A Litte Marketing Perspective

A shallow dive into The Influencers: Social media stars are earning big money for pitching products in short, often silly, postings seen by millions of followers on 60 Minutes with Bill Whitaker.

Social media influencers are growing exponentially and are amazingly good at what they do. Influencer content ranges from beautifully inspiring to downright insane. Successful influencers are mostly overnight successes, somehow building a cult following with fun videos that run the gamut of dancing and singing to cooking and crafting and everything in between. Nothing seems off limits with these social media giants.

One thing is for sure in marketing: younger audiences are increasingly difficult to market to, especially as an older adult. It takes a firm understanding of who you are marketing to in order to be successful, but every year, the younger generation’s likes and dislikes mutate like the flu. One minute it’s this, one minute it’s that. Op! Grandma’s on Instagram now. Let’s check out TikTok, I don’t want her to see me shaking my butt on the internet.

The influencer’s strategies are producing video content reflecting their daily lives, creating skits, making people laugh, or showing people the world outside. What is most important about this type of marketing is that the influencers such as Logan Paul are having fun. They’re creating content that makes them happy and they just happen to be catching the eye of their peers because they just want to have fun, too. Logan Paul’s videos are numerous, featuring random skits, self-produced music videos, and random vlogs, amassing 22.8m subscribers. The videos range in quality and somehow he has the “it” factor that attracts his peers.

As brands are struggling to tap into younger audiences, they are reaching out to social media influencers who become the missing link for the next generation. Brands strive for relevancy in an ever-changing world that becomes more technologically advanced by the minute. I mean, personal computers didn’t exist until the 1970s. Social media influencers are the generational conduit that brands need to solidify their futures.

Marketing perspective influences how consumers view a brand or product. A brand whose products have been historically used by a certain generation will not attract a younger demographic to use on its own merits. However, seeing a peer use that product in a way that they can see themselves using makes all the difference in the world. Suddenly, that generation has reason to try that product and the mere suggestion that a peer finds it useful or delicious or exciting is enough to create a new generation of brand loyalists.

Seeing is believing.