Today it seems as though influencers are taking over the world. Striking a chord, particularly with Gen-Z and Millennials, we’ve seen chaos in shops caused by energy drink endorsements along with some of the most innovative and personable approaches to marketing in modern times. With this in mind, it’s clear that influencers can really back up their ‘influence’, but are they also changing our fashion?
While influencers don’t strictly rely on marketing collaborations in order to make their money–after all, it’s possible to make significant volumes of revenue from embedding ads alongside posts based on levels of audience engagement–it can form a powerful revenue stream that benefits all parties involved.
According to Hootsuite statistics, a ‘nano-influencer’ can make an average of $195 per post on Instagram, while ‘macro-influencers’ can expect to command upwards of $1,804.
While these figures may be mind-boggling, there’s a very good reason why influencer content is so sought after: it works. In the age of social media, the strength of the influencer has grown. Today, they can shape trends in ways that can potentially exceed the power of celebrities prior to the social age. Let’s take a deeper look at how influencers can shape style and fashion:
The Lure of the Social Media Icon
There is no industry that’s more accustomed to adopting the face of a public figure or celebrity as part of their marketing strategy than fashion. However, influencers away from the fashion industry are building a sizable social media presence.
Using Dr Sandra Lee, otherwise known as Dr Pimple Popper, as an example of somebody who has built a following as a healthcare professional. According to Fashion Gone Rogue, Lee can earn up to $13 per sponsored post, due to the scale of her following.
While doctors may not seem like an effective match for the world of fashion, they can actually offer a refreshing angle for brands–particularly when it comes to promoting ethical and health-oriented materials.
Because these figures build followings based on the primary theme of their content, fashion brands have tapped into the lure of the social media icon to appeal to fresh audiences and shape their style. This has seen promotional posts throughout the influencer landscape grow exponentially as marketing departments seek to run campaigns to access brand new audiences with fresh interests.
What’s more is that many followers of these influencers are more likely to be receptive to their marketing campaigns:
Making Fashion Accessible
Most impressive of all is that influencers have made fashion feel more accessible than ever. Today, we’re not watching catwalk models or celebrities on red carpets. We’re seeing the individuals who share the same interests as us on social media sharing the clothing that they’re wearing.
Influencers can often look just like us, and so their fashion feels more suited to us, and more personable.
“For most of the past century, fashion has been a top-down system, in which the way the majority of people dressed was dictated by a cabal of designers and magazine editors,” explained fashion journalist Isabel Slone for the New York Times.
Influencers can not only take on new collaborations with fashion designers, they can also shape trend cycles with their own personal fashion.
Due to the necessity of standing out from the crowd, we’ve seen the influencer generation actively bring more color, and bold looks to fashion cycles. Where dark shades were once in vogue, Oakley-styled bright and exciting sunglasses have become the smart choice for those hoping to be noticed.
We’re also seeing a great level of retro clothing making a comeback, with vintage trends becoming popular among influencers looking to develop a more unique look for their followers.
The Age of Frictionless Marketing
Another reason why influencers have gained the power to directly dictate fashion cycles through marketing is down to the ease in which purchases can be made.
Instagram is a leading social network among influencers, and its ability to simply tag an item to buy in advertising campaigns means that brands can market their ranges directly to customers via influencers with relevant and sufficient follower counts.
While influencers are certainly playing a role in creating new fashion trends through their marketing collaborations, this may ultimately benefit their followers. After all, it’s more pleasant for somebody you enjoy or share the values of to market to you than more generalized fashion campaigns. In this regard, perhaps the cult of the influencer could lead to more individuals feeling liberated by their choice of clothing?
