by On Monday, January 29th our Strategic Social Media class began discussing the importance of influencers. Kelli Matthews began with asking our class to name some influencers that we personally follow. A few favorites mentioned on Twitter include DJ Khaled (@djkhaled), Rafael Casal (@RafaelCasal), and peers. Bailey Athan (@baileyathan) raised an interesting question with her Twitter poll “Which platform do you find the most useful when trying to connect/or keep up with influencers?” After collecting 40 votes, the conclusion was Instagram is the best platform for connecting with influencers, says 65% of J480 students.
Moving forward, our topic shifted into what influence really is. A high following rate definitely plays into the role of being an influencer, but it is not the only aspect. Influencers need to have reach, relevance, and resonance.
A major topic on Twitter during today’s lecture included students discussing if companies and organizations influence their purchases. Many people commented that clothing brand companies/influencers are more likely to play into a purchase than an A-list celebrity’s repost of a sponsorship.
Influencers are very common in today’s society on social media. It seems as if many Millennials’ strive to be verified or gain a large following via social media in order to receive sponsorships and gain popularity among peers. Emily Vanacore (@emily_vanacore) tweeted a link to calculate how much money your sponsored post would receive on your own personal Instagram account. Our class loved comparing their influence to Kim Kardashian’s influence and tweeted out their average engagement rate.
Written by
Mollie Markey: @molliemarkey
Bailey Athan: @baileyathan
Hayden Skoch: @haydenskoch
Emily Vanacore: @emily_vanacore
I follow a woman named Aubrey.Asplen.Alley on Instagram and she is a fashion blogger/influencer. She is always posting pictures of her in super cute outfits for every occasion with attached links to the products. She has me hooked because she shows how to pair certain parts of an outfit together and it automatically makes me want to buy the different components. Every now and then she will posts links with sales happening and hypes up the product. It is interesting to follow her and see how many likes/comment/buys she gets on certain products.
I really liked this day in class because I realized how many influencers I have in my life, from famous people on Instagram to a pen that influences me to take notes. An Instagram influencer of mine, @AndiCsinger, is a fashion blogger. Most of the clothing items she wears are from her own company, which are very affordable and basic, meaning they are very versatile. Combining these two key aspects allows not only her following base to grow but also her clothing brand. Basically everyday I gain inspiration from her posts to build simple, yet adorable and affordable outfits. Even though, in the end, she is probably getting paid to post.
The topic of influencers is really fascinating to me. If you think about it, we are all influencers in some way. I follow this workout enthusiast Jen Selter (@jensleter) and she motivates and influences me everyday. When I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do is go on instagram and catch up from the posts that I missed from the day or night before. Jen Selter’s posts are most of what I see when scrolling through my feed. She posts pictures of her perfect body and even provides quick at home workouts. Seeing this every morning definitely influences me to get out of bed and get my day started with a quick workout.
This was a very interesting article about influencers and what goes on behind the scenes. I have always found the way influencers work to be fascinating. It makes perfect sense why people are more willing to take recommendations from an influencer talking about their favorite products than a company or celebrity endorsing a product. This is interesting and plays into the idea that people feel like influencers are their friends and when they recommend a product it feels like a recommendation from a friend. Influencers are definitely becoming the new celebrities!