Influencers (aka advertisers) fascinate me, mainly because they have likely stumbled into their “job” and ”fame” with a steady increase in followers or some reality tv type fame, but with no clue what to do next.
Either, a management company comes along and takes over; setting up deals, brand partnering and helping with content etc. If they’re really successful, they’ll throw out a book, branded products or something similar.
Or, they try to manage it themselves. They might hire a virtual PA or rope in friends and family to help ‘manage’ the account.
Either way, in the background, the influencer is still thinking they’re the same person pre-influencer success. They know they need to relate to their followers (aka demographic audience) and they need to transition their successful brand partnering / ads / gifted items in an authentic way.
And that is where the problem is.
From the point it moves from - “I’m an instagrammer, just like you babe” to a managed business and job.
The other interesting aspect is that advertising for years and years has been heavily controlled and regulated. Social media advertising is the same and more controlled in the last couple of years following a couple of court cases (think Made in Chelsea type people being fined by ASA).
Yet these influencers will argue to the hilt that they’re normal - they lead a normal life like the average jane doe and this life hasn’t changed them. They are one of the same. They’re not
The only reason they are advertising is to make money. This is their job.
For the cheap seats at the back, I repeat: their ‘job’ is to make money
Some might use their influencer status for good causes, but that as we know, will have a benefit back to them ( good PR)
They don’t have another job. They don’t go out to a PAYE job, their job will be to make X Income per month to cover their Y expenses which are subsequently declared on their self employed, self assessment tax form.
What baffles me further is the lack of knowledge (mainly of the younger generation, but generally people across all generations) is that they don’t see this transition. From relatable instagramma to fully fledged paid influencer job.
Take a look at Companies House and search your favourite Instagrammers for their Limited Company status. If they’ve set up a Ltd company it’ll be because their earnings are best placed through a company than through a self assessed tax form (eg for tax reasons, they’ll earn more, and this is in excess of 6 figures)
Don’t be fooled, is my message. I knock no one for earning a living but influencers are being disingenuous about how they’re earning a living. Mrs Hinch knows exactly what she’s doing and actually, she could do it better if she stopped getting emotional about the criticisms and actually took each one in turn and set a plan to turn it around. It would likely earn her more followers (and money) but instead she’s decided to cry troll to see if that strategy will work.
DISCLAIMER: I don’t follow Mrs Hinch, nor am I active on Tattle. But it is because of Tattle that I did my own ‘research’ into several people I followed, not realising the depth of this area of deceit.