WIIM

Influencer Marketing Technology With Taylor Kaplan Of Klarna (@taylorkaplan)

Today we’re speaking with Taylor Kaplan of Klarna. Taylor Kaplan has been working in the influencer marketing industry since 2016 and has vast knowledge in all aspects of the industry. She began her career as an intern working at IZEA, one of the leading influencer platforms, and soon after transitioned to both Influencer Marketing Campaigns and Client management and agencies such as Media Monks and North Six. Taylor has now taken her years of experience and landed at Klarna where she spearheads New Business Development in NA for their newly acquired Creator Platform.

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[00:00:00] Jessy: Hi everyone and welcome to the WIIM Podcast. Women in Influencer Marketing is a first of its kind exclusive networking group made up of inspirational women. This podcast is where we explore influencer marketing and get real about women in business. Find us wherever you download podcasts, and of course, you can always find us at iamwiim.com. That’s iamwiim.com.

Hey guys and welcome back to the Women in Influencer Marketing podcast. My name is Jessy Grossman and I am so excited to be here with you guys today. If I sound a little hoarse or a little out of breath, apologies, I’m like getting over cold. I got sick Thanksgiving night and now I’m miraculously like mostly better.

I’ll definitely all me up and up. Just in time to get back to work. Lovely. so we have a, such a good guest for you guys today. Her name is Taylor Kaplan and she works at an awesome company called Klarna. So more on her in a sec because girl, we have so much going on here at WIIM.

It’s the end of the year and I need to make sure to get all these announcements out to you guys. First of all though, I do hope that you guys had a lovely Thanksgiving. I hope that you guys got to enjoy like time off, time away, and time hopefully with family or friends. Also because it’s the end of the year and it’s the craziest time of the year, this is your friendly WIIM reminder.

Please make sure that you go to bed at a reasonable hour. You are not working insane hours. You take a lunch or walk away from your computer and take breaks, like walk around. I know that it’s crazy and there’s a million reasons to like plow through your work, but please prioritize your mental health and please prioritize your physical health as well.

We have such good events that I’m so excited I could finally announce. They’ve been in the making for quite a while. We have two events to announce today. So one is a virtual event, which is our 2023 State of the Union on December 20th. It’s gonna be at 1:00 PM Eastern. We’ve got guests from TikTok, Hunter PR, Find Your Influence and more.

It’s a panel and then we have Speed Virtual Networking after. It’s gonna be so good you guys. And then our next event, we’re already into 2023, which is so exciting with our next in real life event. Yes. We had our last one here in New York and it was so memorable. Our next one is in LA. January 10th, we are hosting our LA experience, so members always get a little extra love.

In fact, from six to seven, we’re having a member’s only experience, and then it’s open to everyone from seven to nine. Members also get a huge discount. You guys only pay $10, guests are 50, and registration is presently open just to members and it opens to all on the 5th of December. So again, the event itself is on January 10th in LA in West Hollywood.

And big thank you. Huge thank you, in fact, to shine talent who is like generously donating their beautiful home for this event. So exciting. And lastly, of my announcements. We have such a cool initiative going on. So for the entire month of December, for every hundred dollars in merch that is sold, We are gifting one V I P level scholarship, which is worth $499, basically 500

December is the busiest time of the year for our merch sales and we really wanted to give back, so we wanna encourage you to check out our merch. Of course, we’ve got such good things, guys, from hoodies to t-shirts to mugs, and. Cell phone cases. we have laptop cases.

Such good gifts. And I know that a lot of people jump in whim and they’re like, what are you guys gifting people for the holidays? Gift them merch because not only will you, they get that awesome merch, which is such good conversation starter, but you’re also giving back to the industry because we are matching every hundred dollars donation with a V I P member scholarship. And if some of you guys are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You guys have scholarships? Yes, we have scholarships. Go check out our join page. Scroll halfway through and you’ll see that you can apply for that scholarship if you can’t afford one, or your boss or company can’t either. So, all the links for everything.

So all the links for everything will be linked below. And I’m excited for you guys to take part of everything. So, Taylor Kaplan, she’s been working in the influencer marketing industry since 2016. She’s got a huge knowledge in all aspects of the industry. She began her career as an intern working at IZEA, one of the leading influencer marketing platforms.

