INFLUENCERS
The New Normal
Introduction
Every human being in any corner of the world can now flex their talents and there is an immediate audience ready for them. Yes, INFLUENCERS. Most of us may think of it as a fancy term for social butterflies, but being an influencer is a legitimate profession, which bears a respectable sum of money and also is one of the fastest growing career options. To be honest, influencers are not universally known stars, but in their circle of influence, they are no less than a leading light. Just like any traditional celebrity, an influencer has the conventional power to dictate to their audience.
The What and the How
As the name suggests, the primary job of an influencer is to influence their audience on a very small and minute scale, from the type of beauty products they use to the places they buy them from. A conventional celebrity, on the other hand, becomes INFLUENTIAL on their way to gain stardom. We tend to look up to them and then want to imitate them. Brands take advantage of their fame and stardom to popularize their products and connect well with the public. Influencers, on the other hand, have to convince their followers to buy that product by making them believe in the surprising changes that product has APPARENTLY brought in their lives.
Influencers are immune to self-promotion. Unlike conventional stars, they do not have the leverage of automatic popularity, because their social popularity is the primary thing that is making them stick to their audience. And, this is where social media skills come into play. The more you are good at this game, the more you will be in the spotlight. Also, if we talk about lifestyle, many influencers stay vigilant enough not to pitch in their contribution to any brand they are not solely interested in. But again, they don’t follow any hard and fast rule universally.
Cautious Influencing
Recently, ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) introduced a new set of rules, which will be applicable to commercial messages or advertisements published on or after 14th June, 2021. The guidelines mandate that social media influencers add disclosure label to clarify that their post includes paid promotion.
For those who might ask, “How is ASCI going to monitor violations of these guidelines?”, well, they have an answer- Reech, a French Technology Provider. The Influence Cloud platform of Reech uses Artificial Intelligence to identify lack of disclosure on posts of a commercial nature on social media. In addition to the guidelines, ASCI is also planning to develop an inclusive educational approach to shape the narrative of influencer advertising by launching their own interactive social platform, with all the dos & don’ts , FAQs and all the other information related to the guidelines. Through this social platform ASCI is hoping to create a community of influencers, consumers, advertisers and talent management agencies.
This was somewhat necessary for consumer protection. Also, it will make the youth think twice about choosing to become an influencer as a career option as it is no longer about the money and popularity. These rules seek to make influencing the social media audience a much more publicly accepted profession.
Conclusion
Influencers are not only promoting themselves, but also boost consumption of items they promote, and this increase in consumption eventually results in profiting the market.
The number of influencers is increasing in proportion with the number of choices. Thus, in the near future, influencers will have to play a pivotal role towards societal development.
