by Posted by: Sarah Ballard.
It’s now 2018 and you can basically make a career from being an online influencer and internet sensation. People of all ages are getting creative and expressing themselves through social media, and if you’re lucky, you can catch on.
Companies are willing to give away free product, cash, or online exposure in exchange for popular accounts to rave about their company. There are different levels to this system though. Perhaps a company offers free product to a user with 1,000 followers, but this user’s product exposure would be hitting a different target market you have been aiming for in a city that maybe hasn’t caught on yet. Giving away maybe $100 worth of product in exchange for word of mouth and potentially 10X return on that investment, is absolutely worth it in the long run. On the other hand, paying someone more who has significantly more scope and following can pay off in a different way. People who have generated several thousand followers plus are somewhat idolized. Celebrities can now begin a life of fame and their careers online via instagram, twitter, youtube, etc. You can make some quick cash here and there if you have enough online significance, or it can change your life entirely.
Girls like Kylie Jenner have gained much of their fame due to social media, and their ability to market themselves as well as products they sponsor. Obviously she had some help from her television show, but she has created and built her own business on the side which solely gained popularity from social media marketing through her accounts, such as using an instagram scheduler to regularly keep her followers updated.
Flat Tummy Tea (https://www.instagram.com/flattummyco/)is an example of a company that loves to give out free product in exchange for marketing from their customers. I personally have seen countless photos of girls endorsing the product, and it must be successful due to the number of tagged photos and sales generated since they began this campaign. One thing that certainly helps a product is a success story, and Flat Tummy Tea has proven itself successful many times. When someone is truly satisfied with a product, you can tell by their posting. You can tell if it’s a paid ad they did to make money, or if they did it because they truly support and enjoy the product and company. Theres a difference in overall tone and attitude when someone is just doing it for the money, versus genuine excitement.
While social media marketing may not seem entirely authentic all of the time, it is certainly effective when used correctly. A single paid post has the potential to influence hundreds or thousands of other viewers to consider a product.
Thanks for the post Sarah! I am still in shock that people like Kylie Jenner could make millions of dollars for a promotion or post. I think this influences the public in both a positive but more negative way. On the positive it shows that people can be themselves and get paid for it and that people can make money for something like a simple Instagram post. But on the contrary it teaches people that you can make all this money from a simple post. People then imagine they could be like Kylie and do thew same. All the credit to Kylie, she has inspired many people and works hard to market herself. But for her fans and people wanting to be like her, have to understand they cannot make the profits like she does from a post. People just need to understand that if they want something it may not come as easy for you as it did for the other person.
I agree with the fact that if don’t correctly, influencers can be a very successful tool for a brand. Although I might not make my final decision about a product based on an influencer, I might hear about it first from an influencer and then do my own secondary research. That initial contact between the me and the influencer, whether it is over Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, or a blog, is important because it exposes me to the brand or product. Also, although people might hate on Kylie Jenner or these other celebrities that make their money off of just showing brands, the fact it that people are looking at them, whether they are haters or lovers.
I am so intrigued by this topic! I have also seen the flat tummy tea all over the place. I am an avid vlog-watcher and I see these type of product deals on the YouTube platform as well. Marketing is changing so drastically and there is so much merit when these influencers endorse a product to their fans. Typically with advertisements, people become interested in a product, but there is a lot of engagement and positive results when these influencers endorse. Influencers are seen as closer to the consumer and more trustworthy.