The world does not need Influencers. It needs people with a Purpose
Neither Elon Musk nor Richard Branson describes himself as a “Top Influencer”. So why would you?
Fame Should be a By-Product, Not a Goal
Don’t get me wrong! I have nothing but the utmost respect for Thinkers and Doers: for those Inspiring individuals who know what they want and work hard to achieve it.…
People with skills and influence are immensely important: but they are not in it just to get X number of likes or shares. They don’t do it to put an “Influencer” badge in an online profile. They do it because they have a dream.
A purpose. A calling. Vocation. Call it what you will, but in essence, it is the need to create and build something bigger than yourself. Something which brings value to people’s lives or rewards your curiosity, thirst for knowledge, talent or purpose.
A purpose. A calling. Vocation. Call it what you will, but in essence, it is the need to create and build something bigger than yourself.
Online vs Offline: two different worlds
You can quantify audience reach, exposure and engagement for an online marketing campaign, but you cannot quantify talent, skills or contributions to a field based on the numbers ticking in the corner of somebody’s social media profile.
I get to analyze my fair share of social media content and look at the performance of brands in various industries and over the years I have accumulated both anecdotal evidence and data suggesting that there is no direct correlation between influence/expertise in real life (which is still offline) and online following.
Sometimes they go hand in hand, but quite often there is a disconnect.
Money, money, money
In the past few years the most popular online Influencers have been making stellar income, and now everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon. Building trust and genuinely interested audience does not happen overnight but apps for automated following and other hush (and not so hush) methods help with gathering hoards of followers faster than ever before.
Brand managers who know exactly what they need (and why) can quickly see through this, but more often than not numbers can get you on the fast track to gaining gigs. And the money you make per post does depend on this. According to TRIBE creator Georgie Cavanagh fees go as following:
3K-10K = $75 — $150
10K-25K = $150 — $220
25K-50K = $220 — $350
50K-100K = $350 — $500
100K+ = $500+
Source: The Independent
As it is directly related to the type of income you can get, buying likes and followers is not something rare for creators seeking to cut short through the race. And it is (as Kiwis would say) “easy as”: you need less than $60 to hit the 10,000 followers mark! If you decide you want to be an “Influencer” by Saturday, it would take just a little bit of planning, a couple of apps and automated software and you’re ready to go.
Even though it is not as bad as directly buying followers, the follow-unfollow strategy is no better way to boost popularity. The whole idea of following is to have access to valuable and relevant content (and to share it with others). If you are just clicking through profiles to boost your own numbers, the whole concept becomes a bubble.
Once you realize that, numbers lose meaning and you start focusing on Quality.
Has Influencer Marketing run its course?
Although Influencer campaigns are on the rise, the disconnect between numbers and actual impact is increasingly becoming a problem for brands as well. Influencer marketing used to be all the rage when marketers noticed that online audiences trust independent content creators. But a lot has changed since these early days and the line between genuine, engaging user generated content and paid advertising is continuing to blur.
Surveys show that 11.9% of respondents do trust they favourite bloggers more than celebrity endorsement, but 33.3% of them would actively ignore recommendations if they appear to be sponsored. In other words: Trust is key and it is built with the audience in mind, not the monetary rewards.
“ Social media doesn’t work the way many marketers think it does. The mere act of endorsing a brand does not affect a customer’s behavior or lead to increased purchasing, nor does it spur purchasing by friends”- Harvard Business Review
Аlthough data from eMarketer shows that 75% of brands plan to spend more on influencers in 2018, both audiences and marketers are increasingly aware of the caveats.
“Marketers and influencers both need to be cautious not to ride the wave of success too aggressively. Naked swaps of endorsement for big piles of cash don’t just undermine the credibility of the influencer who is cashing in. Over time, they put the whole ecosystem at risk, eroding credibility for everyone.” — Marshall Manson, UK CEO for Ogilvy (via The Standart)
Neither Elon Musk nor Richard Branson describes himself as a “Top Influencer”. So why would you?
Humility is a hallmark trait of accomplished people. Great content creators and people with impact in their industry do not need to say how great they are: their actions and accomplishments speak for themselves.
Humility is a hallmark trait of accomplished people
I believe the world needs dedicated, motivated people, pursuing topics they really care about. That is what makes a real impact on audiences and adds value to online presence.
As author Jeff Goins puts it: “Stop Trying to Be Famous and Build a Body of Work Instead”:
“Seth Godin recently shared that he’s never had a viral hit. Can you believe that?!… Is that because he was just unlucky? I don’t think so. Seth hasn’t gone viral, because going viral is not what Seth is trying to do. He’s trying to connect with you and help you change things. And going viral can sometimes stand in the way of real impact.” — Jeff Goins
Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation
People who have passion and dedication, usually end up being great at what they do. And when you are great, you sometimes also get famous. Your primary motivation is Intrinsic (linked to internal rewards) as opposed to Extrinsic (seeking validation, approval, money or fame).
Research on human motivation and behavior indicates that happiness is positively associated with Intrinsic motivation (HGSE), whereas contemporary forms of Extrinsic motivation (receiving new likes, getting new followers, ranking high on social media platforms) have been shown to provide short “dopamine hits” with ever more diminishing returns. Former Facebook president Sean Parker called this phenomenon a “social-validation loop”:
“It’s a social-validation feedback loop … exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.” — Sean Parker, ex-Facebook president
Have a Purpose, not a Following
In the end, you want people to be interested in you because you are motivated, driven and an expert, committed to your passion for technology, journalism, charity, politics, art or whatever makes you tick. It is your impact on the offline world that truly matters.
In the end: it is your impact on the offline world that truly matters.
If all you want is to be popular and to be called an “Influencer”…maybe it is time to reconsider your motivation. Go for Purpose, not an Ego-Boost. In today’s attention span, Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame are probably down to 15 seconds (or less). And then people scroll to the next post.
Strive for more.
