Welcome back to our weekly deep-dive on the Creator Economy. This is our second of THREE holiday prep episodes! Below is what we discuss:

• Getting the most out of the LTK app
• Planning content ahead of time – themes by month leading up to Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Christmas/New Years
• How to create desire for your audience in this economic climate
• One product, multiple retailers – how do you decide who to link to?
• Using FYPM to research brand collabs
• Why being an influencer is actual work, and all the resources to be successful are out there for you…

Stay tuned for our final holiday prep episode which will go live in a week.

The Transcript

Monica: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome back to Inside the Clique. This is part two of our holiday series where we are helping you prep for holiday. So this is your best holiday yet.

Michelle: Yes. So today we’re diving into how to best leverage the LTK app if you use it so that you can maximize your earnings during this Soon to be very awesome time for you now, if you don’t use LTK, which by the way, that does not necessarily mean anything, right?

Just having this app is one platform that you can leverage. We’re going to also be translating different ways that you can think about this to your platforms that you actually do use.

Monica: Yes. Okay. So should we get into it? Yeah. Okay. Okay.

So first things first. If you use LTK, which that’s the context [00:01:00] of this first part, make sure you go into , the resources because they’re very thorough with helping you prep for a holiday.

There are so many moving parts because the LTK app itself is such a beast when it comes to holiday, which is why it’s so successful, but there’s so many parts to it. There’s gift guides. They have a feature in the app that I believe they released two years ago That’s just like gift guide Specific in the app where you don’t have to create collages Because the idea was okay.

People are spending so much time creating collages what if we just allowed them to create gift guides within the app which Amazing. So smart. Then what you have, like always living in your LTK shop, you have collections, you have trending, you have all these different sections. So that’s another thing, like curating your sections for holiday.[00:02:00]

And then you have then just your day to day strategy of what you’re actually posting.

So this can sound really overwhelming because there’s just so many moving parts. And. I didn’t even include the holiday sales that happen within the app itself that aren’t even retailer based. As we’re recording this, the fall sale is happening on the LTK app.

In the past, they have done a winter sale. I don’t know if that’s planned for this year. But it could be so that’s another thing that you want to make sure that you’re a part of because what comes with the sale is increased rates for the Brands that are participating in the sale and then discounts for your audience.

So it’s a win So you don’t want to miss out on that.

They have a checklist in the Resource Center that you I highly recommend.

And one of my favorite parts [00:03:00] that’s included in it is those top search terms by month. And if you follow us on Instagram, we share weekly search terms, which we are curating from what’s trending on Pinterest and then on different.

Influencer marketing platforms. So we’ll take something from what’s trending on LTK collective voice shop, my and then that’s how we’re creating those SEO search terms, but LTK has a really good one because they broke it out by month, which I love. So what they did was they said for September, here are the trending search terms, October, these are the ones, and I’ll give you some examples of why this just makes such good sense.

So for September, they said all fashion, fall home decor, family photos, just the family photos. I’m like, duh, you want to [00:04:00] take your family photos for the card by before November, right? Wait, of course you would. Plan those outfits on September and then October, then that’s where you start getting into cyber Monday deals, table settings, Thanksgiving, and then November, that’s where the Christmas trees start to come in family PJs.

And that kind of overlaps with December where it’s like stocking stuff first and New Year’s Eve dresses. And I just love how they mapped that out. Because it goes back to what we said on the last episode where September is not the month to be posting Christmas trees. Yes, even though we’re saying holiday, there are so many components to holiday that you might not even realize.

I just had that aha moment with the family [00:05:00] photos, which I’ve done a Christmas card with Ralph before. And you can just get creative with it, even if you don’t have a family of five. Yeah,

Michelle: I really like that you read all of those and we should put those in the show notes just so people have them because while they are, they were like LTK’s trended terms to what you were just saying, they just make sense.

And so when you think about. Even just some of those terms in the months ,you always need to be thinking one step ahead and these are all kind of cultural things, right? Even outside of influencers, I’m sure on Christmas at least a third of your friends post in matching pajamas, like with their families.

