The importance of influencers in the media and in marketing

Youtube just announced that they will be having a huge concert in Toronto this summer. They promise they will have some of the biggest stars on the web based on the number of followers and views on their videos. When I checked the list however I realized that I didn’t recognize any of them.

Some of these Youtube stars actually had as much views as music artists such as Nicki Minaj. The entire space of marketing is changing. Celebs used to be the sole face of brands. Britney, Beyonce and Pink once filmed a commercial together for Pepsi. Now, marketers are realizing that anyone with influence is valuable whether that is on Youtube, Instagram, Facebook etc. Facebook was worth billions of dollar before it even made any revenue. Why is that? Because eyeballs are valuable and the more targeted the audience is the better.

For example, if I realize that a fashion and/or beauty blogger has as much influence in the realm of makeup as say Christina Aguilera, why wouldn’t I use their influence? Passive content such as youtube videos is not a hard sell and thus the viewer doesn’t even realize they are being sold to.

Influencers have started to realize this and some even command a 6 figure salary on youtube from Google from the advertising revenue they bring in. Some do sponsored videos and posts on their blog. Some even use revenue generating tools such as social commerce platform, Framestr to get kickbacks for businesses. They will do a review of a product and then when they are finished paste a special link so that any sales made from the recommendation are rewarded. Bloggers are the new celebrity when it comes to influencing buyer decisions. I would argue they may be more effective in that they may seem more relatable than say a celebrity, who is paid millions of dollars to mold to a certain image.

Pr agencies and media buyers have started to realize that they can capitalize on this and have incorporated this into plans for their clients. Toronto firm, Grey Smoke Mediaoffers a payout for influencers in the plan for their clients. They either do this on an impression basis (for the amount of eyeballs) or they can also pay the influencer for every signup they get. This boils down to a simple cost of customer acquisition.

The days of banner ads and stiff celebrity endorsements are dead. Social media has completely changed the way in which we view what a “celebrity is”. It will be redefined to mean that which has influence in the world and the ability to enact change.

I also predict there will be some abuse in this space. People will begin to sell out to increase their income and there will be a degree of declining trust by the buyers who feel that their favorite influencer did not disclose their financial interest.

Since most of these deals take place behind the scene, how will we ever know what is happening?