Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

To think nobody asks influencers these things

32 replies

abeanbaked · 10/10/2021 19:57

I follow a few influencers on Instagram, mainly ones I have followed for years because I used to enjoy their content and I was naive to the fact that they're getting lots of free stuff and pretending that life is great. I don't enjoy them now, I really need to unfollow them. But all of these 'for those that were asking this is where I got my jacket' etc etc, who actually asks? Does anybody? Or is it the influencers themselves just trying to flog stuff?

OP posts:

FangsForTheMemory · 10/10/2021 19:59

they'd say that whether or not they are asked because they're paid to

SALTyartist · 10/10/2021 20:01

I dunno, it obviously depends on the influencer but I often see comments of people asking for where clothes/makeup featured comes from so I wouldn’t immediately assume it was always just marketing.

Ellewoods20 · 10/10/2021 20:01

They do get asked that. At least the ones I follow do. You can see in comments on their posts or sometimes they share a screenshot of messages with a link.

NeverTheHootenanny · 10/10/2021 20:06

I think they do get asked these questions though, you can see it in the comments usually.
The fashion influencers that I follow I’m following for fashion advice so I do want to know where they’ve got things from. That’s the whole point, it’s advertising. I don’t think anyone is trying to hide that really.

MrsSiba · 10/10/2021 20:07

I'm intrigued by influencers... How does it work? I know they get paid to promote X but what comes first? Does someone set up a yt channel then approach companies or do the companies approach them? And how much do they get paid for the promotion?
I've seen a few where the main source of income is the promotion, must be lucrative for those giving up the day job.

Is there a directory type thing out there is all the influencers? How many followers merit carrying the description of influencer?

Original poster

abeanbaked · 10/10/2021 20:12

One in particular that I follow never gets asked or never shows that they are being asked anyway. It's always 'for those who asked swipe up' I think she's struggling though given their previous bad form.

OP posts:

FudgeFlake · 10/10/2021 20:15

I assume no one actually asked. Out in Real Life I don't do Instagram but I do have a business Facebook page. We do the same sort of thing there although on a fairly informal level - I work in dog care. Four of us, a walker, a sitter, a groomer and a trainer, merrily recommend each other. None of us would keep doing this if we didn't genuinely rate the other three, our reputations would suffer too much.

BunnytheFriendlyDragon · 10/10/2021 20:18

@Ellewoods20

They do get asked that. At least the ones I follow do. You can see in comments on their posts or sometimes they share a screenshot of messages with a link.

I agree with this

Cactu · 10/10/2021 20:19

People do ask but I always think it’s more about trying to make a connection to the person than because they’re actually going to buy the item.

Influencers are a weird one because it’s advertising, but it’s using a person’s real life to sell products. At least when a celebrity endorses a product we know they’re being paid and we know Claudia Winkleman doesn’t actually use Head and Shoulders.

gardeninggirl68 · 10/10/2021 20:19

i think mrs meldrum does actually get asked. she has some nice clothes and i've asked her before

i stopped following her for a while but after her break she's come back and is far more relatable

DDUW · 10/10/2021 20:22

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

parentinghelp1 · 10/10/2021 20:22

I ask them!! Lol if I see something I like I comment underneath and buy it

AFuturisticalSound · 10/10/2021 20:25

@DDUW

I'm not even on instagram and it's really obvious even to me who this is about. Somebody kept trying to start threads about her over the last couple of years, which is how it came to my attention.

I do go on Instagram a bit and have no idea who this is about

But I do see questions asking where things come from so it is something people do but obviously that doesn't mean that some posters pretend they've been asked. I'd say it's obvious that must happen.

Chicchicchicchiclana · 10/10/2021 20:26

If you follow influencers on Instagram then you just have to accept that this is an unregulated, free-for-all, pointless waste of time aspect of life and acknowledge your own part in the trivia that it generally is.

NeverTheHootenanny · 10/10/2021 20:30

@MrsSiba

I'm intrigued by influencers... How does it work? I know they get paid to promote X but what comes first? Does someone set up a yt channel then approach companies or do the companies approach them? And how much do they get paid for the promotion? I've seen a few where the main source of income is the promotion, must be lucrative for those giving up the day job.