It’s just what you do. So these things, I think, [00:06:00] while, yes, they’re going to be all over the LTK app in droves, actually. That may help you stand out a bit more not in the app, because if everyone’s sharing a lot of that same stuff, it’s going to be really crowded. But if you have those insights, and then you’re starting to share them in your own world.

You’re it’s just you, right? Not everyone is going to be doing that. I think that is really great for both platforms.

Monica: Agree. Agree. And one thing that’s interesting too is thinking about, so a lot of times I will see, Let’s use the pajamas example the matching pajamas. I’ll see people start in December like they’re starting to take the pictures with the pajamas and then I’ll see [00:07:00] creators then start to put collages together of matching pajamas and it’s like It’s too late.

No one’s By the time anyone orders that, it’s gonna come in January, and then the moment’s over. So it’s like being so conscious of meeting the shopper where they’re at, and they’re not gonna be at you just don’t want to be too late. So it’s not necessarily If you’re looking at your data, oh, matching pajamas don’t work for me.

If you posted the link to the matching pajamas on December 27th, because you were like, oh shoot, I forgot to post about that. Then, that’s something to consider. And I think this is where critical thinking comes in with strategy. And not just looking at it at Like up down arrows like that was good.

That was bad. Why was it good? Or [00:08:00] why was it bad is what’s going to get you to the real answer in order to be strategic.

Michelle: Yeah. And even putting yourself in your audience’s shoes. Take a moment to think about that too, and you can even share some of that with your audience. If you are searching for pajamas for your family for Christmas you’re going to be doing that a few weeks out.

You could almost even have a little bit of a checklist of what you’re doing. But even just from a purchasing standpoint, a holiday event standpoint, and you can post that and then almost have your audience do it with you. So they’re like participating and it makes for a really engaging experience as opposed to like.

Oh, yep. Did you like these pajamas? Here’s the link. And then [00:09:00] it’s okay, are they going to save it for 350 days until they want

Monica: to order it? Yeah. And I think another thing that thinking this way does of putting yourself into your audience’s shoes is you. Tap into an extra layer that could set you apart from other creators who are just doing copy paste of the same thing.

So for example, let’s say I’m gonna be really strategic about my holiday this year. Okay, who’s my ideal audience? What does holiday look like for them? Okay, she’s a millennial who lives in New York City. Which most likely means that she’s living there in her 30s, but her parents are in Virginia. So that probably means travel is going to be involved.[00:10:00]

She wants to look good when she’s traveling because she’s single, and she wants to meet someone on a plane.

She wants to look cute. What are comfy travel outfits? For her to feel good, especially if there’s like a six hour travel delay that she’s not like in jeans and wedges to get on this flight, which I mean, if that was her plan, that’s a red flag on her but basically like getting into that next level detail of what holiday looks like for your person, because holiday really is, if you can get past the, everyone’s posting collages of target Thanksgiving home decor.

Imagine the possibility if you’re that person who is here’s the best travel outfits and you’re going to feel so good and actually excited to go back home. Like the psychology of consumer behavior, I think is at its [00:11:00] peak during holiday.

Michelle: I think playing up the psychology piece is very big, especially when it comes to personal gifts. And I guess I say gifts in quotes, right? Especially this year. It’s going to be a little interesting with how people can spread their money during this tumultuous time. But if with the airplane travel example, let’s say that, you post the collage and you’re like, here’s some really nice and comfy outfits to wear on your flight home, but you’re still going to look great.

Share like you actually traveling or walking around in it it’s going to dial up the desire more than if you’re just like here’s some outfits and hope that they purchase because then they’re going to be like I know that I need to buy this for [00:12:00] this person and that for that person and they put some of their own stuff to the wayside.

Especially, I think that’s where you connecting with your audience is really important, whether it is in the LTK app or outside, this can apply to both of those things.

Monica: Totally. And then. If you’re worried about creating too much content to where you’re worried that you’re just throwing so much at your audience.

One thing to circle back to the LTK app itself and leveraging the app for success when in your collections., if you post travel outfits or have posted travel outfits in the past, and maybe you didn’t add them to your collections, you can create a collection that’s just like travel outfits or airport outfits.

Airport outfits is another really good search [00:13:00] term to use in your captions. Because it gets a little bit more specific than just travel outfits, but if you just go ahead and add that to your collections, which lives at the top of your shop, you don’t have to post all this stuff. You can just remind your audience that like they can search within your shop for specific topics through your collections where you’ve.

