Black creators say they ‘have to be perfect’ to get promotional products from brands. They want that to change.

Antoni Bumba and her roommate, who are both influencers from New York City were there last year to build their relationships with companies.

The creators, who had already built sizable followings on their platforms, knew that one of the best ways to grow their careers was to ask brands for “PR packages,” or gifts, to create promotional content and foster brand relationships. Bumba stated that they decided to start sending emails to each other one day.

Bumba’s friend, who is white and had fewer followers, was sent gifts from the brand shortly after. Bumba, a Black woman, didn’t receive any gifts at that time. Instead, she said, she was told the brand was at capacity for “gifting.” It was one of several instances in which, Bumba said, she has tried to get on a brand’s public relations list with little to no success.

“As far as it goes for those free ops, you gotta know people, and you gotta know [white] people,” said Bumba, a lifestyle creator with 938,000 TikTok followers.

Bumba and other black creators have spoken out about the inequity of influencer marketing. This issue is not new. TikTok creators of Black TikTok have been sharing their experiences (or lack thereof) with gifting and PR lists. Many of them call on brands to do more.

Black creators claimed that they cannot access gifting because they can’t spend their own money on certain products. This takes away from their net income. According to a 2021 survey, this can increase the gap in pay between Black and white influencers. It is currently 35%. study from MSLA global public relations company that offers influencer marketing and services. Black creators still feel the same way they have to work twice as hard They are as white as their white counterparts.

Much of the recent conversation around influencer gifting stemmed from videos in which lifestyle creator Victoria Paris, who is white, talks about how she gets “good” PR — such as clothes and furniture — in part because she is white and privileged. In one video, Paris says people in charge of brands’ PR lists are often white and hold implicit bias, leading them to gravitate toward influencers who look like them.

People at brands “don’t understand that, like, when you give to people who look just like you, you’re leaving out a lot of people who don’t look like you or you’re creating … a disadvantage,” Paris said in an interview.

Although PR packages might seem like a freebie for lucky creators, influential people say that PR is an important resource they can use when creating more content.

In a stitched response to Paris’ video, Black beauty creator Darius Hall (whose username is poorlildarkbxy) claimed he accumulated debt Because he had to purchase a lot of products in order to keep up with content creation demands. Hall, who uses the pronouns he and they, stated that he pays most of his products and does not receive any PR packages.

“People don’t realize that getting PR is a very essential tool, especially within this industry,” said Hall, who has 209,000 followers on TikTok. “Some of the products that people want me to review or want me to talk about, it’s a little expensive, and sometimes I ain’t got the coins for that.”

Black creators ‘don’t get gifted nearly the same amount’

NBC News spoke to black creators about how important brand relationships are for those who want to be full-time.

Influencers make videos of their products to get noticed by brands. Influencers who get attention from brands can develop relationships that can lead to PR packages or brand deals.

Hall explained that he can’t pivot to content production full-time due to inconsistent income. Hall believes that getting more PR gifts would help him be more self-sufficient and generate more income.

Nimay Ndolo is a Black comedian with 1.9 million TikTok followersAccording to some Black creators, they are often excluded from these opportunities, which can limit their success.

“We have to be perfect before brands will even touch us,” said Ndolo, who uses she and they pronouns. “And it sucks, because, like, you know, perfection is so hard to attain, and why are we forced to reach perfection when white influencers can just do whatever?”

Based on her observations, Bumba said influencers who are cisgender, white women “between a size double-zero to a size 10” receive a lot of gifts. A lot of her nonwhite friends who get “good” PR packages have millions of followers, she said, but they are not typically full-time creators. These are celebrities or actors who have achieved fame beyond the internet.

She said that marginalized creators who are well-known for their online content are not allowed the same access.

“Black or queer creators who have similar numbers to me or might have bigger numbers to me don’t get gifted nearly the same amount,” she said.

Bumba has developed relationships with brands she values and acknowledged the privilege to receive gifts from them.

Although she is grateful for the connections, she estimates that she still only receives about one-fifth as many PR packages than her friends.

Bumba said that she and other Black creators must put more effort into their online presence to convince brands to work with them.

