More 2 Marketing

Susan
More to marketing. Welcome to more 2 marketing and podcast on marketing, product and everything in between. I’m your host Susan and today we’re going to be talking about the role of influencers and how affiliate marketing can complement your strategy. I am very lucky to have a very special person here today, Sarah. She is. She has got so many. Compliment accomplishments behind her, but one of the major ones that I was so pleased to see from a consumer point of view was her successful social brand called Miss Tyr. Finding a gap in the market, Sarah has actually been able to grow her channel for real women to be able to contribute their content, so I’ll let her talk a bit more about what it is, but it’s something that I’ve loved. I’ve been able. To. Love clicking through it, seeing people that are like me, and seeing what fits them best as well. But she’ll give you a bit more in. Detail on that. I am really a shy person, so I haven’t been doing a lot of sharing myself, but I’ve been looking at other people. But I endure the atmosphere that’s been created behind Miss Tyler, and that’s definitely something that everyone should definitely try out and see themselves and how this came about too. But Sarah tells a bit more about you and Miss Tyler as well.
Sarah
Perfect. And I love that intro and it’s totally fine that you don’t need to share on the app, it’s designed for anyone to go in there and use it as it makes them feel comfortable. The whole idea of Miss Tyler is essentially a way to help women find and buy clothes That fit.
And. My background is not fashion. My background is actually telecommunications. I spent. Think nearly 20 years in that in that industry where I. Didn’t learn very.
Susan
Definitely different.
Sarah
Much. Yeah, very, very different. And I didn’t learn very much about fashion and my personality like and and who I am like, I honestly like. I’m not the person who enjoys reading fashion magazines. I don’t just notice what people are wearing. And I, you know, I I don’t click through the magazines like I find it really intimidating and overwhelming when I go shopping because I don’t know what to pick up. I don’t know what things to go together invariably. Like, you’ll take 10 things into the changing room and one. Of them might look. Good. And so it’s like this real process of trial and error, but while I don’t like that process at the same time. I I have to get dressed every. Day and I feel much better when I like my outfit.
Susan
Don’t we all, though, that that I’ve I’ve got the exact same challenge too, because I don’t know what fits my body type. Having had kids, my body’s changed. Yeah, so, so that makes it really difficult and very self conscious as well, which is coming back to that shy point.
Sarah
Yes. And and I really think you know, I think there’s a lot of innovation that that has been coming out from people that are industry outsiders because sometimes industry insiders assume that everybody knows more than they do. And so for instance, in fashion, all the people that work in fashion, love fashion, they know how to like judge sleeves. And tuck things in to make them look extra grey, but they, but not everyone knows how to do that, and not everybody enjoys that process. And so the whole idea of Miss Tye. Was helping people like me. Dress my body and the way that I think about the world is, you know, you have personal stylists who are incredible and they know how to dress different body types. But it’s hard to get access to a personal stylist and that may not be affordable to everyone. Yeah, but then you have like maybe 10% of the world that loves shopping and are experts. Addressing for their own body so they may not know how to dress other people, but they know how to dress themselves. And so my thought with Miss Tyler is like, why can’t we just connect all the people on our platform to? The people who. Have the same body. Because that person is already doing the job of styling and discovery and trying on so. They’re essentially your personal stylist.
Susan
I love it because everyone you really do have to get this app and flick through it. If you can put in your own size details in there, then it just naturally just shows you all the different things that would match for you, how the colour looks and it links off to the sites in most cases as well. So then you can easily purchase it too. And that’s what I really loved about. It is not only did it show me what would look good. But in a lot of cases it showed me where to buy it as well. So. I didn’t have to go. Hunting. Yes, so much time.
Sarah
Saved when we launched there. So you. Know I I. Was like, OK, well, I want everybody to have a good experience that comes on. So I needed to have creators and influencers. I mean we, we call them contributors. On the app, because not all the women on the app would consider themselves influencers.
Susan
It is a very daunting title, isn’t.
Sarah
But. It. Yeah. And it’s like when we think about an influencer like. You know, we all sort of have this, like, stereo. Type, but you could be like for instance, my mom. She’s a contributor on Miss Tyler. She has 42 followers on Instagram. She is not an influencer, but she loves dressing. And she looks great and she’s happy to share that with our community. So you know for us, like, you know that as a contributor could be. Anyone we do have? A bunch of people who would call themselves influencers or that are, you know, models or stylists, but a lot of them are like accountants or school teachers. But they love fashion. And so when we were starting, I obviously wanted to have a diversity. So that from the get go, you could come into the app and see yourself represented. And so rather than trying to find a group of people and teaching them how to like, post clothes, we went to Instagram and we had a look at people who. We were already posting like fashion content, so we were searching for things like out for the day and then we started doing things like like style over 40 style over 50 style over 60. So lots of diversity. Age and then you know mid size plus size. Petite, tall, curvy. You know in every every sort of facet we could try and find. So we we sort of did that when we really early launched and we didn’t even have any creators I basically had created a database of 400 celebrities and I had pulled you can pull their data from the Internet. So and pull those data. So the first iteration of Miss Tyler would like put in all your body data and we’ll show you which celebrity you matched to, and then you can know, OK, she’s my body double whenever I see her in a magazine. I can sort of see that the things that she’s wearing are gonna suit me too. And then we started recruiting these creators once. We have, like, an app so they can sort of see what the app was about. And we. Were like we’re now. Recruiting contributors sign up and we had 180 people sign up.
