7 ms·

I just want to know who the heck takes recommendations of 'influencers' seriously? Gullible teens with no money?

Rjevski 8y ago
My thoughts exactly. It seems to me that the target market of these “influencers” is teens with little to no money that spend hours looking at these “influencers” exactly because these pictures are as close as they’re gonna get to that luxury lifestyle. People who can actually afford this will just go on holidays by themselves with no thoughts about the “influencers” whatsoever, also because by the time you can afford such lifestyles you widen up to the obvious commercial intents of these influencer “recommendations”, making their “review” purpose moot. In my social circle people who spend days & nights looking and sharing the influencer pictures can’t actually afford any of that even if they wanted to. Those that can afford it don’t give a damn about the influencers.
- xapata 8y ago
  Apparently the advertisers buying space in FT's "How to spend it" issues think at least someone cares.
  - notimetorelax 8y ago
    I think of this publication as a guide to expensive presents for your wife or a girlfriend.
    - gaius 8y ago
      ... by way of apology for working all the time and neglecting her... It’s a big circle.
  - ascorbic 8y ago
    While most readers of the FT wouldn't drop six figures on a watch, the people who would spend that are more likely to be FT readers than most, so it's the right place to reach them. As for Instagram influencers: who are the people staying in these hotels? Sure, a lot of them are likely to be the sort who read the FT or the Economist, but a good chunk of them are going to be honeymooners, for example, who I'd imagine are exactly the sort who would look to Instagram for ideas. Likewise there are obviously people in their 20s who could afford to stay in these places, and not all of them spend their time on HN. I'd guess Instagram is as good a place as any to reach them.
- charlesdm 8y ago
  > People who can actually afford this will just go on holidays by themselves with no thoughts about the “influencers” whatsoever, also because by the time you can afford such lifestyles you widen up to the obvious commercial intents of these influencer “recommendations”, making their “review” purpose moot. Isn't the idea to follow people who, for example, travel to cool places that you might not have considered? Perhaps seeing one of those pictures pop up where influencer X spends a while in a Maldives resort might actually get you interested to go check it out yourself?
  - merinowool 8y ago
    I would be interested in cool places where influencers don't go...
  - zaarn 8y ago
    To my knowledge influencers rarely travel to "cool" places. They travel to family friendly, safe places. And safe in multiple meanings in both "people are safe here" and "this place is safe for me as influencer since noone will be offended". My family used to travel a lot and we went to a lot of family-unsafe places at times (like in-the-wilderniss campsites in southern africa where you can't leave the RV because there is snakes and wild animals outside or climbing up several vulcanoes in iceland and I mean 'climb' not 'walk up a slope') Those are actually cool places.
    - charlesdm 8y ago
      I'm not disagreeing with what you say, because I too think the places you describe are often cool. However, they're also very much outside of the comfort zone of most people. For example, on average I would assume most women prefer a romantic getaway to the Maldives over climbing a volcano in Iceland. And most people with kids likely won't be going on a month long roadtrip through Africa or South-America.
      - kchronic8 8y ago
        > For example, on average I would assume most women prefer a romantic getaway to the Maldives over climbing a volcano in Iceland. And most people with kids likely won't be going on a month long roadtrip through Africa or South-America. Because a romantic getaway is far cheaper than Iceland or Africa. It's not because it's outside their comfort zone, it's because they can't afford it. The average woman (or man) can barely take enough vacation days, let alone pay for it.
- Spooky23 8y ago
  These guys fill voids in google searches and may close a deal when people are looking for validation. If you cannot make a decision between the Four Seasons and the Conrad or whatever, some random guys food porn or gush about the bellman may tip you. Travel magazines have been doing this sort of thing for decades.
- Nasrudith 8y ago
  To be fair that is a good thing as a long term strategy. They may lack money now but in the future when they could afford it that could pay large premiums. It is why marketers were so focused on youth for marketing - they have less set tastes and more big ticket items in the future. Most teenagers can't afford a sports car but if you win them over they could wind up buying one when they are older and able to afford it. I have seen the reverse backfire with traditional news. They would take all sorts of bullshit youth blaming and stupid moral panics and then wonder why people under middle age don't consider them worth reading or watching for free, let alone paying for.
philip1209 8y ago
I think Instagram is just replacing magazines. People use their phone for inspiration like they used to read paper travel content. Even if they are not traveling, the content fuels imagination and dreams.
- zappo2938 8y ago
  That is interesting. People buy Vogue because of the paid content. The creative and editorial content too but that has equal weight with the paid content to the reader.
zebnyc 8y ago
If you take anyone's review to inform your decision you are being "influenced". I use a combination of amazon/ youtube/yelp/ tripadvisor etc reviews to figure out which brand to buy for anything / to how things work. These include anything from beard trimmer to cookware set to figure out which restaurant to eat at.
hh3k0 8y ago
> I just want to know who the heck takes recommendations of 'influencers' seriously? Gullible teens with no money? That doesn't mean mom and dad got no money, though. I happen to know a kid with rich parents and they frequently have to buy him stuff he discovered on instagram -- YEEZY shoes and whatnot. I'm sure there are enough kids that'll bug their parents about planning their next vacation where some popular influencer were.
