The Media & Entertainment industry makes up 33% of the global M&E industry and is expected to reach over $800 billion in 2021. It was traditionally promoted through reviews in newspapers and magazines but now relies heavily on social media influencers. Influencers have become powerful marketers as 70% of consumers trust their opinions as much as friends. Brands can leverage influencers to capitalize on events, platform features, and user-generated content to build community and increase respect, awareness and loyalty.

1. The Media &
Entertainment Industry

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS

3. America’s Media & Entertainment industry makes up
33% of the global M&E industry, with a total of around
680 billion U.S. dollars in 2018. There is an expectation
of the industry reaching well over $800 billion in 2021.
The Media & Entertainment industry is broken down
into five main verticals: film, television, video games,
music, and book publishing. Film and T.V. currently
dominate the other three verticals and bring home
the most revenue in the industry.
WHY INFLUENCER MARKETING
WORKS FOR THIS INDUSTRY
Built on Reviews...and still is!
Over a decade ago, people went to newspapers and magazines for recommendations on
what to read, listen to or watch.
Fast forward to today, when you ask someone where they heard about that book, movie,
or song, the answer is typically from social media.
There are many different ways that film companies, publishers, artists, and producers
promote using social media. This self-promotion often comes from celebrities and the
brands themselves. However, only 22% of people trust brands themselves, according to a
study by Havas Media.
70% of consumers say that they trust influencers’ opinions as much,
or more, as their real-world friends.
Social media influencers play a significant role in whether products find success.
BREAK DOWN & STATISTICS

4. When deciding what platform to use for a campaign,
think about WHO you’re trying to reach and WHAT
you have to offer…
SOCIAL MEDIA DEMOGRAPHICS
Facebook still remains the most-used and engaged-with social platform
TikTok (29%) recently surpassed Instagram (25%) as U.S. teens’ preferred
social platform.
Instagram and Facebook share the same ad platform...which presents many
cross-promotional opportunities for brands.
Youtube continues to prove that there is an ongoing shift (especially among
younger users) toward video content.

5. Consider other platforms like...
Why just one?
A cross-platform campaign would be ideal!
TIP: Don’t copy/paste the same content onto multiple platforms. It’s the
equivalent of giving the same advice to various friends. You might have the
same advice to offer, but the way you say it will vary depending on the person.
DIFFERENT PLATFORMS HAVE DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES!
Twitch is primarily used for Video Games...
Duh! But it isn’t just limited to gaming.
It also hosts a variety of podcasts, art,
and other specific niches like unboxing
packages or virtual concerts.
Clubhouse uses audio-based content and is
rapidly becoming more and more popular.
Pinterest is arguably the most
product-focused social media platform.

6. Instagram
• Story Swipe Ups - Build up the hype by releasing first looks, trailers, or snippets with
Instagram stories. (If an influencer has more than 10K followers, they can add a link to
their stories to lead their audience to an off-site location, like a specific landing page
or affiliate site.)
• Lives - Generate real-time engagement between an influencer and the makers
of the product (artists, actors, authors) with Instagram Live. Recently, Instagram
began allowing up to four people to live stream instead of just two, increasing the
engagement with multiple fan bases instead of just one to two.
• Behind-the-Scenes - Unique content like interviews or behind-the-scenes videos
can be created on IGTV or Reels (max 30 seconds on Reels or as long as 10-minutes
on IGTV). Bringing the influencer’s fan base behind the scenes of the creator and the
creative process not only increases trust and builds connection but can also be fun
and generate more engagement.
YouTube
• React To/Review - A first-look
reaction video of the influencer
watching a short teaser clip is a
great way to hook an audience and
entice them to want more.
• Tools - Cards and the End Screen
features can be utilized within a
YouTube video to conduct polls,
promote other videos, and direct
the viewers off-site to a landing
page (where they can purchase the
product/subscription).
• Respond to Comments - Actively responding to comments builds community and
entices viewers to continue commenting. Plus, the more comments and interaction
your video has, the more value YouTube’s & Google’s search algorithm places on it
for certain searches. You can drive viewers to a YouTube video via other platforms by
telling their followers that they are responding to comments.
PLATFORM FEATURES TO KNOW

7. TikTok
The short-form version of YouTube...but here,
the main feature is music!
Songs are foundational to TikTok, setting the tune to
all types of trends, challenges, lip-syncs, and dances.
This has massively impacted the music industry and
its consumers globally. If a song is trending on TikTok,
it is most likely rising on the Billboard Charts.
Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” is one of the first
examples of how a viral song on TikTok was directly
correlated with increased sales and streaming
numbers. Here are a few more examples:
• “Savage Love” by Jason Derulo
• “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion
• “Addison Rae” by The Kid Laroi - This is an
excellent example of how big of an impact
influencers have on our society now. Addison
Rae is one of the top-grossing TikTok influencers
and was the subject of this 17-year-old rap star’s
song, which brought her even further into the
spotlight.
• “F2020” by Avenue Beats - This 2020 anthem
was made by a trio that rose to fame overnight,
with one video getting over 16.7 million views.
Fan-made videos followed quickly, and the
hashtag #F2020 trended, currently boasting over
186.9M views.
Influencers are a great way to boost streams.
When TikTokers like Addison Rae and Charlie
D’Amelio use a song in a video, it’s a guarantee
that it will be a hit on the Billboard Charts.
Plain and simple: if you have a song, hand it over to
an influencer who can promote it with a dance or
lip-sync. Who knows, it could be the next viral trend,
thus skyrocketing streaming and sales.