Curated and then you can just have all the airport outfits living there and then let’s say you’re a home decor blogger at your core, then what you’re focused on like putting on Instagram and like really pushing out is more home related. but you still have it there. Easy to find. And I think there’s a part of the LTK app where people just assume. If I’m on LTK, I’m a successful creator, but you’re successful on LDK if you use the [00:14:00] features. The way they’re intended to use so the creators who are using collections the right way are using gift guides the right way That are using what’s the other one? Search and then Done, let me pull up my app

okay, so Collections, trending posts, and then products, that’s it. You can have, I’ll just break down how I have mine organized, and we can like tailor that to a holiday. So for collections, I have game day. So that’s where I have all my collages. Based by color, so you can shop for your team. And then I have spring style, work from home, fall, and then I have a holiday, which is holiday decor.

So the difference between collections and products, for products, It’s literally just a list of things that you tagged so there’s not a photo associated with it. Collections will have a [00:15:00] photo tied to it but for products, it’s literally okay, here are my favorite Hill House products and it’s just a list of those with the icons of the products, obviously, but it requires So No Canva design work, nothing, no picture being taken.

It’s really good for the gift guides, because you don’t have to create a collage. It basically creates the collage for you. Got it. And then that’s where I have Black Friday. And if I were to do this right, I would, I think I would make products be retail based, retailer based. So I would have my favorite Hill House products on for holiday, my favorite.

Amazon products, I would organize it by retailer, I think, and then I would also [00:16:00] probably I’m trying to decide if I would also do it by product category. I think I would do by retailer and by product category. Holiday party dresses and like my favorite black holiday party dresses. And then for collections.

So

Michelle: actually question. Yes. What would you do in a situation where, let’s say that you have, this is a, this is like the thing that’s coming to mind. Let’s say that you have Birkenstocks. Although what are they called nowadays? People are calling them something different. I’m like, I’ve

Monica: seen Berkey’s.

I’ve seen Burke’s. I’ve seen there’s something else. There’s something that’s I truly don’t understand what you were talking about unless you’re in a

Michelle: picture. Yes, people like they’re seeing like some type of shoe, something shoe that I’m just like. [00:17:00] Okay, then yeah, that’s your prerogative Gen Z. What if you have Birkenstocks that could be sold at Birkenstock.

com or they can be sold at Nordstrom? What do you do in that type of a situation?

Monica: I always do the multi brand retailer. And the reason for that is because it increases the chances of just getting a sale, even if the person doesn’t buy that actual item. Because if they were to go to Birkenstock and decide they don’t need the Birkenstocks, that’s probably where that sale journey ends.

Whereas if they go to Nordstrom, higher chance they already have something in their cart. And decide to just check out higher chance that they’re like, Oh, shoot, I forgot. I need to get a bra or I forgot that [00:18:00] I’m running out of foundation. I’m already here. Let me just check out. I think that sometimes there are benefits to linking straight to the retailer for the consumer and for conversion, because They might be running a sale, so it might be cheaper on the retailer site.

I find that they go a little bit deeper on sales than like a Nordstrom will. Another situation where I would push to the retailer brand instead is obviously Stock, a lot of times retailers stock faster, restock faster than a multi brand retailer will where they might just never restock at all.

So I think it’s also understanding your audience and knowing which products Are more likely to be immediate purchases. For example, when you post something and then you have [00:19:00] tons of feedback by people being excited about it, high clicks, that’s probably something that your audience is going to want to shop right away.

If it’s something that’s not your typical product that you share but you wore it. If it’s a product that like you don’t really use a lot or that your audience isn’t that familiar with, probably maybe some care some won’t, then I would say that’s always go to the multi brand retailer because they’ll probably be shopping for something else anyway.

Michelle: That’s really interesting. And chances are, if you did look at your data, you would see higher conversion. For multi brand retailers because of those reasons.

Monica: Yeah. And then I think we can take that actual question to the next level by thinking about, okay, let’s say you decide you do want to do a multi brand retailer.