- 08-15 8y ago
  > kid with rich parents and they frequently have to buy him stuff You meant to say "rich parents who frequently chose to buy him stuff", didn't you?
  - groaner 8y ago
    To the extent that the parents chose to raise their children in an environment that taught them advanced emotional manipulation skills at an early age, sure.
tomcam 8y ago
Your peers. Daringfireball, A very popular blog with readers of this site, gets something like $15,000 per mention in their newsletter.
- MarkusAllen 8y ago
  It is currently $8,500.
- yoz-y 8y ago
  There are several differences though. First, DF has a lot less sponsorship spots than your average influencer who basically posts ads 24/7. Second, the stuff which is usually advertised on tech blogs is mostly about work related products which also usually cost less than one of those fancy vacations. DF also has more readers that most of the influencers that are considered successful. Now, I know for a fact that the feeds to influence buying decisions for smaller, cheaper stuff, such as cosmetics. It is not a long stretch to think that it also works for vacations. However, from what I heard, the brands that are most successful in selling out their stock are in the category of affordable luxury.
cityhomesteader 8y ago
> I just want to know who the heck takes recommendations of 'influencers' seriously? Their fans? > Gullible teens with no money? Probably. But gullible teens with no money have parents who have money and gullible teens with no money grow up to become adults with money. Hence why advertisers want to get to them when they are young. It's well known that earlier you can influence people, the more influence you can have. "Influencers" is a new word for an old concept - people/institutions with a following. Lebron James is an influencer. The Atlantic ( and its journalists ) are influencers. Tom Hanks is an influencer. Why do you think advertisers spend so much money on them?
- ryandrake 8y ago
  The difference, of course, is that lebron James and Tom Hanks have some other talent that can explain their fame, and The Atlantic journalists also are influential because of some other thing they do (besides influencing). These Instagram people are influencers because... why? What underlying talent or past event launched them into their positions?
  - Magmatic 8y ago
    Reasons for fame, while interesting in themselves, only matter insofar as they determine the demographics of a celebrities following and how likely that demographic is to try the products they associate themselves with. A small thought experiment now, say I run a restaurant and both Tom Hanks and Lebron James go on national television and declare it their favorite place to eat, what happens? I'd say starting the next day I'm going to be flooded with reservations despite the fact that the talents that make them famous have nothing to do with their ability to judge food. Influencers are influencers because a large group of people act collectively to give them influence. The reasons why people give influencers such influence is varied but as a business owner all that really matters is how much that influence may be worth monetarily.
  - geodel 8y ago
    I think influencers are similar to Linkedin type thought leaders. Every time I log in there a new one pops out in my feed. Some are collecting awards from a thought leading organization which no one had heard of, while quoting some fake Sun Tzu proverb. I think they are doing pretty well for themselves but they never seem to have anything interesting and original to say.
nikanj 8y ago
The same people who bought a brand because a hockey player endorsed them on TV
rhino369 8y ago
Gullible teens with money, which is why their influence can be worth money. Which is why this stuff works for premium mediocre products. Stuff that is more expensive, but still within the reach of the middle class. But their followers cannot afford 1000 dollar a night hotels. So if I was a luxury hotel, I'd tell them to fuck off. But if I was a cupcake shop, I'd let each of these influencers eat whatever they wanted for free.
- staticautomatic 8y ago
  That's not really how it works. The hotel puts up the influencer in the ludicrously expensive over-water bungalow or deluxe suite or whatever. Followers book the cheaper rooms hoping for the same experience.
  - rhino369 8y ago
    That would be a good model, but in my experience, luxury hotels don't have cheap rooms.
    - staticautomatic 8y ago
      It really depends on what kind of hotel and where in the world it is. What you say is true of Paris, Aman hotels, some Four Seasons properties, African safaris, most of the Maldives, and a handful of other places and hotel operators. It's not true of many others, some of which are surprising: Mauritius, Vienna, much of Asia (esp Japan and Thailand), much of South America, most of India, a lot of Italy, and even French Polynesia.
    - charlesdm 8y ago
      Depends what you consider expensive of course. You're not going to find a 5-star hotel in London at £99 a night, no. Then again, it's a 5-star hotel, so service will generally be good (and that is worth something in my view).
  - prawn 8y ago
    Or alternatively, the influencer has the grand holiday experience for no real occasion while the follower springs for it as a treat for their honeymoon or milestone or something.
majani 8y ago
I think the majority of people that get large disposable income are heavily influenced by lifestyle marketing. The tech crowd tends to be the exception with our frugal, down to earth ways despite earning lots of money.
- mywittyname 8y ago
  I don't think we are immune, we just aspire for a different "lifestyle" than a teenage girl from NYC. While the teenage girl would be dreaming about partying all night on a beach with cute guys (and nursing hangovers in a beautiful spa), a tech bro might dream about taking a Wrangler through the Moab, camping under the stars for a few weeks.
  - coatmatter 8y ago
    Apple currently still encompasses all.
gaius 8y ago
