Hey y’all,
I don’t know about you – but I’ve always been more of a Halloween girly over a Christmas girly.
As if you hadn’t guessed.
While the past few issues have been focused on Black Friday, Christmas, and summoning Mariah Carey from her frozen lair, everything in my soul wants to drape it all in black, pull out my life-size skeleton, and celebrate Halloween instead.
So this week, I’m being indulgent. We’re turning Black Friday into Halloween with harrowing horror stories that creators shared with us.
Cozy up, grab your candycorn from 2 years ago (it’s probably still good), and prepare yourself for frightening tales of last-minute collabs, utter chaos, and redoing work for no good reason.
(Oh, and try to read them in your best Vincent Price voice)
Ghost of Approvals-Past: The tale of the last-minute request
This harrowing tale comes from a creator who said they received a request for Christmas content on December 22nd.
“Naturally, they wanted it live by Christmas Eve – a mere 48 hours later.”
“I worked on everything on my side and somehow made it work. When I submitted it for approval – crickets.”
The creator finally got approval (with no notes or edits) on December 27th, so they posted the content.
The scariest part? It was the end of May before they got paid for it. 😨
The takeaway: If you’re making a last-minute request, match that energy. There’s nothing more frustrating than rushing to get something done only to wait for approvals.
Oh, and don’t wait 5 months to pay your creators.
Dead and deader still: The tale of the Necromancer’s livestream
This next frightful yarn comes from a creator who’d been working along with other creators for a larger Black Friday campaign centered on livestreams.
It wasn’t really the forte of any of the creators, but the brand insisted that the format be a livestream.
“They really overhyped it and said they were going to push and promote the livestreams. They even said they’d give us flash sales and acted like it was going to be super popular.”
In the end – there were no flash sales to be found, and spookier still, the livestreams were dead on arrival. ⚰️
The takeaway: Trust your influencer, and, especially around Black Friday, play to their strengths. The content their audience knows and loves them for will be your best bet – instead of trying to force-fit a different kind of content type because it’s trendy.
Total recall: The tale of the botched batch
As if the first two tales weren’t terrifying enough, we’ve saved our most bone-chilling tale for last.
This creator was working with a brand promoting a product that experienced a recall. As it turns out, the gifted product the creator had was from the very batch the brand recalled.
“I didn’t make the video because I’d read up on the recalled product, and what it could do to my body.”
The tale takes a much scarier turn: the brand refused to send her a product from a different batch but still expected her to make the content anyway. ☣️
The takeaway: The first customer you need to convince is your influencer. If they have concerns about a product, it’s your job to make sure those concerns are addressed. Most of the time, (hopefully) it won’t be something as cut-and-dry as this story, but addressing any creator concerns can help them better advocate for your products.
Panic room: More tales of last-minute mischief
More creators, still, sent shivers down our spines with terrible tales of last-minute requests, ad-hoc changes, and other bad brand behavior.
“I was told the day before that a sale was happening – with zero time to prepare.”
“They gave me the wrong affiliate code. I had to remake the content last-minute.”
“They asked for a script beforehand, approved it, then changed their minds once the video was recorded.”
“The brand changed my affiliate code when my video went viral. I had to fight to get paid.”
“A brand decided to end a campaign early before I (and other creators) went live with our content.”
Most of these problems come up because of not being prepared, not starting early enough, or being disorganized.
That is something you can impact this Black Friday.
And I don’t mean to alarm you – because I think you’ve been scared enough by these sinister stories – but it’s August.
Your customers start shopping for the holidays in 30 days – if they haven’t already.
You already know I’m that house for trick-or-treaters,
Whitney 🦇
Content R&D at Modash. Send hate mail to LinkedIn
🩷A good influence
Finally, my opportunity to recommend a scary influencer to stay on theme – and it was so difficult because I was so spoiled for choice.
Who they are: Nova, aka VocallyShook on Instagram (and probably TikTok, but I’m a millennial)
Why she’s worth a follow: So there are makeup artists, and then there are makeup artists. Nova is definitely the latter. While she pulls off a mean gothic rockabilly “everyday” look, she’s known for absolutely transforming her face into some of the most creepy, unsettling, and strangely beautiful things.
This one got me. She basically made her face look like she was made of silver metal (à la Silver Surfer), and what gets me is that the highlights, shadows, and chrome effects are painted on. There’s no chrome makeup involved.
Dream collab: Her ability to transform her face means she’d be perfect for just about any kind of collab. I think it would be kinda interesting to see a brand (preferably on the more goth side of things) work with her for a makeup look that’s an artistic interpretation of one of their products, their logo, etc.
Alternatively, because HBOMax seems to be partnering with everyone and their brother for House of the Dragon (IYKYK), it would be awesome to see a Targaryan cosplay (and it should absolutely be Aemond one-eye).
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