With more than 6 million registered users, Bluesky is fast becoming a decentralized force to be reckoned with — and with good reason.

Among the new wave of fediverse platforms and decentralized networks, Bluesky is possibly the easiest to get to grips with, thanks to its clean interface and ever-increasing community of all sorts of creators. From science to K-pop, there’s a space for everyone on the network. 

Which is why (🥁🥁🥁…) we’re thrilled to share that Buffer now supports Bluesky! It’s one of our most requested integrations ever — more than 2,500 people upvoted the request on our suggestions board. 

The Buffer integration supports posting, scheduling, and even threaded posts (something you’re not yet able to do natively) — we’ll get into all that below. 

If you’re new to Bluesky and the world of decentralized social media, here’s a quick summary: Bluesky was created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and is a decentralized social network built on an open-source protocol called AT protocol.

With the protocol, Bluesky’s mission is to create “an open foundation for the social internet so that we can all shape its future” because “social media is too important to be controlled by a few corporations.” 

Here’s a great graphic by artist Davis Bickford that explains the company’s vision:

To mark the occasion, we teamed up with @davis.social to create a comic illustrating what Bluesky is all about.

See if you can spot the easter eggs! 👀

[1/3]

[image or embed]

— Bluesky (@bsky.app) Feb 6, 2024 at 16:10

Initially an invite-only network, Bluesky opened its proverbial doors in February 2024, welcoming more than 1 million new users in just one day. 

That said, adding another network to your social stack is a big decision. With Buffer, we hope to make that a little easier for you with handy planning, publishing, and cross-posting features. 

Another helpful feature to note for those familiar with the idea of decentralized networks and the fediverse: while Bluesky is decentralized, it’s not technically part of the fediverse. That’s because Bluesky’s AT Protocol is different from ActivityPub, the open protocol that fediverse platforms like Mastodon and Threads leverage. 

In a nutshell, Buffer allows you to share your Bluesky content on the fediverse, too, if you cross-post to Mastodon. 

Sound good? Whatever your mission with Bluesky, here’s how to connect your Bluesky account to Buffer and start posting.

How to connect your Bluesky account to Buffer

First things first. Before you can do any of the above, you’ll need to add Bluesky as a channel in Buffer (which shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes). 

Sign in to Buffer (if you’ve not yet signed up, no sweat — you can do that for free here).In a new tab, sign in to Bluesky. In Buffer, navigate to publish.buffer.com. On the left-hand side of the screen, click the ‘New Channel’ button underneath your channels list. From the channels list, click the ‘Connect’ button next to Bluesky.This will open the dialogue box below:Leave your Buffer tab open, and navigate to your Bluesky tab. Click the profile icon on the left-hand side to go to your profile page.

At the top of the page under your name, you’ll find your Bluesky handle. Unless you’ve customized your domain, it should look something like this: @yourname.bksy.social.

Copy that over to the dialogue box you left open in Buffer.

Now head back to Bluesky. Click on the settings cog on the left to navigate to the Settings menu. Scroll down to the Advanced section to find the ‘App Passwords’ option.Click ‘Add app password.’This will open a dialogue box that allows you to create a new app password. You can stick with the default password name or create your own. (Note that this is not your login password — it’s more like a key that will unlock Bluesky for your Buffer account.)Your password will appear in the next window. Copy that and head back to Buffer, where you can paste it into the ‘Bluesky App Password’ box. Now, the window will look something like this:Click ‘Next’ and you’re all done! Congratulations — your Bluesky account is now connected to Buffer. How to schedule and cross-post on Bluesky

There are many routes to creating a new post in Buffer. For ease, we’ll start by using the ‘New Post’ button on the top right of publish.buffer.com, but you can also click the ‘+’ icon next to the channel in your channels list, click on any slots in the calendar, or click on any slots under the queue. 

The process will be similar for whichever ‘create’ option you choose.

