Latest / Influencer Confidential / Tariffs & Brand Deals: What Influencers NEED To Know! #257

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Tariffs & Brand Deals: What Influencers NEED To Know! #257 · Influencer Confidential

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Influencer Confidential by Sidewalker Daily. My name is
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  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. There has been a lot of noise
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  Speaker 1: in our industry, the creator economy regarding tariffs and how
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  Speaker 1: is this going to affect creators specifically when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to brand deals and other revenue streams. Like, creators are
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  Speaker 1: obviously a little bit nervous about this, and as someone
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  Speaker 1: who has worked on the brand side, has worked on
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  Speaker 1: campaigns during all types of economics, struggles, recessions, and booms,
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  Speaker 1: I'm here to share some facts, some strategies, and also
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  Speaker 1: a different perspective on how we can use this time
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  Speaker 1: to shine. Before I talk about strategies and what's really happening,
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  Speaker 1: I want to take us back to twenty twenty during COVID.
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  Speaker 1: There was obviously a very bleak, scary time in our history.
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  Speaker 1: People were so nervous about their businesses outside of all
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  Speaker 1: the other things that we were nervous about, right, but
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  Speaker 1: this page, and this channel is about creator businesses, so
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  Speaker 1: we're going to keep it to that. I cannot tell
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  Speaker 1: you the amount of businesses that I saw investing in
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  Speaker 1: creators during economic downturn. Why creators were a one size,
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  Speaker 1: all fit solution. They were able to cut these huge
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  Speaker 1: marketing budgets and production bees and go straight to creator
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  Speaker 1: and get even better results. And we saw that happened.
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  Speaker 1: So many creators saw, you know, a liftoff during COVID
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  Speaker 1: because brands were coming to them. So many creators were
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  Speaker 1: used as mouthpieces during COVID. I remember specifically this campaign
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  Speaker 1: or a tourism board pay to creator to tell everyone, hey,
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  Speaker 1: our destination is open. How many times are we seeing
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  Speaker 1: creators being used as almost like media and news, right,
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  Speaker 1: so you know, whether a company is struggling with price
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  Speaker 1: increases or wants to discuss the quality of their products,
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  Speaker 1: going to see creators being brought in time and time again.
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  Speaker 1: So I actually I'm not scared for y'all. We gotta
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  Speaker 1: be strategic, right, We got to pivot. We always got
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  Speaker 1: to be on our feet here as creators and influencers.
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  Speaker 1: But I am not afraid. So let's clear some things
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  Speaker 1: up to make sure we're all on the same page.
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  Speaker 1: And funny enough, you guys, I don't know if you
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  Speaker 1: know this about me. I know I talk about my
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  Speaker 1: MBA a lot, but I'm actually an econ major and
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  Speaker 1: communications double major Boston College. But I studied econ, So
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  Speaker 1: it's kind of funny to be back on here talking
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  Speaker 1: about my economics studies and days and all the stuff
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  Speaker 1: I learned in college. So for those of you that
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  Speaker 1: are like tariffs, this tariff thought. Tariffs are literally just
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  Speaker 1: taxes that are placed on imported goods. So things that
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  Speaker 1: we buy abroad now may be more expensive because there
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  Speaker 1: is a higher tax on that right. As you guys know,
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  Speaker 1: this is to drive more local commerce and business. But
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  Speaker 1: as someone who literally sees creators' wins every Tuesday, I
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  Speaker 1: see them. Brand deals are not going away. We just
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  Speaker 1: had a creator get a fifteen thousand dollars podcasts partnership.
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  Speaker 1: She didn't even launch the podcast yet, Okay, they just
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  Speaker 1: wanted in on it. We are seeing creators get seven
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  Speaker 1: thousand dollars plus brand deals. I mean every week I'm
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  Speaker 1: hearing crazy wins, So I know for a fact brand
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  Speaker 1: deals are not drying up. What I am seeing though,
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  Speaker 1: is this focus on long term partnerships. I just had
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  Speaker 1: a creator send out a proposal with package one and
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  Speaker 1: package two. Package one was, you know, a forty five
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  Speaker 1: hundred dollars YouTube integration or something of like that, and
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  Speaker 1: package two was five thousand dollars a month for three months,
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  Speaker 1: and it was you know, more of a channel sponsorship,
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  Speaker 1: but it's a fifteen thousand dollars investment, right, five thousand
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  Speaker 1: dollars a month. The brand ended up picking that because
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  Speaker 1: they said it would be more easy to track the results.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of working with tons of creators. They wanted to
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  Speaker 1: hone in and focus on one. So we are seeing
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  Speaker 1: brands still spend but be a little bit more strategic.
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  Speaker 1: So this increase in long term partnerships is definitely happening
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  Speaker 1: right now, and it's just a lot easier for brand
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  Speaker 1: then working with like hundreds of creators to hone in
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  Speaker 1: on a couple that they want to measure those results with.
