PYTGGK People on the platform at Kyoto station looking a their phones
In this new technological age, almost all the adverts we see are online, from TikTok to Tinder, it’s inescapable. This is no surprise given the global digital advertising market was thought to be worth around $350 billion in 2020 and is estimated to reach $786.2 billion in 2026, more than doubling over a six-year period, but what’s changed?
The truth is we’ve all become addicted to social media which has given those who know how to commodify it more power than ever. In 2012 we spent an average of 1.5hrs on social media a day, fast forward to 2024 we are now spending almost 2.5hrs a day. And with an estimated 4.9 billion people on social media across the globe it’s no shock the digital advertising market has skyrocketed. A huge 76% of social media users say they have bought something they saw advertised to them on social media (me included!) showing that even if we are critical of how online platforms have been commodified, we are still equally susceptible to giving in and buying whatever it is we’re being sold.
The influencer industry is now worth well over $16.4 billion and over 75% of companies now have dedicated sectors for influencer marketing showing how massive this phenomenon is and how it continues to rise. It really is all in the name ‘Influencer’ literally meaning “a person or thing that influences another”, they are cool and beautiful, and we all want to be them, they simply show us how. We have gone from admiring film and music stars from afar to seeing the inner workings of the lives of thousands of influencers on the constant. It’s no longer about wistfully watching Audrey Hepburn dressed head to toe in Paco Rabanne thinking ‘maybe one day’, now influencers are more than eager to show you how easy it is to buy into their desirable lifestyles, all you have to do is click the link in their bio.
However it isn’t all bad news, Fashion North spoke to TikTok star Grotty Grace who has a loyal following of almost half a million looking to her for brand endorsements, and she believes that influencer marketing can introduce you to products and brands you may never have heard of, it can help small businesses get themselves out there if they don’t have a huge budget and is hugely beneficial to influencers themselves who just like the rest of us need a source of income. She loves working with brands because “you get to see the quality first and see what they’re actually out sending to people”. She believes that her content is so successful because she’s reliable and would never lie to her following about a product.
Grace said: “If they didn’t trust me, they wouldn’t buy anything I am trying to promote. They need to trust that everything I’m saying about the product is real”. Trust and building a relationship with followers are a massive part of influencer marketing which is reflected in the statistics as half of the millennial population have said that they trust influencer product recommendations.
Unsurprisingly, the more time we spend online the more our attention spans decrease, we no longer go looking for reviews or adverts online, we want it fed to us on our ‘for you’ pages or ‘timelines’. In actual fact the average human attention span has dropped from 12 to 8 seconds between the year 2000 and 2020 which is shorter than that of a goldfish, so it’s no shock social media and all its commodified glory is continuing to rise.
Fashion North spoke to a marketing student who has the unique perspective of being a young person active on social media whilst studying the world of business and marketing. When asked why brands are choosing influencers over traditional advertising he said, “people are buying into a lifestyle and influencers are selling a more authentic brand”. He argues though that there are some disadvantages to this marketing technique because if the influencer you have representing your brand gets bad PR or says the wrong thing this can reflect incredibly poorly on your brand. He also said that platform choice can make a big difference when it comes to social media marketing. He said: “You’re not going to find a younger generation influencer like Tyla on Facebook, but you will find Robson Green….however you will find Tyla on TikTok”.
There is also the risk that like any other market this one will become too saturated and die out, having said this the student also admits influencer marketing works on him as it knows algorithmically how to cater to his interests and lifestyle. Another factor he thinks has contributed to the rise in influencer marketing is that it is all the younger generation knows. “They’re growing up on social media and smartphones, they aren’t watching TV anymore they’re watching YouTube”, he said.
However, influencer marketing is not only algorithmic but also psychological. Psychologist Rebecca Owens described what pushes us to purchase from social media stars. She said “I think we come to see influencers much like we see celebrities, so probably a bit like parasocial relationships. We identify with them, and on an unconscious level, they become almost like ‘friends’. We also have a bias towards successful people which makes us want to emulate them, so that also has an impact. But in terms of influencer vs celebrity, I think we see them as very much the same – I don’t think an influencer would have much sway if we didn’t”.
Overall, whether good or bad, influencer marketing is undoubtedly on the rise across all industries, however with great influence comes great responsibility. It is up to the brands and influencers to continue to be trustworthy and transparent when it comes to promoting products. In this rapidly changing world, it’s not whether social media marketing will survive but it will continue to meet the demands of the market and the expectations of increasingly savvy audiences.
