Welcome to your midweek marketing update. This one is all about content creators and marketing, the internet’s most entertaining partnership. Let’s get into it.

Tarte’s Dubai influencer trip tastes tart to some

Beauty brand Tarte is getting some backlash for an influencer trip to Dubai. (Technically, the two-day influencer stay didn’t actually happen in Dubai, but Ras al Khaimah, about 70 miles away.) Some are calling the trip excessive and “tone deaf” during the current economic climate. 

But Tarte’s lavish trip might actually have strong returns. The company is only paying creators to attend the trip, not the content that comes out of it—and there has been a lot of content. There are over 136.1 million views of the #TrippinWithTarte TikTok hashtag, including one TikTok defending the trip by going through the CEO’s explanation of Tarte’s strategy. Vogue Business reports influencer Alix Earle alone “posted nine TikToks of the trip as of Friday, with a combined total of 33 million views. A post from any of the influencers on the trip would normally cost in excess of $100,000.”

This backlash on what’s become a common marketing initiative is representative of a broader shift for marketers to acknowledge. We’re in the first economic downturn we’ve had in a while, and the current climate has started to play into how marketing is received. When you’re investing heavily into a brand activation (like using an influencer trip), there’s a balance to strike between making it aspirational and making it accessible.

Amazon aims to Inspire more creator-driven sales

Amazon is rolling out a TikTok-style app called Inspire focused entirely on commerce. Users can set up their feed based on interests and then swipe through personalized, shoppable photo and video content.

Aptly named, the app hopes to inspire consumers to make purchases based on this photo and video content. But where does that content come from, exactly? Instead of creating it in house, Amazon is enticing content creators to join and produce said content by offering $250 for each vertical video less than 30 seconds uploaded. Amazon even has a landing page set up for influencers looking to take advantage of working with Amazon.

Amazon is taking Instagram’s on-its-way-out Shop tab and intensifying. And content creators are reaping the rewards. As the line between social and commerce continues to blur, Amazon skips to the front and asks, “Why not buy what your favorite creator is wearing or using with just one click?” Will fans of creators follow them over to Inspire? Will Gen Z appreciate the transparency of the app’s purpose? Only time will tell, but it’s good to start looking at potential creator partnerships.

Around the Web

• You don’t have to have a background in marketing to be a great content marketer.

• Maya Rudolph is stepping in for the M&M spokescandies to avoid controversy.

• How should you choose and set up an Email Service Provider for your business?

• YouTube Shorts shares its ad-revenue calculations with creators.

• Meta is pushing the Metaverse with dynamic Instagram profile photos.

Just Can't Get Enough

Horror content. It doesn’t have to be Halloween for us to want to get spooky. The consumption of terrifying tales and diabolic discussions is a year-round endeavor.

• Proof: horror-comedy podcast Last Podcast on the Left earns over $50,000 per month from Patreon.

• Meanwhile, at three years old, YouTube channel Dead Meat was awarded a Silver Bolo by horror aficionado and film critic Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder in 2020.

• And they just wrapped up 2022 with a subscriber base of 5.94 million.

What are your thoughts on partnerships between platforms and creators? Has your brand used influencer marketing to great success, or did you accidentally produce your own horror story? Reply and let us know the details!

Thanks for joining us, and we’ll see you Friday!