And, soon she transitioned to both influencer marketing campaign and client management at agencies such as Media Monks and North Six. She’s taken her years of experience and landed at the company Klarna, which she’s at today, where she spearheads new business development for their newly acquired creator platform.

I know this is gonna pique some of your interests. You’re like, wait, Klarna has a creator platform? Yes, girl, they do. And it’s so fascinating. And so we talk all about that and more. And I hope you enjoy today’s episode with Taylor.

So I’m really happy to have you here today, Taylor. We’ve like chit chatted back and forth and I was like, I really, really wanna get you on this show and for multiple reasons I wanna get to know you better and like your history and in influencer marketing and social media. And then also just learn about like your awesome company and everything that you’re doing there.

But first and foremost, welcome. How are you?

[00:06:26] Taylor: Thank you. Thank you. I’m good. Life has been busy lately in the best way possible, I would say. . I know we’ve been chatting for I feel like a couple years right? At this point. So, I’ve had some meetings but, excited to be on the podcast.

[00:06:39] Jessy: I’m super excited to have you on today. So we’ve got like a few questions that I definitely have queued up and I think a great place to start though, before we dive into, the influencer marketing piece and everything about the industry, I always just like to know more about you. I would love to know more about like what’s your upbringing and do you think that you were brought up to be like, made perfectly for this industry?

[00:07:12] Taylor: It’s such an interesting question because I don’t necessarily feel like anyone was like, brought up to be in a specific industry unless you were like very so groomed that way from like your parents being a CEO of a bigger company, which is not my case.

I was born in New York and I lived in Jersey for a little bit as a kid, but for the most part, I grew up in Florida, but was a kid who always loved fashion and marketing and advertising. So much so that, like I almost went to school for it in high school, specialty school, but ended up changing my mind.

But I would say like being from New York that world of fashion and marketing has always been in my blood, so to say. My parents do not work in this industry at all. My dad works in the fish market industry, so I would say I very much so forged this path.

I dabbled in influencer marketing the first time just through an internship in college when I actually started working at Isaiah. Which I feel like most people know, is that as influencer marketing agency and platform. So that was like my toes in the water with the industry.

I think that was in 2016, when influence marketing, I think was blowing up at the time and it was just my introduction to it and I definitely was so enamored with the whole industry and just social media in general that, I don’t know, I just felt a pull to it.

And yeah, I dabbled in PR when I moved back to New York. Before college ended I just knew I needed to get back there and start working and marketing PR so that’s exactly what I did. And I worked at a hair care company and then I was supposed to go back to Orlando to graduate school and I decided there is no way I am leaving New York City like I want to continue my career.

So that’s kinda what I did. I’ve worked at a couple influencer marketing agencies since then. I worked at a denim company and now I’ve found myself Klarna.

[00:08:57] Jessy: That’s awesome. And it’s so cool cause we’re like both New Yorker, like Floridians and I went to UCF.

[00:09:04] Taylor: Wait, did you?

[00:09:05] Jessy: Yeah, I did.

[00:09:07] Taylor: Did we talk about this before?

[00:09:09] Jessy: I don’t think we did. And I was like, wait, did we talk about this before? That’s why I was like, how do I bring this up? Yeah. I went to UCF. You also went to UCF, I assume?

[00:09:17] Taylor: Yeah. Yeah. Wait, I had no idea. Yeah, I did.

[00:09:19] Jessy: What year did you graduate?

[00:09:21] Taylor: I graduated in, December of 2018.

[00:09:23] Jessy: Okay. I’m a little older. I graduated in 09. But yeah, go knights. You said Orlando and you said Isaiah and going back to school, I was like, you either went to a small school in Orlando or you went more than likely you went to UCF.

Yeah. That’s so cool.

[00:09:39] Taylor: Go knights. I love that. I feel like I don’t meet like alot of fellow nights, up here.

[00:09:43] Jessy: Oh my God. I have so many other people, even in influencer marketing to introduce you to. I was very surprised when I started meeting people at UCF. It’s such a big school though, too.