Log in to Buffer, then click on the Publish tab at the top. Click the New Post button on the top right. In the composer window, be sure to choose Bluesky from your channels list at the top. To crosspost, choose the other channels you want to publish to as well. Add your text or media to the main composer window. If you’re cross-posting, you can customize for each platform by clicking within the boxes that correspond to each of the channels you’ve selected.When you’re ready to post, click the ‘Add to Queue’ button to publish in the next available slot in each platform’s custom queue*, or click the drop-down to Share Now (publish right away), Share Next (publish in the next queue slot, bumping any posts already scheduled there into the next slot), or Schedule Posts (publish at a specific time). To move your posts around, head to your calendar in Buffer and drag the post to a new slot, or hover over the post and click ‘Edit.’

With that, you’re all set! Your post will be published on your chosen platforms at your chosen times.

Getting started with Bluesky

If you’re new to the platform, we have a bunch of resources to help make things a little easier. Here’s my recommended reading:

Let’s connect on Bluesky!

Bluesky is an exciting new network, and I’m excited to meet you there. You can find me here and Buffer here.

I hope you found this explainer helpful and the process simple!

More than a mere collection of words, language provides a unique perspective of the world. Each time one disappears, so does its way of seeing things.

When considering that experts fear 90% of languages around the globe could vanish over the next century, that’s a lot of viewpoints to lose.

In the Effie Award-winning campaign “ADLaM: An Alphabet to Preserve a Culture,” McCann New York revealed how Microsoft worked with the Fulani people of West Africa to keep their language—and, therefore, their wisdom, creativity, and history—alive in the digital era.

MicrosoftThe problem

Although around 60 million Fulani people communicate through their native tongue of Pulaar, the language hasn’t had an alphabet for the majority of its existence. The only way to use it was to speak it.

This changed in the late 1980s, when two Fulani brothers, Ibrahima and Abdoulaye Barry, began creating a Pulaar alphabet. They dedicated themselves to the task, filling notebooks with shapes and symbols. Sometimes they closed their eyes and tried to draw new characters based on sound alone.

Eventually, the brothers settled on a 28-letter system that’s become known as ADLaM, an acronym featuring the alphabet’s first four characters that stands for Alkule Dandayɗe Leñol Mulugol, or “the alphabet that protects the people from vanishing.”

Despite the major achievement, ADLaM remained confined to pen and paper. The only way to use it was to write it by hand. This meant Pulaar speakers had to rely on another language for expressing themselves through email, text messages, and social media. If the Fulani people wanted to participate in business and conversations happening on digital channels, they had to leave their words behind.

The solution

In 2019, at the Barry brothers’ request, Microsoft got involved. Working alongside the brothers and Fulani community at large, the tech company began honing each ADLaM character.

“As a designer, it’s probably the coolest thing you could possibly ever work on,” said Kathleen Hall, Microsoft’s chief brand officer. “Talk about a legacy—it’s not like an ad that’s going to disappear in 10 years from now.”

Around two years later, the result was ADLaM Display, a digital typeface that runs on all Microsoft 365 products and services. Microsoft also made the font open source and shared it with Google, making it even more available and useful in modern life.

MicrosoftThe results

If the goal was to help the Fulani people participate in the digital economy with their native tongue while safeguarding their culture for future generations—and it was—Microsoft achieved its mission. ADLaM Display is now available on Microsoft 365 applications, such as Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. Entrepreneurs to educators use it every day.

“Empowering people is what Microsoft has always been about,” said Shayne Millington, chief creative officer at McCann New York. Millington noted there’s no shortage of stories about the tech company tackling similar problems, whether that’s preserving languages or buildings. “This is not a new space,” she added.

Microsoft didn’t need a massive advertising campaign to promote its ADLaM project; a video and blog post documenting the process was enough to get the word out. Surveys found American consumers held a more positive view of Microsoft following its work on ADLaM Display.

Microsoft’s Hall described the publicity aspect as more of a pull than a push. “We let it find its audience,” she said.