Should I do Nordstrom, Saks, Bloomingdale’s or Neiman’s? They all have the product in [00:20:00] stock. They all have the same price. How do you choose which one? And I will say, I usually do Nordstrom and Sachs or Revolve and Sachs. I’ll do two that are, it’s the same product, just based off where people have loyalty.

Because in Texas, for example, a lot of people have Loyalty to Neiman’s with the Neiman’s Insider because that’s just what culture is here is Neiman Marcus. Whereas in other cities, Bloomingdale’s is like the go to. When I lived in LA, I went to Bloomingdale’s all the time. It was so much better than, the Century City one was so much better than a lot of the other guys.

The Beverly Hills Neiman’s was… It was like too high end, like I couldn’t just get genes there, right? So [00:21:00] understanding like where your audience probably has loyalty is One piece to making that decision and then the other pieces where you would ideally Want to collab with and who even has collab opportunities?

From what I’ve seen out of those luxury retailers, Saks is the most generous with collapse. They do them the most often. So that would mean I should Link to sacks a lot if it’s the same product because that would up my chances of getting a collab with them, right? And then to that point as well, then I’m thinking I’m taking that to the next level and being like, okay What platform works very closely with sacks when it comes to collabs and I want to use?

That platform to then [00:22:00] link to that product there’s so many steps to this thought process But I think the creators who really dig into that at that level are the ones that jump ahead. Yeah,

Michelle: it’s also interesting because if you think about the retailers that have a lot of collabs, yes, It would make sense to be like, okay.

Yeah, they’re doing it a lot. Let me link to them. So maybe I could work with them. But then also think about the opportunity for the ones that aren’t necessarily doing that. And if you show really strong performance, like if they’re not doing a collab, you would really stand out if you landed one. Doing some of that analysis and like really taking each situation and thinking critically because whatever decision [00:23:00] you make, there’s no right or wrong.

It’s just all different ways of doing it.

Monica: Yeah, and if you don’t have friends that you can ask and be like, Hey, which retailers have you been like successful with collabs? If you’re like, how am I supposed to even know which retailer likes working with creators and which one doesn’t like working with creators going to a few pay me is such a great resource because.

That’s where people are throwing in, they’re throwing in exactly what they’ve made through that brand, what the collaboration looked like, where they got the collaboration from. You might see 2 people say they did a sex collaboration, but if 1 used a 3rd party influencer platform and 1 went straight to the brand, they could have 2 completely different experiences.

I think that [00:24:00] I want to say do your research makes a big difference. And then I hear like this voice being like that’s so much work. I don’t have time to do that. And then I’m like, who said that this job is easy. Who if you were running a company with employees, you would want your employees to be doing that research too.

No one said that. I think, okay, I guess this is the thing. You see these successful creators and you just see the external piece. You just see the end result, right? What you don’t know is if they’re up at 2 a. m. doing research. Yeah. Really, if you really dig into it, not looking at being a creator like this easy replacement that’s more fun than your typical 9 to 5 imagine what you can untap.[00:25:00]

Right.

Michelle: That’s why it’s really important to make sure that you’re enjoying the content that you’re doing because you want that piece to be fun and stay fun because in order to really be successful here, you do need to do that research. If you’re just starting out, just know.

That there are a lot of influencers that you think are just this person and they have all these platforms and all these collaborations and are doing all these campaigns and it’s just them. That is usually not the case at all. A lot of them have teams of multiple people. Some even like above 10 people.

So to really be successful in this space, you have to, I keep going back to one of the intros, Monica, you said to treat your business like a business. You need [00:26:00] to treat your business of being an influencer, like an actual business. You, if you use the data, if you do use some critical thinking and just Take a step back and factor, a lot of the things that we’ve been talking about in You can be successful

Monica: yeah, and Just because you don’t have ten people on your team right now doesn’t mean you can you have to wait to get to that point?

Because you’re not gonna get to that ten people unless you start doing it now. So those creators with X many people on their team at one point it was only them on their team and they were just staying up till 2 a. m If they needed to I’m not saying you have to stay up till 2 a. m Every night, but I’m saying that this isn’t a four hour a day job.

