sophiatheberry

[sophiatheberry]

COVID19 Influence(r)

As of late, if you were to log into any social media, specifically Instagram, you will find that a LOT has changed. Obviously, this is just a snowball effect of what COVID19 has done to communication between people during this self-isolation we are all going through. Has it changed for the better? That is up to the viewer's discretion. What I have noticed is any formality that used to be an unsaid staple rule of Instagram is out the window. People have started posting content that is not recent, maybe to reminisce on better times. Others are posting chain trends where if one of your followers interacts with your post in a certain way, say answering a question you asked wrong, they must continue the chain and ask their audience the same question. While these things have always been around on Instagram, they are being posted all of the time in significant amounts. I have found myself thinking about frequenting the app a lot less due to this, but I still log on more than once a day. I am looking for inspiration during all of my, what seems like, endless time from curators, more specifically, Influencers.

Even though brands have canceled events and campaigns, agencies are seeing "that engagement on social media posts is higher than normal as more consumers spend time in physical isolation." (Perelli) DIY ad content is expected to do very well at this time. "Influencers are starting to switch up their revenue strategies, focusing on businesses or alternative revenue streams like consulting, teaching, and coaching." (Perelli) One significant spike in engagement is with fitness influencers, as at home workouts are becoming more sought after. One of my personal favorites is influencers sharing their artsy side by showing you what their favorite crafts to do right now are.

On the contrary, "despite increased social-media usage, the prices paid per post on all social media may fall dramatically in the short term and continue to drop, depending on the length of the coronavirus outbreak and its overall impact." (Perelli) Leading to the demise of influencers that make their income via sponsorships. This is because Companies are in this waiting game to see if they need to come up with genuine alternatives to their typical marketing strategies.

So this weird time in our lives seems to have a few pros and cons on the influencer marketing industry at the moment, but only time will tell us what will happen to our precious influencers as it is still too early to tell.

Do you have predictions as to what influencer marketing will look like during the middle of this pandemic?

References:

Perelli, A. (2020, April 8). How the coronavirus is changing the influencer business, according to marketers and top Instagram and YouTube creators. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/how-coronavirus-is-changing-influencer-marketing-creator-industry-2020-3

[sophiatheberry]

We lOVe engagement

In this day and age, we appreciate more than ever when companies are involved with their stakeholders. "When a company chooses to be engaged with its customers, it commits to being truly concerned about what they say, think, and feel." (Freburg) Because of this, many companies thrive and flourish on the benefits of interaction.

One of my favorite companies that, in my opinion, sets a high bar for consumer interaction is Outdoor Voices, otherwise known as OV. They are a recreational clothing brand based out of Austin, Texas, that was founded in 2014 by the then twenty-five-year-old founder and CEO, Ty Haney. "OV's vision of physical activity is very different from the sort usually touted by Under Armour or Nike. Rather than advertising world-class athletes engaged in rigorous training or fierce competition, OV emphasizes low-key workouts and everyday movement." (Tolentino) In other words, this company's personal brand is about "doing things" and getting active for fun.

While many brands clearly state how people are connected to their company in posts, OV tends to use many user-generated pictures with their ads. These users may make posts using the company's #dointhings and or tagging OV — thus going a step further in the casualty and humanization of the brand. "The general manager has said 'Probably ninety-five percent of the ads you see on Instagram are user-generated.'" (Tolentino) I myself have posted a picture that they then posted on Facebook, as seen below. Doing this type of interaction with stakeholders that love this brand makes these users think that they are helping them in significant ways, which they are. By being able to see that consumers would like this brand enough to tag them and promote them, new consumers will be more open to the idea of purchasing merchandise. This goes a step further than influencers, in my opinion, because these are non-famous people who are just posting for the simple fact of wanting to share.

Another one of my favorite interactions OV does with their consumers is host events. In cities where you will find an Outdoor Voices store, and sometimes others, they host "doing things" activities such as "dog jogs" or "endorphin hour." These frequent events promote a sense of community within these areas and emphasize the brand's vision of getting out there and "doing things."  In other words, OV puts their money where their mouth is with there users by showing them that it is indeed fun to be active, especially when you're with a group of likeminded individuals.

In more ways than one, OV is doing a tremendous job facilitating communication within their community. "Companies that can foster communication, not only between the organization and consumer but also between consumer and consumer, will reap the benefits of the most connected world we've ever had." (Freberg) And I would like to say Outdoor Voices is doing just that.

What is a brand that you think fosters a great sense of community between users? 

References:

-Tolentino, J. (2019, June 25). Outdoor Voices Blurs the Lines Between Working Out and Everything Else. Retrieved February 12, 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/18/outdoor-voices-blurs-the-lines-between-working-out-and-everything-else

-Textbook: Freberg, Karen June. Social Media for Strategic Communication: Creative Strategies and Research-Based Applications. SAGE, 2019.