In another sense, Microsoft’s products themselves acted as the best possible medium to broadcast the ADLaM initiative to the people who could benefit the most from hearing it.

As Millington put it: “The global impact of this far exceeds anything an ad could ever do.”

Who needs Paris when you can just shop online?

Today, Netflix announced that it is teaming up with Google for a first-of-its-kind Shop With Google partnership featuring Emily in Paris. The partnership will bring custom creative and give viewers a new way to shop for the season’s outfits through Google Lens.

Here’s how it works: Viewers on all Netflix plans can use Google Lens to scan Lily Collins’/Emily’s looks throughout season four, finding similar items on their device to match the character’s style.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Netflix and Emily in Paris to bring the joy of shopping directly to your screen,” Stephanie Horton, Google’s senior director of global consumer marketing and commerce, said in a statement. “With Google Lens, you can turn your TV screen into your personal runway—effortlessly shopping the world’s fashion in one place.”

In addition, the partnership includes custom features within Netflix’s ad-supported plan, such as shoppable pause ads and title sponsorships. Lily Collins even reprises her role as Emily in the ads, giving viewers even more Emily content.

Pause ads will encourage viewers to scan the screen with Google Lens and get directed to a shopping page showcasing items, marking the first time Netflix has partnered on co-branded pause ad creative. 

Meanwhile, Google and Netflix built custom 15-second spots that tie Emily in Paris with Shop With Google, and Google’s title sponsorship will extend to previous seasons, which is the first time Netflix has done this for existing library content.

The search giant also brought Emily out of Paris and into Los Angeles with a new pop-up experience that helped fans shop for looks with Google Lens and even gave people a chance to win a trip to Paris.

“This campaign has been incredibly fun and exciting to bring to life, with the seamless partnership between Netflix’s fan-favorite series, Emily in Paris, and Shop With Google,” Magno Herran, vice president of marketing partnerships for Netflix, said. “By organically tapping into the fandom of the show, and leveraging engaging formats, it offers our members a creative and entertaining experience and showcases to our partners the breadth at which we can build these unique opportunities with them.”  

The partnership news comes as Netflix looks to wrap up its upfront talks in an increasingly competitive streaming market. Ahead of its upfront presentation in May, the company announced several improvements to its ad-supported plan, including the addition of pause ads, which Google utilizes in its new sponsorship.

The company is also looking to bring its adtech in-house as it continues to scale its ad-supported business, which now reaches 40 million global monthly active users.

Emily in Paris season four, part one, premieres Aug. 15, while part two is out Sept. 12.

Dove, continuing its quest to bust stigmas, tackles the beauty industry’s youth obsession head-on with a campaign starring women of a certain age who have relied on a brand mainstay for decades.

A woman named Vanessa, for instance, has been using Dove Body Bar since 1958. She appears in the commercial dressed in denim and low-top Converse, blissfully shredding on an electric guitar. 

So the perception of Dove as “your grandma’s soap” may be technically correct—except, there’s no dust, doilies, or stodginess here.

Guinness is kicking off the largest global campaign in its history to mark its debut as the official beer and non-alcoholic beer partner of the Premier League. 

In June, the Diageo-owned brand announced a four-year deal with England’s Premier League, after beating Heineken in a multimillion-pound bidding war to replace Budweiser as the official beer partner. It is Guinness’s first global partnership in soccer. 

The campaign, created by the brand’s longtime agency AMV BBDO, launches a new platform called “Lovely Game for a Guinness.” 

Because the Premier League is the biggest soccer league in the world, broadcasting games in 920 million homes across 189 countries, Guinness needed “a platform that is truly global in nature,” Somnath Dasgupta, global marketing director for sports partnerships, told ADWEEK.

When you look at my YouTube channel today, you might think I’ve had this thing figured out from the get-go. With over 13,700 subscribers, a new video every two weeks, and YouTube driving more organic traffic to my search engine optimization (SEO) consultancy than any other channel, you’d think it all came quite easily…

But I promise it wasn’t always this way. 