Yeah,

Michelle: people make it

Monica: seem yeah, and if you’re putting in four hours a day and you’re saying this isn’t working and It’s because it’s not a four hour a day [00:27:00] job. It’s not even an eight hour a day job, honestly, if you do it right. And I, part of me is oh, I can just hear those like business coaches being like, you need to be like a millionaire and only work three hours a day and you can do it by changing your mindset and you shouldn’t have to work eight hours a day.

Like I hear that so much. As I say that, and there’s a balance, right? It doesn’t it doesn’t mean you just should burn yourself out and exhaust yourself, but it means that if you’re, again, you’re working four hours a day and it’s not working, then change that. It’s not, if you are working four hours a day or a week and you are in the millions, Ignore me.

Ignore me. You’re doing it right. You got it. You got it right. But you don’t get to complain because you’re doing it wrong without taking it from surface level to a deeper level. You know what?

Michelle: There’s a [00:28:00] reason why, if that happens to be true for them, there’s a reason why they are doing well and it’s because Everyone wants to only work four hours a day and be a gazillionaire.

Yeah. So that’s the reason why they’re able to do that is because they’ve mastered the art of persuasion. Yes. And not because they’ve actually Built a I don’t want to say legitimate because maybe they I tend to find that those programs like they teach people how to Sell that lifestyle thing to other people.

It’s like a weird version of a pyramid scheme Oh fully

Monica: it fully

Michelle: is Yeah, but that’s how they’re doing. It is because it sounds too good to be true and it is yes, so you If you go and do that and you take a lot of really nice [00:29:00] videos and you say that you’re only working for two hours a day and making seven figures and here’s your course and whatever I’m, you’re going to have people that sign up for it because everyone wants that.

Monica: The other thing, and this is going to be a little tough lovey, but if you are saying that you’re not being successful, like why is this not working for you? My question is, if you use the LTK app, if you’re on LTK, have you gone? through every resource checklist guide that they have in the Resource Center and have you followed those instructions for 60 days straight.

Every day. Every day. And if the answer is no, then that’s where you start. That’s where you’re going to go. Because As [00:30:00] someone who worked there for three years, I saw every scenario of creators starting from scratch. Like it’s not just people who have been. Doing this for 10 years that are successful.

I saw people who started from scratch started with Basically their friends following them on Instagram and that’s about it And they said I’m going to make this my career and they decided to follow the advice In the resource guide to a T, and those were the creators who were. 6 months later, doubling what they made in their 9 to 5.

They were the ones who were college students for college freshmen. Who have now paid off all 4 years of college as freshmen, but they followed it. They stayed consistent. And they did it, and that is the difference. The [00:31:00] resources are there for you, but you have to decide. That you’re going to do it.

I am not a seven figure creator, even though I have not only the resources that are given to creators to turn this into a business, but I know I am probably one of 20 people in the entire world that knows As in depth of LTK and these other platforms as I do, and I’m not a seven figure creator because I have not made the decision that I’m going to follow these steps and be consistent every single day.

Because It just hasn’t been like, it hasn’t been something that I’ve been wanting to put all my energy into if I decide that’s what I want to put all of my energy into and decide, [00:32:00] okay, I want to do this 100 percent of the time I know exactly what I’m going to do, because And there’s, no one is keeping secrets from you.

They’re there. It’s just up to you if you want to post strategically, how, in favor of the algorithm of the app let’s talk about LTK they’re telling you exactly how to succeed within their platform, because if you succeed, they get paid more. They’re laying it out for you. It’s just a choice and it’s really hard two posts let’s say, four LTK posts every single day for 60 days.

And they, right now they’re doing like this challenge thing where if you hit different milestones, you get You get different either prizes or consideration for things like getting featured in an email or getting invited to conference, things like that. And they’re doing that [00:33:00] because when you follow it, it works.

And they want creators to follow it because again, then that makes their business more successful. The secret, there’s no secrets. It’s just, do you, how badly do you want to do it? So

Michelle: actually, we’re obviously not going to hold anyone to a challenge, but I think that Whether or not you’re using the LTK app or you’re just using your social media platforms or your blog .

Start now and if you really want to be successful to a new level this holiday, One, research and find some resources that are out there. Outside of LTK as well. Other sub affiliates like Collective Voice, Mavely, ShopMy. They all have

Monica: a help center. They [00:34:00] all have guides, PDFs that you can download. Yep.

