Influencer Tech Predictions

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Today we are chatting with Brit Starr, who’s the SVP at Tribe Dynamics, and she’s actually been with them for about four years now. So Tribe Dynamics, they’re the most comprehensive influencer marketing analytics platform for iconic lifestyle brands. They’ve worked with the likes of Gucci, Benefit, ColourPop, boohoo, Sephora. And what I actually find pretty unique about them on G2, a really cool website, they were voted the number one easiest to use influencer marketing platform. I appreciate that on their website, when you check it out, it really is all about the analytics, and we dive into that in today’s conversation. But anyways, a little bit more about Brit. One of the fun facts about her is that she hosts workshops for leadership and management teams at brands of all different sizes. And she actually said this was her favorite part of her job. And you’ll definitely get a sense of that as you listen to this week’s chat.

So I won’t leave you waiting for too much longer. Just a couple quick reminders. We have some incredible virtual events coming up. So always check out our website to see all the upcoming events and RSVP for the ones that look great to you. We also have job listings that are constantly being updated and featured in places like our Instagram story, the Facebook community, etc. As always, if there’s any questions about WIIM support that you’re needing or anything at all, never hesitate to reach out to me, you can find me on all the social platforms of course, but the fastest way is to email me at Jessy with a Y and iamwiim.com.

Jessy Grossman:
I love connecting with you guys one on one. I’m here to support you guys in your professional journeys in the influencer space and I would be privileged to get in touch and learn more about you. So anyways, enjoy this week’s episode with Brit and I’ll see you on the flip side. So I am so happy to have you join us today. I am super excited to just chat about you, chat about the company that you work for. But we’re gonna really get into it today. I’ve… we’ve sort of connected prior and I have really good feelings about this one. So first and foremost, I would love for you to just tell our audience in your own words a little bit about your professional journey.

Brit Starr:
Sure. Yeah. So I’m Brit Starr. I’m the SVP at tribe dynamics currently but that has been you know, on the heels of about 20 years of journey that really I feel like has been rooted in storytelling. So I have a little bit of a diverse background. I started my career in nonprofit working for a social service agency, doing donor outreach and Relationship Management again, like How do you bring the story of your constituents and the people that you’re servicing to donors in a way that’s like connected and compelling and authentic. And then from there moved to the agency world, which I spent about 10 years, working at the agency world on really amazing, rich creative brands that I think really kind of set themselves apart based on how true they were to themselves, and how they really wanted the stories they told through their creative through their media, through their, their channels, to reflect that got to work on really fun things like beer and food and music. So you know, not a terrible way to spend your time, day to day. Those are things that I’m incredibly passionate about but this was also kind of pre, you know, early days of digital advertising. And so got to kind of go on that journey with those brands as well in terms of how do you really leverage the Internet and social media to again, connect more directly with your customers in a way that that is compelling and authentic. And then from there, took a little bit of a hiatus, I took about a year off and traveled the world and like, put everything in storage, uprooted no plans, a savings account, that dwindled quickly, and then just traveled and came back and landed in San Francisco. And really, from there, again, kind of took on roles within the brand side of marketing, helping to bring kind of craft consumer brands to market, I worked for a craft Coffee Company here in the Bay Area, I consulted with a couple of consumer tech firms like Trulia and Lyft. And again, I think, really consistent questions that they were trying to answer is how do I connect with my consumers in a way that is meaningful and authentic and innovative. And one day, I got a cold call from one of the co-founders of Tribe Dynamics, who was looking to fill a role that was completely wrong for me to start with, but the conversation itself just like right place, right time. So many of these questions that my clients were asking, I felt like tribe dynamics had a really unique and innovative approach to answering and as a marketer, I loved the idea of being able to help people like me, kind of fill in the gaps and really understand the direction that marketing is going and how those kind of sources of authority and credibility and those storytelling channels are evolving over time. So this is where I’ve been for the last five years this month, actually, and have have enjoyed every minute of it.

Jessy Grossman:
I love it. I love your story. It’s a little unique. I love a good, unique story. And I think it’s so interesting, that last piece that you’re mentioning, because like you can have all the great storytelling, all of these great pieces together. But like you need the support, you need the tools to be able to sort of take it to the next level. I’m curious. So you said that someone cold called you from Tribe Dynamics. Do you? Did you ever dig into that story? Like how did they connect with you? Where did that come from? How did that how was that connection made? You know?