I quickly burned out when I tried starting a YouTube channel in 2017. I lacked strategy, struggled with the technical aspects of video production, and failed to gain traction despite publishing 35 videos. This led to me eventually abandoning my YouTube efforts altogether.

A few years later, while addressing client questions about setting up Google Analytics 4, I decided to create a tutorial video. I uploaded it to YouTube pretty casually so I could easily share it, and I was surprised to find that the YouTube algorithm noticed it. Within six months, it reached 22,000 views. That might not seem like a lot when you compare it to other YouTube channels, but this was huge for me. 

This experience dramatically shifted my mindset around YouTube. First and foremost, this video allowed me to hit the threshold of being monetized on YouTube with ads (meaning I literally get paid to market my business). 

But it also gave me a framework for planning videos that would serve both my audience and the algorithm. It helped me understand the different ways YouTube could benefit my business, ad revenue included. And, most importantly, it showed me that creating successful videos doesn’t have to be as daunting as I initially thought.

Now, I have done everything I can to make the process of running a YouTube channel for marketing as easy and effective as possible, while still keeping it fun and sustainable for me — and I want to share my approach with you. If you’re a business owner struggling to incorporate YouTube into your marketing strategy, here are my tips for streamlining the process. 

Choose topics that will be helpful to your audience and fun for you

Given how much work YouTube videos can take to create, it’s tempting to over-strategize about which topics will maximize search traffic or virality. But, not only can this approach take time, I found worrying too much about the numbers made me lose passion for it.

Now, I have just two questions that help me choose the topics for my videos:

1. What does my audience want to know about? 

First and foremost, I want my videos to be helpful. That, more than anything, means I’m serving a need that people are searching for, I’m providing content that people will want to watch, and I’m showing off expertise that people may want to hire me for. 

I get most of my video inspiration from client questions, DMs on social media, and comments on my other YouTube videos, which I compile into a long list of ideas. 

My clients now joke that if they have a question, I’ve probably got a YouTube video on it. Even if YouTube did nothing else for my business, it’s motivating to know I’m creating a useful resource, so this approach to planning keeps me pushing forward. 

2. What video do I want to create? 

When it’s filming day, I look at my list of potential videos and pick the one that sounds fun for me to create. This allows me to feel truly energetic going into filming, rather than forcing myself to check something off a list, making the whole process way easier. 

Find an easy format (and don’t hesitate to get help)

People are often shocked to hear that I don’t script my videos. But I’m able to do that because of the format I chose.

Most of my videos are tutorials on topics I already help clients with, meaning I’m essentially teaching something that I know inside and out. I don’t have to research or script anything, I can just sit down and let the words flow from my brain. 

Sometimes I vaguely plan the flow in my head so I can stay on track, but otherwise, my “pre-record” task list is pretty minimal.

I also decided early on I didn’t want overly edited videos because my audience would come to expect them from me every time, and I didn’t want to have to do that work. Instead of making me seem less polished, the simplicity builds trust and authentic connection, giving people a peek at what working with me would be like rather than sounding scripted.

That’s not to say there’s no editing on my videos. Someone needs to cut out my awkward pauses, string my clips together (because I usually record in chunks), plug in my intro, outro, and commercials, and add simple graphics to keep things engaging.

I quickly realized if I tried to edit my videos, I would never do it, so I hired someone on Upwork to help me for $35-$80 a video (depending on length and edits needed). 

I also recently discovered a video editing tool called Descript, which has been a game changer because it lets me edit videos directly from the transcript, shortening the amount of work it takes to remove unwanted sections. I’ll usually do this myself before I send it over to my video editor, so there’s little to no confusion on what to clip and what to keep.

If video editing (or any other aspect of making videos) sounds daunting or is holding you back, I highly recommend outsourcing or finding tools to simplify the process.

