A recent New York Times article highlighting the prevalence of paid followers on social platforms shines a light on the authenticity and possible lack thereof involving social influence. In their report, they detail how the American company Devumi sells twitter followers and retweets to everyone from celebrities to athletes and beyond. Anyone wishing to appear influential or prominent can simply buy followers at about a penny a follower. To make matters worse, many of these paid followers or bots consist of stolen identities from real users.
These revelations are important in a world were a higher following demands a higher price for sponsored content. Someone with 10,000 followers will make considerably less on a paid partnership post than someone with 100,000. Furthermore, these fake followers don’t offer any actual value to companies. Jack Kosakowski, the chief executive of Creation Agency explains in his response to the New York Times piece, “Having spent years working with businesses of all sizes to harness social media, I’ve found consistently that there is no actual business value in a number of followers. An inflated follower count does not lead to greater sales. It does not increase visits to websites or sign-ups for e-newsletters. It doesn’t build relationships between brands and potential buyers.”
In our past story discussing how to pick the right influencer, we detail what actually is valuable to brands. One of the things that matters most when choosing an influencer is the engagement they get on their posts. The right influencer will inspire conversation, lead their followers to act, and convert their followers into a fan of whatever they are promoting. It doesn’t matter how many bots a person has liking their posts if those likes don’t generate action for the brand.
The micro-influencer, who has proven to be successful in brand campaigns, stands in direct opposition to paid followers. They have a smaller, yet passionate following of people who are active and educated in a given industry. Their followers look to them for their expertise and value their credibility. When brands target these influencers, the results are more organic and authentic posts that elicit greater actions from their involved following.
When it comes to choosing the right influencer for your campaign, it’s crucially important for brands to carefully screen who they partner with based on these principles. With Moms Meet’s full-service Influencer Campaigns, we harness the passionate Mom community for brands, screening our influencers and creating tailor-made campaigns to deliver successful results. Our Moms are highly engaged via social media, recommending products and sharing their opinions in order to help their fellow Moms raise healthy, happy families. They are genuine, authentic, and motivated—and their readers connect with this.
One particular campaign involving Moms Meet Bloggers garnered over 6.4 million impressions for the brand, while significantly increasing traffic to their site, lifting sales, and offering the company a positive ROI. The Mom Bloggers chosen for this campaign were sent products from the brand to try and then asked to write about their experiences. Not only did the Moms share their honest opinions and become passionate fans of the products themselves, but they made a real impact on the brand’s success.
While there are many companies out there offering opportunities to buy followers on the varied social platforms, working with Moms Meet will offer you a genuine opportunity to gain lifelong customers and become a part of the conversation amongst the powerful Mom market.