Brit Starr:
Yeah, so I think because I was consulting at the time, I had a resume up on Angel list or floating around, I’m sure it was older. It struck a chord with one of the co founders. And so I think, you know, to his credit, he took the initiative and was really trying to like personally source talent for the company. And that’s actually something he’s still to this day does, especially for specific roles. And so it was honestly like a, again, a phone call that I picked up and again to the company and the co-founder Connors credit, it helped me I got to get interested enough to continue conversations with the rest of the team and learn a little bit more about what the company was doing. And yeah, here we are today. The rest is history.

Jessy Grossman:
I love that that’s such a cool story. I’m all about for like unique connections and you mentioned like innovative, like I love all that stuff. That’s so cool. So look, we heard a little bit about your professional journey. Where you came from how you got to where you are today. I always like to get to know you a little bit more personally before headfirst into like the influencer marketing specific questions which like we all want to know about and talk about but I also want to get to know you better. So we’re gonna do a few rapid fire get to know you questions. Are you ready, Brett?

Brit Starr:
I’m ready.

Jessy Grossman:
Alright. So question number one. After COVID and you know, vacation and travel opens up again. Where are you headed? What’s your favorite vacation spot?

Brit Starr:
Oh, man. Yeah, to your point anywhere after this year I am I definitely have the travel bug. It is… travel is a huge part of my life. I think I mentioned, you know, took a year off to travel and that was, you know, not the beginning but definitely a continuation of like always putting travel in the center. I… you know, it’s funny priorities change. So I feel like our first trips and vacations are going to be really around the people that we’re going to see versus the places we’re going to go visit. So get family get friends, like re-establish those, like physical connections that we’ve been missing so much of. And then I don’t know, I’d love a little beach in my life.

Jessy Grossman:
Hundred percent and bring them to the beach. Bring all those people that you love to the beach. What is your favorite app? And I’m not only you know, I’m not only limiting it to social media apps, but just apps on your phone. It could be social media, it could not be. Wat’s your favorite?

Brit Starr:
That is a really good question. Um, okay, so definitely the one I spend the most time on I’m sure like many people is Instagram function, the one that has been like, surprisingly useful in my life has been a scanner app. It’s called Genius Scan. I don’t have a printer and so having the ability to scan and print a PDF has been like, weirdly a lifesaver both in my professional and personal life as I’ve like signed contracts and leases and whatnot. And then Oh, man, I love photography and taking pictures playing around with pictures disco was like a huge part of my life for a long time. Not as much anymore but yeah, playing around with the filters and making sure your print good stuff out.

Jessy Grossman:
I love that. Do you? Are you a Canva consumer at all? Like do you use Are you ever on Canva?

Brit Starr:
I’m not but comes very recommended a lot.

Jessy Grossman:
I bring it up only because I just got an email from them a couple days ago that they like launched this like new filter feature. And I was like, Oh, I wonder if all those like tried and true like Disco and like Snapseed and like all those great apps like I wonder if they’re… they’ve got some competition now. Yeah, those are awesome suggestions. I will definitely like a good scan. You know, with your phone app, so underestimated how clutch sometimes, so no, I love that. What would you say is your biggest fear?

Brit Starr:
Oh, okay, so I have a very irrational fear of submarines.

Jessy Grossman:
Say What? Tell me what?

Brit Starr:
It’s not being inside of one. Like it’s not the typical claustrophobia. It is the idea of one coming up from underneath me again completely irrational, when in any normal life would this ever happen. And interestingly, I’m also very comfortable in the water. I love to scuba dive, but it’s just this, I don’t know. Oh, I think it’s maybe large things in water, cargo ships, cruise ships, things like that.

Jessy Grossman:
No one that’s so fascinating. Do you know if there’s like a name to this. If it were a phobia, if it were phobia level, not saying that you’re at phobia level. Is there like a name to that?

Brit Starr:
I mean, not that I’ve looked into, but I’m sure there’s a name for everything. I mean, I have a co worker who has a fear of buttons, and there’s a name that I cannot recall. But there’s a name for that.

Jessy Grossman:
Thank God you’re not fearful of buttons. Oh my gosh, that’s wild. Okay, that’s a great answer. What makes you laugh the most?

Brit Starr:
Oh, man, I love to laugh so ever everything. I also love to cry. So I like cry in commercials that I’m watching or you know, when I see an athlete achieve something amazing. Like it’s like the tears come on really easily. Laughing the most probably. I have a toddler. He’s hilarious. He probably makes me laugh pretty hard, pretty consistently today.