Take small steps to optimize for SEO

Of course, as an SEO consultant, YouTube SEO research plays into my strategy. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine after Google — making it another place for users to search for a solution to a problem. And YouTube videos also rank highly in Google search results. To help your videos gain traction, you want to show up as the best solution to that problem.

Rather than using SEO to plan my video topics, I like to use it to set each video up for search success. 

Once I’ve chosen a topic, I run it through TubeBuddy to find related keywords that are high volume and low competition — these are the gaps in the market I can try to fill. This process can help me tailor the framing of my video. 

For example, I wanted to create a video targeting the topic of “Google reviews,” but I wasn’t sure what specifically I wanted to cover. I typed the keyword into TubeBuddy and looked at the “Related Searches” option to give me ideas.

I saw that “create Google review link” had a strong SEO score based on the number of searches that keyword was getting and how competitive the keyword itself was. So that’s the video I created on my channel back in April 2023, and it’s since gotten over 61,000 views and made me $1,300.

Then, I include these keywords in a few places, including:

Verbally throughout the video: Since YouTube automatically transcribes videos, the algorithm will pick up on words you’re saying.In the video title and description: If you can get the keyword towards the front of the title, that’s always helpful. In the video tags: A lot of people think video tags are “outdated” and not helpful. I disagree — they help give the algorithm more context clues about what my video is about. If you use TubeBuddy, you can also check these tags to see if your video is ranking in search results. Below, you can see my “Create a Google Review Link” holds the top spot for “create Google review link” and in the top five for related searches.Look for multiple ways to use YouTube to benefit your business

So far, I’ve talked a lot about how to create YouTube videos that will gain traction — but how can that actually benefit your business? 

YouTube is generally a strong top-of-funnel marketing strategy, increasing visibility and thought leadership. People often watch my videos, remember how helpful I was, and decide to hire me when they need SEO support.

Another way I drive more direct conversions is by inserting “ads” for my products and freebies into my videos. For example, if someone is searching for how to use a specific keyword research tool, my keyword research planner digital product could be useful for them, so I’ll promote it in the middle of related videos.

I take a similar strategy to drive people to download my freebies, which gets them on my newsletter list so I can continue to nurture them. 

I also like to remind myself that each of these videos is an asset I can use across my business. I send them to clients during my workflow, link them out in my newsletters, and repost them on Instagram — generally squeezing as much juice out of each video as possible. 

Finally, as I mentioned before, when my YouTube channel reached the requirements, I started monetizing it with ads. I currently earn about $950 a month from YouTube ads, but I think of it as the cherry on top and not the goal. The road to monetization isn’t easy, so my advice is to take advantage of it if you can but don’t overly focus on it. 

Instead, focus on creating helpful content for your target customer. That’s ultimately how you will create videos that draw in the right audience, showcase what makes working with you special, and serve as a valuable resource for years to come. 

More resources for YouTube growth

Need help starting and growing your YouTube channel? Bookmark these must-read articles:

Today, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Kathleen Finch is retiring as chairman and CEO, US Networks, after 25 years with the company. She will be replaced by Channing Dungey, Warner Bros. Television Group chairman and CEO.

Among Finch’s duties at Warner Bros. Discovery, the executive oversaw animation cable networks Adult Swim and Cartoon Network as well as TNT and TBS.

“There is no one better at developing captivating content, compelling talent, and meaningful lifestyle brands than Kathleen, who has been my partner as we built our premier entertainment networks at Discovery and created Warner Bros. Discovery as an unscripted powerhouse,” CEO David Zaslav in a statement. “While I understand her long-standing decision to retire, I will certainly miss her, as will the entire company, which has benefited from her unmatched collaboration and unique understanding of what our audiences crave.”

In a statement, Finch reflected on her career, including moving from Scripps to Discovery along the way.