[sophiatheberry]

Benjamin Franklin Said It Best

"It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, but only one bad one to lose it" (Freberg) is one slice of wisdom that our forefather bestowed upon us. This statement applies to social media so much it hurts. When you are on a platform interacting with a community, your personal brand is maintained through what you post, what your content is, whether or not you are your true self, and how you respond to reactions of your content. These are just a few things to keep in mind when creating content, although the central idea I would like to highlight in this post is being authentic or real in your online presence. If you can't be true to yourself, how do you expect followers/friends to trust you?

Nowadays, many influencers "endorse" and are "sponsored" by brands and are not very truthful about their relationship with said brand. One example of this that jumps out at me is the "scandal" with James Charles and Tati Westbrook that happened in the summer of 2019. James Charles, the first male ambassador for CoverGirl, had everything going for him. With a growing following of sixteen million subscribers on youtube and multiple brand offers, he was living any beauty gurus' dream. That was until May 10, 2019, when one of his best friends, Tati, a mother figure to James, dropped a bomb that would shake communities well passed the Youtube community. In a forty-minute video, she accused James of being a fake friend and endorsing a competitor of her own company to get security at a music festival without a fair warning to her. Other allegations included him not being sincere when apologizing to her, taking the help she and her husband gave her for granted, and even "coercing" men to do sexual acts with him even though these men were straight and James is gay. The internet went up in flames, and James' following began to shrink. As he started to lose followers/subscribers (like the Kardashians, Miley Cyrus, and Ariana Grande, to name a few), Tati's supporters multiplied. In all, James lost almost 3 million subscribers as a result of Tati's video.

This all just comes back to the quote stated at the beginning of this post. "It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, but only one bad one to lose it" (Freberg). In Social Media, you must "understand that your 'virtual' brand is only as good as your online brand" (Freburg). To be truly transparent with your following and allow them to see the real you, and not a mask, is one of the best things you can do for your personal brand. Being fake online is a ticking time bomb because you only have so much time until someone or something slips up, and your true self is revealed to the world. After all, personal brands are made of how people perceive you. They're forever evolving, must be continuously maintained, and, most importantly, formed from the interactions you make AND are influenced by word of mouth. Which I am sure our dear friend James learned the hard way.

Do you have an influencer in mind that ended up not being their authentic self? Did that experience make you less likely to trust influencers?

References:

-Rodulfo, K. (2019, June 19). James Charles' First Video Since the Tati Westbrook Feud Is Trending #1 Worldwide. Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://www.elle.com/beauty/makeup-skin-care/a27453234/james-charles-tati-westbrook-youtube-drama-timeline/

-Textbook: Freberg, Karen June. Social Media for Strategic Communication: Creative Strategies and Research-Based Applications. SAGE, 2019.

[sophiatheberry]

Oh how Social Media has changed advertising

Being a 1998 baby, I had the privilege and disadvantage of growing up without electronics at one point in my life. I remember when "camera phones" were not a thing, let alone photoshop. Although, slowly but surely, new media incorporated its way into my life, and we all gained new devices that gave us the ability to listen to music... without a CD? Crazy. From a social media standpoint, I got to witness my older sisters get MySpace and Facebook in the 2000s. I vividly remember asking them to make me an account for each. (and I can genuinely say that I am grateful they did not give in to my 10-year-old proposals.) 

Although this industry is still quite young, things have escalated quickly, and in the 2000s, things were just getting started. Literally.  Facebook was founded AND reached one million users in 2004. People began tweeting and hashtagging with Twitter in 2006. Instagram's picture-only platform began in 2010. And the last of the leading social media platforms, Snapchat, launched in 2011. With the start of this social media storm, advertising as we knew it would change forever.

In the 2010s, advertisers started to witness that TV advertising was no longer a priority. (Which is bonkers considering how long TV was the ultimate way of reaching people for so long.) And in the present day, as the years go by, we are still seeing fewer and fewer people spending time watching TV. "The average internet user spends about 15 minutes longer each day on social platforms than watching TV." and "a higher proportion are using Facebook daily (50%) than are watching TV (39%)" (Dubras, R., Dora, L. D., & Nava, O., 2018). Which means, unless the SuperBowl is on, TV is no longer the leading platform to reach people with advertisements. 

picture: (Dubras, R., Dora, L. D., & Nava, O., 2018)

On top of the time spent on social media, with the help of cookies, platforms can know what you search and shop for, and then direct advertisements related to you while you are on social media. If that is not already crazy for the game of advertising, I do not know what is. I can not tell you the number of times I have fallen victim to an Instagram Ad, and I ashamed to say that. But if my time on social media is only growing and most ads are focused towards me, well, can you blame me? Who knows, maybe in 10 years, down the road, I will laugh at myself for thinking that this is the peak of social media advertising. 

References:

-Boyd, R. (n.d.). A Brief History of Social Advertising [Infographic]. Retrieved January 21, 2020, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/history-social-advertising-infographic

-Dubras, R., Dora, L. D., & Nava, O. (2018, April 26). Three ways social media usage has evolved. Retrieved January 21, 2020, from https://wearesocial.com/blog/2018/04/three-ways-social-media-usage-has-evolved

-Textbook: Freberg, Karen June. Social Media for Strategic Communication: Creative Strategies and Research-Based Applications. SAGE, 2019.