[00:09:55] Taylor: Yeah.

[00:09:55] Jessy: I’ll introduce you to more people.

[00:09:57] Taylor: Yeah, please do.

[00:09:59] Jessy: I will I love that tie and I think it’s interesting that your parents weren’t necessarily in the industry and don’t think it’s an accident that you’re in it and paved your own way, because I think we’re an industry where having a lot of fortitude really helps you go a long way. And paving your own way naturally it makes sense that you’re someone with a lot of fortitude. So it’s I see the tie.

[00:10:23] Taylor: It’s funny though cause in college I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, I would say, and I wasn’t an advertising or marketing major. I jumped around different majors cause I didn’t really feel like a calling.

I graduated as a web design major actually, which is quite different from what I’m doing now, but I went into it being like, okay, you know what? Like I feel like at some point in my life I’m gonna end up needing like web design and graphic design skills. So I don’t regret doing that at all because now working on like the tech side, I feel like it’s definitely helped me.

But it is interesting, like we just never know what we’re gonna end up doing when we’re in college.

[00:10:56] Jessy: You don’t, and at least you’re doing something sort of related. I was a theater major at UCF, I’m sure that you use a lot of the skills that you learned in web design, like what kind of things do you feel were transferable to what you do today?

[00:11:07] Taylor: We have a lot of product meetings at Klarna where we talk about developing our platform and other things that we’re working on. So when I was in college and we had to do a lot of like website design, like visual layouts and the consumer journey, like through click.

So I think that’s been something that’s helped me a lot cause I’m able to get feedback and my input like when we’re in those design meetings, for the future of the platform, which honestly I find so exciting. I like nerd out over it. So I think that’s like the biggest way probably that it’s helped me at the moment, at least.

[00:11:37] Jessy: No, that’s a big way. And I nerd out on so many things. I’m right there with you. So speaking of nerding out, I think it’s a really cool company that you are working at now. So Klarna, for those who don’t know, I want to hear in your own words about a little bit about how Klarna works and also why you think they now have a creator platform which I find fascinating.

[00:12:00] Taylor: Yeah, so I think a lot of people think that Klarna is just like a bank , which is like I think the most common misconception. So while Klarna is of course like a global payments provider, but it’s also a shopping service of course. And I would say like honestly, the biggest mission for the company is to like really help consumers, save time while shopping take control of their finances and being able to make, informed decisions. Klarna works with like over 450,000 global retailers. So we have a huge reach and of course have we have over 150 million consumers on a yearly basis.

In the US I think Klarna’s most commonly known as like paying for the paying 30 or the pay now options. It’s actually cool app and place where consumers can, really discover new brands, find inspiration for shopping and of course like receive for exclusive deals, track packages make easy returns. Like I’m a huge fan of Klarna cause I use it literally all the time to check out. But yeah, so that’s kind of Klarna in a nutshell.

But yeah, I understand your question as to like, why would a creator platform be the next step? I think it’s just like the natural next step as really like creating a place for consumers to search and discover, like I said, and for influencers to create content and then retailers to promote that content with their products.

That’s like where the platform enters the scene. The Klarna creator platform is what it is known as now is actually a completely separate thing from the Klarna app, which I think a lot of people don’t realize. And it’s a platform really where, it connects some of the world’s leading brands and craters to really help them collaborate in a super smooth, and efficient way when it comes to affiliate partnerships, product gifting, and really paid.

I know kind of a mouthful.

[00:13:40] Jessy: No, it’s awesome. It’s so fascinating to hear cause in my mind, like I see the word Klarna all the time when I check out of whatever I’m buying and it’s usually at two in the morning when I shouldn’t be buying anything. On whatever platform it is. And it’s use Klarna.

And you’re right, when I think of Klarna, first I think of a, some sort of financial institution or a financial app in some way. And for me, when I used to work on partnerships a ton, when I was representing talent, anything that came our way in terms of partnership, that was some financial institution, there was so much red tape, there was such a long approval process. Like it was one of those types of partnerships.

And so I was really impressed when I heard that, a financial institution, which just tends to be more slow moving because there is just more regulation and more kind of hoops you have to jump through. Went out and created this like creator platform and really just leaned into the world of digital marketing and influencers and all that stuff. So I think it’s super cool.