“I began my journey at the fledgling Food Network and am so proud to have helped turn it into a cable powerhouse, and then to lead the team developing some of the most addictive unscripted franchises across HGTV and TLC, creating household names out of chefs and house flippers, and capturing the cultural conversation with real-life stories,” Finch said. “The greatest joy, and the part I will miss the most, is the incredible people with whom I get to work every day.”

Finch also threw support behind Dungey as her successor, saying that the executive’s leadership would have “many successes to come.”

Dungey, ADWEEK’s 2024 TV Executive of the Year, became chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group in 2020, making her one of the premier Black executives leading the charge in the television industry. Prior to that, she was president of ABC’s Entertainment Group and vice president of original content at Netflix.

In 2023, she revitalized the long-running Bachelor franchise with the hit series The Golden Bachelor. Excluding sports, that series ended up becoming the No. 2 entertainment series, scripted or unscripted, on network television in the key demos.

“Channing is an unparalleled creative executive who has shepherded countless award-winning hit shows,” Zaslav added. “She has the ideal expertise and experience—as a content developer, platform programmer, and network executive—to lead the US Networks.”  

The news of Finch’s departure comes on the heels of Warner Bros. Discovery’s second-quarter earnings report, which saw the company report a $9.1 billion non-cash impairment charge on its TV linear networks division. Despite that write-down, WBD announced it had a successful upfront, growing Max volume by 50%.

Say you have a product ready to launch and need to find influencers to generate buzz. Or perhaps you’ve already identified a creator you’d like to collaborate with and need a way to manage the partnership. In either case, you’ll likely hit up Google for an influencer marketing tool.

But with so many options available, how do you choose? Choosing the right platform for your influencer marketing efforts can be overwhelming—not because of a lack of options, but because there are so many to choose from.

So, in this article, we’ll cut through the noise to help you find the best tool for your specific needs.

HeepsyHypeAuditorLTKShopify Collabs#paidPassionfrootSkeepersHeepsy

Best affordable influencer marketing tool

Heepsy offers an extensive database of influencers across various social media platforms and robust analytics to match. 

The platform’s advanced search functionalities allow businesses to filter influencers by multiple criteria, ensuring that they can identify those who best match their target audience and campaign objectives. 

Standout feature for brands:

Heepsy provides advanced search filters that allow users to narrow down influencer options based on various criteria such as location, follower count, engagement rates, niche, and more.

Standout feature for creators:

Creators can get access to a wide range of campaigns and sign up to be presented to join the platform’s database.

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start from $89/mo with a free trial.

HypeAuditor

Best full-cycle influencer marketing tool

HypeAuditor provides a comprehensive solution for brands looking to manage all aspects of their influencer marketing campaigns, from influencer discovery to detailed performance analytics. The platform excels in offering deep insights and fraud detection, making it a trusted choice for brands focused on authenticity and ROI.

Standout feature for brands:

HypeAuditor’s campaign performance monitoring allows users to assess the impact of their campaigns by measuring key metrics like engagement, reach, ROI, and audience sentiment. This detailed level of analysis helps marketers refine their strategies for better outcomes.

Standout feature for creators:

Creators benefit from HypeAuditor’s audience quality verification. The platform’s AI-driven algorithms detect fake followers and engagement, ensuring that creators with authentic and engaged audiences are highlighted, increasing their appeal to brands.

Pricing: Free trial available; pricing available on request

LTK (LikeToKnowIt)

Best influencer marketing platform for the fashion and lifestyle niche 

LTK, formerly known as LikeToKnowIt, is designed specifically for fashion and lifestyle niches. It offers a curated environment where brands can seamlessly collaborate with influencers who perfectly align with their aesthetic and target audience, making it a go-to platform for fashion and beauty campaigns.

Standout feature for brands:

LTK’s curated, niche network provides brands with access to a vast array of micro-influencers who specialize in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content. The platform’s selective approach ensures that brands connect with influencers whose style and audience are a perfect fit, maximizing the impact and engagement of campaigns.

