We now live in an age where social media is filled with influencers, whom many of us look to in order to find inspiration for posts, outfits and poses just to name a few. Influencer Marketing use has grown steeply, especially for clothes, makeup and appearance brands. But, many people don’t understand how the process actually works or what they are exactly.
Influencers have power over their audience and have the ability to affect their audience’s purchases and opinions of a brand due to their position, popularity and knowledge. Generally these influencers come as bloggers, Instagrammers, less well-known celebrities and experts in a certain field of niche, however, there are new types emerging daily.
Even Her Campus has a similar enforcement program with influencers known as InfluenceHer Collective. The strategy of using influencers to promote a brand or service is not a new concept, however, it has certainly evolved to be more personable to the average consumer.
“#NovaBabe” Hashtag on Instagram Feed
For example, Fashion Nova, a clothing brand that gained overwhelming amount of popularity through their use of influencers, has gained the title as Instagram’s most popular brand according to InfluencerDB. The site shows that the clothing company based out of Los Angeles gained more user engagement compared to Zara, H&M, Revolve, Puma and Calvin Klein. Many would consider the clothing company’s success directly related to their Instagram marketing with influencers.
Fashion Nova is known to have collaborations with influencers and celebrities alike. Their most popular campaign being the “#NovaBabe” hashtag on Instagram has become a feed filled with outfits serving looks and beautiful women. When Galore Magazine asked Fashion Nova to describe what a Nova Babe was, they responded saying, “She is confident and sexy.”
However, it’s very easy to see that the Nova Babe is much more than that. These women have massive appeal to women ages 16-30 and can guide them towards the brand. The runway fashion shows with mega models are still widely popular, however, having very popular social media influencers endorse a brand is having almost the same impact if not more.
Deborah Weinswig with Forbes describes the power that influencers have accumulated, “Influencers are the new celebrity endorsements.” The roots of influencer marketing have stems in general celebrity endorsement advertisements, where a celebrity would generally speak about a product or be seen using a specific product and creating posts about it.
But why the sudden switch between having well-known celebrities endorse a product and having a smaller influencer do practically the same thing? Musefind explains that consumers are 92 percent more likely to trust an influencer versus a traditional celebrity endorsement. Jessika O’Neal, an influencer with over 20,000 followers on Instagram explained for Buzzfeed News, “My audience is used to seeing Fashion Nova and trust that I wear them often and they always try to use my code.”
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It’s clear to see that influencer marketing is the new wave in creating a high user engagement for a brand. As a consumer, you want to be able to see a brand’s authenticity through the way that they post and engage with you as a customer. So the next time you see an influencer on social media, think about how the brand they are trying to sell you is trying to create a relationship with you through that influencer.
Lastly, it’s easy to be persuaded by social media and its users so now that you have a bit more understanding on how they can create an impact on your buying decision, make sure to make smart buying decisions whether it be on Fashion Nova or any other site.