Jessy Grossman:
How old is he?

Brit Starr:
He’s 18 months.

Jessy Grossman:
That’s such a good age. Aren’t they are funny. It’s so good. When your kids are like, really? They’ve got these personalities like they just… they’re the funniest source of you know, they’re hilarious. I mean, they can be hilarious a great laughter.

Brit Starr:
Maladies and no filter, combined with like, burgeoning communication skills is hilarious.

Jessy Grossman:
Hundred percent. And my last question for this, get to know your section. I feel like we’ve definitely gotten to know you. What is the best age to be?

Brit Starr:
Oh, man, okay. I, this is such a cop out, but I love the age that I’m at now, you know, I’m in my like, mid Upper 30s. And I feel like, you know, I love my family, I love my life. I’m old enough to where I’m able to make choices about my life with a little more flexibility. I have that I have that luxury. You know, I will say that, like, the sweet spot of having like, achieved a bit more in your career earned a bit more to give you that financial flexibility, but not having the personal responsibilities and obligations is also like an ice age. So for me, that would have been like 28.

Jessy Grossman:
So 28 and then the age you are right now I those are perfect, like perfect, perfect answers. So let’s dive into now that we’ve definitely gotten a better sense of like who you Brit are, I want to know about your thoughts on influencer marketing, sort of like where it’s going. But first and foremost, let’s talk about your company. So Tribe Dynamics. Look, I’ll be honest, like, there are a lot of tech companies that have been in this space for a while there. There’s new ones coming around every day. Like you said, though, in the very beginning of this conversation, like I could not agree with you more is that influencer marketers, marketers in general agencies, like people who are in this space, like, you need tools, like you can’t do it on your own. And it’s certainly not going to be the best work if you don’t have all these really interesting, dynamic tools to lean on. And so talk to me about how your company is different.

Brit Starr:
Yeah, I think it’s a great question. And I think you’re absolutely right, the space is, I think, quite misunderstood, and noisy on both sides. I think influencer marketing in and of itself is incredibly misunderstood in terms of what it is the function, it serves how we as consumers engage with content creators, to get you know, recommendations, but also establish relationships with people we admire and aspire to be like are aligned with our value set. And then also on the support side, the types of tools that you would need to run kind of an effective program for your brand is that is a really difficult decision process for brands. And so I think, you know, what’s, what sets us apart is first and foremost, we’re not right for everybody. We are very much built for brands who are passion driven, who have large organic fan ships online that create organic content about them. So we’re talking about categories like Beauty, Fashion, Fitness, Travel, Food, Entertainment, again, these like conversations that exist, whether brands are engaging in them or not. It’s just kind of the fabric that we like to talk about as humans, the things that interest us and that we spend our time doing. And so we’re really built for brands that have that scale of conversation and for brands that have that scale of conversation, the things that are the most important to them are having a way to track and especially measure the entirety of that content, right to have like the visibility of how are people creating content about me, what is the conversation about my brand, my products, my you know, competitive set my category, what does that look like? And then how can I actually Identify the community at scale. Again, we’re talking, you know, hundreds or thousands of content creators that our clients engage with on a regular basis. How do I identify and prioritize those relationships? And then, I mean, most importantly, how can a tool like Tribe Dynamics really helped me do all the things so that my team can focus on the human aspects, the relationship aspects, that the things that are really, that really matter, and that are really important to building effective relationships that takes time and energy. And so if we can come in and help with all the rest of it, right, making it again, easy to identify, surface, prioritize, and ultimately measure these individual creators and the community at large, then the brands can spend their time doing what they do best, which is building relationships, building great products, connecting the two and doing that in really interesting, creative ways.

Jessy Grossman:
I love that, I’d love to even get specific, like, let’s get granular about it too because I everything that you’re saying is, like the powerful part of influencer marketing is equally, the relationship building is huge. So to think that there’s like a tool to be able to like, take the other analytical like data driven part like off of your plate so that humans can establish those relationships and build upon them. That’s humongous. But in addition, like, I want to dig into, like, the data and the analytical side that you guys are so focused on, because you know, just a quick peek at your website. And like, that’s the highlight, right. And like, again, like that’s the engine that makes the car goal. And I’m such a data geek. So and like, I also just think that in order to have our industry really, really thrive, we have to be able to not only identify, like the important data sets, but also analyze them and compare the right ones to each other, and like and really do intelligent things with the data, not just keep it surface level. So all that being said, I’d love to get a peek behind the curtain a little bit at like, what types of data are you seeing come through? That’s like, the most important. That’s really like moving the needle for people like maybe interesting comparisons, like talk to us a little bit more about that in detail.

