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IT’S ‘ALL FOR THE GRAM’!
‘All for the Gram’ is the infamous line from Arizona Zervas’ 2019 hit Roxanne. And guess what, his line is as relevant today as it was in the comic pop song. The ubiquity of social media has had a profound effect on the way we communicate, and it’s critically important to society and business.
Its tools have helped break down geographical barriers that once restricted communication and have led to an explosion of electronic participation, virtual presence and online communities. Professional benefits of social media include sharing information and publicity, as well as giving and receiving support and advice.
We live in a day and age where our perception of what we want outweighs what we need. Such is the power in showcasing the perfect selfie. All it takes is for an influencer to recommend a special herbal tea or the ideal holiday destination and voila, you instantly crave the same – virtually so!
But who are influencers? What do they gain by promoting content? How do businesses commission these personalities for their promotions, and what does the future of communication and marketing look like… with the help of social media and influencers?
Ashwini Vethakan breaks down the good, the bad and the ugly of this complex platform and its micro-celebrities, and reaches out to some of Colombo’s popular influencers for their views on the use of social media and its target markets.
Andy Warhol once said that “in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” It’s the future now, and it has never been easier to become famous – or at least slightly famous.
The influencer is an online entity that – through blogs, videos and podcasts – influences how regular humans live their lives. There are influencers for almost everything: beauty, gaming, fashion, travel, fitness, DIY, pets and more.
‘Influencer marketing’ isn’t really a new phenomenon, considering how famous people have always been the ones to endorse brands and products. But the novelty of a social media influencer lies in the fact that he or she is a regular person who offers honest feedback about products and lets us know whether we should be spending our time or money on what we see online.
As with everything on the internet these days, social media and its celebrities have different characteristics.. If we look at the good, influencer marketing matters because it works. Currently, a high percentage of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising. To reach these digital natives, advertisers need to speak their language – one that consists of TikTok videos, hashtags and emojis.
Many people tend to place the highest levels of trust in word-of-mouth recommendations from folks they know. And as such, many influencer followers feel a personal connection with them as they present snippets of their life – often from their own bedroom.
It’s like having a digital friend who speaks to them conversationally, and offers useful tips and advice.
Followers receive a word-of-mouth style recommendation from someone they admire and like. It’s akin to receiving advice from a friend or family member, accompanied by a sense of authenticity.
As much as content creators, influencers also have a chance to inculcate good habits and spread positivity through their mediums. With millennials – and now, gen Z – statistically making up the larger online viewership, it’s easy to see how the more impressionable generation can gain more knowledge.
Sharan Velauthan
Content Marketer | Mental Health Advocate
TEDx Speaker
Social media can be a weird place to navigate. Consumers of the platforms are becoming more aware of what’s fake and what’s not. Instagram for me has been a place to put my thoughts in a caption. I didn’t worry too much about how bad the algorithm had become but now, I worry about it moving away from food and travel.
My focus is helping someone feel a little better. The platform has also helped me connect with incredible people I never knew existed. Social media can be beautiful if you want it to be; but it can also be very toxic if you allow it.
I practise auditing social media by following people and brands that I believe in, and want to support. This platform has helped my voice go out there and reach more people.
Razni Razick
Founder | CareStation
CareStation is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, nonreligious organisation with the objective of striving to make a difference in the lives of the less privileged. In order to achieve this, CareStation runs a series of projects such as child and education scholarships, livelihood and self-employment opportunities, water and sanitation facilities, care for orphans, refugee assistance, housing for the homeless and aid following natural disasters.
All these interventions ultimately contribute to the upliftment of society. As an organisation with a workforce that consists entirely of passionate volunteers, CareStation depends mainly on social media to raise awareness of the projects it conducts; and also to raise funds for these projects.
So far, the organisation has been successful in carrying out projects in over 22 districts with more than 200 volunteers across the island. It continues to carry out even more ventures with generous contributions from donors who are made aware of these projects through CareStation’s official Facebook and Instagram pages. CareStation continues to transform society by alleviating poverty through long-term sustainable solutions.
Of course, not all social media platforms are about making something lucrative. Often, it’s simply for enjoyment. Take China’s famous TikTok app, for instance – many Sri Lankans found the eyebrow raising application extremely helpful especially during the curfew.
Nisha Seneviratne
Makeup Artist and Lifestyle Blogger
When the TikTok trend began, I made up my mind that I was never going to get on it like most people. But one of my friends kept telling me that I should make TikToks and check it out. After much persuasion, I hopped on. It took me a few days to really understand how everything worked; and then actually, I started to enjoy myself.
What drew me to the app was the level of creativity that is possible in a span of 15 seconds. In addition to this, there are interesting audios and remixes. So I decided to give it a try and see whether people enjoyed my TikToks; and surprisingly, the response was great. Moreover, I secretly had fun making them.
The app is great because it’s super-engaging for the viewer and it allows the content creators to showcase their skills or talents in a unique way.
If you’re wondering how successful influencers and their content strategy is… well, it’s huge! Eighty percent of consumers have purchased something that was recommended by an influencer and many companies are investing in influencer marketing strategies more than ever before.
After all, 89 percent of brands claim that influencer marketing is comparable or better than alternative marketing channels. Last year alone, the amount spent on influencers grew by an astronomical 83 percent. Influencers recommend your brand to a relevant audience of thousands who may have never heard of you before.
Shalini Fernando
Founder | Isle of Gelato
As a young startup, we found that many customers seek and patronise businesses based heavily on their presence and activity on social media. We believe that in today’s climate, social media is imperative for the success of any business as it provides access to millions of users across various demographics at the touch of a button.
