Original post by Carlo Trendatue on September 19th, 2019
No generation in history’s past has had such technological power at their fingertips. Smartphone applications, rapid connectivity, and arguably even battery power has given users the ability to perpetually stay connected to an increasingly technological world. It has unquestionably changed the way in which many people, but perhaps more significantly, many businesses operate.
The advent of social media has given birth to a phenomenon that allows users to brand themselves whether for personal or commercial use. Moreover, the Branded Self has become a popular tactic when it comes to brand marketing. Users can utilize their following as a means of directing sales to certain businesses and companies. Instagram has quickly become the platform of choice, particularly because of it’s visual appeal and because of its ability to embed a one-click possibly that sends users straight to the point of purchase. Truthfully, although I understand how this capability has been birthed, I’ve struggled with understanding how this phenomenon has begun to gain traction with our youth in regard to the potential of pursuing this as a career – a term I use loosely here.
I’ve come across an interesting 2019 Rakuten Marketing Influencer Consumer Report that uncovers what kind of influencers consumers engage with, how consumer behaviour is shaped by the Branded Self, and what consumers expect from an influencer and how those expectations can change. There does indeed seem to be a ‘formula’ for influencer success – this is an interesting read nonetheless.
Hoping for some discussion on this phenomenon.
2019 Influencer Marketing Report
This is great post. Although I understand the draw for some individuals to become influencers, the career seems very complicated to me. The marketing report highlights how effective influencers have passion, provide good recommendations and are honest about their company affiliations. Although we can use these rules to apply generally to what makes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ influencer, the report doesn’t mention how the personal brand of the influencer plays a huge part in whether consumers choose to click on one video or another. The 2019 Influencer Marketing Report brought attention to the fact that while we do listen to influencers, we are also almost equally influenced by our friends and families when making purchasing decisions. I am wondering if the influencers we are attracted to share the same qualities as our friends and family members, making an influencers personal branding decisions even more important to their success in different markets.
A questionnaire (future career choice) done by the Chinese Xinhua Net showed that over 48% of the takers (mostly born after 1995) do not want to work in the future, and over 50% of them express the desire of wanting to be social influencers. I was upset by this. Soon after this was posted, netizens had a heated discussion about the “twisted value” of the younger generation. Some questioned: “Who will be future doctors? When the social influencers get paid higher than scientists, who else would still want to be scientists?”
But can we really blame them, when they are exposed to media like this all the time? But can we really blame them when the “definition of success” from the society is “fancy house, fancy car,” which you can’t get without enough money?
However, I’m glad to see more reports about the long hours social influencers need to work, and all the efforts they had to pay before they became famous. At least, it is a message to the younger generations that nothing comes easy.
I was thinking of sharing this post as well. The report, with all the statistics on influencer marketing, was really eye opening for me as well. After reading through it, I started to wonder what this means for education. How many social media influencers are also non-formal educators? Or educational/inspiring role models? I know the ones that I follow usually tend to share content that is inspirational or educational in nature, even though they haven’t branded themselves as “educators” in any way.
Nice post! I shared another post by Carlo where he did a short podcast on social influencers. I looked through the 2019 Influencer Marketing Report shared in this post, and I was surprised that 80% of people made purchases from an influencer’s recommendations. It changed my perspective on social influencers as sources of entertainment to effective, inconspicuous marketing schemes. The report also identifies “good taste or recommendations” and “passion about a topic” as components of authenticity, one of the main benefits of social influencers according to the report. It further highlights the importance of excitement and enthusiasm in a topic to build credibility. I think this is an important point for communicating any information. To grab others’ attention, we need to show that we are genuinely interested in the topic.
The creation of one’s online presence and brand has become an important part of our lives. A career as a social influencer is something relatively new, but it is definitely thriving and gaining momentum. It has evolved from a side-gig to a financially viable, full-time career for some people. However, like any career, I’m sure it’s not a walk in the park. Social influencers need to spend lots of time thinking of creative content to keep their followers engaged or they risk losing followers and business.
The Social Influencer generation is certainly a trend that is not about to disappear. As Carlo mentions, social media like Instagram allows users to build a strong following, by using different strategies or buy purchasing sponsored post and product reviews. Youtube and TikTok are also worth mentioning as they have also become powerful tools for people seeking to become major influencers. As a mom of a teenage daughter who is following multiple social influencers of Youtube and sometimes tells me that she would like to become one, I struggle to understand how one would aspire to pursue this as a career. But given the growing popularity of Multi-level network marketing as a source of income for many individuals, becoming a social influencer can certainly become a financial asset.