Here’s our round-up of the most important news for content, social and influencer marketing.

'Influencers aren't effective for product marketing' - Edelman's head of influencer

Influencers are not effective for product-level marketing and should be used for brand-led activities, while PR – rather than advertising – should own the influencer marketing space, a leading UK-based expert has warned.

Philip Trippenbach, head of influencer at Edelman UK, said he has “never seen evidence” of influencer marketing delivering a good ROI when used to promote specific products, a tactic that is popular on social media platform Instagram.

“What I have seen evidence for is successful brand-level marketing,” Trippenbach explained at yesterday’s PRWeek Breakfast Briefing.

“I would never recommend a brand get an influencer to say, ‘hey this product is cool – buy this product’, but what I would say is engage an influencer to say, ‘this brand is cool, check out what this brand has enabled me do’.”

An example Trippenbach cites is PayPal’s #PoletoPole campaign, where the online payment service sent travel vloggers around the world to show consumers they could cover all expenses without using any physical cash.

The reason why this campaign was so effective is that it wasn’t focused on pushing a product, rather showcasing how a brand can be an enabler to boost what an influencer specialises in. A strong overlap between brand and influencer values is key to this more nuanced approach…..

Read More on PR Week

Instagram founders Systrom and Krieger leaving Facebook owned firm

The co-founders of photo-sharing giant Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, are both leaving the firm.

Mr Systrom, chief executive, said they were departing to “explore our curiosity and creativity again”.

Instagram, purchased by Facebook in 2012 for $1bn (£760m) in cash and stock, has more than a billion users.

There had been reports of tension between the pair and Facebook, and the departures add to what has been a troubling year for the parent company….

Read More on BBC

BuzzFeed bets its future on being the home of ‘adulting’ advice

A depressing 74% of people aged 18-24 are so unsure of their competence in basic skills, such as bleeding radiators or reigniting a pilot light, that they would like classes in “adulting”.

Even more surprising, in research conducted by BuzzFeed and Publicis, is the finding that 59% of those over 35 feel a similar need to partake in an “Adulting 101” classes.

Traditional life patterns are being eroded.

For many in Generation X – aged between 39 and 53 – their plans for children were interrupted by the financial crash of 2008 and they are coming much later to parenthood.

For many in Generation Y – the ‘millennials’, aged 24-38 – high property prices have deprived them of home ownership, while the digital media revolution has created an information disconnect between them and the baby boomer parents who might have coached them on grown-up living.

Which explains the new hunger for online guidance in “adult” skills, from buying a home to managing finances and caring for a pet.

For media organisations, this represents a huge opportunity….

Read More on The Drum

Pinterest opens API to give brands more insights on influencer campaigns

Pinterest is launching a new segment for its Marketing Partners program with the addition of eight influencer marketing platforms: Open Influence, HYPR, Klear, AspireIQ, Mavrck, IZEA, Influence.co and Obvious.ly. This latest expansion into influencer marketing will make it possible for brands to find and connect with influencers on Pinterest who can help build brand exposure and reach.

“Starting today, we’re opening our content marketing API to third-party influencer marketing platforms to help brands and influencers collaborate more effectively and create exciting new things on Pinterest,” wrote Aaron Ru, a member of Pinterest’s business and corporate development team.

Pinterest’s influencer marketing platform partners will be able to connect brands to influencers and offer their clients performance metrics around influencer marketing campaigns, delivering insight into monthly views, impressions, click-throughs and saves….

Read More on Marketing Land

Snapchat Adds News Amazon eCommerce Integration, Facilitating Shopping In-Ap

Seems like every social app is slowly shifting towards eCommerce these days.

Hot on the heels of Instagram expanding its shopping tags in Stories and adding a dedicated shopping feed in Explore, Snapchat has this week announced a new partnership with Amazon which will enable users to shop at any time via the Snapchat camera….

Read More on Forbes

About Viral Seeding

Viral Seeding is a specialist content seeding and influencer marketing agency.

We offer a personal service, taking the time to understand your campaign requirements to execute a strategy that ensures that we deliver views, engagement, endorsement and sharing via social media.

Viral Seeding has worked on social good campaigns such as Testicular Cancer NZ, Greenpeace and The Syria Campaign in the past. If you think your organisation could benefit from working with us in the future please get in touch.