Lots of people went to Fyre Festival on @emrata’s say-so https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/arts/music/fyre-festival-ja-rule-bahamas.html https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/arts/music/fyre-festiv... But it doesn’t seem to have impacted her career any
matwood 8y ago
It's probably not that direct. Having an 'influencer' post about your product is simply another possible ad view. I don't know what a targeted ad cost on IG, but giving someone a free night in a hotel room to have them post about it to their followers may be more effective and cost less.
- davidmurdoch 8y ago
  It's generally about $1-2 per 100 followers per post.
megy 8y ago
Ok, you are looking for a place to stay, who do you trust? The owners website, a booking website with a million properties? Or someone you know online, like their work, and recommend only a few places? You have to trust someone.
- FireBeyond 8y ago
  > Or someone you know online Following someone, and knowing them are different things. > like their work Which often is "selfies in different places" > and recommend only a few places? That they convinced to let them stay, visit, or eat for free...
  - prawn 8y ago
    All of those things are really subjective. A selfie is just a photo of the subject in situ, and it's often more genuine than stock/provided shots used in travel marketing. Consider also that the alternatives are heeding the hotel itself or a booking engine or a travel agent. As was said, if you're going to be influenced by someone, why wouldn't it be someone whose veneer of life you'd at least tangentially followed, someone who might typically have similar interests to you (surfing, outdoors, fine dining, etc). It might be an imperfect filter of the products being offered, but at least there's a non-zero chance that they rejected poor offers or didn't write enthusiastically about the ones they didn't love. I think it's short sighted to write off some of this.
    - jexah 8y ago
      Why not look at an aggregation of tens of thousands of reviews? Much less likely to be bought. In the world of bots and influencers, reviews that cite the hotels weaknesses are the most valuable.
goatherders 8y ago
This is what I thought. But then I learned that lots of young professionals with some disposable income take their Instagram feed very seriously. It influences brand decisions, where to eat, where to stay, where to be seen. You would be surprised - I was - how much a post by the right someone can drive revenue.
seattle_spring 8y ago
I mean... It happens within the software industry quite frequently. Look at Ryan Florence, the guy who thinks Github should remove "issues". He's revered like a god to some.
- umanwizard 8y ago
  Or Mike Church, or Uncle Bob... pretty common, actually.
sky_rw 8y ago
I think you're being a bit too jaded about this. It's less about the recommendation and more about the reach and discovery. There are numerous restaurants, vacation spots, and businesses that I would have never discovered on my own. Seeing a post for me is less about "oh I want to do what that person is doing" and more about "oh I didn't know that restaurant existed". This is incredibly valuable.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
Most people I know who follow "influencers" are blokes who just want to see hot chicks on their Insta feed, or girls with insecurity issues who want to live vicariously through Instagram. Influencers do work for that certain demographic though, to an extent. Contiki, who offer group travel packages for the 20-something year old market who just want to go on a bar crawl through Europe or Asia, use influencers a lot to sell their product. They're just in the right price bracket where they can say "look, for only $4000, you too can live this kind of lifestyle". It's the budget-luxury brands that get the best value for money out of influencers. When people splash out a bit of money, they'll look at the successful influencers and say "I want to be like them", and buy the stuff that they're shilling, trying to buy the lifestyle. Personally, I wouldn't go on a Contiki tour if you paid me, but there are people who enjoy that kind of travel. There are even travel companies that sell packages specifically designed so you can get as much Instagram material as possible, in an attempt to become an influencer yourself. It's a vicious, self feeding cycle.
subpixel 8y ago
These people exist across verticals. And many wind up very successful b/c at the end of the day people are afraid of not being cool enough. To wit: AOL's 'digital prophet', Shingy.
mrep 8y ago
I think you are just used to the HN and tech bubble. A lot of us here most likely don't consume nearly as much social media as the average person does. "Instagram, owned by Facebook, says its users under 25 spend “more than 32 minutes a day on Instagram,” and users 25 and over “spend more than 24 minutes a day” on the app. [0]. In fact, my girlfriend who uses social media a lot more than I do says she knows like dozens of girls from college who are all wannabe influencers. There is a huge social media rat race currently going on which is why Facebook is making 40 billion dollars a year. [0]: https://www.recode.net/2017/8/2/16081086/instagram-snapchat-stories-anniversary-time-spent https://www.recode.net/2017/8/2/16081086/instagram-snapchat-...
- frockington 8y ago
  Does your average "influencer" make any money or is it just the top 100 or so that will ever see more than a free weekend and a plane ticket in coach?
SnowingXIV 8y ago
Well, I think it highly depends on the niche. My wife for instance, enjoys makeup and skincare products so she follows certain personalities that sell their own lipstick or whatever. The most prominent examples of this that come to mind (because she brings it up to me) is Kylie Jenner and Jeffree Star. The products aren't prohibitively expensive (though I think they are incredibly overpriced and believe she'd do just fine by buying generic Target brand stuff) but she seems to be persuaded by it. I know with those examples they are selling their own products, but I'm sure there are some more Linus Tech Tips style makeup influencers that she follows that impacts her buying decisions with her disposable income.

