complain about your brand deals is ask yourself how active
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  Speaker 1: are you in your outreach? That's the number one thing
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  Speaker 1: that you need to even reflect on before I share
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  Speaker 1: the shifts that are happening in our industry, because yes,
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  Speaker 1: there are shifts, but the creators out there that are
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  Speaker 1: active taking control of their businesses, sending pitches following up,
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  Speaker 1: those are the creators that are going to have a
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  Speaker 1: better probability of monetizing in the brand deal space than
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  Speaker 1: those that are just sitting and waiting, because let's face it,
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  Speaker 1: brand deals is not something that you can just sit
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  Speaker 1: and wait anymore. Maybe we could have a few years ago.
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  Speaker 1: Like I mentioned briefly, I've worked on the brand side,
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  Speaker 1: so I am someone who has access and privy to
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  Speaker 1: budgets campaigns. I see what's happening, okay, and I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to share with you what I see on the brand
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  Speaker 1: side and what I've heard through the creators in my
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  Speaker 1: inner circle community also describe as what's happening in our industry.
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  Speaker 1: The first big shift we are seeing is that brands
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  Speaker 1: are tired of having to work with multiple creators. It
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  Speaker 1: is creating a burden. Let me give you an example.
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  Speaker 1: This one brand we recently pitched with one of my
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  Speaker 1: one on one students. They were like, listen, we're not
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  Speaker 1: working with you on usage. It's too messy to keep
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  Speaker 1: track of all the usage rights for all our UGC creators.
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  Speaker 1: So imagine if you're the brand and you're literally working
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  Speaker 1: with like fifty creators, and all fifty creators have different
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  Speaker 1: usage fees and different usage timelines. Right, It's annoying for
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  Speaker 1: the brand partner. So brands are setting really strong systems
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  Speaker 1: in place to streamline their process. They cannot get caught
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  Speaker 1: up in, you know, managing every single creator having to
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  Speaker 1: deal with every single person's issue. We're seeing a lot
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  Speaker 1: of processes taking place now in the industry. Like that
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  Speaker 1: one company, they have very strong boundaries. Right. Eighty three
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  Speaker 1: percent of US based companies are doing influencer marketing, So
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  Speaker 1: that means they are setting up systems and if it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't fit the system, they're not going to work with you. Secondly,
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  Speaker 1: I'm seeing a huge, huge shift at least with the
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  Speaker 1: clients that we are speaking to, into long term partnerships.
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  Speaker 1: Why work with thousands of creators when we find a
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  Speaker 1: couple that work really well and put a lot of
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  Speaker 1: AD budget behind that one creator. So I'll give you
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  Speaker 1: an example. Let's just say we work with a few
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  Speaker 1: creators and we see one piece of content pop off,
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  Speaker 1: where like we're putting ad budget in that creator video, right,
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  Speaker 1: We're going to scale it, We're gonna put some fuel
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  Speaker 1: to that buyer. And we're seeing brands really be more
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  Speaker 1: focused on these longer term partnerships, on using you know,
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  Speaker 1: content in the ad space with content that does well.
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  Speaker 1: So there's no more of this like you know, one
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  Speaker 1: night stand approach where we're working with a bunch of
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  Speaker 1: one offs. More and more clients are looking for longer
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  Speaker 1: form partnerships, especially now in twenty twenty five. So again,
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  Speaker 1: if you're feeling like brand deals are dying, it's not
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  Speaker 1: that they're dying. It's just that brands are being more
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  Speaker 1: selective and who they are working with. Influencer marketing is
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  Speaker 1: on the rise. The data is there, the charts are there.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, this is a multi billion dollar economy. Influencer
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  Speaker 1: marketing isn't going down. If you look at all the
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  Speaker 1: news articles coming out daily, our industry is booming. Forget
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  Speaker 1: about the rest of the economy and the rest of
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  Speaker 1: the world the creator economy, the influencer economy. We do
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  Speaker 1: well when the rest of the world is going down.
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  Speaker 1: We saw this happen in twenty twenty with Covid Right
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  Speaker 1: creators popped off at this time. So it's not about
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  Speaker 1: creators making less and brand deals dying and brand's not
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  Speaker 1: wanting to spend no, no, no, They are being more
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  Speaker 1: selective with who they are working with in terms of
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  Speaker 1: long term partnerships. This industry is moving at lightning speed.
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  Speaker 1: Another big shift. I am seeing you guys, and you
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  Speaker 1: may not like this because this does make creators want
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  Speaker 1: to die a little bit. Inside is performance based marketing.
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  Speaker 1: Now make sure you stick around to the end because
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to give you, guys a tool to help
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  Speaker 1: you stay confident when it comes to performance based partnerships.
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  Speaker 1: So what do I mean by performance base. We're seeing
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  Speaker 1: more and more brands want to you create bonus structures
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  Speaker 1: in payment. So you hit sixty thousand views, you get this.
