Instagram used to be a cute app where you could share pictures with people, and the fact that you got some cool filters that you could add to your pictures definitely helped you become more enamored with the app overall. However, over the years both Instagram as well as social media in general has changed drastically. Now, people have started making money off of these platforms. They do this by building a base of followers that are proven to listen to what they have to say. They then approach brands and say that they can start marketing for them, showing the benefits of products and services to their followers.
The only problem is that most brands are going to want someone experienced, someone that has already marketed for other brands (you know, the magic of social proof). How, then, can a new influencer gain access to brand sponsorships if they have not done anything like this before? It seems like a lot of influencers are handling this by investing in fake sponsorships, as noted by The Atlantic Magazine. These influencers essentially do things like go out for coffee and post about it like it is a sponsored interaction with the coffee shop that they are going to. This is done in order to build a portfolio that they can then use to leverage other brands into working with them.
This can create a culture of mistrust among the influencer community, though. Users and followers already frequently dislike the fact that they end up looking at sponsored content more often. Influencers that post fake sponsored content might make things even worse. Also, they are going to be bad news for brands because they won’t actually have the sort of experience that they are looking for, and thus might end up providing low quality content.
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The only problem is that most brands are going to want someone experienced, someone that has already marketed for other brands (you know, the magic of social proof). How, then, can a new influencer gain access to brand sponsorships if they have not done anything like this before? It seems like a lot of influencers are handling this by investing in fake sponsorships, as noted by The Atlantic Magazine. These influencers essentially do things like go out for coffee and post about it like it is a sponsored interaction with the coffee shop that they are going to. This is done in order to build a portfolio that they can then use to leverage other brands into working with them.
This can create a culture of mistrust among the influencer community, though. Users and followers already frequently dislike the fact that they end up looking at sponsored content more often. Influencers that post fake sponsored content might make things even worse. Also, they are going to be bad news for brands because they won’t actually have the sort of experience that they are looking for, and thus might end up providing low quality content.
Read Next: Will Gen Z Take The Lead On Entrepreneurship? (infographic)
