When scrolling through social media, especially Instagram, one often bumps into an influencer’s account. Their well-thought out pictures, head-to-toe looks in designer best, overall aesthetic and adventures all around the world grab attention of many.
This type of person can be defined as a social media personality who has a certain level of power that comes from their number of followers. Having this power allows an influencer to motivate purchasing decisions and control their audiences’ behavior — thus the term influencer.
Hauwa Abubakar, fourth-year fashion marketing and management student said, “I don’t like them, well, it depends on what they’re doing. If they have a personal style then I support it!”
The pecking order of influencers falls into certain categories determined by the amount of followers they have and is then organized in a hierarchical pyramid. Influencers get paid on an estimated range that varies based on the situation. Chavie Liebar interviewed the co-founder of Viral Nation, Joe Gagliese, for Vox to showcase transparency in how influencers work and, more specifically, how much they get paid:
- Micro-influencer: has 10,000 to 50,000 followers, get paid several hundreds per posts.
- Middle influencers: have up to 1 million followers, receive up to $10,000 per post.
- Highest influencers: hold more than 1 million followers, have the availability to charge $100,000 per post — or more!
A fashion influence is content and industry focused, they are often found on Instagram retain the same ranking and payment system. They post more about the runway shows they attend, campaigns they participate in and advertise products or show off garments.
Because of this flexibility, fashion influencers are considered a more powerful tool for marketing than celebrities — they have a closer relationship with their target audience which allows for a direct communication through marketing. Because they are specific to their audience, it’s easy identification.
This effect is measured by how many likes the post gets, how much engagement is received with the tagged account or link and ultimately, the performance of the product itself in sells.
Lieber shared why these types of people are considered so valuable, “These influencers have moved into celebrity territory. An endorsement from them is just as valuable as working with LeBron. They have incredibly engaged audiences and have an ability to push really big numbers.We actually believe influencers are more impactful than athletes and TV stars because they are more relatable and so their audience is more tapped in.”
There are various ways an influencer can go about in promoting something or participating in a sponsorship — mainly they post stories on social media promoting the items or do posts where they hashtag it as an ad and include the brand’s name. Transparency is key here.
Revolve is a huge retailer that is aimed at millennials, specifically because they use the fashion micro to macro influencers to promote their product where they’re required to share posts of them wearing the brand’s clothes as well as showcasing their attendance of Revolve events.
Fashion influencers have become a valuable addition to fashion brands looking to expand their target and revenues. It’s a process where both sides mutually benefit and seems to be the easier path brands are choosing nowadays.
