JUST... SIT BACK & RELAX 

Doja Cat's partnership with JBL has opened up a lot of insight into the direction of influencer marketing and celebrity partnerships. To this day influencer partnerships and brand deals have been conducted with a certain level of control from the brand marketing side for the most part.

I don't want to generalize and say all brands are like this but traditionally, there are set terms and set ways that the influencer will engage and create content for the partnering brand. But, things are (kind of?) changing. 

Back to Doja Cat & JBL, the star wore a custom speaker to the Grammys this year to initiate the start of the partnership. Then, being herself, Doja Cat published a TikTok saying "jibble jibble jibble" instead of the brand name J-B-L. The post has generated more than 5.8M engagements, from Doja Cat being... Doja Cat. The organic and real nature of the content created more success than a contrived and conceived TikTok script could have ever generated. Fast Company does a good job breaking down how traditionally the mispronunciation of a brand name from a partnership would be a PR nightmare, but this time around marketers are sitting back and going with the flow of what's working. 

What is working?

People being themselves. On a deeper level than we realized the success of a campaign like this is ultimately driving the new wave of UGC creation where marketers are saying goodbye to influencers and hello to actual customers. 

Prospects want genuine connections, real experiences. That's not to say influencers don't serve a place in the market anymore, they will continue to have their reign. It's just the shift will move from scripted to actual usage as marketers diversify. 

WHAT'S ACTUALLY WORKING IN MARKETING...

Do you want to know which marketing strategies are actually driving results in your industry? 🤔

You've probably got an email from senior leadership with a link to an article that includes a bland headline like "Platform X is the future to reach Audience Y!" along with a remark such as "This is a significant opportunity—what's our strategy?"

While it's very nice that they're thinking about you, this isn't the way to develop an effective marketing approach.

Here are 5 steps to help figure out what's actually driving growth:

Step 1️⃣: Determine what marketing objective you're trying to solve for

Step 2️⃣: Competitor research is a secret weapon for marketing effectiveness

Step 3️⃣: Identify spikes in competitors' digital metrics

Step 4️⃣: Isolate the exact strategies that drove the growth

Step 5️⃣: Deconstruct the elements to break down of how they executed

THREE TWEETS

Here are three Tweets you should check out this week:

1. Embracing zero-click content

2. Counterintuitive marketing strategy to drive sales

3. Pinterest debuts a new app, Shuffles

In case you missed any previous versions, check them out via the links below.

1. Social as a CRO Tactic? – What's Working in Marketing

2. Are You Ranking on TikTok? – What's Working in Marketing
3. Creating an eCycling Team with Inmates – What's Working in Marketing