Back in 2009 when I started Breakfree Journeys, I had resolved to use only social media for publicity. Idea was to maintain an active Facebook page and a Twitter account. The promise of social publicity was clear. Word of mouth had acquired a new meaning – service or product discovery was based upon the experiences shared by your friends.
This made getting referrals relatively simple. Cost of acquisition of customers was close to nil as there were no marketing spends at all. This meant that I could fully focus on crafting a superior customer experience while still maintaining low prices. Our average cost per one day trek was about ₹ 600 including food and transport with an almost 25 % margin.
Cut to 2022 the world of social media has metamorphosed into an unwieldy beast. Content creators such as vloggers, gadget reviewers, performers have also turned into celebrity endorsers. Brands are using ordinary individuals with a wider reach to tap into unexplored markets. This is applicable mainly for Direct to Consumer brands who are trying to create a niche for themselves. But consumer electronics, fashion brands and hospitality services providers are not far behind.
This has created a new category of self-employment. As advertisement revenues from Youtube views dwindle, this is a natural survival tactic for many content creators as well.
Who Are The Influencers?
Influencers can be grouped into three to four categories based on their level of their reach or followers. Mega influencers are celebrities with a social media presence. They have millions of followers. Macro influencers are those with upto 1 million followers, and then come the Meso and Micro influencers. Further they can be divided into generalists and specialists. Specialists focus on a niche – say travel and work only on creating tourism related content.
But what makes influencers an important but problematic category of marketing?
Dilution of Word of Mouth:
Influencer Marketing has eroded the value of word of mouth publicity. One could not purchase this marketing channel earlier until Influencers emerged. The user-based recommendations are under scrutiny as separating paid and authentic recommendations is now difficult and sometimes impossible.
Ethical Disclosures:
Influencers need a steady revenue stream. Therefore brand endorsements or ‘collabs’ as they call it are inevitable. However, many trusted influencers do declare their commercial interests openly. Many are known to conduct due diligence to ascertain the harm-potential of the services they endorse.
Though many don’t follow these practices. Further, many health-skin-fitness gurus dole out seemingly authentic advice under the garb of “researched content”. This can pose serious health risks. Certain vloggers are also an obvious front for various ideologies which they cleverly hide in their clickbait videos.
Legal Provisions:
Consumer Protection Act 2019 has a provision to penalise endorsers for promoting harmful products or services. This highlights the debate on safeguards of consumer safety, the evident conflict of trust and the sustainability of this channel.
Influencing for Good:
Influencers need not remain a human billboard. They could use their reach for good. The White House recently held a briefing for Tiktok Influencers to talk about the ongoing efforts to aid Ukraine. Building advocacy for causes through these individuals is an untapped area. Driving social change, sparking debate on important issues and of course, creating meaningful impact through crowd-sourcing of resources are some areas which influencers must consider seriously.
This industry is likely to grow exponentially until it is replaced by something new or reset to the olden times. But for the immediate future, as common consumers, we may not be able to escape the influence of influencers.