Susan
Wow.
Sarah
Which was incredible to be creators and they they sort of added for outfit posts, you know, to kind of get in the door and those we call our founding contributors and they were so special because like they really took that leap of faith. They didn’t know what the product was gonna be, but they were like, I’m willing to participate in this and like help other women. And so that was fantastic. So we we basically had celebrities then when we had 180 contributors, we launched them onto the platform. So when you were sorting you’d you’d see like here are my body matches, celebrity celebrity contributor, celebrity, celebrity contributor and the feedback was actually we’re just having to skip through the celebrities to find the real women. Cuz that’s helpful because they’re wearing. Clothes that are that you know are accessible.
Susan
And probably affordable.
Sarah
Affordable. They’re not, they’re not. Custom made, ever spoke. And you know it’s the type of things that I would wear to brunch or to pick up the kids or to go shopping or to go to work. So it was much more related.
Susan
I love that, and probably even now it’s got to the point of like the tips of what you could wear for your size and shape for weddings or for a graduation or those other events that you’re always looking at at the websites going OK what is actually going to fit me that I don’t need to return?
Sarah
Yes. Exactly. And so like, there are so many components to this. And again, like I wasn’t from a fashion background, I was just trying to make it, I was trying to solve my own problem. But then, as I sort of dove into the world of fashion, like one of the biggest issues in fashion is like that the return rate for online clothes is nearly 40%. So that is really expensive for brands. I mean, it’s annoying for us as well. Like, it’s great that we can make returns easy and simple and fast, but it would still be easier not to return. At all.
Susan
The time it’s just the time that gets eaten away.
Sarah
The time or or it’s like, you know, buying something that was on sale and you can’t return it. You’re stuck with it or you. Just don’t get around to doing it in time, you know, so it’s all of that sort of stuff. But also there’s a huge environmental cost. So if you think about 40% that is like now not only get does it get shipped to you, but then it gets shipped back to sort of like some distribution arm and then they have to assess it and go like can this be resold? Then it gets set somewhere else. Does this need to be? You know, thick start. Does this need to go to clearance? Does this some? Does it go to landfill, you know, cause only 1/3 of returns could be. Resold at full price. So returns. Is a huge issue. Which we think we can solve because there’s a lot. Actually, when I started, I was fundraising. So I was meeting with investors and telling them this is Miss tile. This is why we need to raise money. This is our vision and you know, part of my story was that we could reduce return rates because you can actually see what the clothing looks like on a body like yours. And you can see how it’s. Style because I I do think styling is such a big. Part of fit. And you know, investors sort of have a bit of an eye roll when you say that you’re gonna solve returns because a lot of people have tried to solve it. And if you go into sites, it’ll be like, you know, this is the best size view recommendation and. So they’re all. Trying to solve fit with size whereas it’s like size. It’s it’s so much more than size. It’s your height, it’s your shape, it’s your colouring. It’s, it’s always. It’s your age. It’s all these other things that that determine a good fit. Like you can have something that technically fits you, but it just. Doesn’t look right. You know, it’s like your torso is too long or too short. You know, it’s a bit too short. It’s a bit too. Along all those sort of things, and if you don’t know how to style it, it can look wrong. Whereas like if you knew that you added a belt or you had to wear it with high waisted pants, or if you just needed to roll up the sleeves all of a sudden it could look great. And that’s just stuff that we don’t necessarily know. So our thesis was that we could solve returns which we have. Actually like of all the transactions that have gone through Miss Tyler so far, our return rate is less than five. Percent, which is Wow Lane.
Susan
It’s a phenomenon.
Sarah
And it’s so nice when I have like we use affiliate, which we can get onto in a second. So basically we’re we’re generally like our values are that we’re brand agnostic. We’re like you wear and promote whatever makes you feel good. Where we can make a partnership with that brand so that we get affiliate Commission in return for the sale. We will and we share that with the crew.
Sarah
But we we won’t not show things that we don’t make money. From. So that means.
Susan
That.
Sarah
With things that are affiliate, that’s when we can see the return rate, whereas like things that aren’t affiliate, we don’t have any transparency. So we can’t see what was bought. We can’t see what what was returned. So we don’t have any visibility on that. But so it’s great to sort of have that data. I can’t remember. I was going with that point.
Susan
But yeah, I think it’s just the excitement of knowing that you have made a difference in contribution to that return rate by having this fantastic app for real people to use, not just for sizing, but also for how to accessorise how to wear it right, what to wear it with.
Sarah
Yeah. And it’s amazing because you think about fashion and fashion has always been traditionally. Like in excessively aspirational. It’s literally if you think about a catwalk walk model like they are usually 5 foot nine or four, which is like some like something like 1% of the population, then they’re. Yep, height then re size 0 to maybe a size 2. So when you put all those factors in that’s .3% of.
