The web has empowered so many individuals in so many different ways. And now the social web has truly exploded that potential.
YouTubers, Instagrammers, Facebookers and all sorts of other-ers (including the Chinese We Chatters and Weibo-ers) have sprung up everywhere. They appear in your feed like uninvited guests occasionally. And while their posts are pretty inoffensive, here at Blak Labs, we think clients are wasting their money paying for their influence.
A few recent examples.
The first, a humorous take down by Aaron Wong, suggests better ways for influencers to earn airmiles – that’s his thing. You can read it here.
The second? We’ve observed that influencers who post about how much they love travelling with a particular credit card tend to drop followers per brand post.
Posts either side of these endorsements have at least 3K likes or more and numerous comments. The brand-related posts lose at least 2k followers.
Last but not least – the fashionable instagrammer. Again, a store signs on a bunch of influencers to lend some sparkle to their charity shopping event. Among them, one very fashionable instagrammer who shall remain nameless.
Thing is, beyond the two posts about said charity event and an appearance in one paid-for promo piece, there was no ‘real love’ for the client, nor evidence of actual brand loyalty. And again, the posts for this brand fared less well than others.
Followers see through these thinly veiled endorsements and IMHO, each goes against the grain of ‘authenticity’ that these influencers purport to offer. And while like celebrities, we have to marvel at their ability to be “famous for being famous”, we find ourselves wondering what credibility do they offer?
And when you know that certain influencers receive huge payouts for a single tweet or post (up to US$100k or more), then this form of endorsement just looks even more ridiculous.
Because in the blink of an eye, they’ll stick something else up to get more thumbs up. And your post will disappear down their feed into social oblivion. #justsayin
Blak Labs blog 