EOTO #2 Online Influencers

An Online Influencer is someone with a large following whom businesses hire to promote their brand and product. With the pay and benefits the influencers receive to promote these brands, there are negative and positive repercussions. In this blog post, I will be exploring how online influencers affect different segments and the impact of online influencers.

Influencers and Brands mutually benefit from their relationships. Brands positively benefit from their relationships with Online Influencers because an influencer's endorsement leverages trust with viewers and customers. Traditional advertising struggles to achieve this level of authenticity. As for the influencers, they are monetarily benefiting from this relationship. For example, on Instagram, influencers with a million followers receive thousands for a single post. Overall, influencers earn income from Paid partnerships, brand collaborations, and affiliate marketing. Paid partnerships form when brands pay influencers to promote their products online. The Instagram post is a good example of a paid partnership. Brand collabs are cool because they allow influencers to work with brands and create a product that connects with their followers. Lastly, affiliate marketing allows influencers to gain income through sales through link clicks. Overall, both of these power-hungry figures are heavily monetarily benefiting from their relationship, leaving the customers and viewers out of the loop.

The power of the brand-influencer partnership creates the younger generation as naive customers, which adds to the weakening public trust in information. The younger generation sees their favorite online influencers promoting a brand or product, and because they relate to or admire them, they are more likely to trust and follow their recommendations. This makes them naive customers, allowing room for improper purchases. In fact, it's reported that 74% of U.S shoppers have purchased a product because an online influencer recommended it. In 2021, a popular influencer, Charlie D'Amelio, collaborated with the skin care brand CeraVe. Her campaign promoting the product received over 132 million views, and CeraVe gained 300,000 followers and a substantial amount of sales. Much of the engagement from this ad came from Gen Z. The power brands earn by using online influencers' endorsements can create a fake reality for society. 

Online Influencers have the opportunity to influence society as a whole. Good and bad. Influencers impact society through trends, lifestyles, consumer habits, and the economy. Influencers' followers look to them to set the newest trends. A popular trend right now is getting active and eating clean. Influencers that feed into this trend share their lifestyle so their followers can view their diets, workout routines, etc. Influencers have become such a powerful tool for business because they can determine consumer habits. Studies have shown that consumers trust recommendations from influencers more than family. This is an interesting factor for society. By affecting consumer habits, the economy is also affected. The rise of trends allows for different departments to see a rise in sales. 

In conclusion, online influencers have a great impact on society, whether it's through trends or the economy. This impact comes from the monetary benefit they are receiving and the power of trust that brands earn by partnering with certain influencers. As a consumer in society, it's important to not get wrapped up in the online world.