8. Twitch
There is a multitude of features that Twitch offers besides the obvious live stream.
Influencers can also engage through interactive tools and teasers.
One day before their T.V. show launch,
“Stranger Things” hosted a four-hour livestream
where influencers played video games in an
‘80s-themed basement. Twitch users could
interact and vote on creepy, “strange things” to
happen that would interrupt the influencer’s
game, like flying books and flickering lights.
And to give them an incentive to stay on for
four hours, viewers were treated at the end to
eight minutes of the unreleased episode.
Clubhouse
Media companies should immediately begin capitalizing on this up-and-coming, audio-
only app. There have already been many talk shows, D.J. nights, networking events,
and theatrical performances. Publishers and authors shouldn’t miss out either. There
are plenty of opportunities woven into the app’s audio-only features to build business,
market, and network. Some specific ideas:
• Workshops/How-Tos
• Conversational Q&As.
• Influencer Appearances
Clubhouse is also suitable for sponsored influencer appearances within Branded rooms.
This is also cost-efficient because the only cost is the appearance fee, and you don’t need
to worry about licensing due to it being live and near impossible to record.
Collaborating with the app’s influencers...
In December 2020, Clubhouse began testing an invite-only Creator Pilot Program with
more than 40 Clubhouse influencers. These people have been promised regular meetings
with one of the app’s founders and, most importantly, early access to special features
and tools. The influencers and invite-only features on the app inspire both FOMO for
those missing out on invites and a substantial ROI for the influencers, based on the
exclusivity of the invites.

9. Video Games
When sports games were brought to a halt
due to the coronavirus pandemic, EA Sports
gathered up star athletes and influencers
like CeeDee Lamb for its “Stay Home, Play
Together” campaign. They went to social
media to invite fans to play in the video game
tournament on EA’s Twitch Livestream.
They encouraged fans to donate the
proceeds, and all winnings went towards a
COVID-19 relief fund that ended up raising
over a million dollars. This is an excellent
example of how a brand can capitalize on
current events, utilize a relevant platform
and influencers, and cultivate a community,
all resulting in increased brand respect,
awareness, and loyalty.
Publishing
Author Malcolm Gladwell utilized Clubhouse
and Twitter to discuss a new book...that wasn’t
his own. “Think Again” by Adam Grant does
fit in the same genre that Malcolm Gladwell
writes for: self-help. There was no need for
a show or fancy equipment, the platform
complimented their voices perfectly and did
the job of promoting the book.
INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN EXAMPLES
Almost every social media platform has turned its top users into stars. Now
we can turn the platform stars into chief marketers. Here are ways that
influencers brought the Media & Entertainment industry to life in campaigns:
That post alone on Instagram had
an engagement rate of 20%. The
campaign overall netted nearly 2 million
engagements across all platforms.

10. T.V./Film
To build up buzz about Universal’s newest thriller, MA, Open Influence
enlisted four influencers in a successful campaign. The strategies used
consisted mainly of Instagram Stories that brought their followers in on an
engaging spooky tale. They used videos and polls to make their audience feel
interconnected with the story, which ultimately led them to a #PartyWithMa.
Approaching the film’s debut, one final push was made by boosting in-feed
photos of cast with star Octavia Spencer.
Music
It’s never too late. A single skateboarder-turned-influencer was able
to revive “Dreams,” a nearly 50-year-old Fleetwood Mac song. TikToker
@420doggface208 posted himself lip-syncing to the song, cruising on a
skateboard and drinking cranberry juice. The song soared to the top of the
charts, and overnight, a new generation of Fleetwood Mac fans was born.
The video trend became so
popular on social media that Mick
Fleetwood, Dr. Phil, Jimmy Fallon,
and even Stevie Nicks recreated it.
The hashtag #dogfacechallenge
brought in over 100M views.
Creating a hashtag is helpful to
promote user-generated content.
UGC is a strategic way to get
consumers involved and create
authentic content that can be
repurposed.
The results:
• Over 13,000 Swipe-ups
re-directed users to a
custom landing page.
• Instagram Story dropoff
rate of only 3%.
(industry average is 15%)
• This project generated 4.4
million impressions
• 4.5% in in-feed engagement
(industry average is 1.5%)

11. “While the entertainment industry has been
experiencing a whirlwind of uncertainty the past
year, it has also given the industry the ability to
test out new strategies and overthrow traditional
methods of advertising for a full reset. Without the
option of experiential branded experiences to hype
up a studio’s latest release, the big players turn to
other creative storytelling channels - influencers.
Leveraging influencers with a personal connection
to the storyline is key to authenticity and leads to
strong, impactful content for studios and the title.”
Diana Perlov
Open Influence Account Director
Open Influence is a global influencer agency on a mission
to facilitate meaningful partnerships between brands and
content creators. If you’d like to learn more, please contact
us at any of our social media channels or drop us an email
at social@openinfluence.com. We’d love to hear from you!

12. • America’s Media & Entertainment industry makes up 33% of the global M&E
industry and is expected to reach well over $800 billion in 2021.
• The industry was founded on reviews found in newspapers and magazines...
now it’s on social media.
• At the start, social media was ruled by celebrities, but now the power is in
the hands of influencers.
• Almost every social media platform has turned its top users into stars. Now
the platform stars can be turned into chief marketers.
• The majority of consumers (70%) say they trust the opinions of influencers
as much as their actual friends.
• Brands should use influencer marketing to capitalize on current events,
platform features, and UGC. All of this will cultivate a community and
increase brand respect, awareness and loyalty.
RECAP