Sarah
The population that. Looks like that, but then you add on to that that they also have to be probably in their in your teens or 20s, you know. So even that that person who fits that. All all of a sudden, you know they’re too old. They don’t even fit into that. So you know it’s we’re not seeing. Ourselves represented like very. Very few women are seen themselves represented, which makes it hard because first of all, when you see clothes on a body that’s not like yours, it’s hard to determine how it’s gonna look on you. But also when you see image after image after image of these people who don’t look like you. You start thinking ohh. I’m not. I’m not normal. I’m abnormal. That’s normal. I’m abnormal. And so what’s been amazing about Miss Tyler is because we have this fit algorithm that matches you to the creators who look most like you. Everybody’s experience is that they are normal and they fit. In and that there’s lots. Yeah, it’s amazing cuz it’s like if you’re size 20, you go in there and match with women that are size 20 and you’re like, oh, there’s lots of women that are size 20 and they’re freaking fashionable. They look incredible. Look how.
Susan
Is a community.
Sarah
Confident they are.
Sarah
And I also know that whatever they’re wearing comes in my size and will look good on me. As opposed to like scrolling through like all this content thing. Ohh I’m too tall for that. I’m too short for that. I’m not curvy enough you.
Susan
What’s that name?
Sarah
Like colour won’t go with me. Exactly. It’s not my colouring, you know, like all that sort of stuff. So. So it’s just like a much nicer experience. And then we’re actually we’ve just launched. If anyone has the app updated and if anyone hasn’t got the app when you get it, you’ll get this version, but we’ve launched what we call representational advertising and so we have allowed brands to create sponsored posts where they basically taking current creator content on the app. And turning it into a brand carousel. So rather than seeing one person wearing that brand, you can see five different women wearing that brand. And so we basically say to the brands the best way to use this is to choose five diverse women, so have five different sizes and as much diversity as you can.
Susan
Love it.
Sarah
Plan. But then what’s really cool about this representational advertising is because we have that body match score. Everybody sees a different version of the ad, so everybody sees the creator who’s their top match first. So if you’re size 6, you’re seeing the size six person. If you’re size 14, you’re saying the size 14 person, so everybody’s like.
Sarah
That’s cool that that brand is actually creating an ad that is for me. I immediately know that’s relevant to me and I feel represented.
Susan
It’s like a double personalization. Not only do they know when they go in there, they’re going to get personalised contributor content. But now they know that the very first ad served is also going to be personalised too for them so. I I do. You know, I do. I I. Love this so much.
Sarah
And it’s it’s nice as well because you know, there are a lot of brands that are really inclusive and that care about representation. But it’s very hard for them because it’s expensive to shoot different models. And even if you did shoot someone in every different size in every different size you have. Tall, medium, short. You have curvy straight you. You have different colourings, you’ve got different ages. Like it’s just not possible, which is why I sort of think, you know, crowdsourcing. This is really the only way to do it in a really viable way. Not to mention, even if you did have a dress on all these different bodies, it’s going to suit some people more than others and so.
Susan
Exactly.
Sarah
The way that we see it is like our the women on our platform, they’re doing that job of trying and testing things on. They might have tried on 10 things to find the one thing that they’re showing you, but they’re only showing you the wins. So they’re already doing. That work for you?
Susan
Exactly. And I think the the only brand I’ve actually seen try to do this and. They succeeded to a point would be that the Dove body image ads that came out, where they’ve got all the diversity up there of women for their dove products. But again, it was very much comparing yours to theirs. Theirs was in your face, throwing it at you, where you’re still looking at all these women.
That. And you’re still like, which one is me? I actually don’t know. Out of these ten women in this ad, which one I’m actually sized against. Am I that really giant one there? Am I that middle 1:00 AM I that tiny 1:00 AM I that short, tall one? I I don’t know. I’m looking at this ad. Yes, it’s great representation. But who am I in? Yeah, yeah. Whereas yours, it’s actually down to that granular level of I privately have personally put in my size. So I feel safe and comfortable. And now I’m being served content that’s actually relevant to me because I want to look awesome. And these guys really do and I want to emulate that awesomeness.
Sarah
Yeah, yeah, it’s incredible. I’m we launched during Co. Good. And that was great in some ways because, you know, as a startup, you’re working really hard. And I was thinking, I’m not going to be earning a salary. I’m going to be missing out on all the. Dinners and. Social occasions, yes. Suddenly I’m not missing out on anything and you’re. Able to just. Work. But also people aren’t buying clothes. Which for us was not so much an issue because we weren’t sort of trying to do that sales thing yet, but from a content point of view, it meant that people posting clothes that aren’t available to buy, you know, it’s like even this denim jacket that I’m wearing now. This is from queue. I had this, I had this in high school. I think this is 20 years old.
Susan
Classics.
