📈 YouTube Wants to Help Small Creators Grow

Happy Thursday, we hope you’re enjoying your week!

There’s a lot to cover in this today's Influencer Insider, so let's dive right in.

Earlier this week we were thrilled to announce that passes for the Influencer Marketing Show USA 2025 are now live! We’ll be co-located with PI LIVE USA in sunny Florida just 30 minutes outside of Miami, and you can grab your super early bird passes now to access three action-packed days filled with strategic networking opportunities, insightful content, and more!

In the news, every social media platform seems to be launching something new to help creators.

TikTok has updated its subscription feature allowing more creators to engage with fans and increase their revenue; Twitch have launched a Fortnite experience with in-game brand integrations, signalling a new era of brand partnerships within the creator economy; and YouTube want to uplift small creators with their new feature ‘Hype’.

Sound interesting? Keep reading.

In today's newsletter:

Pick of the day: Will YouTube's new feature 'Hype' help small creators grow?
Trending: Passes for IMS 2025 are live; what does Twitch's gaming experience mean for the future of brand partnerships in the creator economy?; and TikTok has updated their subscription offering.
Join the Conversation: The importance of community.

Pick of the day

Can YouTube’s ‘Hype’ Help Small Creators Succeed?

Last week, YouTube revealed their latest feature ‘Hype’. Similar to YouTube’s Trending, Hype focuses specifically on showcasing creators with less than 500,000 subscribers, by encouraging viewers to ‘hype’ their favourite small creators’ videos.

Every week, the top 100 ‘hyped videos’ will appear on a leaderboard, to hopefully expand the reach of these small creators.

Bangaly Kaba, a director of product management at YouTube said, “We really wanted the fans to lean in as community members, to help support their favourite creators.”

If ‘Hype’ lives up to its potential, it could be a great way for smaller creators to continue to grow and reach new audiences.

What's hot on Hello Partner right now

Passes for the Influencer Marketing Show USA 2025 are Now Live!

You can now purchase passes for the Influencer Marketing Show USA 2025! You can grab yours now for only $795 - saving yourself $400!

This year’s IMS USA is co-located with PI LIVE USA at the stunning Hard Rock Seminole Resort, just 30 minutes outside of Miami, and your pass guarantees you access to both shows. That’s right, one ticket means double the content.

If you want to hear more about what IMS has to offer, be sure to check out the article above and purchase your tickets before the price increases!

Leveraging the Creator Economy: Twitch’s ‘The Glitch’ Reimagines In-Game Brand Experiences

Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch has unveiled a custom Fortnite experience called ‘The Glitch’, which has been described as “an integrated galaxy of brand-customised playable worlds.”

On the game’s launch, advertisers Domino’s and Peloton were showcased with in-game integrations. For example, a virtual pizzeria features in the game, and functions by helping players regain health and power, “giving a powerful connection to the brand’s product.”

We’ve seen a similar strategy implemented by Roblox with brands such as e.l.f. and Warner Bros, so what does this immersive brand partnership strategy mean for the future of creator economy? Read more above.

New TikTok Subscription Feature Offers Creators More Ways to Earn and Engage Fans

TikTok has redesigned its ‘Subscription’ monetisation offering, expanding its existing LIVE Subscription to make it available to non-LlVE creators.

The updated feature, “allows creators to offer their most engaged followers special access to exclusive perks, unique experiences, and a members-only community for a monthly fee.”

Subscription models allow creators to strengthen their relationship with their audience, as well as tap into a new revenue stream, but their success relies on audiences being willing to pay monthly for exclusive features.

Creator of the Week

Our Creator of the Week is Anna Newton!

Anna is an award-winning content creator who has fronted ‘The Anna Edit’ for over a decade and has solidified herself as a credible and reliable voice within the industry. She provides her audience recommendations within the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle spaces and is a Sunday Times bestselling author with her organisation guide, ‘An Edited Life’.

Anna will be speaking on the Creator Stage at CreatorFest this October during the panel ‘From Algorithms to Autonomy: The New Business Model for Reclaiming Your Audience’. She'll be discussing how creators can unlock new opportunities for growth and development on Substack.

Be sure to check Anna out on socials and at CreatorFest!

Join the Conversation on LinkedIn - Community is Everything

Launch parties and promotional trips have been a staple of brands’ influencer marketing strategies for a while now, but the exclusive aspect of them has sometimes made community members feel left out because they’re not influencers.

So when brands such as REFY and Djerf Avenue get their community involved in trips and events, the wider community responds with more support for their favourite brands. Thanks to the feeling of authenticity and inclusion behind the decision.

So when White Fox hosted a party in London launching the introduction of next-day delivery in the UK, and the attendees were seemingly all Love Island alumni and popular influencers, the White Fox community felt left out, as Neve Fear-Smith points out.

She highlighted some comments across their social media, such as “I’d love to come but I’m not an influencer,” “Wish I was there!”, and “Is your brand image just tied to ex-Love Islanders?”

It shows that consumers want to feel appreciated by the brands they support, and it’s a win-win situation for brands when they do. Their community feels heard, and as we’ve seen with REFY, the brand receives positive press, effective UGC, and increased support from their consumers.

What do you think about brands involving their community more?