Stream TV Insider
Social media influencers are an increasingly potent and
necessary part of the marketing mix for streamers in media and entertainment,
finds a new report from creator marketing platform, CreatorIQ.
article here
While password sharing crackdowns dented social engagement
for streamers among creators, the average Earned Media Value (EMV) attributed
for the top 15 streaming brands charted in the report grew 56% year over year
in the first half of 2024, as the number of creators posting about streaming
platforms grew 28% year over year since 2023.
In releasing the findings, CreatorIQ highlighted
why this matters, stating, “despite constant changes to the streaming industry,
creators have been an adaptable channel for streamers to drive tune in and
continue brand growth.”
Per the firm’s definition, EMV measures engagement with
social media content about a brand that is created by a third party, or
promotional efforts that don’t include paid advertising. It’s an influencer
marketing metric that’s used to quantify the value of social media content,
typically through social creator posts, but can also gauge impact of posts from
publications, retailers or other brands. It’s worth noting the study source,
CreatorIQ, has stake in the EMV game – a proprietary metric - as the
company’s business is predicated on linking content creators with brands.
Nonetheless, it notes EMV is “one of the most
widely used KPIs for creator campaigns” and says EMV “can be used to evaluate
the impact of influencer marketing campaigns and benchmark brands.”
Examining the performance of top 15 streaming brands (ranked
by social engagements, impressions and EMV) between 2019 to 2023 it’s clear
from the report that streamers are increasingly leaning into influencers to
drive awareness of specific content and brand value.
Average engagements with those top streamers from creator
marketing rose 61% over the five-year period, alongside to a 66% uplift in
average total EMV.
Spotify marked the most success in using social creators,
with CreatorIQ recording an increase in EMV from $1.2 billion in 2019 to $2.2
billion 2023 – handily surpassing the $1.4 billion 2023 EMV total of Netflix in
second.
Nonetheless, Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video are also
growing EMV through the use of influencers. Netflix grew EMV from $823.6
million to $1.4 billion between 2019 and 2023, and Prime Video’s EMV went from
$110.1 million to $351.6 million in 2023.
The report reveals Netflix as particularly successful at
getting influencers to talk about its original content. CreatorIQ measures this
by recording the hashtags used by creators in their communications. Hashtags
associated with Netflix original content collectively generated $39.4 million
EMV in Q1 2023, accounting for 11% of the brand’s $314.7 million quarterly EMV
total.
Powerhouse and micro-influencers
The report attributes Spotify’s success to partnerships with
“powerhouse” creators and celebrities such as with Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper.
Also notable are gaming “micro-influencers” who played “a
significant role in sustaining the brand’s digital presence.” Spotify managed
to double its micro-influencer community to 15,600 in five years.
Powerhouse creators and micro-influencer deals are part of
the playbook for other streamers too - 75% of Prime Video’s EMV in 2023 came
from “powerhouse tier creators,” showcasing success from prioritizing
high-impact creator partnerships.
CreatorIQ advises that such partnerships should be doubled
down on for future growth.
“Streaming brands should prioritize the retention of
Powerhouse tier creators to drive sustained growth,” it says, while
micro-influencers deliver “authenticity, and can drive meaningful engagement
[which] can be critical in niche markets or for specific campaigns.”
The report commends the leading streamers for continuing to
work with influencers while the industry was buffeted by the fallout from Covid
and subscription saturation.
Netflix and Prime Video received praised for managing to
keep around 70% of their marketing creator partners on board during the tough
five-year period, with CreatorIQ noting this high level of engagement paid off
in returned EMV. Netflix for example grew total engagements with key creators
from 724.9 million in 2019 to 1.2 billion in 2023.
According to the report, there’s a correlation between the
rise in churn from 2022 due to general streaming fatigue and a dip in the
overall number of influencers working directly for streamers of 4.6% from
157,000 to 149,800.
The introduction of password-sharing policies from
early 2023, led by Netflix, also saw a marked decline in EMV. Netflix, for
example, saw EMV drop off by 15% year on year in 2023 in the aftermath of its
crackdown.
“This downturn coincided with a decrease in social
conversation surrounding the controversial policy, and a 27% contraction in
Netflix’s community when those unwilling to adopt the policy stopped watching
Netflix content,” noted CreatorIQ in the report.
More recently there are strong signs of a bounce-back of the
broader creator community for the streaming industry. In the first half of this
year the average number of creators for each brand increased by 28% over 1H
2023, “a sign that the best for the streaming industry may be yet to come,”
suggests the report. The retention rate (measuring how many repeating creators
maintained between periods of time) was up 72% during the same period.
Netflix’s EMV averaged $110.7 million per month so far this
year, per CreatorIQ —13% more than its $98.4 million monthly average in 2023.
Still it, and leaders like Disney+ marked slight EMV declines in the
first half of 2024.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock was a standout in the first six
months of 2024, growing its EMV by 7% yoy to $128.6 million. Much of that
is thanks to a bump in visibility from Olympics-related social media campaigns,
with Olympics-related hashtags collectively generating $27.9 million EMV,
accounting for the nearly one quarter of the platform's first-half total.
All in all, average engagements in H1 2024 were up by 245%
year-over-year, in part facilitated by simply having more content to talk about
as the impact of the strikes on production releases unwinds. On average
for the first half of the year, CreatorIQ found streaming brands generated 56%
EMV growth year-over-year.
“The industry’s growth trajectory, marked by a significant
increase in digital engagement, underscores the pivotal role of creators in
shaping brand success and consumer sentiment,” concludes CreatorIQ.
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