Sarah
You cannot buy it any longer, but you know, we discovered that actually brand discovery was really relevant. So even if you saw something, someone wearing like a blazer from a brand and it wasn’t available to buy anymore, you go OK, but that’s a brand that I hadn’t heard of before. And if that person has my body and they’re shopping that brand, they’re going to have similar cuts. So now. I’m going to check out that brand and see what other jackets. We have. So we actually just launched a website earlier this year called brands for your body and it’s basically a cut down version of Miss Tiller where you don’t have like the you don’t have the whole social community, but you can just put in. This is my dress size. This is my height and we just show you the brand. That are most commonly worn by creators that are your height and size, and so it’s still kind of using the data and the power of our community, but in a very sort of cut down brand discovery way. But then you don’t need to download an app and you don’t need to sign up. The reason we have people sign up for Miss Tiler as opposed to just making it open is because again like. The creators on our platform are sharing their body data to help you so you can go on to any creator and even if they’re not like a high match to you, you could be like I love what they’re wearing. OK, I can go on there. I can see that they’re three inches taller than me and I could see that they’re two sizes smaller. Or whatever it happens to be. So then you can kind of do the maths and figure. Out how it’s gonna. Fit. So the creators, like sharing their body data to help you, but that’s very personal. And so we sort of have to have a job of like, you know, vetting people when they come in, they’re a real person. And we sort of have a tick box which, you know.
Sarah
These things do help, but it’s kind of like I’m here for the right reasons basically. Like I’m here to be part of a community and I’m here for the right reasons. We also don’t advertise on any platform that targets men, so for instance. It’s like Facebook because we’re an app, we are taking people directly to the app page on Google to run a campaign that pushes to apps. It’s called a Universal app campaign. That’s kind of their tool that you can use to advertise apps. It does not allow you to target by gender, just crazy.
Sarah
What it’s supposed to do is overtime learn. And optimised, but the problem is that when we started launching those campaigns, we were just getting like lots of like creepy. Men in? Yeah, no. And so just can’t use that anymore. So we use only platforms we we can only target women. And when we talk about women, you know, we have lots of trans women. Well, we don’t have lots, but we have a bunch.
Control.
Of trans women on the.
Susan
Even though it identifies as female.
Sarah
Right. Yes. And even if you don’t identify as female, even if you’re non binary, but you know you wear women’s clothes or you want to be inspired by women’s clothes. It’s kind of like we use the term women, but it’s like if you feel like you’re supposed to be here, then you totally do belong here.
Susan
I love that I love the inclusiveness behind it, and that’s probably why in your creative content space it’s been exploding so much as well because of the creator economy and being able to share those different, diverse people wearing the the women traditional outfits.
Sarah
The other thing with the creator economy and I almost think about this. As being like Netflix, so Netflix had the blockbusters, you know, like the the five movies that have just come out, that were really expensive. To get which is. What they were competing with everyone else with these blockbusters.
That’s. But there’s all this like long tail content, which is an amazing content, but it may not be mainstream, so it may not suit everyone. But then they had this really clever algorithm that allowed them to serve up content that you’re gonna really like, but they don’t share it with everyone, cuz not everyone’s going to like it. So I sort of think traditional social media.
Sarah
It uses popularity as a proxy for relevance, whereas we don’t care about popularity we care about. Relevance. So for instance on our platform. If you are 4 foot 8. The creator that is also 4 foot 8 is going to be the most valuable person to you. They may only have three followers because you know not many people of four foot 8:00, but they are the most relevant person to you versus you know somebody who’s 5 foot 10 might have lots of followers. They are totally not relevant to you.
Susan
Miss Lord Nash? Yeah.
Sarah
So what’s been great? About us is that. It’s not, you know, there’s not this thing where the people that become more popular, I get all the followers and everyone else gets left behind. Everybody gets served up to different creators based on what they look like, so it kind of is distributed much more evenly, which is really nice. And then the other thing is that on platforms like Instagram, it’s really hard to grow an audience. I think there’s a lot of creators that are really struggling with it because it’s just so hard to grow, whereas on our platform, they’ve been able to grow audiences really easily. Because we’re doing that job of, like, serving them up. To people so. That’s been like sort of like one of the key. Benefits for creators, the other part of it is really just, you know, people who love fashion and just like love being part of a community and contributing to a community in an area that they’re really passionate about and helping other women feel good. And we do content moderation. So whenever somebody content, sorry comments on. A post. We actually it it goes live, but anyone on the app can report it. But we also every day go through and just manually go. Yes, it’s OK or no, this is not OK.
Susan
Hmm, that’s good.
Sarah
But we really don’t have to do much. The most we get is like, you know, sometimes they’ll be like somebody on that just goes. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. And we’re like, OK, that is not what what’s intended, but we really haven’t had anything negative. Like we really don’t have to do very much at all, which is like, really nice because it is just like such a positive community. And the women on the apps will. We know each other now and you. Know it’s it’s really beautiful.
Susan
It sounds it as well and I think they with that evolution as well of the influence of space for the content creation there like you just said, it’s not about popularity, it’s about the relevance, yes, and that’s why it’s been able to be able to grow and be so successful for all the content creators, because it’s not like they have to compete. Against bad skinny person who is in the modelling magazine, who happens to have joined and become your latest influencer. There’s any?
