Well, in four words: “It works, for now.” But is influencer marketing a trend that has already worn out its welcome because it is too contrived and stupid expensive?
From Kim (circa 2013) Kardashian’s pay-per-tweets and club appearances, the latter often yielding a cool couple hundred thousand for a mere drive-by; and the more recent eye-popping revelation by Adweek that Selena Gomez’s Social Media Posts are Evidently Worth $550,000 Apiece – where to from here?
Are agencies doomed to compensate celebs for promoting colas and retail superstores while keeping pace with cost of living increases? Are companies throwing good money after bad? Or have we simply become immune to bestowing obscenely tall stacks of cash upon those bereft of talent? That was a shot at Kimmy, Gomez can at least sing.
Numbers Don’t Lie
That’s in sheer volume of minions, aka followers. Does Influencer Marketing harken back to the appeal of the “Celebrities – They’re Just Like Us!” mentality? Is Influencer Marketing a throwback to the coveted cool table in your high school cafeteria?
Coca Cola has over 98 million – and counting – Facebook likes. What kind of influence does Gomez wield?
Gomez apparently rakes in almost a quarter million fans daily over Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Mmmmm…I believe that even if the soft drink giant cured the common cold, they wouldn’t have the relevance/appeal of this twenty-four-year-old spokeswoman.
According to the AdWeek piece:
D’Marie Group’s CEO Frank Spadafora clarifies the methodology behind
Gomez’s $550,000 figure: ‘‘The rate-per-post is her ‘ad equivalent’ value per post across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This may be different than how much she is actually getting paid when participating in social media campaigns. That is up to negotiations between her agents and the brands. This valuation is based on D’Marie’s algorithm which measures 56 metrics including followers, post frequency, engagement, quality of post, click-thru and potential to create sales conversions from her social content.”
What’s the Secret Sauce?
Consider the truth of the proverb: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Is it therefore logical to assume that the fans of a spokesperson masquerading as a Pantene fan who is drenching her already perfect hair in moisturizing shampoo is going to become a fan (customer) too? If she has the base of the target demographic, you are damn straight (and shiny locks!) sure they will.
Remaining Relatable
On the flippety-flip, is the onus on Team Gomez and Team Taylor Swift to keep their influential power alive by curtailing over-exposure? Then there’s the seedy side of “celebritorium”. At what point are such celebs selling out and diluting the loyalty that compelled fans to download their music in the first place? And do we have more questions than answers here?
When Selena is 30 and her millennial fans are immersed in building their careers and perhaps raising a kid or two, they may not care TOO much about the products she hawks. But we all know timing + strategy = success. The next best marketing thing will fill in the quotients of that formula soon enough. (Perhaps in forty years Selena can pitch reverse mortgages and comfortable shoes.)
For now, Selena would “like to teach the world to sing” and sell shampoo. It’s the real thing.
Speaking of which, we miss you Don Draper. We’d need a “love” button for your Facebook page.
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