Brit Starr:
Yeah, absolutely. It’s such a good question. And I also agree with everything you said, metrics matter but metrics that don’t inform decisions or drive actions are not helpful. And so making sure that you have access to the right set of metrics that those metrics are, you know, credible and trustworthy, and again, ultimately used to inform decisions is absolutely important. I think the things that are setting the best in class programs today are a few things. So being able to kind of look beyond surface level metrics, like follower count, engagement rate, etc, right, like thinking a bit differently from kind of traditional casting and an influencer marketing is not media buying, right, you’re not buying a platform, you’re building a relationship. And so much of that is about the long game versus the short game. So what’s really I think changing for our clients is that they’re really focusing on influencer retention and relationship retention. And that’s something that we allow them to measure in the software so that they can understand over time, how their community is changing, who they’re retaining, you know, over, you know, each month, each si months, each year, like these relationships have tenure. And so focusing on retention as a core component of your program goals, is absolutely setting apart the brands that we see, you know, driving their top line numbers today. I think the other thing that’s really important is to look at, you know, we we talk a lot about kind of, you know, like total impact, total reach, if you will, but I think for us, it’s really important for our clients, it’s really important to look at how your share of the conversation amongst a relative community and a relative group of competitors is changing over time. Am I commanding or garnering more of the conversation than I was less of the conversation? And how can I use that over time to really understand kind of where I sit in my competitive set and also what the opportunities are to continue to optimize and improve. So again, looking away from those like kind of top line bigger is better numbers and looking at the nuance of how your conversation your community is changing over time. And again, specifically, around retention. How much of your community are you able to retain through those relationship building aspects that we talked about earlier? And how is that impacting your total share of the conversation?

Jessy Grossman:
Well, that’s so interesting, because like, look on the, like, on the platform side, people talk all the time about like, Oh, it’s like, not about vanity metrics anymore. And it’s so much about these, like deeper metrics that we’re looking at are more like sophisticated ones, but also just in terms of like the brand, or like your own business, you know, which, of course, your brand is your business, I love that you’re saying that there has to be a focus, there should be, there should be a focus on just like more interesting data sets, like exactly what you’re saying, and like, over time, and being able to, like test and learn a little bit and say, like, okay, we’re gonna analyze this, like, in depth, like, once every three, six months, whatever your cadence is, but then we’re gonna like shift things, depending on what we see. And then we’re gonna implement maybe a different strategy, and then we’re gonna listen again, and we’re gonna see like, how does that inform everything, and like, there’s just there’s not enough hours in the day, you know, in a lot of instances, there are few people to be able to either focus on it or know what to focus on. So I appreciate that you guys are that partner like that cool to be able to do what a lot of us know needs to be done, but doesn’t necessarily put the focus into it.

Brit Starr:
Yeah, I think it’s so interesting, because you’re right, it’s, you know, depending on where you are, as a brand, your goals are going to be quite different. If I’m a younger brand, who’s just starting out in terms of kind of really actively building and engaging my influencer community, in my creator community. I’m probably going to be focused on really identifying my core community, growing that community over time, that’s a different set of metrics, than say, I’m a more established mature brand, who’s really looking to like, not only defend the territory that I’ve carved out, but like, continue to engage, which is a really difficult task. I mean, brands like Benefit Cosmetics, for example, that continue to grow and expand their footprint and kind of engage with influencers on a global scale, in you know, exponentially impactful ways. That’s hard work. And so I think that, it’s really important to know that based on where you are, as a company, your goals are going to be different. So your metrics, that’s going to be a bit different but again, these like, fundamentals stay the same. And I think the challenges that our clients face are really consistent across the board, you know, despite their size scale, kind of where they are on the curve in terms of their tenure and influencer marketing, you know, fighting for headcount and budget and the resources, you need to do the job you need to do getting buy in at the top levels to get those resources and budgets and, and philosophically aligned as an organization around. Again, what is often quite misunderstood. I think that’s a big issue, I think for our clients continues to be, especially as influencer marketing, you know, starts to really take its place as a core marketing tool in the arsenal of marketing, which means it’s coming during more budgets, more headcount, it’s collaborating and merging with other teams in interesting ways. And so, you know, what used to be this kind of, like arm of PR, is really a core function of marketing today, and the primary function of marketing for a lot of our clients, and that kind of visibility, that platform, you know, we’ll get a little bit more scrutiny. So you have to have goals and KPIs, you have to be able to measure progress, and you have to be able to kind of vibe for additional resources. And so, I love the ability that we have to help our clients do that, to help them build the case for why this works, and why doing you know, more or better or bringing in additional team members, like how can you actually make the case for that in a way that is connected to how it impacts your brand and your business?