So let’s talk about how the merchants interact with this creator platform. There are other platforms out there, and why do you think that merchants would really benefit from working with yours?

[00:15:01] Taylor: Yeah, I think honestly, like one of the biggest, like selling points of our platform is how transparent it is with data. And what I mean by that is that on our platform you get access to so much data for each influencer to really be able to determine ROI and see the true selling power of a creator.

Within the platform, you can see, truly like the average commission that they’re offering, you can see their average order value of each platform that they’re posting on. You can see their conversion rate broken down by platform, their best selling price range, top products they’ve posted about.

So it’s just like a really transparent way to see an influencer’s performance, both an average for all of the brands they link to and solely for the brands, their own brand and the brands that they’re linking to.

Aside from that, our platform also has a really robust creator search. So we have over 500,000 influencers that brands can search from. They have a really great messaging suite and a gifting suite, so brands can manage their end-to-end gifting programs.

Our platform also has the ability to customize commission for specific influencers. So it’s a really good way to, really continue building those relationships and tailoring commission based off of the relationship you have or to incentivize that relationship.

And then the dashboard, It gives you the ability to really track data in real time. It pulls in all of the content, so it really takes away the manual work you’ll have to do as a brand to collect all that content, and really shows you what products are performing well for you across all channels and creators and what products maybe aren’t.

So it’s a really good, way to manage your end to end influencer programs, from all aspects.

[00:16:35] Jessy: If there are influencers or talent managers who are tuning in right now and they’re like, oh my God, like I have a influencer, or a few who would love to work with Klarna, like how can they best interact with either the creator platform or just Klarna in general? Like how do they work with you guys?

[00:16:55] Taylor: Yeah. So because our platform like operates as a separate entity, then the app we actually like as a creator platform, don’t really rep Klarna, so to say. When we’re doing paid campaigns, we’re not actually promoting Klarna within the campaigns. Our campaign team like just does the campaigns solely acting on, behalf of the merchant.

But as a creator, I guess I can jump into the benefits of the platform for creators. The whole platform is a great way for creators to connect with brands from all over the world. We have an amazing messaging tool where influencers can reach out to brands through that way. The application process is so easy for influencers to sign up. They’re almost always accepted within 24 hours of, applying. Within the platform, they’re also able to get access to the best affiliate deals. They can easily request products from brands and have their own relationships with brands within the platform. And of course, trying to work with brands on a flat fee campaign basis as well.

There is also like a full insight section where creators can really understand how they’re performing, in terms of which brands they’re working with, and all of the product links that they’re posting about. So there’s like an amazing dashboard that they can essentially understand, how many clicks they generated, how much they’re earning, what products are performing well for them, and resonating with their audience, et cetera.

As a talent manager, I would really say just easily have creator sign up for the platform. You can go to, our website and sign up there. Or if you already are working with the brand, you can of course ask them if they already work on the Klarna creator platform, as we do have a ton of merchants, that you guys of course know that already work on it, and they have their own invitation links as well. But the signup process is very simple

[00:18:30] Jessy: That’s so cool. So it’s so well beyond just only Klarna. It’s like all of the merchants that you guys work with. And so it’s a flat fee basis you were telling me. But is there also like a bit of an affiliate piece to it as well?

[00:18:45] Taylor: So it is, I would say, primarily an affiliate platform. Brands have the opportunity of course to work with influencers on a flatly basis, but it’s more so an organic linking platform. So influencers can easily generate their own, custom UTM links via our platform, to any of the products that they wanna earn commission on. And then they’ll get whatever commission the brand is offering, for any sales or clicks, depending on what the brand is offering in terms of CPA or CPC. They could definitely, earn commission. That’s, I would say the starting point for the platform.

[00:19:14] Jessy: So Cool. And there’s definitely other platforms out there that have been like creator platforms with affiliate as a huge component of it. I almost feel like affiliate especially on an influencer side has become like a dirty word. Like it’s not necessarily positive. I personally, I disagree with that, a lot because when you tell me that there’s all these affiliate sales, and I’m also assuming that there’s all this sales data that they can also extract from their participation in the affiliate component and from that then they can really start to quantify, what they can do for brands and agencies on behalf of brands. And I just think that’s a powerful component to have in your like creator arsenal.

