The Value of Creator Content in Social Display

Content creators create different types of content in order to engage, inform or entertain their audiences. With phrases like "rent free" and "it's lit" becoming common in everyday conversation, you might be wondering what led to the sudden popularity of content creators anyway.

Before the age of cell phones and social media, content creators lacked the technology needed to connect with audiences on the mass scale that they can today. They can be anyone from a New York Times Best Selling Author to a teenager posting video game play-throughs on Twitch.

Content creators aren't just regurgitating other online videos or sharing a random set of images in a carousel; they're creating content that is fresh, organic, and entertaining! Today, brands are increasingly tapping into the creator economy to collaborate with content creators who can lend a genuine and authentic voice to help promote their products and services.

The best content creator campaigns do not look like banner ads. Social Display is 50% more effective than traditional banner ads for the same reason that the best content creator campaigns are successful - viewers engage with content, not banner ads. A content creator reviewing a new product from a popular cosmetic brand is far more engaging to an audience than a still image of the creator with a bottle of mascara in hand and a "buy now" sticker in the bottom corner.

Beauty and cosmetic brand Too Faced capitalized on a viral trend and an ideal content-first approach in 2022 by launching a TikTok campaign with popular platform creator Kristen Hancher (@kristenhancher). Kristen, a content creator with over 20 million followers, participated in the "before and after" TikTok trend by making a video showing her appearance before and after using Too Faced Cosmetics' new Damn Girl mascara while mouthing the lyrics to a Kallico song.

This is a great example of how a brand can leverage content creators and short form video content on social in order to reach their audiences in a new and refreshing way. This campaign succeeded because people were viewing authentic and relatable content they loved in a format they were familiar with. That is hard to achieve across a standard display environment.

I recently interviewed Alaine Limjoco, a popular fashion and lifestyle content creator, to dive a little deeper into how staying relatable and authentic in her content has allowed her to remain engaged with her audience.

Gretchen Mosby, Customer Success Manager, Spaceback: So Alaine, first things first - what inspired you to start creating content?

Alaine Limjoco, Content Creator - Fashion & Lifestyle: I've always loved putting outfits together and taking pictures. I shared content online before it ever became a "thing". I started traveling more and sharing my experiences. That picked up and boom - I became a content creator.

Gretchen: That's kind of amazing! You're basically a pioneer in the industry! As you started getting your footing, what kinds of content did you notice your audience leaning into the most?

Alaine: Fashion, lifestyle, dating - at the end of the day, people are more responsive towards relatable content. They want to feel like they're on FaceTime with you. Over time they develop a trust in your recommendations based on your own personal but shared experiences. The industry is so saturated nowadays, so it's important to always stay authentic and true to yourself. Your people will find you.

Gretchen: I'm not a content creator, but I kind of feel like finding your audience is one of the hardest parts. Once you have this loyal audience engaged and leaning in to your organic content, how do you approach disclosing sponsored content to them?

Alaine: I will always be very transparent with my content, and I'll only work with brands that I believe in and that I would spend my own money on. If I work with brands just for the pay day, I become a sellout and that's just not me. People follow me because they trust me and working with brands I don't believe in would break that trust I've worked so hard to build with my audience.

Today's ad space could be considered the Wild West of the content creator. With around 50 million people contributing to the Creator Economy world-wide and a projected global market size of $38.2 billion by the year 2025, it’s safe to say that your favorite true crime podcast isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. As this robust market continues to evolve, brands continue to look to establish new ways of working with Content Creators to reach their audiences. What better way to do that than Social Display? 

Spaceback makes it easy for brands to engage with display audiences in a more authentic, content-first manner. With zero production cost and content ready for immediate programmatic distribution, capturing a viral moment on social media and distributing it across the open web has never been easier. By utilizing Spaceback, brands like Too Faced and content creators like Kristen and Alaine can fully capitalize on the power of social media by authentically extending the reach of the social experience into Social Display.