“Sometimes you can see [white influencers] … be more free-flowy and just be, like, messy hair and, like, big college T-shirts and … still get these, like, $60,000 to $100,000 gifting partnerships,” she said. “And then you’ll have, you know, girls like me … who have to always be in a whole fit or always have to be serving some sort of a look or have some sort of a color scheme or have our face done with makeup to some extent. You know, like something to make us look a little bit more higher-end so these brands can fit us in.”

Ndolo agreed that Black creators have to “come correct” online to attract brands.

Black creators have to be “extraordinary” to get what white influencers appear to get with ease, Ndolo said.

“It’s really disheartening, because, you know, I feel like a lot of people hear Black influencers, Black people, cry about these injustices, and they write it off, like, ‘They’re always just complaining about something,’” Ndolo said. “Like, are we even being heard? And it really doesn’t feel like we’re being heard, because so many Black influencers talk about this.”

Ndolo stated that it was discouraging for brands to reject her, as she frequently has the audience companies are looking to reach.

“Do my numbers not show that I’m good enough? Does my engagement not show that I’m good enough? You need to believe everything they say on paper. It is there. You don’t know what makes me a danger. It sucks.”

Bumba claimed that some brands consider partnerships with Black influencers to be a risk.

“In their heads, they have an ideal clientele who’s willing to pay X amount of money to get these products, and in their ideology, you know, economically, this range of people who look [white] make the money to be able to afford this clothing,” she said.

MSL U.S. reported that Black consumers account to $1.6 trillion in annual purchases in 2021. The report also said 48% of consumers consider brands’ commitment to racial justice a deciding factor in their decisions to purchase products.

Optimism for’more opportunities in 2023

Gifting is only one aspect of the larger issue of racial inequalities in the influencer space. Black creators have highlighted this. unfair contracts, pay disparity And algorithmic bias For many years. Brands And platforms Although they have pledged to combat inequality starting in 2020, progress has been slow.

“I think the vast racial divide that exists in the [influencer] space is unequaled compared to any other industry,” said Shreya Mukherjee, the chief strategy officer at MSL U.S. “This is a serious problem for the marketing comms industry overall.”

Mukherjee explained that to improve the industry, there will need to be a two-pronged education for influencers and marketing professionals.

The Influencer League, an organization that educates influencers and partnered with MSL to conduct its study on racial inequalities, helps creators of color by providing advice and information about brand relationships, as well as information that can be used to help build their businesses.

Meanwhile, on the marketing side, Mukherjee said, the industry needs to have “uncomfortable conversations” and work toward diverse representation in positions of power. If brand representatives and executives are more diverse, it will trickle down to influencers who have access to resources.

While Mukherjee’s company is taking steps to address inequity in the influencer space, she said there is still a lot of work to be done.

“I think moving from conversation to advocacy to action is something we’re literally in the process of doing,” she said. “And our hope is we can hold hands with the industry and, you know, sort of broaden that.”

While creators say there has been little movement from brands to address gifting inequality, some have noticed a few brands stepping up to the plate and responding directly to marginalized creators’ criticisms.

Paris, Ndolo, and Hall cited Urban Decay’s makeup brand as an example company that had listened to Black creators.

Urban Decay offers several videos on its TikTok site that respond to Black creators who have called for an end to gifting inequalities, including videos by Hall And Ndolo.

In response to Ndolo’s video, Urban Decay announced that it would crowdsource suggestions for influencers to add to its PR list for its next product launch. Viewers praised the move, enthusiastically tagging their favorite creators of color in the comments section of Urban Decay’s TikTok account.

“Our Urban Decay social team humbly listens to the continued conversation around a need for increased inclusivity. I’m proud that our creator partners have taken note of UD’s continued efforts to bring action to this dialogue — not just because it’s so needed, but because it’s part of who we are as a brand,” said Malena Higuera, Urban Decay Cosmetics’ U.S. general manager. “In fact, our team recently expanded our PR database upwards of 1,000+ names featuring influencers and consumers alike who have voiced that they, unfortunately, don’t feel seen online.”

Bumba finds it encouraging that there has been so much talk about gifting. Bumba said that she believes it has helped brands understand the exclusions they perpetuate.

“I want to see, like, these creators that I’ve been watching — these Black creators, these queer creators, these Hispanic creators, these Asian creators — get more opportunities,” she said. “And that I would like to see in 2023.”

This article was originally published by NBCNews.com