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This sort of misses the point of influencer marketing. You wouldn't _see it_ unless you subscribed to the influencer. It wouldn't be a "random" influencer _to

This sort of misses the point of influencer marketing. You wouldn't _see it_ unless you subscribed to the influencer. It wouldn't be a "random" influencer _to you_. Everyone has their role models, their influencers. It's hard for us to understand how others could like some influencers - and they probably to ours. But everyone has their own influencer - and they influence. [Edit] This is not a defense of the products influencers sell. That's independent of their persuasive ability, often.

pbhjpbhj 8y ago
Do we all have our influencers? People pretending to be our friend who are really selling us out shilling product?? Role models aren't "influencers" in the general case.
- theNJR 8y ago
  Influencer is such a stupid word, but we are all influenced by others. "Famous" people, commenters on Hacker News (I think I'm going to buy a cow after this [0]), and friends can all sway a purchase choice. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19724328 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19724328
  - alexpetralia 8y ago
    It is unfortunately a very stupid word.
  - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
    I think the confusion is people who influence us, and the specific role of influencer. People who influence us are influences on us, but they're not usually influencers.
rchaud 8y ago
As far as these companies and the influencers are concerned, it's not enough to simply have some faint awareness of the product. These companies aren't Coca-Cola, whose presence is ubiquitous, so any marginal increase in awareness is valuable because you can buy a Coke anywhere. On IG, you'll see an individual product for maybe a second while scrolling through a never-ending feed of content. For that reason, the companies and the influencers need you to purchase the product right at the point in time you see it on your feed. Without using the influencer-provided "discount code" shown on the post (which serves the same purpose as an affiliate link, i.e. a unique identifier), the influencer won't get paid. The products in question also tend to be very commodified (tshirts, hoodies, supplements) and are hawked under different names by multiple popular IG-ers, which adds to the problem of name recognition.
- theNJR 8y ago
  This may be true to your feed, but it's not true to the industry. Every DTC brand, from ice cream to back massagers, is using influencers as part of their marketing mix. And while getting a sale on first view is great, that is rarely the strategy. Instead, they refine their list and look alike audiences and hit potential customers with ads over and over and over. When done correctly, the brand gets added to the influencers Business account, gaining access to their audience. They then turn the 'organic' post into a retargeted ad. These make a killing.

pbhjpbhj 8y ago

Do we all have our influencers? People pretending to be our friend who are really selling us out shilling product?? Role models aren't "influencers" in the general case.

theNJR 8y ago
Influencer is such a stupid word, but we are all influenced by others. "Famous" people, commenters on Hacker News (I think I'm going to buy a cow after this [0]), and friends can all sway a purchase choice. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19724328 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19724328
- alexpetralia 8y ago
  It is unfortunately a very stupid word.
- pbhjpbhj 8y ago
  I think the confusion is people who influence us, and the specific role of influencer. People who influence us are influences on us, but they're not usually influencers.

rchaud 8y ago

As far as these companies and the influencers are concerned, it's not enough to simply have some faint awareness of the product. These companies aren't Coca-Cola, whose presence is ubiquitous, so any marginal increase in awareness is valuable because you can buy a Coke anywhere. On IG, you'll see an individual product for maybe a second while scrolling through a never-ending feed of content. For that reason, the companies and the influencers need you to purchase the product right at the point in time you see it on your feed. Without using the influencer-provided "discount code" shown on the post (which serves the same purpose as an affiliate link, i.e. a unique identifier), the influencer won't get paid. The products in question also tend to be very commodified (tshirts, hoodies, supplements) and are hawked under different names by multiple popular IG-ers, which adds to the problem of name recognition.

theNJR 8y ago
This may be true to your feed, but it's not true to the industry. Every DTC brand, from ice cream to back massagers, is using influencers as part of their marketing mix. And while getting a sale on first view is great, that is rarely the strategy. Instead, they refine their list and look alike audiences and hit potential customers with ads over and over and over. When done correctly, the brand gets added to the influencers Business account, gaining access to their audience. They then turn the 'organic' post into a retargeted ad. These make a killing.