My thoughts exactly. It seems to me that the target market of these “influencers” is teens with little to no money that spend hours looking at these “influencers” exactly because these pictures are as close as they’re gonna get to that luxury lifestyle. People who can actually afford this will just go on holidays by themselves with no thoughts about the “influencers” whatsoever, also because by the time you can afford such lifestyles you widen up to the obvious commercial intents of these influencer “recommendations”, making their “review” purpose moot. In my social circle people who spend days & nights looking and sharing the influencer pictures can’t actually afford any of that even if they wanted to. Those that can afford it don’t give a damn about the influencers.

xapata 8y ago
Apparently the advertisers buying space in FT's "How to spend it" issues think at least someone cares.
- notimetorelax 8y ago
  I think of this publication as a guide to expensive presents for your wife or a girlfriend.
  - gaius 8y ago
    ... by way of apology for working all the time and neglecting her... It’s a big circle.
- ascorbic 8y ago
  While most readers of the FT wouldn't drop six figures on a watch, the people who would spend that are more likely to be FT readers than most, so it's the right place to reach them. As for Instagram influencers: who are the people staying in these hotels? Sure, a lot of them are likely to be the sort who read the FT or the Economist, but a good chunk of them are going to be honeymooners, for example, who I'd imagine are exactly the sort who would look to Instagram for ideas. Likewise there are obviously people in their 20s who could afford to stay in these places, and not all of them spend their time on HN. I'd guess Instagram is as good a place as any to reach them.
charlesdm 8y ago
> People who can actually afford this will just go on holidays by themselves with no thoughts about the “influencers” whatsoever, also because by the time you can afford such lifestyles you widen up to the obvious commercial intents of these influencer “recommendations”, making their “review” purpose moot. Isn't the idea to follow people who, for example, travel to cool places that you might not have considered? Perhaps seeing one of those pictures pop up where influencer X spends a while in a Maldives resort might actually get you interested to go check it out yourself?
- merinowool 8y ago
  I would be interested in cool places where influencers don't go...
- zaarn 8y ago
  To my knowledge influencers rarely travel to "cool" places. They travel to family friendly, safe places. And safe in multiple meanings in both "people are safe here" and "this place is safe for me as influencer since noone will be offended". My family used to travel a lot and we went to a lot of family-unsafe places at times (like in-the-wilderniss campsites in southern africa where you can't leave the RV because there is snakes and wild animals outside or climbing up several vulcanoes in iceland and I mean 'climb' not 'walk up a slope') Those are actually cool places.
  - charlesdm 8y ago
    I'm not disagreeing with what you say, because I too think the places you describe are often cool. However, they're also very much outside of the comfort zone of most people. For example, on average I would assume most women prefer a romantic getaway to the Maldives over climbing a volcano in Iceland. And most people with kids likely won't be going on a month long roadtrip through Africa or South-America.
    - kchronic8 8y ago
      > For example, on average I would assume most women prefer a romantic getaway to the Maldives over climbing a volcano in Iceland. And most people with kids likely won't be going on a month long roadtrip through Africa or South-America. Because a romantic getaway is far cheaper than Iceland or Africa. It's not because it's outside their comfort zone, it's because they can't afford it. The average woman (or man) can barely take enough vacation days, let alone pay for it.
Spooky23 8y ago
These guys fill voids in google searches and may close a deal when people are looking for validation. If you cannot make a decision between the Four Seasons and the Conrad or whatever, some random guys food porn or gush about the bellman may tip you. Travel magazines have been doing this sort of thing for decades.
Nasrudith 8y ago
To be fair that is a good thing as a long term strategy. They may lack money now but in the future when they could afford it that could pay large premiums. It is why marketers were so focused on youth for marketing - they have less set tastes and more big ticket items in the future. Most teenagers can't afford a sports car but if you win them over they could wind up buying one when they are older and able to afford it. I have seen the reverse backfire with traditional news. They would take all sorts of bullshit youth blaming and stupid moral panics and then wonder why people under middle age don't consider them worth reading or watching for free, let alone paying for.