Jessy Grossman:
And so I mean, it does like with all that you’re describing, it definitely sounds more than what I’ve seen in the marketplace thus far. So like, I’d be curious, like if somebody was, you know, listening to this podcast, or taking a demo with you guys, or just like seeing you out there and market like what would you say is Tribe Dynamics superpower.

Brit Starr:
I think our content tracking is better than anything else that’s out there. So the ability to capture content in relatively real time across a myriad of channels, so that brands have full visibility and then apply metrics to that individual content, individual creator and community at large, that helped those brands actually make decisions on a day to day basis in terms of how they need to be focusing their energies and efforts. I think, and I, again, I think that’s really what sets us apart. You know, a lot of our clients are really excited about some of our coverage updates. We’re tracking Instagram stories, TikTok, you know, these areas that are incredibly important to their programs and to the way their communities are evolving over time. And so being able to work with them on that as these emerging channels, you know, really take their place has been pretty exciting.

Jessy Grossman:
So I love that in such a good segue to the next part of our combo, I want to talk about, like new platforms and new features a little bit. I mean, when we’re recording this podcast, this is the week that Instagram announced, they’re finally analytics on Instagram reels and lives, which has been like so anticipated for such a long time. We like announced this in our Facebook group, of course, which are people who are hiring influencers, and they’re like, Oh, thank god like people, you know, it’s interesting, the response that I heard a couple people were like, thank God, like people won’t be able to charge, you know, higher than what is necessary their content to reach his you know, live rates will be more appropriately aligned with like, what you’re gonna get in return. Because now it’s not a secret. It’s like, I can see what you’re commanding, I can see how many people you’re reaching, engaging with, etc. With real the way the ID lives. And I can’t believe I took them so long to be able to roll this out. I just want to hear from you. Like, I don’t know, new platforms that you’re seeing people be most engaged in, like, what are the hot platforms and features that are like, that you’re hearing about these days?

Brit Starr:
Yeah, I mean, TikTok is the obvious one, I think, hugely important across the board. We did a survey of our clients, two months back now, and I think upwards of, you know, 75 plus percent of them confirm that TikTok is a central part of their strategy moving forward. So it is definitely I think, a channel that we’ll see continued to increase in importance in influencer marketing. And it’s also, I think, part of the reason for that is not only its like, you know, crazy momentum, but also the fact that it’s a fairly distinct creator community. I mean, there’s so much overlap and across the other channels, which definitely has its benefits, but I think TikTok has a distinct creator set. And so brands are really trying to navigate the best way to engage with those communities, those creators and really build out a presence over time, you know, we saw the amazing ability of some early movers and early adopters across other channels in terms of brand presence, and you know, the the early brands stories like NYX cosmetics, Anastasia Beverly Hills, I mean, these brands that were like, almost because, you know, they had to, but also because they knew that this community is so integral in the success of their brands, like they were able to achieve incredible success early on, based on their, you know, understanding of that landscape. And so I think TikTok will be the same, you know, we’ve, I’ve had conversations with brands about launching new lines that are more like TikTok specifically, I think it’s going to continue to command a lot of attention. The video content in general is something obviously not new. But it is something that continues to increase in importance over time, anything from like, substantive, you know, long form content on YouTube, which I think is dramatically under rated and undervalued. So incredibly important, if you talk about like, the quality of that content, the time consumers spend with it, I mean, it’s just incredible, all the way into like, live social selling, which is something that’s getting a ton of buzz right now.

