Use Promo Code SPONSORED: A Look Into Influencer Marketing

It’s 2:34 in the morning. I have a class in seven hours and an exam in nine, but for some reason, I can’t look away from the images of SugarBearHair vitamins that have taken over my Instagram explore page. Every image featuring the bright blue gummy has been posted by someone with either an equally blue checkmark next to their name or a follower count in the hundreds of thousands, and each caption ends with the same hashtag: #ad.

As social media has risen in popularity, multiple avenues (Facebook, Twitter, and most notably, Instagram) have been used as business methods as well. This newer form of advertising, known as influencer marketing, has permeated the explore pages of Instagram feeds all across the world, and brands have asked people with any sort of celebrity status to create sponsored posts. Influencer marketing has proven itself to be an expensive yet extremely successful strategy, possibly even more so than typical advertising. This is due to the influencer culture, where many people who follow these influencers believe that they have authority in their field and trust them more than they do traditional salespeople, making them more likely to purchase an item recommended by the influencer.

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While this works out extremely well for the brands that are paying these influencers (anywhere from a few thousand dollars to six figures per post, according to Vox), this holds negative connotations for the consumers. Seeing as how many of the influencers are paid highly for their reviews they tend to create desirable aesthetics around the product and sell a lifestyle or fantasy more than the actual item, often falsifying positive reviews of something that doesn’t truly work. Though not all influencers will do this, a considerable amount of them do, yet consumers often seem to forget that influencers are being paid whether it be through real money or free products, and they will trust the influencers as if it’s not their job to promote the product.

What truly makes influencer marketing more dangerous than typical advertising is the way that it permeates a person’s daily life. Sure, while you may see advertisements every time you turn on your TV or walk outside, there’s still a conscious awareness that you’re viewing an ad. With influencer marketing, the sponsored or ad label doesn’t show up until the very end of the post, and by that time, the positive information surrounding the product has already been delivered to you. Even if you blindly like a post without ever reading the caption, you’ve already consumed the content and it is likely that it will stick with you (I personally still see blue gummy vitamins every time I close my eyes).

Influencer marketing is also dangerous in that it can be much simpler than regular advertising. While regular ads require a whole process often consisting of multiple meetings and layers of approval, influencer marketing can be left up to the influencer themselves, the company just requiring a specific caption or hashtag. The Fyre festival, with its promises of fake luxury amplified by the names attached, exemplifies the problems with influencer marketing. With a post composed of just a burnt orange tile and a simple hashtag, the Fyre festival was able to not only build up hype for a product that didn’t even truly exist but also streamline their advertising to rely heavily on the celebrity status of other people.

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Influencer marketing, for all of its faults, is not all terrible as not everyone advertising through social media is building a fake music festival. By marketing primarily through social media, brands such as Glossier, Fashion Nova and Everlane have been able to grow immensely in size and followings. As a consumer, a brand’s utilization of social media and prominent influencers as an advertising method can introduce you to products that you might not have heard about otherwise. A quick look at unsponsored reviews can also help in making an informed decision about the product. If consumers are willing to do a slight amount of extra research required to purchase an influencer-recommended product, social media marketing can be utilized more for its positive benefits than its negative consequences.