Good influence(r)
via stylecaster.com
It used to be that when I would think of “influencers,” I would think of fashion bloggers taking photos of their heart-swirled latte, a conveniently-placed Chanel bag and their Valentino rockstud shoes under the bistro table — which is located in Paris, obviously…a trip to Paris that was ‘sponsored’ by some travel company or FabFitFun box or something.
But, that’s not/no longer the case. Influencer marketing is, no doubt, the world we live in, but it also just makes sense. If someone has a large social media following, their followers are invested in them, and are of course going to listen when that influencer shares a new product or service they love. I think the key, though, is making it natural. If an influencer who is into fashion and beauty all of a sudden starts posting about car mats and a new caulking gun, I’m like NO. Maybe they really do love that caulking gun, but we wouldn’t know they’re into home repair because they’ve never shared that with us, and they were just in Italy, posting about pasta and red lipstick. So, posting about their bathroom tile falling apart obviously feels forced and disingenuous. I think smart influencers know how to meld everything in their lives into one big bloggy content ball.
Take Kristyn Burtt, for example. She grew up as a dancer, even getting a degree in dance. But, not wanting to open a studio or choreograph, she blended dance with her passion for writing and research and became a dance journalist. Broadening her expert, influential horizons this way is organic. It’s not forced. It just makes sense, to me.
By the way, it has to be said that not all female influencers are into beauty, fashion and parenting, just like all beauty, fashion and parenting blogs aren’t written by females. I know dad blogs. I know female tech blogs — and we know women in tech is on the rise, so boo-ya. I wouldn’t bat an eye if a female tech blogger was like, ‘Hey, I also love wearing makeup and I am SO INTO this shade by MAC.’ Just keep it real.
So, being an influencer can be a powerful tool, if wielded properly. Thinking about this from a different perspective has really opened my mind. So, now when I hear the word “influencer” I will try really, really hard to not immediately picture bedroom mirror selfies and coffee cups.