Standout feature for creators:

Creators on LTK can take advantage of the shoppable content integration, allowing them to easily create and share posts that link directly to products. This feature not only enhances the shopping experience for followers but also provides creators with valuable data on what content drives sales, helping them to optimize their affiliate marketing efforts.

Pricing: Available on request

Shopify Collabs

​​Best for Shopify merchants’ influencer marketing strategy

Shopify Collabs is an influencer marketing tool specifically designed for Shopify store owners. It offers seamless integration with the Shopify ecosystem, making it an ideal tool for e-commerce businesses that want to manage influencer partnerships, track sales, and streamline campaign management all from within their Shopify dashboard.

Standout feature for brands:

Shopify Collabs simplifies the process of influencer marketing for store owners, reducing the need for external tools and enabling smooth operations within the existing Shopify environment.

Standout feature for creators:

For creators, Shopify Collabs offers the ability to receive automatic payments and manage collaborations seamlessly. The platform allows creators to connect with brands, access product discounts, and receive payments directly through Shopify, making it easier to monetize their influence.

Pricing: Shopify Collabs is available to Shopify merchants as part of their existing subscription. 

#paid

Best creator marketplace tool 

#paid allows brands to streamline their influencer marketing campaigns while empowering influencers to maintain creative control over their content. The platform focuses on creating authentic partnerships by matching brands with influencers who are genuinely interested in their campaigns, ensuring high-quality content creation and impactful collaborations.

Standout feature for brands:

#paid’s Handraise feature ensures that brands are matched with potential influencers who are genuinely interested in their campaign. Influencers express their interest and outline their strategy, which is then vetted by the #paid team before being presented to the brand, guaranteeing a more engaged and committed partnership.

Standout feature for creators:

#paid provides creators with the flexibility to choose the types of content they want to produce for campaigns. Whether it’s photos, videos, or stories, creators can tailor their proposals based on their strengths and preferences, ensuring they only take on work that aligns with their creative style

Pricing: Available on request.

Passionfroot

Best for creators looking to manage their own partnerships

Passionfroot is a comprehensive creator management platform designed specifically for content creators to streamline brand partnerships and sponsorship deals. It addresses many of the challenges that creators face, allowing them to focus on content creation while maintaining control over their business operations.

Standout feature for brands:

Passionfroot’s centralized sponsorship management feature allows creators to manage all aspects of their brand deals from a single platform. It offers tools for building storefronts, creating booking pages, filtering collaboration requests, helping creators present their offerings professionally, and converting potential sponsors into long-term partners.

Standout feature for creators:

For creators, Passionfroot provides direct access to potential sponsors and automated tools for scheduling and payments. The platform simplifies the process of finding and pitching to vetted brands and ensures creators get paid on time with compliant invoices, easing the financial management aspect of their business.

Pricing: Passionfroot offers a free version with essential features, making it accessible to creators at different stages of their careers.

Skeepers

Best for discovering and managing user-generated content

Skeepers helps brands manage and leverage user-generated content (UGC) to drive e-commerce sales. Initially focused on the fashion and beauty sectors, Skeepers has expanded to serve a wide range of industries, making it a versatile tool for brands looking to enhance their online presence and engage more effectively with their customers.

Standout feature for brands:

The platform’s influencer credit system ensures that only committed and reliable influencers participate in campaigns. Influencers earn credits by successfully completing campaigns, which enhances the quality and accountability of collaborations. This system helps maintain high standards across the board, benefiting both the brands and the influencers involved

Standout feature for creators:

Skeepers simplifies the often complicated process of managing content rights and licensing. The platform automatically handles all the legal intricacies and permissions, allowing creators to focus on producing high-quality content without worrying about legal hassles. This feature is particularly beneficial for creators who want to ensure their content is used appropriately and compensated fairly

Pricing: Available on request

Make your choice wisely

Based on my research, the most effective influencer marketing tools need to do at least three things: 

Access to a curated database of influencersAdvanced filtering and recommendation systemsComprehensive campaign management and analytics

Every other feature is a cherry on top. Of course, while these elements are essential, the best tool for you will ultimately depend on your unique budget and marketing objectives.