Is there a directory type thing out there is all the influencers? How many followers merit carrying the description of influencer?

A family member does pretty well on Instagram. Income varies but I think equates to six figures with under 100k followers.

She spent years building up her profile at her own expense, paying photographers and buying lots of clothes for photo shoots. So it was definitely an investment but its now paying off.

Initially she started approaching brands but now they come to her. First it was just free clothes, makeup etc for her to use in her photos but she now gets paid for campaigns, usually several thousand pounds for a few photos, and she will do at least 2 or 3 paid campaigns per month.

She also gets sent so much free stuff, we’re talking daily deliveries of cosmetics, clothes, things for the house, etc plus free hotel stays and meals out. She gives a lot of it away to friends and family (I do pretty nicely out of it!) and then sells some of it to further boost her income.

Not everyone will manage to build a successful career out of it, but it’s a nice life if you can pull it off. She has a marketing and media background so understands how to build a brand which I think has been crucial. Other family members have tried to do the same without much success.

Peoniesandpeaches · 10/10/2021 20:30

@abeanbaked

Probably Lydia Millen… and yeah nobody is really asking but she’s got bills to pay

Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov · 10/10/2021 20:34

It's how they skate the truth, they never seem to say those posts are sponsored, but if a fashion page puts up an outfit with no link obvs people will ask and then they can do the swipe up as obliging their fans rather than flogging stuff. I once saw someone with a shit photo of a "styled" bookshelf with more of the floor than the bookshelf and 2 seconds later she puts up a post of where she got the floor for all the people asking. It was 100% a sponsored post but didn't have any of the tags because technically she was just answering people.

Onlinedilema · 10/10/2021 20:36

What does Joe Sugg do? What does he influence?
I know his sister had a brand and I've seen it in Super Drug for half price. Even then it's total tat, I wouldn't pay 50p for it so who is buying this crap?
There again I'm not the target audience.
I'd rather spend my money on other things than expensive brands which are not worth the extra cost.

Ihaventgottimeforthis · 10/10/2021 20:53

Fake it till you make it (or not)...

Dreamstate · 10/10/2021 20:53

Its probably 50/50 maybe on something things they genuinely do get asked maybe on some they don't.

When I'm out at clubs I get people asking me where I got my sequin bumbag from... so I dont see it any different that insta influencers get asked online

MargaretFaffter · 10/10/2021 20:58

Maybe someone asks, maybe they don’t. It doesn’t make much difference - they’re ultimately salespeople who are selling stuff.

BatshitCrazyWoman · 10/10/2021 21:03

A YouTuber I have just started to follow, who's relatively new to YouTube, has a channel about minimalism. She's just done her first paid promotion, and I've unfollowed - her channel is about decluttering and living with less, and suddenly she's acquiring (free) stuff.

Original poster

abeanbaked · 10/10/2021 21:09

I know I'm feeding into the garbage that it is. I will just unfollow because I don't find them relatable anymore. I just wondered if people genuinely asked, as it's always an AD.

OP posts:

SnowWhitesRestingBitchFace · 10/10/2021 21:17

I'm sure lots of people really do lie as a way to plug products they might receive a commission on but from experience (I'm not an influencer but I content create and know a lot of instagrammers) you genuinely do get asked those sorts of questions a lot!

@MrsSiba a bit of both! In the beginning I sent emails to brands I liked with a pitch. Some replied wanting to work with me, some declined and some I never heard from. Over the last couple of years since then I've had a mixture. I do still reach out to brands but a lot less nowadays. I do actually get approached now that I have a bit of a following and portfolio of sorts.

SnowWhitesRestingBitchFace · 10/10/2021 21:21

And can I just say if you think an influencer/celebrity or whatever is promoting or posting about a product that they have been sent (they don't even have to have been paid to talk about it, just have to have received it for free) you can report them here www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint/complaints-faq.html

It's taken quite seriously especially if the same person has had multiple complaints.

Flip

1 2