[00:20:07] Taylor: Yeah.

[00:20:07] Jessy: Yeah. And so I don’t know, have there been any like interesting success stories or just like interesting partnerships that you’ve seen come from the creator platform that you think may have been extra powerful because it was like an affiliate type partner.

[00:20:26] Taylor: I don’t think I can speak directly on a specific partnership without getting, permission from brands, but I think I can speak in general when it comes to like just affiliate marketing in general.

I think, like you said, there is like such great power in being able to earn commission and work in an affiliate way working with brands and it’s a huge power tool for creators to be able to say , hey, I use this affiliate link and I generated XYZ in revenue.

I think it’s like a great way for them to say this is how I can negotiate my fees higher, because look how much, selling power that I bring, or even like the opposite, like maybe the influencers will be okay with accepting a lower fat fee because they have access to their insights and data and they can see that they are an amazing seller and that they can earn way more money with being offered commission.

So I think it’s a double edged sword when it comes to affiliate marketing. And I think if, influencers know their selling power and their worth, they can really use like that data to their advantage.

[00:21:19] Jessy: Totally. Just like the more data you have, the more strength you have to be able to pitch yourself and justify your fee, justify just your participation in any partnership. I hope that people like flip the sentiment on that, because similar to I think what you feel like, I think it’s a really powerful thing.

[00:21:39] Taylor: Yeah. I think it also comes with brands need to be offering like an actual competitive commission percentage, and I think that’s the way to change the narrative of the way people look at affiliate marketing because obviously if you’re only offering like two or three percentages, maybe influencers are not gonna be as inclined to post about your brand organically because they’re not gonna really earn anything.

So I think it’s like brands compensating their influencers fairly and offering a healthy commission in turn then of course, drives more traffic in sales in an organic way for both parties, and makes more money for both the merchant and the creator. And honestly, that’s something I really love about our platform is that, both the merchant and the creator get full insight into what products are performing best for them, the sales, the clicks, the orders, their conversion rate for each specific product that they’ve posted about.

So it really gives them like a way to be informed about what’s working for them, what’s not, and then what type of products are, generating them the most amount of money and traffic.

[00:22:33] Jessy: I love that I was gonna ask you like what types of insights they have access to, so thank you for sharing that. I’m also curious, like transparently, what do you think is a healthy affiliate rate?

[00:22:46] Taylor: I think it has to be above 10%. In all honesty, I think anything under 10% influencers look at and they think, is that even worth my time? Of course, I think it depends on the brand and the price point of the products because, maybe 8%, but you’re per commission, percentage, but you’re posting like a thousand dollars product. That’s a pretty healthy number if you got 8%. But I think for the majority of brands, not in the luxury price point, I think 10% is like the minimum you should be offering in my opinion.

[00:23:14] Jessy: No I appreciate that. And are you privy to like any of content itself? Cause sort of what I’m wondering is like for those who, maybe they’ve been doing affiliate marketing but they haven’t really had much success or there are others who are like, seems compelling and it seems like an additional bucket of revenue that I could incorporate into my business model as a content creator, is there any advice that you would give a creator in terms of how to sell more effectively, if you are selling in terms of like affiliate?

[00:23:48] Taylor: I think the number one, and I think most people would agree is of course, only posting links to product that you actually would purchase yourself, that you own, or that you would actually suggest.

So I think first is like a testing process, right? So tested with a handful of links to different brands and products. Review the insight and see, okay, what type of products are performing well for me and what type of products does my audience actually like? What are they clicking on? And I think based off that maybe it’s a first month test that you’re doing, then you can see, okay, this is the category of products that my, followers like.

And then that’s what you can continue of course posting about. In terms of linking. Obviously, I would say don’t chase the CPA percentage. To begin with, as you wanna understand the type of products that work best for you and your audience. But once you understand the type of products that you know you could excel at and make the most money on, I think then you can decide, which brands are offering a more competitive CPA or CPC, and then select your products based on, of course look and view but in terms of which one you can make more money on.