philip1209 8y ago

I think Instagram is just replacing magazines. People use their phone for inspiration like they used to read paper travel content. Even if they are not traveling, the content fuels imagination and dreams.

zappo2938 8y ago
That is interesting. People buy Vogue because of the paid content. The creative and editorial content too but that has equal weight with the paid content to the reader.

zebnyc 8y ago

If you take anyone's review to inform your decision you are being "influenced". I use a combination of amazon/ youtube/yelp/ tripadvisor etc reviews to figure out which brand to buy for anything / to how things work. These include anything from beard trimmer to cookware set to figure out which restaurant to eat at.

hh3k0 8y ago

> I just want to know who the heck takes recommendations of 'influencers' seriously? Gullible teens with no money? That doesn't mean mom and dad got no money, though. I happen to know a kid with rich parents and they frequently have to buy him stuff he discovered on instagram -- YEEZY shoes and whatnot. I'm sure there are enough kids that'll bug their parents about planning their next vacation where some popular influencer were.

08-15 8y ago
> kid with rich parents and they frequently have to buy him stuff You meant to say "rich parents who frequently chose to buy him stuff", didn't you?
- groaner 8y ago
  To the extent that the parents chose to raise their children in an environment that taught them advanced emotional manipulation skills at an early age, sure.

tomcam 8y ago

Your peers. Daringfireball, A very popular blog with readers of this site, gets something like $15,000 per mention in their newsletter.

MarkusAllen 8y ago
It is currently $8,500.
yoz-y 8y ago
There are several differences though. First, DF has a lot less sponsorship spots than your average influencer who basically posts ads 24/7. Second, the stuff which is usually advertised on tech blogs is mostly about work related products which also usually cost less than one of those fancy vacations. DF also has more readers that most of the influencers that are considered successful. Now, I know for a fact that the feeds to influence buying decisions for smaller, cheaper stuff, such as cosmetics. It is not a long stretch to think that it also works for vacations. However, from what I heard, the brands that are most successful in selling out their stock are in the category of affordable luxury.

cityhomesteader 8y ago

> I just want to know who the heck takes recommendations of 'influencers' seriously? Their fans? > Gullible teens with no money? Probably. But gullible teens with no money have parents who have money and gullible teens with no money grow up to become adults with money. Hence why advertisers want to get to them when they are young. It's well known that earlier you can influence people, the more influence you can have. "Influencers" is a new word for an old concept - people/institutions with a following. Lebron James is an influencer. The Atlantic ( and its journalists ) are influencers. Tom Hanks is an influencer. Why do you think advertisers spend so much money on them?

