Hey, howdy, howyadoin’

Happy Wednesday, readers, and thanks for coming back to another week of my ramblings! This newsletter has seen a lot of evolution in the last two years of weekly posts (don’t worry, I’m not making another change already, LOL), and it’s been super interesting to test out different styles. I’ve seen readers come and go; I’ve shifted the way I cover certain stories; I’ve made tweaks to how many stories I’m covering, and many more changes you likely haven’t noticed like SEO, headlines, and beyond.

With all of that said, though, the dynamics keep me interested, and I hope they’re doing the same for you. For me, change is a fantastic way to avoid boredom with my content creation. I love sticking to a template if it’s working, but oh my god I think it might actually kill me if I don’t make changes every so often, and I have to stick with the same things week in and week out. And this brings me to the main point of my yap sesh.

I hope that you readers enjoy the dynamics that come along with this newsletter.

I strive not to cover the same stories that every other newsletter is covering (ZOMG MrBeast did WHAT?! … No. Stop.). You’ve heard the same big stories from a dozen different sources, so I’m not going to be the one to regurgitate the same eight sentences rewritten to sound like “news.” You guys deserve more than that.

With that said, and understanding that I probably sound like a curmudgeon, I want to ensure that you readers are getting value from my weekly rambles.

So, I need to ask, have you guys been enjoying the deep dive posts on one story, or did we prefer the news coverage with a takeaway for creators at the end?

I love both types of coverage, but I’d love to know what y’all vibe with. From my engagement rate, it seems like these singular deep dives are resonating, but I’m not going to let analytics speak for you guys. Again, you deserve more than that.

So, if you love or loathe the newsletter, let me know! Have some suggestions? Send ‘em in a reply to this email. Want some support on your journey? Let me know how I can help.

Always remember, you’re not just another subscriber when you’re in the Cmd+Shift+Create community. You’re part of the team, and you have hundreds of fellow readers who are here to support you. So let’s get to supportin’.

Speaking of support, I dare you to share this issue with one of your friends for me, just click that lil forward button, it would make my week! ❤️ 

But as always, enough with my yapping, and onto the stories.

Study Shows Smaller Creators Are Better

We all know my deep love for the creator middle class, which consists mainly of micro/nano creators. We are the lifeblood of the creator space and we literally make up over 90% of creators worldwide, yet no one cares about us because we’re not running a crypto scam or selling candy (if anyone would buy either of those things from me, just lmk and I can grift, ya boi needs to monetize somewhere (jokes)).

While we know the value that micro and nano creators bring to the table, we haven’t gotten a scientific study that says how and why we’re so valuable… That is until today.

A paper published to Science Direct, a peer-reviewed scientific journal outlet. In this paper, aptly named Less is more: Engagement with the Content of Social Media Influencers, researchers Jesse Pieter van der Harst and Spyros Angelopoulos dive deep into “social media engagement and the characteristics of engaging with social media content.” AKA how do people engage with influencer content? One thing I’d like to note is that this study was conducted with Twitter/X as the main platform, but the stats can transcend platforms, as we discuss the value of creators with refined audiences.

I’m going to use bullet points here to save your eyes some strain as it’s still early on this Wednesday, so let’s dive in.

• The study starts with laying some groundwork for our less-than-in-the-know readers. They start out with the wild fact that celebrity endorsements in advertising go back to the 1930s, with early uses in radio and TV. It’s insane that not much has changed in basically 100 years, but I digress.

• And in a quick list of facts,

  • Celebrity endorsements on social media can boost product sales and stock returns.

  • While celebrities provide exposure, micro-influencers reach niche audiences and are seen as more relatable and trustworthy.

  • Micro-influencers (5,000–50,000 followers) generate higher engagement due to personalized interactions.

In the next section, researchers focus on the idea that micro-influencers achieve higher engagement due to their niche audience and personal connections. They also dive into the fact that adding images, especially those that provoke high emotions, leads to higher engagement. Not surprisingly, negative sentiments can also increase interaction.

In the next section of the study, the researchers dive into some general findings before exploring their key findings from the study. General findings include:

• Negative text sentiment boosts engagement.

• Verified status enhances engagement significantly.

• Micro-influencers receive more favorites per follower than other influencer types, but not more retweets per follower.

While these points seem obvious, it’s a bit different now that we have a legitimate scientific study done on this topic. But these findings that seem like the status quo weren’t their biggest takeaways, the researcher’s biggest learnings were:

• Micro-influencers get more "favorites per follower" than larger influencers but fewer retweets.

  • I believe that this can be related to platforms like IG, in that larger influencers may get more likes, but in relation to a micro/nano influencer, they may get more comments and shares.

• Followers and including images increase engagement, especially with pictures of people.

  • Consumers/audiences want to see real people, I believe that this is why smaller creators/influencers have higher engagement than their larger counterparts. Consumers and audiences both want to buy something from someone who’s like them, not someone who has millions of dollars, followers, and beyond.

• Negative sentiments and emotional expressions (sadness, surprise) boost engagement.

  • This stat depresses me, but we all know it’s true. I believe this will lead to the rise of “negativity feeds” AKA news and content that is created just to cause a rise in [negative] emotion. This is what happened with traditional news as well. Sensationalism sells, or as we like to say in the journalism space: “if it bleeds, it leads.”

• Social media strategies should balance between using micro-influencers for favorites and larger influencers for retweets.

  • Obviously, this is Twitter-centric, but again it can be applied to other platforms as well. I believe that this mix should totally depend on your brand and products. If you’re a local mom-and-pop shop, partnering with the Kardashians probably isn’t your best move for ROI. But if you’re a larger brand, this marriage between smaller and larger creators can definitely help. Just be sure to study your product niche and make sure it aligns with the creators that you’re working with!

• Future research should explore cross-platform differences, bot influence, and emotional expression's role in engagement.

  • I’ll absolutely be keeping an eye out for more of these studies, especially when exploring bots and cross-platform differences.

Although this study was centered around Twitter/X, the big picture takeaways can be applied across the board. We can see from this study that working with smaller creators who are in your product’s niche will likely lead to better ROI. That said, you also need to determine what your goals are. Are you selling more products, or are you looking to gain awareness? Are you a small, local store, or are you a global brand? These initial questions will send you on the right path, but it seems that we’re trending towards a full micro/macro creator takeover. As mentioned at the start of this piece, us smaller creators make up over 90% of the market, so let’s take our fair share. 💪 

Want to read the full article that has all the charts, numbers, and beyond? You can read that for free here. 

Hope you enjoyed this week’s post. See you next week ✌️