Diversity in Influencer Marketing: All Talk and No Action?

Diversity. It's been a buzzword for years now, especially in advertising. However, from my viewpoint it rarely exists in a fully cohesive and integrated way. Yes, some brands approach the issue well but overall it either tends to be a confusing concept to implement or a tokenized "Hey we put aside ONE SINGLE campaign for people of color" manifestation. I don't necessarily look down on most companies for the downfall in this area but I know the industry can do better.

Enter Divergent Media, the company I started that works exclusively with creators of color in the digital space. As the world of influencer marketing grows, so does the responsibility of brands who embrace it to diversify and showcase the plethora of talented influencers who are perfect brand ambassador candidates. We're an influencer marketing agency designed to highlight and push for a diverse representation of influencers in the online advertising space. At Divergent Media, we provide access to top multicultural influencers, project management services, campaign creative services and so much more. The bottom line is this: Diversity shouldn’t be an option, it should be a necessity. 

Why me? 

I'm pretty sure there's probably a better suited person out there to tackle this issue other than me but since I don't know them, and what I've created doesn't currently exist, I'm taking the initiative and hoping our paths cross in the future. As someone who has been a YouTube Creator for the past 6 years (3 years of doing it full-time as a profession), I've always had a passion for the industry but especially the area of branded integrations. The challenge of creating unique branded content that your audience will enjoy has always been something I've enjoyed and we've had a lot of success with it on our channel. However, as the years have gone by we've noticed (being a multiracial family) that there is always one, and usually only one, email we'll receive per year from a brand or agency that, in so many words, says, "Hey, we want to showcase diversity in this influencer campaign we're doing so we're reaching out to you!" or "We want to reach young African-Americans so we're reaching out to you guys to do so!" While I think this is great, it seems to be "something they have to do" instead of having diversity be a fully integrated part of every campaign a brand does. 

So I decided to combine my years of experience as an influencer, as well as my time working at Fullscreen as their Social Engagement Strategist, along with my passion to see representation of people of color within advertising and create Divergent Media.

What is Divergent Media?

The goal of Divergent Media is two-fold:

1. Consistently connect brands to influencers of color for ongoing partnerships across EVERY campaign the brand creates. (Let us be your guaranteed provider of 30%-50% of every influencer campaign roster across the board to ensure unique voices are showcasing brand objectives)
2. Consult on brand campaigns, on behalf of the influencers we work with, to ensure that campaigns are representative of communities of color. 

The first part of the goal functions as any other influencer marketing agency: We reach out to brands/agencies to see how we can work together to offer branded integration opportunities to influencers. (If you work for a brand or agency and want to learn more let's talk: austin@divergentmedia.co) What sets us apart is that we work EXCLUSIVELY with influencers of color, particularly mid-tier creators. There are so many influencer agencies these days which is awesome for the industry. However, other than the few big name influencers of color at the top, there are so many mid-level influencers of color who aren't given the "mainstream" opportunities that their other mid-level counterparts may be given.

The second part of this goal is something that is more integral and big picture. We know that Hollywood has a major inclusion and diversity problem and I believe the same problem exists on YouTube and in the influencer ecosystem in general. I have plenty of thoughts on this in regards to the platforms, the way they promote creators and how algorithms work in regards to which channels seem to blow up for no reason and which ones don't but I'll leave that alone for now. My focus, in this regard, is more on meeting with brands directly to help conceive influencer campaigns that are more inclusive, making sure representation is present on the roster of influencers for each and every campaign and also working with our roster of influencers to proactively conceive, develop and pitch their own ideas for branded integrations to brands of their choosing and interest.

What do we offer to brands/agencies?

We want to see comprehensive measures enacted to bring about diversity and representation in the online advertising ecosystem. In each of our offerings this goal is baked in throughout the process. We currently offer project management services, campaign creative services and social media consulting. 

Project management services basically entails the traditional agency relationship with a brand or other agency. We manage the project of an influencer campaign by helping provide great influencers, running day-to-day management of the campaign, helping develop the creator's content for the brand, etc. 

Creative campaign services is more of a proactive consulting offering for brands and agencies alike that combines my background of successful content creation for brands with the focus of Divergent Media. How can all facets of an influencer campaign showcase inclusivity and diversity? In what ways can a campaign be tailored to people of color? I believe it's something that brands can do better. It's not that this doesn't exist with certain brands but there's always room for improvement. There are also plenty of other brands that may need help mixing things up with their influencer marketing approach in regards to diversity and representation.

Social media consulting is a pretty straightforward offering dealing with general implementation of social content. Social media is constantly changing and both brands and creators need to stay on top of trends and best practices to maximize reach and results. At Divergent Media, we offer consulting services for everything from social media best practices for creators to social media content implementation for major brand campaigns.

What now?

I'd love to have discussion about this issue in the comments below. More importantly, if you're a a brand or agency looking for someone to help bring more diversity to your digital campaigns let's talk: austin@divergentmedia.co. Thanks for reading and let's work together to make influencer marketing truly representative of the online ecosystem of creators.