Keeping It Currant, a newsletter by Social Currant & Girl and the Gov®
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Keeping It Currant: March 2024

Keeping It Currant: March 2024

Social Currant
March 27, 2024

Welcome to the 7th issue of Keeping It Currant, a newsletter by Social Currant & Girl and the Gov® focused on sharing insights on how to navigate the intersection of the creator economy and the political and social impact space. This issue includes:

An interview with Sylvia Salazer @ Tono Latino
An epic creator panel in Philly with Estella Struck, Annie Wu, Wawa Gatheru, & Nikita Redkar
A look at how to leverage Google Business updates in contract negotiations
Three video trends that are moving on TikTok & Reels
A creator briefing on how to land more brand deals

…and so much more. But before you scroll, join us here in the Social Currant Slack channel for creators where we’re chatting about campaigns, what we’re seeing across the creator-sphere, and networking.

ADD TO THE CAL

Upcoming creator events to add to your cal

Creators, Impact, & Engagement!

About: Join Vote.org & Social Currant for an evening of conversation, community & networking moderated by Haley Lickstein. Hear from a panel of creators featuring Estella Struck, Annie Wu, Wawa Gatheru, and Nikita Redkar on what it means to use your platforms for good and drive audiences to engage around impact. Immediately following the panel meet the creators and other members of the community, plus enjoy a free Happy Hour, voter registration, and some fun raffles. RSVP and share the event on social media tagging @votedotorg @haleylickstein to be entered to win a $50 Uber eats gift card at the event.

When: Thursday, March 28, 2024; Doors open at 4:00, panel starts at 4:30 & Happy Hour starts at 5:30.

Where: The Warwick Hotel Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia.

Creator Briefing #6: Landing More Brand Deals

About: The 6th creator briefing from Social Currant will feature a conversation with Kristen Bousquet, content creator and influencer mentor, on landing more brand deals.

When: Thursday, April 18, 2024; 3:00-3:45pm EDT

Where: Virtual; Zoom

CURRANT CONTENT TRENDS & STYLES

When content trends meet political topics – a look at the latest concepts to take for a test drive

THE ‘ASK THE SHARKS’ TREND

About: This trend is built around the infamous Shark Tank concept and theme song. Creators are using it to ‘ask the sharks’ for something they want OR an exorbitant amount of money (investment) in exchange for something that they want.

What this can be used for: The trend can be used to share a policy, program, or political entity that you want there to be funding for OR generally a problem/issue area that would be improved with funding from ‘the sharks.’

A few examples to follow: Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

THE “MR. VICE PRESIDENT..?” TREND

About: There are a few more ‘characters’ than just a vice president involved in this trend’s audio, but they’re getting all of the credit with how we named the trend. The trend has creators sharing a situation where they either IRL or in an imagined scenario have witnessed three people come together that either normally can’t stand one another OR are all people worthy of nightmare fuel from various unrelated pieces of your life. Pick your poison – literally.

What this can be used for: The trend can be leveraged to show a strange alliance between electeds, companies, or orgs. It can also be used to highlight an electeds/candidates/orgs decision making – ex: seeing ‘XYZ’ representative voted for a bill and then seeing that the big three pharmacy companies donated to their campaign.

A few examples to follow: Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

“I THINK THAT’S OUR JOB” Trend

About: Trending on both Reels & TikTok, this audio has creators crafting videos that highlights or doubles down on what their job entails to their audience. The vibe for some may be educational. The vibe for others may be more sassy with a side of clap back. Dealer’s choice.

What this can be used for: In the clap back use case, it can be put to work to push back on the perception that ‘content creators or influencers shouldn’t create political content.’ On the educational front, the trend can be used to share a function of an org you work with [ex: ACLU] that people don’t know about.

A few examples to follow: Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

HOW THEY CREATED IT

The BTS with creators and creatives that have knocked it out of the park

Meet Sylvia Salazer [Tono Latino]. Sylvia was born in Colombia and moved to the U.S. when she was 18. She worked as a Computer Engineer for almost 12 years and is now obsessed with US politics; she loves learning about what’s going on in DC and how different policies might affect us.

Sylvia's main goal is to help Latinos in the U.S. feel less overwhelmed by politics and to help change Latino representation in politics and the media. By sharing what’s going on, why it matters, and how it affects us all, she shows her audience how and why to get involved and create change (in their own way).

Follow Sylvia on Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and YouTube.

Why is making political content so important to you?

“Everything is political. Politicians are the ones making decisions that affect every aspect of our lives. As an immigrant, there are things that I didn’t grow up with, like the electoral college or gerrymandering. We must understand how these things work and how they impact us. Right now, we’re seeing a lot of our rights taken away right before our eyes, and yet many people don't see it coming. I want to break down how our government works in an interesting way and connect with people so they feel energized to fix what's broken or address what needs improvement.”

How do you balance online versus offline time?

“I talk a lot about this with my audience because I feel them getting anxious, and I try to give them tips on managing that. I have strict rules around my news consumption so that I don't get burned out. I realized that being constantly exposed to the news, especially to click-bait fear mongering headlines, was keeping me in constant fear. I don’t watch the news at night, read many reputable newsletters, and avoid politics as much as possible on the weekends to spend time with my husband and daughter.”

