Article provided by Shelly Chadha, Content Manager, Fanbytes
We have seen a massive shift in the world these past few months, and it’s forced a lot of us to remove our rose-tinted glasses.
Matters such as systemic racism have been given a spotlight and we, at Fanbytes, have decided to take advantage. We are a team of diverse young people from all types of ethnic backgrounds and with diversity existing at our core, we felt compelled to take action so that other brands in the influencer marketing industry can follow suit. By this, we mean creating something meaningful, sustainable and powerful that goes beyond a black square on an Instagram feed.
In doing so, we were able to create The Fanbytes Impact Programme; a fund which finances marketing campaigns owned by Black-owned businesses by leveraging the talents of Black creators on social media. We feel that it is not only important to help Black-owned businesses thrive but with the racial wealth gap still very much apparent, to also champion our Black creators in the process.
Our data reveals that while Black creators have a click-through-rate of 2.2x more than White creators, they are still less likely to be considered for campaigns as they don’t fit the mould of what a stereotypical ‘influencer’ is. So, our reasons for the fund is two-fold; 1. We can accelerate Black-owned businesses growth and 2. We’re able to help Black creators receive the recognition, opportunities and fair payment that they deserve.
The businesses receiving this financial backing tend to have a revenue of up to £15k per month and are in need of a boost to take their company to the next level. So far, we have worked with four brands on influencer campaigns on both TikTok & Instagram and we have been delighted to hear of the positive impact it’s been having on these small businesses.
Among some of the brands we have worked with are 516 Polish, a vegan, cruelty-free indie nail polish brand championing swatch diversity and Bowe Skincare, a company launched in response to women of colour being repeatedly seen as an afterthought in the beauty industry. Here you can find a great example of a creative from 516 Polish’s campaign.
Over the course of the next year the fund will finance and activate £100,000 worth of marketing campaigns.
The Fanbytes Impact Programme is our way of providing funding where there is a lack thereof. We understand that change does not happen overnight and that we all have a very long way to go to find equality in what feels like a very unbalanced world. However, we feel that providing a platform and a space for Black voices to excel is a great way of setting up the next generation of Black-owned companies. Needless to say, we’re excited to meet them.
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