[00:24:47] Jessy: And what about platform? Because I can imagine from a creator’s perspective, like not all platforms are created equally, especially when looking to convert people there in that moment. I don’t know. I can imagine that like traditional bloggers for example, embedding affiliate links in some evergreen content that’s gonna be resurface time and time again upon a Google search or Pinterest.

These are, when I think of like platforms where affiliate sales go hand in hand, those are some that I think of, but are there any others? I don’t know, how is TikTok with affiliate sales or like Instagram reels? I’d love to hear your thoughts on, platform specific best practices, or just things that you’ve seen in terms of affiliate.

[00:25:33] Taylor: I think that TikTok is a little tricky right now cause obviously there’s only one link that can be put in the bio. I think more frequently nowadays, people are, saying, go to my Instagram to see the links that I’ve published.

From my experience, I’ve seen actually that like highlight reels for Instagram stories have been a really great form of like evergreen content. And I think that’s something like a lot of our brands that we work with on a campaign basis, like they ask their creators to, really have links put in, highlight reels because that’s again, another form of evergreen content that doesn’t expire of course, unless you delete it.

And I also think YouTube videos are a great way to continue affiliate partner because those videos never expire. And they continue to gain traction as we know over time, similar to, blog and webs as well.

[00:26:17] Jessy: Yeah, just anywhere where you can stick in a link and have it find a life of its own, time and time again, like those evergreen platforms are so good and so helpful for that.

So I’d love to talk a little bit more maybe about trends. I think that, trends are really interesting if you deal with them strategically, right? Cause jumping on a trend for the sake of doing that, it seems like a very short term strategy, but I do think that there is a long term play in observing what trends are out there.

So I’m curious what trends you are seeing lately in influencer marketing, and any in particular that you think are working well and then why?

[00:26:59] Taylor: I think the first trend is something we’ve already slightly mentioned on is that kind of line between affiliate and influencer marketing.

I think one of the biggest trends is that line is being blurred. And offering commission to creators is becoming like a kind of a standard, practice at influencer marketing cause influencers want a piece of the pie and they wanna, earn the money that they’re generating for brand.

I think that within blur of these two kind of marketing rep streams coming together, it’s really benefiting creators cause obviously they’re able to, get more money they’re able to, easily track their own performance, which also in turn helps the brand. The brands are able to negotiate their fees a little bit lower cause they’re offering commission. And then creators are gonna be starting to organically link to merchants more because they’re gonna be earning commission. So I think that’s one of biggest trends that we’ve been seeing lately, specifically, on what the merchants we’re working with.

I also think one of the biggest trends over the past couple of years, has been, shifting focus away from vanity metrics such as, reach, engagement and focusing really on performance metrics. I think in the past, when influencer marketing first started there wasn’t a whole lot of access to get insights like that. Brands just relied more so on the reach and the impressions and the engagement. But those really aren’t, metrics that are able to prove ROI and that’s, I think of think what’s been the biggest shift now is that, the best indicator of, if your brand is working with the right influencer is if they’re actually driving traffic and people are interested in the product that they’re working on.

So I think like measuring traffic is a bigger and a more, important metric to be measuring at the moment. And yeah, I think just like I said, measuring, ROI is becoming like the biggest trend at the moment, and I think it’s like becoming very valuable for both brands, and creators.

[00:28:38] Jessy: Awesome. I think those are really, valuable insights. Also, I wanna flip it. We’ve done a lot of talking about influencers and like their strategies in terms of affiliate especially. I also wanna talk about brands, because obviously that’s the other side of the, coin and I think we often talk about what platforms influencers can thrive on, but we should talk also about brands.

I’m curious for you, what are the platforms that brands you think can thrive on, and what should they keep in mind when playing on each one?

[00:29:14] Taylor: In In my opinion, I still think that Instagram or TikTok are the two like largest players for brands at the moment. Obviously, TikTok being the more recent one, I would say. But I think it’s like important for brands to remember like how to use each, because they each can be used, completely differently or should be used differently.

