by By: Penny Barnes, Hannah Miller, Ramsey Sullivan, Jessica Klockman and Katie Corah
In class on Wednesday we discussed the power of influencers. When we think of influencers, we think of people with over 10,000+ followers on Instagram or other social media platforms. Mentioned in class, when we hear the word ‘influencers’ we think of the Kardashian/Jenner family. The topic of class on Wednesday was influencers and their power on social media.
Everyone follows influencers for a specific reason, whether that be for motivation or just to follow an admirable lifestyle. Influencer content tends to be more “informative, more entertaining and more trustworthy than brand content” and that is why consumers tend to give in to influencer content.
Topics of discussion during class:
- The Kardashian’s Net worth and how Kylie Jenner has made a fortune by simply just posting on Instagram, and promoting her Beauty Brand
- When brands are real with their audience and they promote their brand authentically and genuine, they are more likely to get a larger following. Consumers want to trust their social influencers.
- Micro Influencers achieve 7x the engagement as macroinfluencers (micro influencers are considered less than 10,000 followers)
- Influencers have the ability to change behaviors or impact purchase decisions in a given context. But, when they are trying to impact purchase decisions while being paid, they must disclose that relationship by identifying it as an ad/sponsorship/etc.
- Influencers help maximize brand reach
People follow influencers because they trust the recommendations and insight that they provide about a specific brand, product, or lifestyle. Brands that utilize influencers are able to strengthen their engagement and reputation with its consumers. Influencer marketing is an effective way for a company to connect with interested customers. Brands find that influencer marketing provides a more personal way of advertising to the public.
Students in class tweeted about their opinions and relationships with the influencers they follow on social media. Some expressed that they believe it was hard to believe influencers because they did not know if their work was authentic. Another student expressed that they relate more with the influencers that are funny, informal and “make it feel a bit more personal.”
Another student quoted the lecture touching on a topic that when consumers see an influencer promoting a product they tend to trust it more than the brand promoting the same product. With that being said, the influencer will also be more informative by providing feedback and how they use the product. The promotions influencers use are more entertaining as they share themselves using it. It shows real people, using real products. When an influencer is promoting a product like a review, consumers will trust that more than just the brand itself promoting it.
With that being said, some influencers can promote products incorrectly. Trusting influencers credibility can be difficult. A student in class mentioned a time that an influencer promoted a product as free but it truly wasn’t. The people who purchased this product had to pay a shipping fee, and then found out the brushes were worth a tiny fraction of that price on another website.