Sarah
Or or the person who you know has like a camera crew following them around and spends hours editing, you know, a single video.
Susan
Exactly. It’s going to be as we we keep saying relevant and that’s where this beautiful evolution has started here. And I’d love, I really do. I love seeing it on your app because it just means that you’re not wasting your time flicking through. Yes, you might want to look at it, but that’s what a fashion magazine might be for or or somewhere.
Sarah
Yeah.
Susan
Another website that serves that content. Up, but this is being relevant for you, which is just absolutely magical.
Sarah
And there has been, I mean one of the insights we did find was, like, yes, women love seeing who looks like them because that helps. That’s, like, super helpful. But we also got feedback that women also like seeing the diversity of the app. And so we launched a couple of years ago, our feature called Daily Inspo, where every day we have like, a prompt where. It’s like today, why don’t you try wearing purple or today? Why don’t you try wearing polka dots? And here is how 15 women are wearing this trend. And on that we always try and have a diversity of women. So everything in the app is body relevant. Daily Inspo is diverse. And so because people go in there and they’re like, oh, she’s 70 and she’s rocking that, you know. Like she’s, you know, so petite. And she looks fabulous like she’s, you know, mid size or plus size. And she looks awesome. But having that diversity, it kind of like, it’s like a nice reminder. It’s like, you know what? We’re all so different and we all.
Susan
Exactly.
Sarah
Just part of this and we’re all in it together, you know? So that’s that’s really nice. And the other good thing about like daily info is that people who do it, it kind of forces you to like, get created with your. Closet. So you’re like, well, actually. But I do have something that’s purple. It’s like that scarf in the back. Like, how would I wear a scarf? And. Then all of a sudden, you know, people actually have a bit more fun with. It’s so easy just to pull back into pattern of like. Denim, denim, jeans and a grey shirt that I’m wearing today. But then when you’re. Sort of like. Pushed to try and do something a little bit different, you actually end up like finding things in the water and going, oh, I felt really great in that outfit like that actually was really fun.
Susan
Fun and things are, as you said, getting pulled out. They haven’t been worn for a while and now you’re now excited about that again.
Sarah
Totally. And then you know, just this whole movement, I mean for Miss Tyler, we obviously care about, you know, micro nano influencers because for us we just care about diversity so that we can like have that relevancy for every user. But that is a huge macro trend. Brands, businesses, everybody. The the. There’s a definite shift of power away from these macro influences to micro nano influence because they’re more relatable, they’re more authentic, they’re more.
Susan
Engaged maybe for the audience, in case they don’t know. Do you mind explaining what a macro, micro and nano influencer is?
Sarah
Yeah. So it’s basically all, uh, down to how many followers you have. So you kind of have your celebrity influences like the like the like the what are the Kardashians? Then you have sort of the macro influences which is like 50,100 thousand plus.
Susan
Yep.
Sarah
And then under 50,000 you have your micro influencers and then? I think it’s below. Like 10,000 or 5000 or 1000, I I even forget it. But it’s like nano influencers. So it’s kind of just like based on the audience size and in the past. So let’s just say five years ago it was all down to audience size. So if I. And have a campaign with this person. I’d pay them. A campaign fee. Then I would get access to their whole audience, but then now what they’re finding is that they actually get more traction by working with these smaller creators. But I might work with like 10 creators to get the same rates, but I think I’m going to have higher engagement.
Susan
All about targeting, isn’t it?
Sarah
Yeah, exactly. But as a sort of shift happens, it’s harder to work with micro and nano influencers at the same scale as macro. So for instance in macro, you might have had an agent that negotiates the campaign and the payment and all. That sort of stuff. Whereas you can’t do that with micro, Nano influences one. They don’t have an agent. Two you know, they may not have a large enough audience to command like a a campaign fee, but what’s becoming really popular is like 1 gifting. Gifting is a great way that you know I can send out a pair of jeans and then get content in return, but even then it’s like well, if I need to work with 100 creators, maybe I can’t send out 100 pairs of jeans, which is where. Affiliate comes into play. So affiliate is really great because and you know affiliate marketing is essentially for online marketing. If you recommend a brand and somebody purchases, there’s tracking that shows that you sent that sale and you get Commission in return and. So that’s that’s how we work. So we basically where we can, we have an affiliate partnership with brands. We actually give 80%, which is like huge.
Susan
Very huge amount to the contributor.
Sarah
Yeah. So we we pass on and and to be honest, like in the past we were just passing on 100% and saying it was 80%. But you know for us like we we want the creators to like get as much value as they can. So it’s a great way to do that because for brands it’s low risk because they don’t pay anything unless they get a sale. So it’s really compelling, but then for a creator when they’re doing this work of creating content and then sharing it, they’re getting rewarded. So it is and it’s super scalable. It’s really easy like you set up a campaign or a programme and then it’s just like an automated like you send somebody a link and they just sign up and. And it goes through and through Miss Tyler, we have all those partnerships and so in our app, we convert all the links to affiliate links and we have the creators handle embedded in that. So when we get the reporting back, we can see which creator drove that sale. So we can pass on the Commission to them.
