Influencer marketing moves at the speed of social media. Every platform update, algorithm tweak, and current event makes a huge difference to the influencer marketer. We’ll help you keep up.

75% of Estée Lauder’s Digital Marketing Budget Is Going to Influencers (Adweek)

Estée Lauder is going all in on influencer marketing, devoting 75 percent of its digital marketing budget to influencer partnerships. A multinational company that owns more than 30 of the world’s largest beauty brands, Estée Lauder’s investment is a strong sign for the future of influencer marketing.

What Does Your Brain on Influencer Marketing Look Like? (eMarketer)

Whalar, an influencer agency, and Neuro-Insight, a neuroanalytics firm, partnered on a research study of UK social media users aged 18 to 65 to test subjects’ emotional responses to influencer content. They found that influencer content generated “277 percent greater emotional intensity and 87 percent higher memory encoding” as compared to TV ads.

Insights to digest:

Would you let your child become a 'kid influencer'? (BBC)

The BBC profiled several British “kid influencers,” interviewing their guardians about the time and energy investment they put into creating content with their children. They also spoke to several parents who have paid for their children to take classes on how to start or improve their YouTube channels.

H&M Boosts Micro-Influencer Marketing With Employee Ambassadors (Retail TouchPoints)

H&M is piloting an employee ambassador program with 15 employees from across the U.S. Their goal is to tap into the networks of their talented employees, whom they chose based on “their content, personality, location, brand values and style.”

On the horizon:

TikTok Reportedly Piloting New Ad Product, An Audience Network, In Asia (TubeFilter)

The popular live streaming platform is piloting an ad product in Asian markets that will enable marketers to leverage their audience targeting technology for ads that air off the platform. There are plans for them to port the tech to U.S. markets soon, and the move signals TikTok’s viability both as a social media network and an ad platform.

Instagram’s latest assault on Snapchat is a messaging app called Threads (The Verge)

Facebook and Instagram are reportedly developing a standalone messaging app called Threads to “promote constant, intimate sharing between users and their closest friends.” The data shared would include location, speed, and battery life, in addition to texts and media. The app is designed to share with the new “close friends” list on Instagram.

What’s Julius up to?

Catch us next week at Content Marketing World 2019! You can find us at booth 615 Tuesday through Thursday, and on stage on Wednesday at 2:00pm EST. Our CEO, Steve Oriola, will be presenting on the ways in which influencer-generated content can enhance content marketing efforts to better reach your target audience.