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  Speaker 1: The biggest thing I am seeing, if you are taking notes,
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  Speaker 1: I hope you are, but if you're like soaking this in,
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  Speaker 1: the biggest thing I'm seeing is that brands are investing
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  Speaker 1: in creators who show our OI, creators who position themselves
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  Speaker 1: as a smart investment. Okay, you need to basically use
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  Speaker 1: verbage and language now in your pitches, in your media kits,
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  Speaker 1: in your sales deck that say you bring results, not
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  Speaker 1: that you're just a cost, but that you are a solution.
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  Speaker 1: That is the energy. If you are able to tap
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  Speaker 1: into this energy when you're talking to your brand clients,
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  Speaker 1: you are going to go very far, regardless of economic
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  Speaker 1: depressions or booms or recessions or any of that. So
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to pitching and when it comes to verbage,
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  Speaker 1: you know you want to say things as bold as
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  Speaker 1: you know. I drive conversions for my clients. My audience
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  Speaker 1: trusts what I recommend and purchases from me. Maybe meet
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  Speaker 1: them where they're at in their budgets. Say I have
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  Speaker 1: budget conscious pas to meet you at any budget that
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  Speaker 1: you're at. Perhaps you're telling them like, let's create content
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  Speaker 1: that you guys can use over and over again to
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  Speaker 1: get the biggest bang for your buck. You're literally saying like,
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  Speaker 1: I want to make content for you guys that you
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  Speaker 1: can reuse so that you can extend this investment the
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  Speaker 1: most possible way. You're really starting to treat this pitch
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  Speaker 1: as a solution. So how do we position ourselves as
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  Speaker 1: a smart investment. We focus on case studies. We focus
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  Speaker 1: on results. You know, we go into our Amazon shops,
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  Speaker 1: our lt case stores. We look at data, we look
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  Speaker 1: at conversions. Right, even if we're not selling right and
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  Speaker 1: we're creating UGC content for brands, we're going in and
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  Speaker 1: seeing how that UGC content is performing. You know, you
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  Speaker 1: are going to turn yourself into a data lever because
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  Speaker 1: you need these metrics to put together valid case studies.
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  Speaker 1: One thing we talk about a lot sidewalker internally with
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  Speaker 1: our students and our pitching students and all of that
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  Speaker 1: is the idea of not being afraid to sell. Like
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  Speaker 1: you need to be able to go to these brand
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  Speaker 1: clients and be like, I'm a safe bet and here's why,
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  Speaker 1: or I'm a good investment and here's why. Having that
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  Speaker 1: confidence to speak that way, to show that you are
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  Speaker 1: worth it and not be shivering in your boots even
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  Speaker 1: though you may be inside. Creators tend to think that
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  Speaker 1: the media kit is the most important piece of the
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  Speaker 1: puzzle when it comes to selling. The media kit is
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  Speaker 1: your resume. It is the first thing a brand sees,
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  Speaker 1: and while it is super important, it is not the
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  Speaker 1: only sales tool that you need in your pocket. You
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  Speaker 1: need valid and strong case studies. You need strong proposals
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  Speaker 1: with really good offers and packages that make it exciting
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  Speaker 1: for the brand to want to work with you because
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  Speaker 1: they're getting such a great offer. Right, there's psychological pricing
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  Speaker 1: as well that you can include in your offers and packages.
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  Speaker 1: I know that inside of our course, we teach how
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  Speaker 1: to put these you know, packages together, and we teach
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  Speaker 1: how to put these sales tools together. And one of
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  Speaker 1: the decks, you know, there's like a slide. I think
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  Speaker 1: it's like a UGC creator's portfolio, but like slide number
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  Speaker 1: two is like content that converts, and like really speaking
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  Speaker 1: in this authoritative way that your content converts, because again,
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  Speaker 1: and you're not talking to your follower when you're sending
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  Speaker 1: these decks and these sales tools, you're talking to the brand.
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  Speaker 1: And if the brand is going to pay you five
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  Speaker 1: thousand dollars, they want to make sure it is worth it. Now.
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  Speaker 1: If you need help making these sort of sales tools,
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  Speaker 1: design assets. Design is not your thing. We have an
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  Speaker 1: entire section in our company. We do have a design studio.
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  Speaker 1: So I will leave a link to a call below
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  Speaker 1: with someone from our team that can walk you through
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  Speaker 1: the different services that we offer. When it comes to design,
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  Speaker 1: we can design all of these assets for you. If
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  Speaker 1: that's something that you need, or if you, guys, are
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  Speaker 1: the type of learner that you rather just do it yourself,
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  Speaker 1: then go ahead and look into our Pitching a Brand's
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  Speaker 1: master Course. I've included a special five hundred dollars off
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  Speaker 1: discount code for you in the description below, so if
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  Speaker 1: you use that code, you will get five hundred dollars
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  Speaker 1: off our best selling program here at Sidewalker Daily. One
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  Speaker 1: of the strategies that we are seeing that creators are
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  Speaker 1: leaning into is pitching more American companies and local brands.