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  Speaker 1: You hit one hundred thousand views, you get this. These
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  Speaker 1: sort of deals are happening. If you listen to my
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  Speaker 1: recent podcasts with the owner of Guessword, trips Jessica Off.
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  Speaker 1: She talked to us about that scenario where she said,
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  Speaker 1: there was an influencer who said, I will guarantee you
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  Speaker 1: this many views, no matter how many videos it takes
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  Speaker 1: to get there. Do you guys remember that in that episode.
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  Speaker 1: If you haven't listened to it, I will link it
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  Speaker 1: below so you guys can go listen. But that's what
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  Speaker 1: a brand told us directly that she was seeing. This
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  Speaker 1: is a huge indicator of more and more brands wanting
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  Speaker 1: to work with creators in this performance style. Now, like
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  Speaker 1: we discussed in the episode, it is risky for the
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  Speaker 1: creator because imagine how many videos it could take you
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  Speaker 1: to get sixty thousand views. In that one scenario, the
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  Speaker 1: creator got it in one video and boom, she got paid.
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  Speaker 1: So something to consider performance base. We're seeing more and
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  Speaker 1: more of it, so don't be afraid if you see
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  Speaker 1: that happening. Let's talk about something else. I'm seeing creators
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  Speaker 1: with strong performance, but also creators with a past records.
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  Speaker 1: You have a strong affiliate marketing strategy in your creator business,
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  Speaker 1: if you have results, if you do live shopping events,
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  Speaker 1: you're going to stand out because at the end of
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  Speaker 1: the day, call it what you want. Brands want to
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  Speaker 1: make money. Brands want to sell, and they want to
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  Speaker 1: work with creators who can sell. So if you have
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  Speaker 1: a storefront, if you're creating shoppable posts, if you were
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  Speaker 1: showing that you are able to integrate shoppable content, this
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  Speaker 1: is again what we're seeing in the industry. Brands are
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  Speaker 1: loving this in the creators that they're working with. So again,
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  Speaker 1: you may not be getting chosen for a campaign because
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  Speaker 1: none of your content shows that you actually can push
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  Speaker 1: product and that you can actually sell. I have an
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  Speaker 1: Amazon influencer the other day. Her whole page is about
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  Speaker 1: like Amazon and creating Amazon. This that the other She
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  Speaker 1: is killing it and she is very very clear that
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  Speaker 1: she can sell the product. Brands love that. Now you've
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  Speaker 1: heard this once and you've heard this again. The rise
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  Speaker 1: of micro influencers, the rise of niche communities. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: let's call it what it is. There are a lot
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  Speaker 1: more influencers and creators now than there were a few
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  Speaker 1: years ago. It's a supply and demand question. Baby, There
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  Speaker 1: is a lot of supply, a lot more creators in
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  Speaker 1: the market now than there were a few years ago.
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  Speaker 1: This is going to change the demand. This is going
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  Speaker 1: to change your brand deals right, or the amount that
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  Speaker 1: you appear to be getting. So when you have more supply, right,
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  Speaker 1: this is going to decrease demand. So that's why it's
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  Speaker 1: important that you, as a creator are honest and see
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  Speaker 1: the market. Don't be afraid. It doesn't mean that you're
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  Speaker 1: getting pushed out. It just means that you have to
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  Speaker 1: implement certain strategies like the ones we've talked about so far,
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  Speaker 1: to ensure that you stand out and that you're a
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  Speaker 1: good candidate for these brand deals. Focus on building that
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  Speaker 1: niche community. You know, you don't need millions of followers.
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  Speaker 1: Brands can't even afford creators with millions of followers. And
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  Speaker 1: I want to just clarify something really quick. Imagine you
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  Speaker 1: swap the word brand out with small business. You think
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  Speaker 1: a small business can pay ten thousand dollars for one post.
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  Speaker 1: The bigger the creators lots of times they price themselves
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  Speaker 1: out of jobs because it's too much. They get to
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  Speaker 1: work on four brand deals a year. You know, they're
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  Speaker 1: working on big partnerships. Bigger creators get the pleasure and
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  Speaker 1: the beauty of working with less brands for more money.
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  Speaker 1: Smaller creators, you guys, have your own benefit because brands.
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  Speaker 1: You know, small businesses are wanting to access your communities.
