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I'm an 'Instamum/Influencer' AMA

94 replies

HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 10:30

Saw one of these done a while ago and thought it was interesting!
I'm not a huge one - around the 20k mark :) ask away!

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 11:48

I mean in general the ethics of being paid or given products in return for positive reviews. Do you truly believe you can be objective?

Yes and no. At first it was all very exciting and it's hard not to accept everything, even things you don't want/need.

Once you understand the 'business of it' a bit more it becomes a lot easier to turn brands down or be objective.

Ethically, it's no different to celebs that market things, or TV ads etc. as long as it's clearly disclosed that it is an ad. I've not yet actually received anything I wasn't happy with, so being totally honest have no idea how easy I'd find it to post a negative review. At the moment I turn down working with brands if I don't like the look of the product or don't feel comfortable reviewing it.

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whatsthecomingoverthehill · 27/09/2018 11:52

Do you ever worry about people feeling shit about their own lives in comparison with those portrayed by instamums?

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 11:57

Do you ever worry about people feeling shit about their own lives in comparison with those portrayed by instamums?

I do sometimes! I think what people don't realise is that Instagram isn't real life, it's a storybook/magazine of people's best bits. I do think people are becoming more aware of it now but there's still work to be done in my opinion.

I really want to do some Instagram vs. Reality posts but am still trying to figure out the way I want to do them. I'm also thinking about a few blog posts where I can write about it as well.

I don't think I even had a full understanding of how staged it is until I was actually involved in it myself (e.g. perfectly clean and tidy living room, of course the pile of ironing was out of shot!).

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ginghamstarfish · 27/09/2018 12:04

Don't you feel a little remorse for promoting things only BECAUSE you're paid to do so/received it for free? I am so sick of googling products/looking for reviews of goods, only to find they are all in fact paid for. It really skews the marketplace. Same on Amazon, many of the best reviews are from those who received the item for free. I guess people who do this - including IG ones - don't want to give bad reviews or bang goes the supply of free products.

Sparklingbrook · 27/09/2018 12:08

I can't imagine anyone liking pictures of people's backs or hands clutching a drink. Confused And as for shoes...

But there are some strange people about I guess.

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 12:09

Don't you feel a little remorse for promoting things only BECAUSE you're paid to do so/received it for free? I am so sick of googling products/looking for reviews of goods, only to find they are all in fact paid for. It really skews the marketplace. Same on Amazon, many of the best reviews are from those who received the item for free. I guess people who do this - including IG ones - don't want to give bad reviews or bang goes the supply of free products.

I wouldn't do a good review on a product I didn't genuinely like, which is why I'm selective on who I work with. I'm also open about my favourite products, even if they weren't sent to me.

If for example I had two baby bottles, one sent to me and one I bought, but I loved them both, I would post them both and recommend them equally. If I liked both, but preferred one I would recommend that one more, regardless of which one was sent to me. I would still say I liked Free Bottle, as it's true, but I would rave more about Paid Bottle if that's the one I liked better.

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ginghamstarfish · 27/09/2018 12:22

But if you receive an expensive product, then gave a bad review, you wouldn't get anything else from that company, surely?

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 12:25

But if you receive an expensive product, then gave a bad review, you wouldn't get anything else from that company, surely?

Probably not - but if the product was bad enough to warrant a negative review (as oppose to just no mention good or bad) I wouldn't want anything else from them anyway. I wouldn't promote a bad product just to get more bad freebies.

Also, I would hate to think that any of my followers, some who are relatively young and not particularly well off to waste their money on an awful product.

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pinktissuepaper · 27/09/2018 12:32

I'm an Instagram influencer with similar numbers. You really need to put your prices up Wink

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 12:34

I'm an Instagram influencer with similar numbers. You really need to put your prices up

Ohh really! Interesting..

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whatsthecomingoverthehill · 27/09/2018 13:19

But if you receive an expensive product, then gave a bad review, you wouldn't get anything else from that company, surely?

I think it's not the loss from that company, it's more the loss of reputation for other companies who don't want to risk their product getting dissed. If you get a reputation for writing anything less than glowing praise then the freebies dry up. Do you agree OP?

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 13:45

I think it's not the loss from that company, it's more the loss of reputation for other companies who don't want to risk their product getting dissed. If you get a reputation for writing anything less than glowing praise then the freebies dry up. Do you agree OP?

Absolutely - which is why it's better to just not work with certain companies. Bigger ones use agencies as well. So if agency A works with for example Asda, M&S and Mothercare, but you do a bad review for Mothercare, the agency will think twice about considering you for Asda and M&S.

If it's not a product you believe in it's better all round to just not work with it, regardless of money or freebies.