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  Speaker 1: So tell me if I'm wrong on this, but I
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  Speaker 1: find that a lot of times when creators say pitch
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  Speaker 1: the brands, they think, you know, Nike, Nutridina, Lululemon, all
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  Speaker 1: the big brands. What about all the local companies? What
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  Speaker 1: about all the smaller brands that need you? What about
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  Speaker 1: the local businesses? Right, replace the word brand with small business.
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  Speaker 1: There is money in places that you don't even know exist,
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  Speaker 1: but you may not be reaching out to those companies
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  Speaker 1: because you're again thinking about, oh, I want to work
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  Speaker 1: with Stanley, and you're not thinking about, oh, I want
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  Speaker 1: to work with this local accounting firm to help create
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  Speaker 1: content for them, or I want to work with this
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  Speaker 1: local company to do sponsored content for them. You're only
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  Speaker 1: thinking big, big, national, but you're not even seeing the
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  Speaker 1: companies that are in your backyard. So if that's something
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  Speaker 1: that's not on your radar, this idea of more local pitches,
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  Speaker 1: that is something that I see a lot of creators
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  Speaker 1: doing right now, especially during these times. Another piece of
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  Speaker 1: advice I'm going to have for you if you're pitching
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  Speaker 1: during this time is really take the extra five minutes, y'all,
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  Speaker 1: to do the research to show the brand that you
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  Speaker 1: care to not just, you know, do a rinsom repeat
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  Speaker 1: lazy AI style pitch. I have nothing against chatchibt. I
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  Speaker 1: talk about how to use it in my program. I
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  Speaker 1: think you know there's a time and place for it.
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  Speaker 1: But if you just send a lazy chat shep t
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  Speaker 1: pitch and wondering why you're not getting responses, you know
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  Speaker 1: you're not approaching it the right way. You need to
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  Speaker 1: be a solution to the brand, So it takes time.
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  Speaker 1: You need to go in and see what is it
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  Speaker 1: that you can do to add value to your partner.
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  Speaker 1: So I just want to stress that you know you
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  Speaker 1: want to take time, especially now, to be seen as
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  Speaker 1: a solution and to be valuable. And that's going to
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  Speaker 1: take you going in as a business owner, as someone
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  Speaker 1: who's smart and really looking for those holes where you
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  Speaker 1: can go in and supply a solution for your brand.
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  Speaker 1: You guys know, one of my favorite tips at sidewalkers
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  Speaker 1: getting a brand on a call, because even on your
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  Speaker 1: media kit, your services page is so limiting, like you
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  Speaker 1: can do so much that the brand doesn't even know
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  Speaker 1: that you can do, and the text or the copy
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  Speaker 1: on your services page is not enough. So if you
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  Speaker 1: can get this brand on a call and understand what
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  Speaker 1: they need, what they want, you can then really put
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  Speaker 1: together that strong proposal that has a lot more included
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  Speaker 1: in it than your services page would even say. This
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  Speaker 1: way you're positioning yourself is like, hey, I'm a one
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  Speaker 1: size fits all, I'm turnkey. You need content, I can
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  Speaker 1: do it, you need this, I can do it whatever
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  Speaker 1: it is that they need. I had a quator the
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  Speaker 1: other day end up offering social media consulting as part
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  Speaker 1: of her package because she realized they were starting, they
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  Speaker 1: needed help with growth, and there was an opportunity for
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  Speaker 1: her to support the company in that side. But she
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't have never known it if she didn't get a
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  Speaker 1: brand on the call. So it's so important, y'all as
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  Speaker 1: a strategy in pitching nowadays, to try to get the
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  Speaker 1: brand on a call so you can listen and understand
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  Speaker 1: what they need, so you can put that beautiful proposal
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  Speaker 1: together that is going to hit the nail on the head,
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  Speaker 1: get the brand excited to work with you, and ultimately
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  Speaker 1: say yes. So, as I stated already, I need you
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  Speaker 1: guys to position yourselves as smart investments, as results driven,
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  Speaker 1: not as a cost, but as something that is going
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  Speaker 1: to help that company make money. Do not be afraid
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  Speaker 1: to get sales of y'all. Do not be afraid to sell.
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  Speaker 1: I'm telling you as someone who sells all the time.
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  Speaker 1: When you believe in what you do, it should feel natural.
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  Speaker 1: Like I love to sell because I know I'm really
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  Speaker 1: helping people. I truly in my gut feel that way.
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  Speaker 1: I'm like, you're not doing me a favor. You need
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  Speaker 1: to have that energy when you're approaching brands. They're not
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  Speaker 1: doing you a favor. You're actually going to create amazing
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  Speaker 1: content that's gonna help them, or you're gonna let them
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  Speaker 1: have access to your audience that you've spent years building.
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  Speaker 1: So it's a lot of mindset work, right. Don't be
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  Speaker 1: afraid to sell. It's a win win, That's how you
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  Speaker 1: should be looking at it. I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
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  Speaker 1: If you did, make sure to rate, review, and subscribe
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: to our show and visit Sidewalkerdaily dot com for more
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: resources on all things influencer, marketing and social media. Until
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: next time,