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing a campaign right now for a client. His
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  Speaker 1: entry level was, you know, I just want creators with
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  Speaker 1: at least eight thousand followers. That is a smaller number
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  Speaker 1: than what we've seen in the past. So more and
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  Speaker 1: more micro communities, more and more niche communities. All of
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  Speaker 1: this is contributing to you feeling like brand deals are dying,
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  Speaker 1: when in fact they are not. This is not the
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  Speaker 1: time to panic. This is the time to pivot. Brands
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  Speaker 1: are being more selective. So I need you to ask yourself,
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  Speaker 1: can I prove results as my content authentic? Do I
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  Speaker 1: have an engaged audience that really truly connects with me
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  Speaker 1: and comes to me for valuable content. Remember you are
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  Speaker 1: not a creator as much as you are your own
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  Speaker 1: business owner, and mentioned at the beginning, I was going
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  Speaker 1: to give you a tool here, the to do list
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  Speaker 1: that I want you guys to take notes down and
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  Speaker 1: actually reflect on to help you increase those brand deals
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  Speaker 1: before I share the next steps. If you're interested in
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: these topics and you want us to create more videos.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: If you're listening on the podcast, make sure to leave
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: us a review that helps our team know that you
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: guys are interested in this, and it gives us the
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  Speaker 1: fuel to the fire to keep producing this content for
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  Speaker 1: you all. So I mentioned earlier we were going to
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  Speaker 1: talk about a tool. This is what I want you
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  Speaker 1: guys to do now to help you see results and
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  Speaker 1: really reflect on your brand deals coming up. So the
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  Speaker 1: first thing is track. I want you to track everything.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to track your conversions. I want you
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  Speaker 1: to track your sales, your link clicks, track track, track
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  Speaker 1: your performance. Not only will this give you the confidence
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  Speaker 1: to keep pitching, it's going to show you how valuable
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  Speaker 1: your real content is. Now. I actually have a whole
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: test your Influence worksheet inside my free resource library for creators.
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  Speaker 1: If you haven't gotten that free resource library yet, go
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: ahead at the bottom and sign up for it because
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: you're going to get a whole bunch of PDFs and
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: the Test your Influence one is a super comprehensive worksheet
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  Speaker 1: to help you understand if you're actually having influence, and
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  Speaker 1: that is something that you can charge very high for
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  Speaker 1: the second thing I'm going to ask you to do
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  Speaker 1: is get laser focus with your audience. You need to
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  Speaker 1: be so clear on who your people are so when
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  Speaker 1: you get on a call with a brand or you're negotiating,
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  Speaker 1: you are able to effectively and clearly communicate who they are.
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  Speaker 1: Because remember, if you are working in the brand deal space,
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  Speaker 1: you're either pitching content or influence, and if you're pitching influence,
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  Speaker 1: you gotta have something to show that you know who
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  Speaker 1: your person is. Speaking of content, Step three, even if
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  Speaker 1: you're an influencer, you need to start pitching UGC. There
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  Speaker 1: is a rise in the UGC market. We're seeing tons
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  Speaker 1: of articles come out on this. Unilever is putting a
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  Speaker 1: lot of ad money in behind UGC influencer driven content
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  Speaker 1: running ads to it. So if you are an influencer
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  Speaker 1: watching and you're not getting those brand deals, you may
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  Speaker 1: need to start pivoting and pitch more UGC deals. If
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: you prefer to speak to someone on our team, you
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: can always set up a call with our success manager.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: I'll leave a link below. We could talk about your
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: strategy and how we can get you pitching more UGC deals.
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  Speaker 1: And lastly, if you're not on any sort of affiliate
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  Speaker 1: storefronts or you don't have that set up yet, I
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  Speaker 1: want you to set that up. I want you to
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  Speaker 1: experiment with social commerce. I want you to get in
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  Speaker 1: there and see again, is this something that you're able
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  Speaker 1: to provide as value to your clients. Because, as I
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  Speaker 1: said in the beginning and as I will stand by
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  Speaker 1: it till the end, brand deals are not dying. The
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  Speaker 1: industry is changing, Influencer marketing is on the rise, so
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  Speaker 1: there is no way that brand deals are dying. Brands
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  Speaker 1: are just being more selective. And that's why hopefully with
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  Speaker 1: what you guys learned today, you're going to be set
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  Speaker 1: up for success to start seeing those brand deals come
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  Speaker 1: in again and again. Also, guys, if you need help
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: in your business, I do coaching one on ones, whether
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: in person or on Zoom, so that way I can
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: work with you and get into your business. If you're
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: a little bit more of a self learner and you
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: are really good at the self study, I strongly recommend
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: our Pitching a Brand's master Course. This is our program
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: here at Sidewalker Daily that's going to help you with
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: those paid brand deals. It's super comprehensive, it's thirty it's
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: like a college level class. Go ahead and click on
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: it to learn more. And we have a special code
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: YouTube five hundred for five hundred dollars off. That's what
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: the big surprises. Wait till the end to get it.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Then you guys are able to get that code. I
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed today's episode. If you did, make sure
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: to rate, review, and subscribe to our show and visit
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Sidewalkerdaily dot com for more resources on all things influencer,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: marketing and social media. Until next time,