On Creator Marketing: A Conversation with Carley Caldas of eos by Bill Duggan, Group EVP at ANA

Bill Duggan What is your agency model inhouse external or a hybrid And please discuss that a bitCarley Caldas Our agency model has evolved significantly over time We started out 100 percent external but as creator marketing became a more core growth lever for the business it made sense to build deeper capability internallyToday we operate in a hybrid model with the majority of our creator activations led by our inhouse creator team and complemented by external partners Bringing more of this work inhouse allows us to stay close to the brand the consumer and the culture in real time It gives us speed sharper creative intuition and tighter alignment with our longterm brand strategyAt the same time weamp8217re very intentional about where we lean on external agencies whether thatamp8217s for scale specialized expertise or fresh perspective I donamp8217t believe in being dogmatic about models The goal is to build the right ecosystem to serve both the brand and the businessUltimately this hybrid approach gives us the best of both worlds strong brand stewardship and agility internally paired with partners who can push us and help us see around corners That balance has been critical as creator marketing continues to evolve from a tactical channel into a longterm brandbuilding engineDuggan What are your key KPIs for influencercreator marketingCaldas We take a layered approach to KPIs At the foundation we track standard performance metrics engagement rate views reach and impressions to understand how content is resonating inplatformFrom there we go deeper We closely monitor earned media value follower growth and when possible brand lift associated with individual partnerships These metrics help us understand what a creator contributes beyond a single post and often tell a more holistic story about longterm brand impactThat said some of the most important signals arenamp8217t always the easiest to quantify Social sentiment comment quality and the narrative that emerges from a partnership are incredibly important to us We spend time reading comments and understanding how people are talking about the brand and why something worked or didnamp8217tThis is where the marketeramp8217s point of view matters Data is essential but it doesnamp8217t replace judgment Sometimes the numbers wonamp8217t fully capture the potential of a creative risk or cultural moment You need marketers who can synthesize the data trust their gut and spot the diamonds those opportunities where impact shows up in brand love and relevance before it appears on a dashboardDuggan Do you typically use paid media to boost posts from influencersCaldas Yes but very intentionally When it makes sense we prefer to boost directly from creator handles rather than running content through ads manager as it preserves authenticity and keeps the content feeling native to the platform That said weamp8217ve done both and I donamp8217t believe in blanket rulesNot every piece of creator content should be boosted Sometimes the right move is to let something live organically One of the things I love most about paid amplification is the ability to elevate smaller creators with incredible insight personality or cultural relevance who may not have builtin scale Paid support can give their voice far more reach than organic distribution aloneAt the same time the platforms have changed Thereamp8217s less opportunity for branded or usergenerated content to amp8220go viralamp8221 and frequency has become a persistent challenge More views donamp8217t automatically mean better outcomes Thatamp8217s why the marketeramp8217s role is to find the balanceamp8212choosing the right content to boost analyzing performance midflight and optimizing in real time based on both quantitative metrics and qualitative feedbackDuggan Where are the biggest opportunities for the industry to help marketers optimize their influencer marketing investmentsCaldas One of the biggest opportunities is to reframe how we think about creators not as a line item in a media plan but as true brand partnersYes creator marketing is a marketing investment But the most successful programs are initiated and nurtured like persontoperson relationships not transactional initiatives When creators are treated as a tactic their value is limited When theyamp8217re treated as partners something far more powerful is unlockedThereamp8217s also an opportunity for marketers to get more comfortable with letting go Weamp8217re trained to be stewards of the brand which often comes with a desire for control over the message and outcome The best creator marketing often requires the opposite Itamp8217s about balancing business needs with the understanding that a creatoramp8217s perspective may be more culturally relevant than our ownThatamp8217s what makes great creator marketing both special and scary Youamp8217re putting something youamp8217ve worked hard to build into someone elseamp8217s hands But when you find the right partners and trust them to lead it becomes a twoway street Creators feel that trust and when they do they deliver their most authentic and impactful workBill Duggan See you again in Las VegasPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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