Susan
And I think that’s that’s a really great way to be able to reward naturally, you will have some costs for running the platform and doing all these amazing changes as you’ve described over time. So that needs a bit of investment. So that’s where you can get those funds from. But then the contributors getting majority of it for, for doing this great work and bringing fresh content all the time.
Sarah
Yeah, exactly, exactly. You know, we, we’ve we’ve had venture capital funding so to date. For us, it’s not been about us making money. It’s been about us proving out that we can build a platform. That’s really valuable. And then in the future, there’s lots of different ways to monetize. So for instance, brand advertising is fantastic. And when I say brand advertising sort of these boosted posts, what we don’t want to do. Is like now. Fill the app with like nameless models and yeah, and remove what’s powerful about the app, which is you’re seeing it on a real person who has styled it in the way that they like and you can click on them and you can see their body data and.
Susan
Yeah. Take over.
Sarah
You can figure out where it’s going to fit you. But yeah, so there there’s lots happening. But yeah, I think in terms of like, just like those big macro trends, I think the creator economy is just huge at the moment. I definitely think there is like so much potential and opportunity for these macro nano influencers and creators affiliate is just such a powerful. Way to drive to to sort of drive away for brands to work with micro Nano influencers and it’s definitely great for us as well.
Susan
What do you think? If you’re going to give some advice to someone, what advice would you give to them about bringing in affiliates?
Sarah
So if you’re a brand, then there’s lots of affiliate platforms that you can use and as a brand, you just pick one affiliate platform and you basically set up. This is the contract. I’m willing to wait to pay this much Commission or you know this dollar value when anyone sends me a sale. And then people can apply and you can approve them. And as soon as they’re approved, they get a tracking link as soon as. They use that tracking link. It’s all.
Sarah
If you’re an influencer, then a lot of these platforms are now creating. They’re realising so in the past it was brand and publisher, and so a publisher was somebody who would promote it. So Miss Tyler, we are a publisher. Vogue is a publisher.
Sarah
You know big bloggers back then were published. They are now calling, you know, micro nano or, you know, creators, publishers and so. But but it’s a very different system and in the past you had to be doing, you had to be a certain size. To get approved. Whereas now a lot of these platforms are making it easier to work with creators we met. At deal Maker, which is one of the affiliate platforms. To 10, and Rakuten has a creator arm Commission Junction or CJ is another of the big ones. They also have a creator arm, a lot of a lot of them have those. I mean, if you’re interested in fashion, then just join Miss Tyler and you know, we’ll do it all for you.
Susan
Exactly. It makes it a lot easier that way too, and probably. A lot more fun? Yes, definitely. So if I go back to the influencers. When it comes to influences themselves, what are the key advantages and disadvantages that you’ve found by using them and particularly thinking about the authenticity of? It as well. Because I know that’s one of the key things about Miss Tyler is it does feel very authentic. So how do you keep that and? Like I said, the advantages and disadvantages of that.
Sarah
Yeah, I mean well. I you know, as I’ve said, I’m not a fashion person. Like I don’t think I have great style. You know, if you were relying on me to to give you style advice, that would not work. I’m a technology person. I’ve created a platform and all that we do as Miss Tyler is we allow people. To. Have. File and can give advice to share that on our platform. And so we really don’t interfere too much and I think you. Know all we do? Is like the process for applying to become a creator. You have to create your first floor, outfit posts and what we’re doing with that is we’re making sure that what you’re posting are outfits and they are on your body. So if you had just like clip art where you would take in a T-shirt from the website and like. Tuck that onto you know, a board with a pair of shoes. That’s that’s not miss Tyler. Miss Tyler is about you wearing it. So as long as it’s you wearing an outfit and.
Susan
MHM.
Sarah
You know, ideally it’s like, you know, good lighting. So you can see the outfit well, you know, we’re like, we’re not judging style. We’re not judging anything. We’re just like, you know, is this content that’s going to be. Helpful to our audience.
Susan
Exactly. So definitely with that one there, it’s more about making sure that the. The end user, which is these people looking and seeing people like them can actually see the outfit exactly, almost 3D. Or maybe that’s an idea for the future. You can do augmented reality or something.
Sarah
Yeah, we’ll we’ll do. We’ll do video in the future. It’s just, you know, we’ve got like, this endless list of things to do. We have to keep prioritising. But you know, video will come. But at the moment, you know, it can be a carousel. So ideally like you would post a few photos showing how the outfit looks from different angles. But again, yeah, like if you had like, it was like you sitting. On a bench you know 15 metres back and then you’re like a spec in the picture. That’s not very helpful. No, you know like. But if it’s like a a photo where you are taking up the majority of the photo and you’re showing off the outfit and you can see contrast from the background, so you can see where the clothes end.
Susan
That’s perfect, and that’s probably one of one of the key things for influencers to remember is their. Audience as well when they’re catering all this content so that they get the best result as well with the.
