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Lanna Hill: Insta-celebs’ influence wanes as users search for authenticity

Lanna HillThe West Australian
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It seems Instagram is the new Facebook, as even the Insta-celebrities bemoan the loss of the influence — and income — they once had.
Camera IconIt seems Instagram is the new Facebook, as even the Insta-celebrities bemoan the loss of the influence — and income — they once had. Credit: Konstantin Postumitenko/Prostock-studio - stock.adobe.com

Another day, another shifting trend for social media. Remember way back when we were all spending the majority of our time on Facebook?

It seems Instagram is the new Facebook, as even the Insta-celebrities bemoan the loss of the influence — and income — they once had.

In 2024, influencer marketing the way we once knew it has changed, and it’s much harder for the prominent influencers of old to make a full-time living from posting those seemingly perfect selfies that aren’t hitting the same way with audiences they did in the 2010s.

The stark truth is, unless you’re an international celebrity or large-scale influencer, the market is now totally saturated, and it’s much harder to command the same dollar figure it once was.

As TikTok continues to rise in popularity globally and locally, with Australians now spending more time on TikTok than any other social media platform, the prominence of TikTok influencers has similarly exploded.

The good news for aspiring influencers — or user-generated content creators — on this platform is that the style is far less polished and more real, raw and creative.

It can still be informative and educational, but with a healthy dash of entertainment and humour, too.

The way we’re responding to and interacting with Instagram as a collective has also shifted significantly.

As mental illness rates among adults and children skyrocket and body positivity is more mainstream, we’ve all rightfully become far more aware of the impact of consuming visual content that is heavily edited.

We’ve also become much better at detecting the use of filters or image editing software such as Photoshop, with the recent global outrage over the editing of the Princess of Wales Mother’s Day image, or of MP Georgie Purcell in January being perfect examples.

When we don’t trust what we see on our social media platforms, we disconnect. TikTok offers a more authentic version of reality — and the support of advertisers and brands has followed accordingly.

These changes are compounded by consumers’ decreasing trust in faceless brands or organisations.

As Mark Zuckerberg himself has said: “People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend.”

If advertising or marketing is too blatant and doesn’t come from a place of genuine and authentic connection with consumers, we simply don’t trust it, and we won’t buy.

As full-time Instagram influencers lament their loss of relevance and return to their “regular jobs” or supplement their incomes with other businesses or revenue streams, all brands should take note of the inherent lesson.

The digital world has evolved at breakneck speed over the past 20 years, and social media has been the most dynamic of all.

Brands that rely heavily on a platform that is relevant today and gone tomorrow is a strategy fraught with risk — we do not “own” our Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn audiences.

Businesses need to ask themselves how their followers are being converted off social media platforms and onto other digital platforms or forms of marketing such as email, podcasts, or custom-built apps.

Offline marketing channels are another way to insure ourselves against platform changes we can’t control and often can’t predict.

This is not to say that influencer marketing is dead and buried.

While their roles within an overall marketing strategy are quite different, both influencers and UGC creators still hold a relevant place in social media marketing.

However, the goal posts will continue to shift – — and those that can’t keep up, won’t.

Lanna Hill is a strategist, speaker and founder of Leverage Media.

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