This week in influencer marketing news, TikTok ends its Creator Fund for a new initiative favoring longer videos, amidst a music rights dispute with Universal impacting creators. Brands like Wendy's and Kellogg face backlash for their marketing tactics, as influencers tap into connected TV and Amazon reviews for earnings. The debate over user-generated content versus paid influencer partnerships intensifies, with a shift towards Gen Alpha influencers and female creators taking the lead in the industry. LinkedIn emerges as a platform for influencer marketing. Read more below.

Additionally, scroll further down to catch some insights into our favorite food and beverage trends we’re seeing in some compelling recent influencer collaborations.

TikTok is shutting down its Creator Fund: TikTok waves goodbye to its Creator Fund, pushing creators towards longer content with the Creativity Program. A pivot or a pitfall? Read more

TikTok Begins Removing Universal Music Publishing Songs, Expanding Royalty Battle: TikTok and Universal's royalty battle escalates, pulling a vast catalog of music off the platform. Creators and fans are caught in the crossfire, losing a key promotional tool. Read more

Social media trends: pricing and power: Wendy's dynamic pricing sparks backlash, Kellogg suggests cereal for dinner amid financial advice controversy, and Reformation teams up with Monica Lewinsky for a voting initiative, stirring social media conversations on brand strategies. Read more

Creators on connected TV - How influencers are impacting shoppable TV and commerce: Influencers like MrBeast and the duo Rhett and Link are making waves on streaming platforms, hinting at a future where more creators bring their content to connected TVs. Read more

Meet the Amazon ‘influencers’ making money off everything they own: Amazon influencers turn everyday items into cash by reviewing everything from kettlebells to rubber duckies, transforming video reviews into a lucrative side hustle. Read more

After years of wooing Gen Z, brands are tapping Gen Alpha as ambassadors & influencers: Brands are pivoting to Gen Alpha influencers, shifting from Gen Z tactics to include younger voices in marketing, and carefully navigating marketing to minors. Read more

Female creators and UGC content dominate the influencer marketing industry, new report finds: Female creators and UGC content are leading the influencer marketing industry, with projections suggesting significant growth and opportunities for creatives in the digital world. Read more

How LinkedIn is becoming a hot spot for influencer marketing: LinkedIn is transforming into a prime venue for influencer marketing, attracting attention with dedicated agencies like Creator Authority connecting brands and creators. Read more

Bud Light reveals cost of sales hit after trans influencer backlash: Bud Light faces a sales downturn amid controversy over partnering with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, despite Anheuser-Busch InBev reporting a 7% profit rise. Read more

On social media, everyone’s loving a new take on Cacio e Pepe, three-ingredient desserts, and salad-turned-subs. Dessert mashups are stealing the spotlight; not for health, but for sheer indulgence. Plus, high-protein recipes and bean dishes are getting love for their healthy yet delicious vibes.

A variation on the traditional Cacio e Pepe

Simple, healthy desserts: Three-Ingredient Fudge, Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Turning salads into subs/hoagies/sandwiches: Crunchy Chicken Caesar Sub, Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwich, 10-Minute Chopped Salad Sandwich

Pizza sandwiches

Dessert mashups: Cookie Croissant, Snickerdoodle Blondies, Carrot Cake Cheesecake

Beans: Antipasto Three-Bean Salad, Cuban-Inspired Black Beans

High Protein Recipes: Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash, Day of Eating 130g of Protein, High Protein Snack Meal Prep, Double Chocolate Protein Cookies

Here are recent partnerships we’ve seen that we’re loving!

nutsaboutgreens x Harmless Harvest: We love how creative this creator got with incorporating coconut water into her spicy peanut noodle recipe. The video feels authentic and organic with the product packaging coming into the video naturally. Adding the recipe into the caption also creates higher engagement.

thegreatspoonfeed x Pete & Gerry's: This creator combines great VO with beautiful lighting and engaging shots. The product incorporation also felt natural and organic.

missbakersbites x Ontario Dairy: We’re loving the personality this creator has for her opener. Her reaction, narration, and second shot are extremely engaging. We love the second shot since it feels decadent aka more engaging.

jesspryles x H-E-B: The opener, ASMR, and VO are great combinations! The video is also very informative.

mrsmckennabarry x Talenti: The VO has a great hook and the opener is also intriguing, making the viewer want to keep watching. Produce is seen earlier in the video, but feels natural with the VO.

Here are some of our favorite recent branded influencer campaigns The Feedfeed team has managed.

Feedfeed is your daily source of inspiration for what to cook, bake, eat, and drink, reaching 55M food lovers each month. We are one of the world’s largest social media food & lifestyle publications fueled by a worldwide community of home cooks, foodies, and food industry pros, that tag their social media posts with #feedfeed. Each month, 50K+ posts per month are shared on our hashtag, serving as a real-time peak into culinary trends around the world. Our Team uses the hashtag to discover new food trends, emerging content creators, influencers, and the best content to feature on our channels. #feedfeed has helped us build lasting relationships and connect all the participants of the food world in a meaningful way.

Influencer Marketing Campaigns and Collaborations: Feedfeed creates start-to-finish custom influencer campaigns that align our brand partners with trusted influencers (nano influencers, micro influencers and macro influencers) that create trending content served up to highly engaged target audiences. Feedfeed makes it easy to work with influencers by handling influencer sourcing/vetting, conceptualizing, contracting, creative direction, and reporting for branded content campaigns, Influencer trips, events, seeding, and shopper marketing campaigns, as part of a strategic, comprehensive and cost effective influencer marketing strategy.  Task us with developing influencer collaborations that align with your strategic goals, big or small.

Original Content & Distribution: Feedfeed’s original content studio has been a pioneer and leader in social native organic and branded sponsored content for 10 years, continuing to spearhead new content trends, and formats on emerging existing and emerging social media platforms. We leverage in-house content creators and one of the largest networks of food & lifestyle creators, as well as a wide distribution network across all relevant social and digital marketing channels.

Experiential: Feedfeed conceptualizes and executes engaging IRL (in person) and virtual experiences (zoom and metaverse), including dinner parties, cocktail hours, workshops, panel talks and conference activations.