Sarah
Yes, definitely. And it really helps like you know you can post on Miss Tyler without sharing the brands or where it’s from. But as you said like it’s super helpful if you can show this is from this brand even if it’s not available to buy and then they add the link if it’s still available to buy. And then we do the work on the. Back end of converting that to an affiliate link exactly.
Susan
And you’ve talked a lot about platforms and your background in it as well with technology improvements and everything that’s happening out there in martech and also IT and platforms and even the future of technology. How have you utilised these different items and also the approaches to be able to get this channel working so well for you and any anything that you can share about the near future?
Sarah
Yeah, we actually are doing a lot of work in the generative AI space at the moment. It’s interesting. I saw an article and it was like can AI solve the diversity issue? And we’ll just like, you know. Dates. You know, fake people that are different body size just to show you how to close. And I’m like, no we we we can just solve it with real people who actually represent real people like.
Susan
There’s enough of them.
Sarah
We, we, they, they exist people of different sizes exist, but where we can use Gen AI is there’s there’s a lot of things we can do. So for instance like one of the things we’re looking at is just pulling like knowledge so for instance. We’re gonna create. This part called like the Miss Tyler AI stylist, where you can ask a question like I’m going to a wedding in Hawaii. The dress code is formal. What should I wear? And then you get an immediate response which is using this large language models that says something like. OK, so Hawaii, it’s hot. It’s wear like light, breathable materials, maxi dresses are fantastic. Laurels work really well. You know, such and such. So like that. Would be step one. Step 2 then is that our creators could also weigh in and add comments and be like, well, actually, I went to Hawaii and it’s and and it still is actually quite formal. Like, I think you’d be better at making sure that you have like floor length or whatever. So you could have, like, you know, the sort of like AI response, but then you can also have this unity response. AI can also do things like.
Susan
Oh yes.
Sarah
Moderate, so it can like understand language and highlight or like flag things that could be offensive or triggering and then sort of the next piece that we’re working on, which is harder to do is basically.
Sarah
And analyse all the data. So we’ve got 50,000 outfit posts on Miss Tyler, so we want to like analyse all that data and pull out keywords like in this picture. There’s a jacket. The jacket is denim and it’s casual and. It’s distressed the. Pants are XYZ, you know, so we can do all that sort of stuff that allows us to then you. Know. Combine these two things so we’re taking. Like the the prompt that we got from the AI stylist. We’re matching that to all the content on our site, so it’s like this is what you should wear to Hawaii. Here are examples from creators and then we serve that up in body order. So it’s like here are things you can actually buy as seen on bodies like yours for this event. And I should mention that with the with the AI stylist will actually like we already know things like we know your height, your size. We know your age, so we behind the scenes can add to your prompt and say this prompt is from somebody who is 35 and 5 foot five and a size 12 and such and. Touch and down the track as we have like more style information and their style preferences of this and they like. These brands so. These prompts can become like really, really clever.
Susan
Hmm.
Sarah
At the time.
Susan
I’m just going even down a further rabbit hole with this one, picturing that if someone’s already been contributing themselves. And they’ve been doing it for a while, and they may have put up all different outfits from all different events that they’ve been to. It might actually serve back and go, actually. You have the perfect outfit.
Sarah
Early.
Susan
Here it is and maybe just change accessories.
Sarah
Yes, yes. Yes, yes. And there is also you know. On Miss Tyler, actually anyone can post to the app outfits and it’s completely private unless you become a contributor. So for instance, for you like, you know, there’s just days where you like, you’re out. Then you’re like. Oh, I actually felt really comfortable in this outfit, but then the next. Day you’re like. I have gotten dressed in the past. Why can’t I remember anything that I’ve ever won? People that I liked.
Susan
And how it pairs together too? Yep.
Sarah
So yeah, so honestly it’s like. This is for everyone who uses the app. If you’re not a contributor, take photos whenever you like your outfit and post it to. The app so. That when you’re trying to figure out what to wear, you can go back to the app and be like those are the apps that make me feel good. And so you can kind of use as a collection. But then as you say, it also allows us in the future to go, hey, these are items that you already have in your water that you can wear. And then again sort of like the the technology is there. That you can also. Sort of break apart that outfit. And so, for instance, go. OK. These are other things that would suit that denim jacket. So you’re sort of moving towards like shares wardrobe from clueless.
Susan
Yep, I know that’s what I was thinking as well. Ohh this has been an amazing discussion. What excites you most about this influencer space that you’ve now found yourself in?
