Traditional influencers are in serious danger of losing their relationships with modern brands. I’m talking about value to the brands they represent. Value to a brand means you have to be an effective ambassador for their company, bringing them leads and sales from your trusted social followership.
Brands now realise that blond hotties with smoking bodies aren’t effective marketing tools on social. Same with hot dudes with chiselled bodies, who’ve built a following off the “sex sells” mindset. Then there’s all the faceless “meme” posting influencers out there with millions of followers.
An influencer can have zillions of followers and still offer little or zero value to a brand’s ROI.
Brands sick of throwing money away based on follower counts.
Many popular influencers out there don’t offer the kind of advertising value brands are looking for. I don’t want to get site owner, Ivan, into legal trouble so I won’t name any names. Brands are keying in to the fact that engaged followers equal ROI. People engage with social influencers they can relate to.
Consider a sexy model who posts skimpy photos of herself every day, in exotic locations and short, scintillating captions. Captions that make male minds conjure up images of whatever our fantasy-driven minds desire. Do you think the overwhelming majority of male followers that woman has are going to buy anything she recommends?
Probably not, but don’t call me a hater just yet; this statement needs context.
What influencers post determines their value to the brands they represent.
Let’s use the example of the “sex sells” influencer, since their value to brands is very easy to pick apart. This type of influencer has a limited marketing reach (Ie., calendars, guest appearances).
For instance, a male or female pornstar posting risque pics makes a lot of sense when it comes to selling their videos, appearances, etc. The rest of the world’s 50,000 or so big brands and hundreds of thousands of smaller brands will have no use for these influencers.
Are women going to base their beauty product buying decisions off the word of a male influencer? Not if your name isn’t James Charles. Will men buy a product to make them ripped based on the recommendation of a woman? Maybe, but that female influencer will need more than just a hot body to convince most dudes. She’ll need an established account that showcases her expertise in what it takes to achieve that goal.
Likes are going out of style with brands, too. How many of you like for the sake of liking? Everyone does.
Here are a few other examples of poorly constructed social brands that offer little advertising value:
- Influencers who post funny or motivational memes.
- The type of Influencer posting pictures of cute/funny dogs, kids, people, video clips, etc.
- Influencers who provide political commentary and viewpoints.
- Those influencers that only post on controversial topics to get likes/dislikes — Ie., attention.
- Influencers who make posts just to capitalise on current trends without putting their own personality into it.
Authenticity sells, and advertising brands know it.
Personality sells. Personality gets you organic followers. Ask Andy Frisella, whose podcast I’m addicted to currently. Listen to it here, particularly if you’re interested in Instagram branding.
Andy, who has the (self-professed) most engaged and organic followers on Instagram believes value will trump sex and controversy in the coming months and years. The CEO of 1st Phorm built his following by being down to earth, answering comments and providing actual value to his followers.
This is good news if you want to build your own social brand:
- How you brand your social accounts determines whether brands do business with you.
- Be authentic, engage with followers, and provide real value.
- Recognise likes are just an ego boost — most followers don’t care.
Traditional influencers need to adapt and stop posting just for likes.
Things are changing in social.
Do you think it’s for the better?