Jessy Grossman:
Yeah, all of those things. While I’m hearing these as well, like, love, though, just the last thing that you spoke about, like live social selling, you know, I wonder if like, I mean, it cut this is my analysis of it for what it’s worth, I’d love to hear your two cents like, you know, when you said perfectly or like video is nothing new, but like, very much a conversation about the importance of video. I just think that like, people are getting inundated, like left to right all over the place with so much content that it’s really like such a fight to be able to like capture people’s attentions, especially in a world where they’re, it’s saturated with things coming at them. So like yeah, video content is like the most compelling to most people. I am personally like a more I really enjoy audio. So like some of these audio apps are really interesting. But on a platform like TikTok that makes no sense at a platform like Facebook, it does amaze that like, well, Facebook is sort of getting to bed with Spotify a little bit. So I don’t know, they’re still very much a place for video. And I wonder if it’s just because it’s sort of like the most compelling type of content. TikTok is, you know, absolutely here to stay. It’s super interesting. I don’t know if you heard the news last week how like they’re the CEO of Bytedance announced the case down. Really interesting to see like, what will come of that, but I don’t think it will impact how like huge TikTok is in influencer marketing, and then the strategies moving forward. The last thing I want to ask you about that, when I heard you say was that TikTok like 75% or so of the people that you’re in contact with in the survey, guys, were saying that it’s like the central point of their influencer marketing strategy. Did you mean to say that, or is it just like, a part of their influencer strategy? Because that’s something new, I haven’t really heard especially 75%.

Brit Starr:
Yeah, I think it’s pretty overwhelming. It is a central part of their strategy. So I think the way brands are looking at it, at least from our experience, are a major growth driver and channel and again, kind of a more nascent channel that they’re wanting to invest in now, so that they can really understand the best ways to grow over time. Instagram, and YouTube still, you know, make up the lion’s share of earned media value, which is kind of our top the top line metric that we track and use to kind of quantify the value of the content that’s created about a brand online. Instagram making up the again, the the lion’s share of that with YouTube being from a quality of content standpoint, incredibly important but yeah, TikTok I think is going to be that the trifecta, right now, for most of the brands we work with, again, across lifestyle categories. And it’s it makes sense, right? It’s where consumers are. It’s where the creator communities are. And it’s where you’re really able to engage with creator communities at scale. I think the other thing that you mentioned that we’re actually like definitely seeing in our data is this kind of increased or heightened barrier to entry in terms of like, we’re inundated with content all the time. And what we’ve seen in our data is that both creators and consumers are starting to be significantly more intentional about the people they follow, the brands they follow, the content they create. So we’ve seen branded content on channels like Instagram, actually go down but I think it’s not a watering down of that content. It is a it’s a focus, right, it’s, it’s I’m going to talk about the brands that align with my value set that I really connect with. And then as consumers, we’re seeing similar trends in the way consumers follow influencers, I might follow fewer influencers, but I’m really engaged and connected with the ones that I choose to continue a relationship with. So I think we’re seeing some of those trends play out and this kind of concentration of energy and efforts around brands and influencers that, again, really connect and align with the identities of consumers.

Jessy Grossman:
So interesting, I absolutely echo all those things. And it’s just super fascinating to hear. So I appreciate that so much. I want to hear about a little bit about your predictions, its predictions time. So you know, look like things. One of the most consistent things about social media is how often it’s changing and evolving. And if like, you’re not the type of person that likes change is probably isn’t the industry for you. It happens so often. I want to hear a little bit about your predictions and the rest of 21. In terms of influencer tack, specifically.

