With the rise of social media platforms companies have begun utilizing a person’s popularity and followers to market their products. Someone with a large amount of followers on Instagram are contacted by someone within the business and ask them to post about whatever they are marketing. Companies want to target millennial’s and hiring these young men and women in their 20’s is a strong marketing strategy. For example, celebrity Kendall Jenner frequently posts on her Instagram account her using the face cream Proactiv. It’s not just celebrities that companies target when selecting influencers they also reach out to others as well. “One of the most successful is Andrew Bachelor, known as King Bach, who has more than 37 million followers. About half of his following is from one platform called Vine. Videos on Vine are just six seconds long.” (Whitaker, 2016).
Key themes about this style of marketing definitely correlate with young men and women and social media platforms. I also noticed that a lot of products that influencers are showcasing are things that millennial’s are generally interested in. Scrolling through my Instagram feed I probably see about 7 or 8 random videos or pictures of people I’ve never seen before advertising some new hair product, traveling or other items or experiences that interest my age, 25 year old female. This is a great strategy that these companies are using and it’s safe to say it’s working. As stated by Logan Paul, influencer with millions of followers online, ““The biggest companies in the world and brands have come to me to help sell their product to the younger generation. And I speak the language of millennials, and they respond to my content.” (Whitaker, 2016).
The role that these influencers play in these companies is huge. Not only are they reaching a large demographic but they are able to do it at the click of the button in seconds. And boy does it pay, ” advertisers pay Bach just to place their products in his clips. He made a handful of videos wearing a Jimmy Johns logo and earned more than $300,000 from the sandwich maker. ” Whitaker, 2016). This is all accomplished to the high level of fame, followers and popularity the influencers have online and companies are taking full advantage of it. Why wouldn’t they? It’s a great way to market.
With that being said this has caused an uneasy feeling between customer and consumer. These companies use these people to advertise these products but almost this type of lifestyle. All of these products are basically dumped down our throat every time we scroll on social media which becomes tempting to people. How can it not when there’s such a massive amount of content all the time. I also think that having not well-known celebrities advertise shows that having these items or experiences is obtainable so why not do it.
Resources
Whitaker, B. (2016, October 23). The Influencers. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-kim-kardashian-logan-paul-social-media-influencers/.
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