When Push Turns Into A Social Shove
Influencers definitely hold a place in this world… but when is too much?
I’ve seen a lot of discussion regarding the ethics of the concept of influencing, so I just want to start out by asking one simple question:
Who has ever posted a picture at their favorite venue with their favorite people? For example:
Did the Skunk and Goat pay me a royalty for posting this picture to Instagram? Negative (even though I wish they did).
While I can’t say that I have the same audience as an influencer, the concept is similar. The topic of “pay for play” being unethical, in my opinion, creates a slippery slope if we start to regulate every single person on social media advocating for brands that they enjoy or regularly use.
For decades, the practice of in-store sampling has been a critical component of boosting the sales of a product. The advent of social media age has largely transformed the communication between consumers and businesses into interactions and engagement on social media platforms. Companies have realized the necessity to reach new markets and engage target consumers on a hybrid of platforms, most of which being social. By engaging consumers through brand ambassadors, a company can access better reach, and potentially engagement, by a social version of the person-to-person interaction. Influencers, or a person who promotes a product on social platforms, attempts to engage in person-to-person interaction. Influencing has become one of the latest and greatest trends of marketing. While consumers that are millennials or Gen Z are more likely to engage with influencers on a social platform, companies have begun incorporating past marketing practices, with new approaches to reach more potential consumers in various demographics.
Influencer marketing is here to stay — the only question is will your company get on board or miss the train, boat, or carrier pigeon?