Some brands—but not many—can get away with “unhinged” as a thematic cornerstone of their advertising. Totino’s, best known for its pizza rolls, counts itself among that wacky niche, with the latest evidence being an absurdist campaign steeped in ‘90s nostalgia and sight gags.

And if you don’t get the joke, well, you’re not the demo.

The brand, working with agency partner Dentsu Creative, is introducing its first offering in the breakfast category with ads that feature a food-centric momstache, a freakish sun puppet, and a disembodied zombie arm in a freezer. 

There’s also the return of a humanoid character from a previous campaign, dubbed Toti, who appears to be made entirely of Totino’s puffed-and-stuffed products.

Purposely low-fi and overly cheerful, the two new spots resurrect the jingle with original ditties (from music producer Butter) and harken back to classic TV commercials to grab the attention of the target Gen Z audience.

‘Moments of weirdness’

As a concept, the team wanted to focus on “wholesome mornings,” but with a comically surreal twist, according to Alyssa Ollis, group creative director at Dentsu Creative.

There’s a method to the madness, and props and sets for “Start Your Day the Totino’s Way’ weren’t “weird for weird’s sake,’ per creatives.Totino’s

Creatives imagined “moments of weirdness breaking into that familiar, traditional breakfast space,” Ollis told Adweek. “Then once we started thinking about the songs, it brought us back to old commercials we grew up with, and we just thought, ‘yes, let’s mess with that.’”

The result is “Wakey Wakey” and “Breakfast Momstache,” which aim to distance Totino’s Breakfast Snack Bites from established players in a crowded grocery segment and, in essence, change young consumers’ behavior.

Studies from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have revealed that 75% of teens regularly skip breakfast, with the brand dissecting the root causes.

“We talked a lot about the difficulty of teen mornings, the unwillingness to roll out of bed and get going,” Ollis said, noting that Totino’s execs wanted to “amp up the idea of ‘quick and easy.’”

‘Visually unhinged’

And as for the ridiculousness of it all, “it’s crucial to surprise people and show them something they’ve never seen before,” Ollis said. “We also love work that has a great and unique visual component.”

Young consumers, even those who are already devoted to pizza rolls, aren’t easy to impress with marketing messages. They also “have infinite access to their favorite types of entertainment, every waking moment of their lives,” Ollis said, adding to the clutter and competition.

With the upbeat tagline “Start Your Day the Totino’s Way,” the campaign went for “visually unhinged,” per Ollis, bringing in director Emma Debany of WW7, who worked with the brand on last year’s quirk-filled “Area 425” ad series.

The campaign also continues a unique comedic spin that’s grounded in past work at a time when the broader ad industry is returning to humor as a way to turn consumers’ heads.

The throwback vibe that fuels the “Start Your Day” spots came naturally, Ollis said, though retro trappings have become one of the most prevalent ad trends. 

Totino’s, best known for its pizza rolls, launches into the competitive breakfast category for the first time.Totino’s

“One great thing about nostalgia is that there are millions of moments and truths and experiences to pull from,” Ollis said. If the team considered the old-school approach to be overused, “we would already be sick of it, and we wouldn’t have done the campaign this way.”

Fan demand

The product itself—which has been developed over the past few years as a kind of breakfast scramble in a shell, minus the eggs—came about because of consumer feedback, according to Taylor Roseberry, General Mills brand experience manager.

A breakfast entry “was the number one flavor that Totino’s fans asked for on social,” Roseberry said.

The snack bites come in three variations—filled with bacon, sausage, chorizo, meatless crumbles, cheese substitute, and other ingredients—and have been expanding distribution to more mass retailers since a May launch. 

“Start Your Day” is the line’s official coming-out party, with spots dropping Monday on streaming TV, online video, and paid social channels.