For brands on Instagram. You know, this is more inspirational, curated content. It’s about selling a lifestyle, and I still think it’s just as impactful as it has been, if not more. Of course, Instagram allows for engagement, whether that’s polls or stickers. It’s good for like immediate shopping with the storefronts, the live shopping, et cetera. And right now it’s being used to reach a little bit of an older demographic, which I hate to say, but I think I’m in 25 and up is, where Instagram is thriving on at the moment.

Where I think TikTok super impactful for brands and I think it’s so important for all brands to have a present on TikTok, but should be used like very differently. So with TikTok, as we know, like raw, relatable, is the key to being successful. And I think TikTok really humanizes brands and I think on Instagram where it’s very aspirational, TikTok is where you actually get to learn like the personality of behind the brands. Which of course, can be used to demonstrate products, educate the consumers, which is something, through video content we’re able to see.

Obviously you have a larger chance of going viral on TikTok, you reach a younger audience. So in my, experience, I think TikTok is definitely better for, both influencer content, and good for brand awareness. Whereas Instagram, like I said, is definitely more of a shopping platform at the moment.

[00:30:49] Jessy: Yeah, there’s so much possibility on a platform like TikTok, but I do wonder what brands actually feel like being on there. I admire those brands who certainly have hired influencers on TikTok and see that more and more, but am seeing more and more brands go on there.

But it’s definitely less common for them to dip a toe in versus being like yeah, you influencer are like, you do your thing and I’ll pay you and you talk about us. But I think you’re right. I think there’s a really big opportunity there for them to tell their story and to get their personality out there.

And I think that there’s a ton of value in that, but I’m intrigued to see like how overtime instagram and TikTok will start to differentiate themselves because they’ve been like on their coattails of TikTok…

[00:31:41] Taylor: Mm-hmm.

[00:31:41] Jessy: Since they started to become a thing, and it makes sense in a certain way but I also just fundamentally think that people and companies will find success the more that they stand in their own light because you’re never gonna be as successful as that other person, especially if you’re just trying to emulate what they’re doing. I’m intrigued to see personally, like how they start to release features that distinguish each other.

[00:32:07] Taylor: Yeah, they have been like just copy. It seems like copy counting, everything TikTok’s doing. But even then, like I think about Instagram release reels, which is a knock up of TikTok videos, but it’s still so different. Like of course there are people that are, reposting the same content. They’re posting on TikTok, which we already know doesn’t work well.

But like the Instagram real aesthetic is so different than the TikTok aesthetic. The Instagram reels they’re still aspirational and like super aesthetic and not super raw at all. Where TikTok is I’m gonna show you what I truly look like when I wake up in the morning and we are no BS here.

This is like the real version of me. I don’t know. I still feel like with each, new feature that they’re rolling out, I still think that there is inherently a different type of content and look and feel with each of them.

[00:32:52] Jessy: Yeah. I also think it’s your point too, I feel like each platform is going to start to carve out their own demographics that are slightly different from each other.

Elon Musk and all that, like Twitter is starting to, naturally gravitate certain people. Some, like more OGs might be like lingering on to Instagram and just no, I’m loyal. Never go anywhere else and maybe they’re intimidated by TikTok because part of what I personally love about TikTok when we’re creating content is the editor, so good. it’s just very intuitive. And you feel like you’re almost like in an Adobe premiere or something, but you’re like on a iPhone app, so that’s so cool.

But then the audiences are very different. I find like the audience on TikTok feels to me, more similar actually to a YouTube audience than an Instagram audience. Like they feel like so loyal to the people that they’re following and like very vocal and so that’s interesting too. And it’s just different shows for different folks.

[00:33:54] Taylor: Yeah. I honestly think like with TikTok blowing up the way it has, it’s really lowered the engagement that you’re seeing across Instagram. All in all. Would you agree with that?

[00:34:03] Jessy: I would. I’ve seen that on Instagram. I don’t necessarily know what to attribute it to, but there’s only so much time that a person can devote to being on social media and you start to have your favorite platforms. And if you’re on TikTok all the time, you’re just not gonna be on Instagram.

So it’s interesting to see also like creators who maybe started out on Instagram, if they’re taking the plunge to go elsewhere and explore other platforms in any significant way because if they can and if they have the bandwidth or if they hire help to be able to, there’s just so many more audiences members that they can tap into, but as we know, like it’s so much work, you know?