Brit Starr:
Yep. So I’m going to start my answer with a different take on your question. I’m going to talk about the things that won’t change that we’ve seen, you know, over the last, since we’ve been around, you know, almost 10 years that we’ve seen stay the same, and it’s kind of what we’ve staked our claim around. And what we continue to do, which is organic content matters. I think what a lot of people think about influencer marketing, they think about pay to play relationships. And you know, what we saw eight years ago and what we’re seeing today is that organic content is still the majority of the content created by the creator community. In the same way, you know, if you look at a magazine You’re not going to read something that’s wall to wall ads, you need editorial content to really build the relationship, earn the trust of your community over time, and really just talk about what is going on in your life. And so organic content always matters, it always has it always will creators influencers not going anywhere, we get asked that all the time like is influencer marketing falling off a cliff? Absolutely not. consumers want their information via credible third parties. And this is where we go for that information. So I think that is here to stay. And I think the content that’s being created, some of the trends that we’re seeing are here to stay as well. So again, like compelling visual content, we’ve seen a ton of shift from it needing to be really kind of like obvious and in your face to an increasing tolerance for educational content, long form content, content that kind of takes weeks to play out over time, right? If you think about skincare, and how massively skincare has, you know, increased over the past, you know, five, six years, a lot of that is being driven by this increased tolerance for educational content online, like I want to know how it works and the efficacy of this product. And I’m willing to put in the time to understand that in terms of what will change? Oh, actually, one more thing that won’t change. We very much are built for brands. And we do that because we believe that the best relationships are between a brand and the influencers that support them, right, the brand and its creator community. And I think that’s something that will continue to be a vital part of building those relationships, like, creators love these brands and products. And so getting to work directly with them is incredibly important and creates an entirely different type of relationship. Things that will change, other than like everything, obviously, as we know from this year, I think that content format channels like we’ll continue to see new channels emerge. We’ve had clients already start us start asking us about Twitch and other streaming channels that, you know, I think will have been incredibly important in certain categories. And we’ll see some more diversification there. ton of crossover in terms of the content that creators are creating. So this idea of like a fashion influencer, or a beauty influencer, I think is becoming more blurred over time, I think we’ll continue to see that in the near term. And it’s gonna be important for tools to continue to help to surface and help people understand that. And then yeah, on the tool side, I think we’re gonna see not necessarily consolidation but I think that because there are so many tools out there that do very kind of distinct, play a distinct role in program development, analytics, execution, CRM, etc, I think we’re gonna really start to see a couple of players stand out in terms of the ability for them to offer more full program support within one app or one piece of software. And we’ve seen that happen in other industries. And I think we’re there as an industry as well.

Jessy Grossman:
That would be nice. Really, really nice. You know, I think that like in my own personal journey for, you know, the best tools and whether it’s like entrepreneurial tools or like influencer marketing specific tools, like I’ve said many times on this podcast, I just don’t think there’s really like a one tool that does it all. And I don’t think that’ll really be the I don’t actually think that should be the case but that’s a whole other conversation. But I do hope that there are more just add more and more tools to their toolbox and more and more resources under one umbrella because just from an efficiency standpoint, and like streamlining communications, and like for so many positive things like that would be a great addition or a good a solid change.

Brit Starr:
I think that’s exactly right. It’s you know, you can’t be all things for everyone, but you can be the right things for the people that you’re a good fit for. And so I think that for us, again, figuring out like, what does a full program look like for a, you know, a passion driven brand with a scaled community? What does that like relationship management look like? What kinds of you know, content, permissions and REITs would you be looking for, how do you manage the contracts and things like that, like, again, for those programs, how can we help fill in some of the gaps and that’s At least the, you know, the long term approach that we’re taking is just really understanding what our clients need and building for them, versus trying to kind of, you know, always go after whitespace, that may or may not be the best fit for our business,

Jessy Grossman:
Definitely, gotta serve the special crew like your crew. You know, I love that so much. We are coming around to like one of our final questions. It’s been such a pleasure chatting with you, I’ve so enjoyed this, I would ask you a slightly more personal question, again, like getting to know you. What would you tell your younger self that would have given you either a personal or professional advantage today?

Brit Starr:
Ooh, that’s such a good question. Um, honestly, I think that the importance of exposure and building a network and seeking out both personal and professional mentors, is something I wish I would have done at a younger age. I think, you know, that often comes within your career, right? I started a job, I have a manager that I love, I’m gonna keep in contact with them. But there are so many ways I mean, this organization, and this conversation included, like there’s so many ways to connect with interesting people that can augment your life and career. And so I would tell my younger self to do that, like, don’t be afraid to ping somebody on LinkedIn and be like, hey, I’d love to catch up on Zoom or grab a coffee, you know, hopefully soon. If you’re in the same location and have those conversations, you just never know what doors it’s going to open up, what paths it will take you down, and ultimately, the value that it’ll add, and then, you know, later on, you can do the same for others. So I think there’s just huge value in that. And I definitely think there’s no no too early to start at all.

Jessy Grossman:
Best answer ever. So look, it’s been such a pleasure chatting with you today. I have a feeling that lots of people listening or tuning in, will definitely want to get in touch and just connect with you take that next step and reach out. So what’s the best way for people listening to get in touch?

Brit Starr:
Yeah, please ping me on LinkedIn. You can email me I’m happy to share my email address. But yeah, those are probably the two best ways to reach out directly and yeah, happy to connect with anyone.

Jessy Grossman:
Fantastic. And we will list all of those specifics in the show notes but it’s been such a pleasure. I so appreciate you hanging out today.

Brit Starr:
Thank you so much for having me and for all you do.