We are relying on visuals more than ever before. If the visual effect is mesmerizing, the product or service is sold. Connecting visuals with smart underlying stories is a job of a skilled influencer. And Instagram is usually the weapon of choice. Influencers, Instagram and the online marketing are reality.
Being an Influencer – What Is It All About?
Being an influencer has become one of the most attractive jobs. The appeal is in the fact that a person gets to do what he or she likes the most and earn money. Above all, this job is not time consuming and a person does it remotely. Additionally, the main advantage of being an influencer is enjoying the luxury products, services or destinations that would otherwise be impossible to experience.
On the other side of the spectrum there are consumers and manufacturers. Although it may be helpful from the manufacturer’s stand to have someone promoting the product, there should be some limits to expectations on both sides. The way businesses are run nowadays is to cut on costs in traditional marketing and redirected them to the online world. Now, finding the balance is the key.
An Influencer’s Bad Estimate
We have been amused by the story that appeared in the media a few days ago. A certain ice cream truck owner decided to fight back the aggressive influencers. Apparently, this small ice cream company decided to put quality first and let their products speak for themselves.
Although they are present on all important social media, pushing advertising through influencers proved to be too much. Inappropriate even. This was put clearly when an influencer approached the company with a suggestion to get loads of free ice cream in exchange for promotion on Instagram. Obviously, the ice cream truck owner was appalled by the suggestion. He eventually decided to change the game and charge influencers double the amount of ice cream, which, by the way, costs $4.00. Then, he posted his decision on social media and it instantly became viral.
Paradoxically, the company owner used the power of social media to transfer his idea to potential customers. He exploited the common negative feeling towards pushy marketers and generated a large amount of new, potential customers.
What Have We Learned from This Story?
We take ice cream seriously. It is one of the means to take away the sorrow. Above all, we are all in favor of quality ice cream and prefer it over frozen yogurt and stuff. And we have been fascinated by the smart way this ice cream company engaged the online marketing while protecting its business idea of quality and simplicity.
This leads us to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong with social media like Instagram, for example. It is all up to people and how they use it. An influencer’s guide (if there is such a thing) should reconsider the annoying factors in the first place. Know your audience on both sides of the spectrum. Companies you are representing should see you as a professional who is able to respect their image and company philosophy. Not everything is in a pushy, aggressive and self-confident attitude.
Changing Times for Influencers
The decision that worried many influencers appeared few days ago. Namely, Instagram is currently running a test of hiding the total number of likes and video views in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand. This means that influencers would be the only persons to have access to the number of likes and views of each of their posts. The audience would not be visible to anyone else. Why is this such an important change? Well, what is the importance and the power of someone’s influence if it is not visible to even wider audience? It seems that influencers would need to focus on generating the more qualitative posts in order to survive on social media. Or, maybe, they would simply transfer their business to another media. We are looking forward to seeing how things will unfold.
What is your opinion on influencers?