Michelle: So take a look at that.

Do your research. Figure out your different content pillars and strategy. And then be consistent. Do it every day and now literally now is the time because if you want to have a killer day in two months, or I guess a killer weekend or in the e commerce industry, they sometimes call it cyber five.

If you want to have a killer cyber five, then you have two months. That is 60 days. You can boost how often you post in the LTK app. You can be more consistent on your social media. You can blog consistently. You can send newsletters. Just do that and really go all in

Monica: and [00:35:00] even if you think about Instagram and a lot of people think like Instagram is just like this mystery that’s out to get them.

Instagram has a blog Instagram publishes like information on how to be successful on Instagram and not only that The head of Instagram, I always forget his name, but if you follow him, he has a broadcast channel and he posts like very frequently new updates that I’ve been released or things that they’re thinking about.

In that broadcast channel, and you can use that information to feel to set yourself up for success. For example, he said the other day that the most traffic on Instagram is in DMS. Okay, so what does that mean? I need to find a way to have [00:36:00] DM quote unquote conversations with my audience. What do you see a lot of creators doing right now?

They’re saying comment link and I’ll DM it to you. So now suddenly you’re in the DMs and yeah, maybe the exchanges, here’s the link. Thank you. It’s so cute. Great. Let me know what you think, but That’s where the action is happening and, the action is happening because Instagram told you, but some people decided to act on it.

And some people decided to just be in misery about the algorithm.

Michelle: Oh, my gosh, I feel like I need to look at that broadcast channel. You should, but that is something I’m sure that if you’re listening to this, you have some sort of. Interest in this space and you’re looking at these other big influencers and that’s interesting because I see all those comments, I’ll DM you the link and I’m like, why aren’t they just putting the link in the comments

Monica: because you can’t click on the [00:37:00] link in the comments.

Yeah, that’s on there, but yeah, but they’re

Michelle: not saying go to my bio, whatever, especially some of the

Monica: link and bio days are

Michelle: over. Some of the big… Like LTK creators, they used to be like, go into the LTK app, search for me, then click on this. And now the big CTA is comment link, or actually I think it was it things I bought and liked?

I shared this on our Instagram the other day. It was just comment for a link and did not even say comment, whatever, don’t put that work on your audience. Literally, make it so that if anyone gives you a comment, you’re going to DM them. That is a very big slam dunk, because you’re even going to have the people are like, Oh, that’s just so cute.

And you can be like, here you go, or you could even use that opportunity to be like, here you go. And by the way, [00:38:00] here’s a look that has a few other products. So even if they didn’t mean to. Like they were like, Oh, okay. I don’t love that. But then if you show them other products that go with that, that are at different price points , then they’ll be like, Oh, wow, I really like that and That’s just a whole new avenue that you’ve just opened up.

Yeah,

Monica: or if like you could even ask like what else have you been looking for lately something like that? And if you’re like, I don’t have to be able to do that You can have your assistant if you have one do it an intern do it, Get resourceful. Like I’m sure even like you might have a friend who’s just trying to get more social media experience because there’s a job, like I have a friend who she wants there’s a job that she’s interested in that’s around podcast marketing, but she doesn’t have any podcast experience.

And she was just like, Hey, can you include me in conversations about your podcast? [00:39:00] Just so I can understand. And you can you can get

Michelle: resourceful. Yeah. I’m down for some help.

So all of these things hopefully show you that things are in your control.

You just have to decide that you want to go for it. Whether it’s in the LTK app, on other channels, but right now, when you are listening to this, we are just about 60 days out from holiday time. So if you really put all of your effort into trying to make this a success, it’s not just any ordinary time that’s at the end of this, quote tunnel. It’s the biggest time. So what have you got to lose

Monica: exactly? Why not?

Michelle: So our next episode and I think final [00:40:00] of this little holiday series is Going to be all around those big days Black Friday Cyber Monday and how to approach them. So

Monica: yeah get excited

Michelle: If you’re new here, follow us, rate, subscribe. All of this helps, especially when we’re still just building up and share with your friends. We really appreciate all of your support. This is super fun for us. So thank you everyone.

Monica: Thanks y’all. Bye.