Influencer Marketing – Boon or Bane?

In the modern age of internet and social media, the gap between the rich and the poor, ordinary people and celebrities has reduced. People tend to replicate the lifestyle of celebrities and models. Nothing seems to be too far out of reach of the middle class. Millennials and Gen Z consume a lot of content on Television, OTT platforms, and YouTube. They are attracted to even shorter forms of content which is evident with the rise of TikTok, Instagram Reels etc.

In the 70s and 80s, people had their celebrity icons and trendsetters, but they were far from accessible. With the evolution of the internet, we can quickly check out what Dwayne ‘the rock’ Johnson is cooking for dinner. And through comments and DMs you might even get noticed by some of your idols; if you are lucky of course. Through social media platforms, you can check celebrities’ life’s ins and outs, their outfit for a party; their airport looks, the brand of their headphones, protein shakes they consume, etc. We also see them tagging or mentioning the product’s brand with the post, subtly or sometimes may seem pretty apparent that my friend is Influencer Marketing.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field. The key factor driving this marketing strategy is persuasion and compliance. People generally compare the imperfections in their life to that of the influencers and try to fill their voids with the products that their favourite celebrities use to come as close to living the life of their dreams. The products are also smartly portrayed as keys to a complete lifestyle. The brands exploit the insecurities of the target customers to their advantage.

Is Influencer marketing legit?

Influencer marketing can be viewed as faulty. Influencers sometimes shy away from the truth and tend to do false marketing which could diminish their followers’ trust. Influencers sometimes do get paid before the marketing campaign, and that could be the reason as to why they do not feel the sense of responsibility to give out an honest review of the product. That said, influencers point out the positives and negatives of the products, which seems like a bold move because that could lessen their chance of obtaining lucrative brand deals in the future. Respect to all the real influencers!

Final thoughts

As customers, we may easily get carried away by some smart marketing ploys and spend our hard-earned money on the wrong products. Once we notice a product through the celebrities’ social media handles, it’s our responsibility to do our research and check out reviews from those who have used the product. Also, if we like products discovered through influencer marketing, it is always nice to post our honest reviews to help other customers and companies improve them in every possible way.

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