When thinking of a dream content collab, what would it be? Who would it be with?

“I want a team that is as passionate about politics as I am but also understands the importance of engaging with the Latino community early, often, and in the right way. I think organizations like Courier News or Meidas Touch could be on that list. My news celebrity crush is Rachel Maddow, but I'd probably forget how to speak English if I met her in person.”

What would you really like to see evolve in the political content space in the coming months? Are there any change points you're excited for?

“I want to see more positive messaging, content creators providing context to their audiences, and interpreting things differently. I’m tired of seeing many of the big media empires present stories with misleading headlines or focusing more on the "horse race" instead of explaining to people what's at stake. I’ve seen a very positive response from my audience when I create videos with different interpretations from what you see in the big headlines. I like combining information from great sources like Simon Rosenberg, Robert Hubbell, Heather Cox Richardson, Popular Info, and more and making videos for people breaking down what's happening. My audience always responds with encouraging messages, saying they feel better after hearing that take.”

What's something you wish someone told you before starting to make content?

“Keep trying. Keep experimenting. You will fail and make mistakes. Take time to recover, get up, and do it again. If I'd been given a piece of paper to write down my dreams as a content creator, I never would've imagined THIS. This is beyond all my expectations, and I am grateful every day for the opportunities and failures I've encountered. Everything has been a nudge to where I am today.”

PLATFORM UPDATES

New capabilities loading…

INSTAGRAM → The old school hashtags feature has gotten a mini makeover, allowing users to see the full search results when you tap on a hashtag, instead of it just giving ‘top posts’ results. Could this revive the use of hashtags on IG? Quite possibly.

THREADS → If you saw Mosseri’s announcement on Threads and said to yourself WTF is a Fediverse? This explainer is for you. Once you’ve got caught up on the background deats, know that Threads is rolling out a beta of its Fediverse integration in select countries, including the US.

SNAPCHAT → In a move that will benefit orgs and businesses on lean budgets looking for active engagement, Snapchat has unveiled sponsored AR filters on the platform. It’s low production cost meets easy brand awareness (even if someone doesn’t use the filter, they’ll still see it when they swipe through filters – hello, passive brand building).

YOUTUBE → Social media platforms love to copycat one another, and YouTube is taking a page out of TikTok’s book with the roll out of its Collab feature. The feature is basically ‘Duet,’ YouTube edition – take it out for a spin accordingly.

HEADLINES

News at a glance from ‘round the creator sphere

Campaign: TikTok is going longform – marketers aren’t
Buffer: How to Use Instagram Collab Posts (+ Collab Ideas to Boost Engagement and Reach)
Search Engine Journal: The Best Times To Post On Social Media In 2024
TikTok: Oxford Economics Reports: TikTok Contributed $24 Billion to U.S. Economy in 2023
Tubefilter: Between 30% and 50% of videos TikTok shows users are based on what it’s learned about their interests (study)

TALENT TIP

This update gives you a new selling point

ICYMI, those with Google Business listings can now opt-in to integrating social media posts from their connected accounts. What this means for businesses and organizations, is that what’s populated on their social media accounts is even more important than before because its reach will be bigger than before. Just like a Google review, the posts shown will play a huge role in generating a first (online) impression. This all means that businesses and organizations further stand to benefit from partnering with reputable creators, especially those with brand recognition that by connection shed light on brand values. To digress…

When negotiating or even just discussing contractual terms for UGC content, asking for an entity what their average number of search-generated website visits are, is key. If numbers stay consistent, your likeness will be viewed about that many times per search. Bigger audience + your likeness = higher pay rate.
It’s also a point of leverage – in negotiations sharing that a creator generated post that’s on the org’s feed will help convert searches into website visits, is a plus.
This provides an extended shelf life for an org’s social media post, which to the org should translate to a need to invest more into the quality of their posts.

CAMPAIGN CORNER

Upcoming and current paid campaigns, available now. See one that’s of interest? Fill out this form and we’ll get in touch with details. Please note, if you’re a talent agent we’ll be in touch with a talent agency specific form – just respond to this email!

Campaign Focus → Voter Registration

Date Available: Casting now through April 8th (but opportunities to partner through November 2024)

Platforms: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

Campaign Goal: Looking for Gen-Z men in the following states who are interested in talking about voter registration, climate action, and marijuana legalization on their page. The goal of this campaign is to increase voter registration and turnout.

Location Requirement: Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Virginia, Texas, Michigan (but open to anyone who is interested that is US based or votes in the US)

Campaign Focus → Plant-Based Drinks

Date Available: Casting now through April 30, 2024

Platforms: Instagram and TikTok

Campaign Goal: Looking for creators in the health and wellness space to promote a plant-based lemonade & energy drink in order to drive sales.

Location Requirement: US-based

Campaign Focus → Racial Justice

Date Available: Casting now through April 30, 2024

Platforms: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

Campaign Goal: Looking for Oakland, CA based creators who are interested in interviewing a civil rights leader and activist with the goal of raising awareness around a new project in the area.

Location Requirement: Oakland, CA (or creators close to Oakland)