[00:34:49] Taylor: Yeah, no, definitely. I agree. TikTok is just so much work in its own. I feel for all the social media managers out there that are managing like five different platforms for a brand, I’m like, kudos you. I just don’t know how you can do it and continue to come up with new content, edit in five different apps, and get everything else successfully. I give you all the kudos.

[00:35:09] Jessy: All the kudos for sure. So speaking of people who are like looking up to others, I know that many women listening to this podcast are also just like aspiring to work in this industry. We’re in a unique space where, sure we get some content creators and shout out to those of you who are listening right now, but we also get a lot of just industry professionals or young women who are just graduating from schools like UCF, or are even in other industries and are like, oh my God. Like how do I break in? So how would you suggest that those people get started in influencer marketing? I’d love to hear from you.

[00:35:50] Taylor: Yeah, I think, first important to figure out, what area of the business that you’re interested in, because there’s not just oh, I wanna be an influencer marketing, and there’s so many different, roles within this industry.

Of course I would say, do your research. See if you’re interested in being a talent manager, if you’re interested in, working at an agency or if you wanna be brand side or if you like, there’s just so many different, segments of the industry. So at first you research on that and figure out the avenue that you think you wanna go. But then I would get an internship. Start wherever you can and get an internship in any part of the industry and figure out, if that’s the part of the industry that you like.

For me, I jumped around quite a bit. I would say I did sales within the industry than I did more PR within the industry. And then I went into campaign management. I went brand side because I really wanted to get experience in every segment to see, which one I feel like that I thrive the most on.

So I would say don’t be scared to jump around and figure out what, role works best for you. I would say, just find an internship within the industry and start there and then any, knowledge and experience that you get will only just be, continue like the building blocks, of your career.

So just get an internship wherever you can, or shadow someone. Join a great networking group like WIIM or you can connect other women, easily. Ask questions. Don’t be scared. No questions are stupid. Everyone wants to help you succeed. like Klarna always says start small and learn fast. And that’s like the motto that I’ve adapted as well.

[00:37:16] Jessy: I love that so much. That’s such good advice. I don’t even have anything to add. That’s great advice. So thank you so much Taylor for coming on today. It’s been really nice just getting to know you better and having you be part of this show.

Again, I think what Klarna is doing is like magic. Honestly. Like I think it’s so cool that they feel so fresh, for what they do and launching this creator platform I think is brilliant and I’m just personally excited to see like what you guys do in terms of influencer marketing. I will definitely be keeping an eye.

 Anyone listening though who wants to learn more, maybe get involved or just reach out to you. What’s the best way for them to do that?

[00:37:57] Taylor: You can easily email me@taylor.kaplancarna.com or just go to creator.klarna.com and check out our platform and, see if you wanna sign up as a brand or as a creator.

I don’t really think I got a whole lot of, time to talk about with the great stuff that’s on the merchant side, but they’re amazing tools for brands on there as well. So definitely recommend, checking it out, watching our video demo. Yeah, and just getting into contact with me if you have any questions.

[00:38:23] Jessy: Awesome. Thank you so much Taylor. And please reach out to her, she’s such a great resource and we will see you guys next week. Thanks everyone.

[00:38:33] Taylor: Thank you.

[00:38:34] Jessy: If you enjoyed this episode, we gotta have you back. Check out our website for more ways to get involved, including all the information you need about joining our collective. You can check out all the information at iamwiim.com. Leave us a review, a rating, but the most important thing that we can ask you to do is to share this podcast.

Thanks for listening. Tune in next week.

Taylor Kaplan

Business Development and Operations, KLARNA

Taylor Kaplan has been working in the influencer marketing industry since 2016 and has a vast knowledge in all aspects of the industry. She began her career as an intern working at IZEA, one of the leading influencer platforms and soon after transitioned to both Influencer Marketing Campaign and Client management and agencies such as Media Monks and North Six. Taylor has now taken her years of experience and landed at Klarna where she spearheads New Business Development in NA for their newly acquired Creator Platform.

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