Many of the things we interact with on a daily basis have some sort of influence on us. Given how much time we, and especially the younger generations spend scrolling social media on our phones, it is no wonder that what is called social shopping is extremely popular. If a member of Gen Z has a favorite person he follows on Instagram, spending possibly hours a day just scrolling that one person’s posts, listening to their stories, that means there is a degree of admiration, or a desire to be like them. Should this Instagram influencer post about some favorite brand for a product, then it is entirely likely that our hypothetical follower will be buying whatever is being sold. It’s even more obvious when you realize that for Gen Z social media is their preferred source of information. That’s where they spend their time, get information, and get entertained; it’s no wonder that is where they are also spending their money.
If you think about it, this is really nothing new. We are influenced by what we see and hear, even more so if the person doing the advertising is someone we recognize. That’s why cigarette companies used to spend millions getting celebrities to pose in their ads, or why Bud Light commercials are so memorable, or why the typical Michael Bay movie has more product placement than the Super Bowl. All of that is designed to influence us to buy certain products.
No one is really immune either. No, not even you. You almost certainly have a t-shirt with a favorite band, or movie, or just some cool company you like to support. ‘But, I wasn’t influenced! I just happen to like that stuff!’ Yes, that is exactly how it works. Don’t worry, it isn’t even necessarily bad. After all, you need a shirt. If you want to pay a couple extra bucks for a shirt with a picture of One Punch Man on it, more power to you. I have several from brands I bought for the express purpose of supporting the brand, even though I can assure you I don’t need another shirt.
Naturally enough, social media companies have been figuring this out and plenty of apps allow you to buy things directly through them. Instagram for example has a cool carousel with just a few products in it that should be related to whatever you are checking out at the moment.
Brands have also been finding new ways to capitalize on the trend. They will often seek out popular influencers, or YouTubers or another popular user of a given app and ask them to feature their products. Depending on the nature of the channel and the company, that results in a company paying a person or just allowing them to keep the product in exchange for a review. In this way, the company gets to make sure its products are getting in front of the audience most likely to buy it. That’s a win-win situation for the company because their conversion rate goes up, the influencer makes some side money or at least gets some free gear, and the buyer gets more in-depth knowledge about a product or brand he is buying and a more convenient way to do so. Many influencers even have the integrity to not give a positive review if they just don’t like a given product, meaning the buyer can have higher confidence the products will work as advertised.
If you think about it, what these brands are doing, reaching out to a narrow audience but one that is more likely to be interested in them is very similar to what we advocate for at TARTLE. A brand like Patagonia is clearly using their data to determine where they should best spend their advertising dollars. They are going right to the source when they find influencers using their products who already have an audience to help sell their brand. That is a solid use of data and social media platforms that helps everyone, which we can definitely get behind.
What’s your data worth? www.tartle.co
Tcast is brought to you by TARTLE. A global personal data marketplace that allows users to sell their personal information anonymously when they want to, while allowing buyers to access clean ready to analyze data sets on digital identities from all across the globe.
The show is hosted by Co-Founder and Source Data Pioneer Alexander McCaig and Head of Conscious Marketing Jason Rigby.
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