Sarah
I think it’s really cool because it means that women or people anywhere in the world can generate an income. I think it’s also cool because in the world of fashion, like for instance, we go to an account and we pay an accountant to do things that we don’t understand. Why aren’t we people paying people that are helping us with style? It’s something that I don’t understand. I’m willing to pay for, you know, maybe it’s not a a stylist cost, but you know, I’m happy that if I shop through Miss Tyler through that person that. They’re getting. A kickback so all of a sudden people can start earning money through things that they’re really good at. That before weren’t valued and. In the US like this is something I’m really excited about. Because for us, like, you know, the ideal creator, I mean honestly everyone but the ideal one is somebody who has access to current inventory. So for instance, think about anyone who works in fashion retail. So if you work in fashion, retail and every single day, you’re there five days a week, you could be taking a photo of current stock, whatever you’re wearing that day and putting. To the app. Then on top of that you can be getting Commission so you. Can take your fixed. Salary and you can have a variable component without having a second job without doing anything else. Doing it in your sort of your day job and then whatever that brand is, should want you to do that behaviour because essentially they’re already paying for this person to be there physically. And now they’re creating like a a digital arm as well. And in Australia, you know, we all get paid really well, like we have like, minimum wages that, you know, are livable wages in America. It’s not the case. Necessarily, you know, and what’s super exciting about America is like retail. The average salary is $35,000 a year for anyone working in that thing, which you know means that they’re sort of like living on the poverty line like on or below the poverty line potentially. So it’s over indexes for black and Hispanic, it’s 75%. Women and the. A million people who work in fashion retail in the US so imagine if we can take this collective of women and give them away to, you know, earn a little bit of extra money in doing their day job without taking. On any extra effort. So that to me is really exciting. I mean, in Australia, I would love like everyone who works in fashion retail. Also, to jump on the app, we get paid a little bit better here, but. Yeah.
Susan
There’s definitely huge opportunities in the US market. I can’t wait to see what happens there. That’s gonna be amazing when it explodes and I’m sure it will be doing. That very, very soon. Mm-hmm. My final question I have that I ask everyone what brand any brand in the world best represents you and why?
Sarah
I’m so bad at these things. I am.
Sarah
I honestly don’t know. Like me as a person, I’m like not a perfectionist, so it wouldn’t be something like Apple. That’s like perfect. It would be like some sort of like, hustling, working hard, figuring it out.
Sarah
Hacking type brand, which I can’t think of at the moment. And.
Susan
I know what you mean. It’s more about those those pieces that make you whole. So it might be more than one brand that does that, but definitely something that. Has worked. I’m just gonna. Say it’s worked its ****. Off to get where it is and loves it at the same time because of all the learnings along the way.
Sarah
Yeah. And then, you know, I always try to be very human. Like, I think, you know, even with our creators, like, I send out investor. It’s and our creators have, like a a Facebook group and I share our investor updates with them because I’m like, I want you to know what’s behind running a business like you’re helping to build this with us. So I want you to kind of like, have that extra information and see what happens behind the scenes. It’s like an authentic down to Earth kind of brand as well.
Susan
I love it. I love it. Thank you so much for coming on today. Is there any final words about? Prices and their impact on the industry that you’d like to share before we. Jump.
Sarah
Off. Yeah, I mean, I don’t think so. I think you know. Maybe. Just you know, let’s sort of start using the word like creator or contributor as opposed to influencer because I think influencer has some negative connotations, which doesn’t really represent what it is. Coming.
Susan
I think that’s a very valid point as well, with the stigma behind it, particularly if you think about how some influencers have gotten to where they are right now, like where the Kardashians actually came from and where other ones like Logan Paul came from, it’s not necessarily the best. I suppose individual with the the best heart and ethics behind it, that’s where they’ve gotten themselves from. So I do love that it’s more from a creation point of view because it’s more artistic, everyone’s individual. I think that does fit it a bit better.
Sarah
And it’s also, I think the thing with influencer is that it’s not real. It’s like it is them, but it’s them at the best angle with the best lighting, with everything set up. So it’s it’s like that’s what’s not accessible about it. It’s not that like every everybody like it’s like fantastic that they look like that and whatever else and that there’s nothing wrong with that.
Susan
Philtres.
Sarah
It’s just that it’s it’s this idea of just. Adding all these.
Susan
Infection.
Sarah
Philtres that that make it unaccessible to everyone else and make us think, you know, there’s this woman that I love on Instagram. Could denay I’m just trying to find her to name her so everyone should follow her. Her, her, it’s DANAEMER. CER, but she was like an ex editor at like Women’s Health and different magazines. And she, you know, was like there is so much that happens to get that look. And so she kind of like shows you behind the scenes. She does all these ones where she’s like looking friggin perfect and then. She shows you. That when she stepped back a second, she looked completely different or. Yeah. And she was like, this is not a before and after this.
Susan
Wow.
Sarah
Is just slightly. Different lighting, you know? And she’s like you just gotta remember. So I think what she does is like.
Sarah
She is amazing. Everyone should follow her.
Susan
Definitely making it more real as well, so you can understand that that is that quick moment in time. Yeah, but different angles, like you said, different lighting, anything could make a huge difference there. Yeah, even the makeup.
Sarah
Totally. Yep, Yep.
Susan
Ohh, thank thank you again so much Sarah. I really appreciate your time. You’ve given us so much insights. I think the biggest takeaway for me is the approach on how you can utilise the creative space and how you can make it work for you and for them at the same time to make a huge. Difference to their. Life. And for everyone else, don’t forget to. Follow more to marketing for more podcasts with excellent guests like today. More to marketing.