ryandrake 8y ago
The difference, of course, is that lebron James and Tom Hanks have some other talent that can explain their fame, and The Atlantic journalists also are influential because of some other thing they do (besides influencing). These Instagram people are influencers because... why? What underlying talent or past event launched them into their positions?
- Magmatic 8y ago
  Reasons for fame, while interesting in themselves, only matter insofar as they determine the demographics of a celebrities following and how likely that demographic is to try the products they associate themselves with. A small thought experiment now, say I run a restaurant and both Tom Hanks and Lebron James go on national television and declare it their favorite place to eat, what happens? I'd say starting the next day I'm going to be flooded with reservations despite the fact that the talents that make them famous have nothing to do with their ability to judge food. Influencers are influencers because a large group of people act collectively to give them influence. The reasons why people give influencers such influence is varied but as a business owner all that really matters is how much that influence may be worth monetarily.
- geodel 8y ago
  I think influencers are similar to Linkedin type thought leaders. Every time I log in there a new one pops out in my feed. Some are collecting awards from a thought leading organization which no one had heard of, while quoting some fake Sun Tzu proverb. I think they are doing pretty well for themselves but they never seem to have anything interesting and original to say.

nikanj 8y ago

The same people who bought a brand because a hockey player endorsed them on TV

rhino369 8y ago

Gullible teens with money, which is why their influence can be worth money. Which is why this stuff works for premium mediocre products. Stuff that is more expensive, but still within the reach of the middle class. But their followers cannot afford 1000 dollar a night hotels. So if I was a luxury hotel, I'd tell them to fuck off. But if I was a cupcake shop, I'd let each of these influencers eat whatever they wanted for free.

staticautomatic 8y ago
That's not really how it works. The hotel puts up the influencer in the ludicrously expensive over-water bungalow or deluxe suite or whatever. Followers book the cheaper rooms hoping for the same experience.
- rhino369 8y ago
  That would be a good model, but in my experience, luxury hotels don't have cheap rooms.
  - staticautomatic 8y ago
    It really depends on what kind of hotel and where in the world it is. What you say is true of Paris, Aman hotels, some Four Seasons properties, African safaris, most of the Maldives, and a handful of other places and hotel operators. It's not true of many others, some of which are surprising: Mauritius, Vienna, much of Asia (esp Japan and Thailand), much of South America, most of India, a lot of Italy, and even French Polynesia.
  - charlesdm 8y ago
    Depends what you consider expensive of course. You're not going to find a 5-star hotel in London at £99 a night, no. Then again, it's a 5-star hotel, so service will generally be good (and that is worth something in my view).
- prawn 8y ago
  Or alternatively, the influencer has the grand holiday experience for no real occasion while the follower springs for it as a treat for their honeymoon or milestone or something.

majani 8y ago

I think the majority of people that get large disposable income are heavily influenced by lifestyle marketing. The tech crowd tends to be the exception with our frugal, down to earth ways despite earning lots of money.

mywittyname 8y ago
I don't think we are immune, we just aspire for a different "lifestyle" than a teenage girl from NYC. While the teenage girl would be dreaming about partying all night on a beach with cute guys (and nursing hangovers in a beautiful spa), a tech bro might dream about taking a Wrangler through the Moab, camping under the stars for a few weeks.
- coatmatter 8y ago
  Apple currently still encompasses all.

gaius 8y ago

Lots of people went to Fyre Festival on @emrata’s say-so https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/arts/music/fyre-festival-ja-rule-bahamas.html https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/arts/music/fyre-festiv... But it doesn’t seem to have impacted her career any

matwood 8y ago

It's probably not that direct. Having an 'influencer' post about your product is simply another possible ad view. I don't know what a targeted ad cost on IG, but giving someone a free night in a hotel room to have them post about it to their followers may be more effective and cost less.

davidmurdoch 8y ago
It's generally about $1-2 per 100 followers per post.

megy 8y ago

Ok, you are looking for a place to stay, who do you trust? The owners website, a booking website with a million properties? Or someone you know online, like their work, and recommend only a few places? You have to trust someone.

