"Social Media Is Not Real Life!"- The Fate of Influencer Marketing

If you haven't heard about Essena O'Neill's social media quitting story by now, chances are you have probably been hiding under a rock (but then again it is midterms season, so I don't blame you because I'm the same). But then again, Essena's story has literally spammed every possible Internet news and social media outlet in one way or another.

The TL;DR of the drama is that 19 year old Essena, who has been a famous social media influencer with over 600k followers on Instagram and other huge followings on YouTube, Snapchat and Tumblr decided to quit all her accounts and claimed "social media is not real life". She reveals how it takes 100 shots to get one perfect photo and that being obsessed with social media fame has consumed her. Although I do agree with what this girl has said and sympathize with the negative feelings she has felt with social media, I do have a slightly alternative view to the rather generalized and biased claims she has fired against social media. But for the purpose of this blog, I'll stick purely to the digital marketing/ ecommerce implications of its, particularly for influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is an integral part of any fashion/ beauty brand's online marketing strategy nowadays. The truth is all consumers are aspirational beings and especially with the interconnectedness of Instagram, it has become easier than ever to pick out the people who inspire you and try to replicate their style or lifestyle habits. Although most people do recognize that many influencers are paid for their posts, Essena's story will undoubtedly create some authenticity skepticism for many consumers. If people begin to see influencers as fake and regard the content they post with distrust, this can create a a huge digital marketing dilemma.

So then, what exactly should fashion/ beauty brands do in response to this? As an Econsultancy blog post pointed out, there are no easy answers to this. However, they should definitely attempt to factor in more authenticity into their collaborations with influencers. Instead of just paying a myriad of different influencers to pose with fashion or beauty merchandise, it may be more worthwhile for brands to be more selective in the influencers they want to work with and focus on developing more long-term relationships as they would with traditional celebrities. As opposed to just sending a list of requirements for an influencer to follow when posting a photo with the product, having a degree of co-creation could definitely bring more truth in collaborations.

This Essena news headline may be a matter that fades from our timelines in a few days but it has inevitably struck a chord in many people in regards to their personal social media attitudes and behaviour, and the overall scheme of social media marketing as a part of digital marketing. I personally do agree that many things that I see on the social media accounts I follow may not necessarily be authentic. But at the same time, it is important to recognize that social media is not the source of evil. Companies and users alike have the choice of how they wish to represent themselves through social media and the fact that marketing is weaved in our everyday lives is not something that we can change.