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ProfessorMoody · 27/09/2018 13:59

I don't understand how paid posts work. Do companies just contact you and pay you to post a photo of their stuff?

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 14:01

I don't understand how paid posts work. Do companies just contact you and pay you to post a photo of their stuff?

Pretty much! Some have strict briefs some don't... some want 1x post some want 3x post etc. it varies.

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thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 27/09/2018 14:20

’I could probably get on board with an Instamum-Influencer if it was all about cats mind.’

@Sparklingbrook - you want to look for Cole and Marmalade’s social media accounts - two gorgeous moggies (not pedigrees) just doing normal cat stuff, I love ginger cats and black cats so I’m hooked. Their servant isn’t that bad looking either Wink

Stellenbosch · 27/09/2018 15:05

Did your account grow organically in numbers? Do you videos or just pics? I do food pics but my followers have stalled a bit, and organic growth is quite slow, any advice?

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 15:08

Did your account grow organically in numbers? Do you videos or just pics? I do food pics but my followers have stalled a bit, and organic growth is quite slow, any advice?

Yep totally organic and unexpected. Originally just pics, am trying to incorporate more videos into my stories. Do you use the right hashtags and engage with other posts? I think engagement is really important. You could also incorporate a hashtag that people use eg #stellenboschcooks and encourage people to tag you in their food pics fave recipes etc?

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Buggerbrexit · 27/09/2018 16:15

If something is crap I’d rather read a review saying that than not be able to find an honest review. basically any review you read will be positive then if no one has the balls to post negative reviews.

Buggerbrexit · 27/09/2018 16:16

*is brave enough to post negative reviews.

No idea where the balls came from, it’s not even a turn of phrase I use 😂

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HelloThursday · 27/09/2018 17:00

If something is crap I’d rather read a review saying that than not be able to find an honest review. basically any review you read will be positive then if no one has the balls to post negative reviews.

Haha no worries about the balls comment. Yep agreed, which is why I don't accept the product at all. It is a tough one, but just another form of marketing I suppose. I wouldn't ever leave a Google/Amazon review or anything though, I think they should be reserved for customers only personally to ensure they're fair reviews and not scewed by ads.

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ginghamstarfish · 27/09/2018 17:22

I don't understand how you can decide whether to 'accept a product at all' rather than leave a negative review. How can you know what it's like before you've seen or tried it? And then as discussed above, you won't give a negative review as that leads to you getting less stuff/money. Sorry I cannot get my head around this. You and others like you are doing consumers no favours at all. It's hard to find actual real unpaid-for reviews for many things now, and that is wrong. Yes, the companies will pay you, and you take their money, but still it's deceptive on the part of all concerned.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 27/09/2018 17:31

So you think that what you do aren't fair reviews then?

Buggerbrexit · 27/09/2018 18:51

Mrs hunch seems to take 5 million photos of the same clock from 1 degree of a different angle and post it as inspired Confused

I'll stick with my feed full of guinea pigs; they're unbelievably cute.

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HelloThursday · 28/09/2018 09:03

I don't understand how you can decide whether to 'accept a product at all' rather than leave a negative review. How can you know what it's like before you've seen or tried it? And then as discussed above, you won't give a negative review as that leads to you getting less stuff/money. Sorry I cannot get my head around this. You and others like you are doing consumers no favours at all. It's hard to find actual real unpaid-for reviews for many things now, and that is wrong. Yes, the companies will pay you, and you take their money, but still it's deceptive on the part of all concerned.

What I mean is, if a company only wants a positive review (which isn't always the case - you often get sent things for an honest review - they don't have any expectations but they are usually pretty confident in their product) then I wouldn't accept it. You can't agree to write a positive review before you've even seen the product!

I won't accept something for the sake of it, so I research before I accept any product from any company, and if I feel that the other reviews aren't great or the product isn't something I'd need/use I wouldn't accept it. I have a small house and it would end up full to the brim of clutter if I accepted everything lol.

It's just another form of advertising - it's no different to a TV ad when you've got some clear skinned model saying how this spot treatment is amazing, even though she probably never had spot to begin with. As long as it is clearly disclosed as an ad that's what it is. It's not a new thing.

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HelloThursday · 28/09/2018 09:11

So you think that what you do aren't fair reviews then?

I wouldn't agree with that. Any reviews I do are fair reviews. As I mentioned before, I've never actually received a product I haven't loved.

Often the reviews aren't paid for, it's more showcasing the product that is paid for. So, as an example, they might send you a pram and ask you to feature it in 2 posts. They don't expect a review, more just a pretty picture of the pram that you can tag them in and they can repost if they want. Reviews are more when a company will say 'we'll send you this pram, if you like it please can you do a review?' if that makes sense.

Only a tiny percentage actually ask for reviews, mainly they just want pictures on your feed.

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