Colombo has a diverse mix of influencers whose base of followers varies widely. So for any company that’s starting up, the use of social media as well as influencers is the best way to gain access to a wide cross section of the market.
With the use of social media, it’s also easier to gain targeted access to a particular customer demographic. Going forward, we feel that the use of social media will only become more popular as businesses use it extensively.
Jezza Jameel
Founder | JEZZA
If it’s done right, social media marketing could potentially be the only form of marketing your business needs. With JEZZA, we have had a steady growth across multiple social media platforms by creating curated content suitable for the nature of each platform.
The power of influencer marketing plays a huge role in building trust and communication between a brand and its followers or potential consumers. However large or small an individual’s follower base may be, everyone has the power to influence an audience and it’s important for brands to understand that the follower count is only a number.
Look beyond the follower count and you can work out how the influencer’s audience reacts to them, and assess whether their audience is suitable for your brand and the product you’re trying to promote or market.
In today’s digital age, tourism trends are heavily shaped by influencer marketing in the travel space. Instagram is the new travel guide and influencers’ travel content provides consumers with non-stop inspiration.
The sense of connectivity that users experience as they scroll through their feeds and see their favourite travellers’ envy inducing experiences… it fuels wanderlust and ultimately guides their own travel preferences.
Nicky Desilva
Lifestyle and Travel Blogger
I began my blog back in 2015 when blogging was in its infancy in Sri Lanka and there were very few influencers at that time. Being a lifestyle and travel blogger comes with heavy responsibilities, along with a bagful of fun adventures and opportunities.
And I can confidently say that leaving my corporate life behind and pursuing my dream of being free and enjoying life was the best decision I made.
Without knowing what being an influencer means, I started doing things I love such as photography, exploring and fashion. This slowly built up to who I’m today – and it’s made me a very happy person.
I believe the key is consistency. If you consistently do things you love, life will open many doors for you! Last year, I received a paid vacation to Singapore as a brand ambassador for Viber; and following the event, we explored the country and enjoyed ourselves. It was one of the best times of my life.
Likewise, I can proudly say that being a lifestyle and travel blogger has been and will be the most amazing experience of my life, along with opportunities to work with international brands and travel the world.
Someday, I wish to be a consultant for influencers, and teach them how to be effective and manage their lifestyles while doing the things they love the most.
Dileep Mudadeniya
Vice President – John Keells Group
CEO – Cinnamon Life Mall
Cinnamon pioneered the concept of travel blogging as an effective strategy in destination and hospitality marketing by introducing Asia’s first travel blogger conference in 2016.
We’ve always found it a credible approach when using compelling content to promote the brand. Content generated by travel influencers will help you improve your ‘net promoters score.’
When the world is competing for recognition, the use of travel bloggers or ‘influencers’ (as they are now referred to) will help boost the travel industry with something as simple as their personal experiences.
With seemingly endless benefits, it’s easy to overlook the disadvantages of social media, which are an increasingly important consideration as such online platforms continue to proliferate.
It has facilitated the loss of ownership and control of content as private, public and institutional domains progressively overlap. There’s a need for careful balancing of professionalism and freedom of speech to ensure that posts don’t cause offence or harm reputations.
Ornella Gunesekere
Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2018
I use social media to share activities of social volunteering, the journey after my spine surgeries, pageant life and part-time modelling. I wouldn’t call myself a typical influencer since I’m introverted and use social media mostly to share funny, silly, interesting, or entertaining videos or memes.
Though I have been pressured to use my social media and online persona to endorse many products, ideas and brands, I only endorse those that are in line with my beliefs and ideals.
Everyone has something special to share and influence the world with. It could be travel, beauty, food, inspiration, photography, poetry or memes – whatever it is, may it always be hopeful.
Kalpanee Gunawardana
Model
Social media has allowed ‘womxn’ to create space and share their narratives, in a way that traditional media and storytelling hadn’t allowed us to do previously.
Take being a mother: ‘mom influencers’ can generate revenue by sharing their life experiences and tips… like any other career front-runner would. It has opened more doors for us to all avenues of life. In particular, Instagram has allowed me to carve out a niche where I can explore various topics with followers in a controlled manner.
Not all conversations are healthy, and I’m not equipped to hold space or discuss matters with trolls and the likes thereof, which spin out on other platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
All spaces can harness negativity but it is how we deal and address that negativity that counts.
I have enjoyed my progression of platform usage by initially showcasing my modelling portfolio. Now I have a digital space where ‘womxn’ have conversations and where I share their stories. This is what I call community learning. I look forward to the journey ahead…
Another danger of influencers that we may not see is the ‘perfect picture syndrome.’ Let’s paint a picture. Imagine scrolling through your feed and you come across a pair of foreign travellers posing on the famous ‘blue train’ to Ella.
They’re literally hanging on for dear life with their lips pressed together in a supposedly romantic kiss. How many young and impressionable couples do you think flew down to Sri Lanka to take that same (very dangerous) shot? One can only hope that Sri Lankan youth act with more caution when it comes to their perfect pictures!
However, it isn’t all doom and gloom, and there are plenty of positive messages that can emanate from social media. International influencers such as Chessie King, who set up an Instagram campaign about cyberbullying and internet trolling, edited an image of herself using comments her trolls had left on her page.
She did so to highlight the detrimental effect that cyberbullying can have on people – especially teenagers – and shared the ‘beauty ideal’ with her followers.
And whether you consider them as being ‘influencers’ or ‘winfluencers,’ they aren’t vacating the digital marketing sphere they’ve occupied anytime soon. So it’s best to enjoy your Instagram feed… and do what you do best.
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