FireBeyond 8y ago
> Or someone you know online Following someone, and knowing them are different things. > like their work Which often is "selfies in different places" > and recommend only a few places? That they convinced to let them stay, visit, or eat for free...
- prawn 8y ago
  All of those things are really subjective. A selfie is just a photo of the subject in situ, and it's often more genuine than stock/provided shots used in travel marketing. Consider also that the alternatives are heeding the hotel itself or a booking engine or a travel agent. As was said, if you're going to be influenced by someone, why wouldn't it be someone whose veneer of life you'd at least tangentially followed, someone who might typically have similar interests to you (surfing, outdoors, fine dining, etc). It might be an imperfect filter of the products being offered, but at least there's a non-zero chance that they rejected poor offers or didn't write enthusiastically about the ones they didn't love. I think it's short sighted to write off some of this.
  - jexah 8y ago
    Why not look at an aggregation of tens of thousands of reviews? Much less likely to be bought. In the world of bots and influencers, reviews that cite the hotels weaknesses are the most valuable.

goatherders 8y ago

This is what I thought. But then I learned that lots of young professionals with some disposable income take their Instagram feed very seriously. It influences brand decisions, where to eat, where to stay, where to be seen. You would be surprised - I was - how much a post by the right someone can drive revenue.

seattle_spring 8y ago

I mean... It happens within the software industry quite frequently. Look at Ryan Florence, the guy who thinks Github should remove "issues". He's revered like a god to some.

umanwizard 8y ago
Or Mike Church, or Uncle Bob... pretty common, actually.

sky_rw 8y ago

I think you're being a bit too jaded about this. It's less about the recommendation and more about the reach and discovery. There are numerous restaurants, vacation spots, and businesses that I would have never discovered on my own. Seeing a post for me is less about "oh I want to do what that person is doing" and more about "oh I didn't know that restaurant existed". This is incredibly valuable.

toomanybeersies 8y ago

Most people I know who follow "influencers" are blokes who just want to see hot chicks on their Insta feed, or girls with insecurity issues who want to live vicariously through Instagram. Influencers do work for that certain demographic though, to an extent. Contiki, who offer group travel packages for the 20-something year old market who just want to go on a bar crawl through Europe or Asia, use influencers a lot to sell their product. They're just in the right price bracket where they can say "look, for only $4000, you too can live this kind of lifestyle". It's the budget-luxury brands that get the best value for money out of influencers. When people splash out a bit of money, they'll look at the successful influencers and say "I want to be like them", and buy the stuff that they're shilling, trying to buy the lifestyle. Personally, I wouldn't go on a Contiki tour if you paid me, but there are people who enjoy that kind of travel. There are even travel companies that sell packages specifically designed so you can get as much Instagram material as possible, in an attempt to become an influencer yourself. It's a vicious, self feeding cycle.

subpixel 8y ago

These people exist across verticals. And many wind up very successful b/c at the end of the day people are afraid of not being cool enough. To wit: AOL's 'digital prophet', Shingy.

mrep 8y ago

I think you are just used to the HN and tech bubble. A lot of us here most likely don't consume nearly as much social media as the average person does. "Instagram, owned by Facebook, says its users under 25 spend “more than 32 minutes a day on Instagram,” and users 25 and over “spend more than 24 minutes a day” on the app. [0]. In fact, my girlfriend who uses social media a lot more than I do says she knows like dozens of girls from college who are all wannabe influencers. There is a huge social media rat race currently going on which is why Facebook is making 40 billion dollars a year. [0]: https://www.recode.net/2017/8/2/16081086/instagram-snapchat-stories-anniversary-time-spent https://www.recode.net/2017/8/2/16081086/instagram-snapchat-...

frockington 8y ago
Does your average "influencer" make any money or is it just the top 100 or so that will ever see more than a free weekend and a plane ticket in coach?

SnowingXIV 8y ago

Well, I think it highly depends on the niche. My wife for instance, enjoys makeup and skincare products so she follows certain personalities that sell their own lipstick or whatever. The most prominent examples of this that come to mind (because she brings it up to me) is Kylie Jenner and Jeffree Star. The products aren't prohibitively expensive (though I think they are incredibly overpriced and believe she'd do just fine by buying generic Target brand stuff) but she seems to be persuaded by it. I know with those examples they are selling their own products, but I'm sure there are some more Linus Tech Tips style makeup influencers that she follows that impacts her buying decisions with her disposable income.