Did you also download TikTok as a joke? Are you one of the millions of people wondering why Charli and Dixie D’amelio are famous, how the Kardashians amassed a billion-dollar empire, or how you can use social media to boost your business? With the introduction of internet services and apps, social media platforms went from a space to connect friends and family to an instrument that can transform any business with the right marketing strategies. If you're a business owner, creative, or aspiring influencer, social media is the best platform to gain exposure, cater to your desired audience, and collaborate with others to establish your brand. Over the past decade, social media has amassed immense power in the world of commerce (Kemp, 2022). These networks act as a high-speed channel in the exchange of information and communication to promote business growth for small start-ups and large corporations alike. 

The emerging digital economy challenges traditional marketing through the intimacy that is built between marketers and consumers. Social media has revolutionized the way people from all over the world connect; brands now have the opportunity to make the same connection with their consumers. Companies and businesses are able to receive direct feedback from their customers using new advances in technology including advanced internet speed and analytics, IoT, and artificial intelligence (Faruk et. al 2021). Consumers can comment, review, repost, like, or dislike content directly through social media apps. These elements give businesses accurate engagement metrics. Receiving access to consumer reactions allows companies to appropriately advertise their products, learn which marketing strategies are more successful, and modify their business techniques to better cater to the desires of their targeted audience. Similarly, businesses are able to attract more consumers by easily accessing data on engagement. According to recent research published in the Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, the best indicator of successful social media marketing are comments. The number of likes and shares is also proven to be statistically significant in accurately predicting consumer purchasing intentions (Martinez et. al 2020). Maintaining a regular schedule for content uploads is also key to keeping a fan base, reputation, and trust in your brand, which can be done effectively by developing a content calendar. (Simpson 2019).

Now more than ever, brands have the creative freedom to distinguish themselves from other businesses in a competitive digital market. 

The role of the influencer is a newly emerging marketing tool. One thing that explains the success of influencer marketing is the forming of parasocial relationships. Parasocial relationships refer to the pseudo-relationship formed by media personalities, characters, figures, etc., and their audience. This type of relationship causes the consumer to feel a connection with the said influencer through exposure to their content. According to recent research published in the third international conference on digital marketing and E-commerce, “Consumers are well aware that brands are present on social media for commercial purposes and communicate in a biased way. On the other hand, influencers are perceived as independent individuals with authentic content. Therefore, consumers are more receptive to commercial content disseminated by an influencer than a brand (Pei et al. 2018). In fact, according to a study of 3,600 people worldwide, 61% admit to interacting at least once a day with an influencer (Rakuten 2021). Another study shows that among 4000 people working in marketing, 91% admit that influencer marketing is a form of effective marketing (Geyser 2021).” Using the research they’ve gathered, they found that influencer collaborations with brands are often a key strategy in gathering attention to a product or business. It is also shown that the collaborations that are more successful are those that seem more genuine and authentic to an audience (Martinez et. al 2022). Skims by Kim Kardashian, Kylie Lip Kits (now Kylie Cosmetics), and Hustlers University founded by Andrew Tate is an example of how an influencer uses their social media popularity by sharing an insecurity, struggle, or interest in their personal life and transforming it into a company that “makes sense” for them and for their consumers. As someone constantly being photographed, attending events, and in the spotlight, Kim Kardashian shared how difficult it was to find shapewear that matched her skin tone, that provided adequate support, and that could be concealed underneath her clothes. For years, Kardashian had to tailor her shapewear and realized there was a need for more range in this industry. Kardashian’s business was met with much success with a current valuation of 3.2 billion, demonstrating how an audience favors the influencer who comes off as more authentic and trustworthy in their opinions (McEvoy 2022).

Considering this age of social media and influencer marketing is relatively new, it is important to acknowledge the challenges and risks. Although social media has revolutionized business, it can easily become the downfall of a company with the new rise of cancel culture. Social media has largely become politicized so anything a brand, company, or individual posts must take careful consideration into what they endorse, support, and preach. Whoever a company hires as either the face of their brand or as an ambassador has to be cautious not to make a mistake. Mistakes often are made due to the public nature of the influencer lifestyle. Alternatively, an influencer must also consider the potential consequences of endorsing a brand. For example, the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad in 2017 spiked major controversy after accusations that the brand was minimizing the fatal reality of black lives matter protests. In response, Pepsi issued an apology to the public and to Kendall Jenner - although Kendall Jenner’s participation in this ad still remains controversial (Victor 2017). Issues of privacy and adequate cybersecurity are another major concern, with lawsuits and court cases against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the center of data-breach controversy. D.C attorney general Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against Metaplatforms Inc. (before Facebook Inc.) accusing Zuckerberg of allowing, “third parties such as now-defunct political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to obtain personal data from 87 million Americans'' posing a threat to the security and privacy of its users (McKinnon 2022).

Despite the downfalls to social media, usage growth rates continue to increase, especially in the wake of the recent Covid-19 Pandemic. In 2005, only 5% of adults were using social media (Pew Research Center 2021). Today about 56.8% of people globally use social media, which is an estimated 4.48 billion people across all platforms. This is a 115.57% increase in users from just 2015 (Dean 2021). The consequences of COVID-19 have exposed the fragility of our past practices within the workplace, school districts, and businesses. The entire dynamic of the working world has changed with more people working remotely and with more technology making it possible to do so. More people than ever, as part of the “great resignation”, are quitting their 9 to 5’s and pursuing personal endeavors largely through the use of social media platforms (Parker et. al 2022). Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, etc. have become less of a recreational tool and more of a necessity in our current age. These companies have become so deeply integrated and influential in the lives of people all over the world. Companies now have the opportunity to use all the resources the internet has to offer. Although there are risks to using social media as a marketing tool, we are constantly adapting to this new technology and will hopefully continue efforts to mitigate the power of social media networks.

References 

Dean, Brian. “How Many People Use Social Media in 2022? (65+ Statistics).” Backlinko, 10 October 2021, https://backlinko.com/social-media-users. Accessed 10 March 2022.

“Demographics of Social Media Users and Adoption in the United States.” Pew Research Center, 7 April 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/. Accessed 10 March 2022.

Faruk, Mohammad et al. “How digital marketing evolved over time: A bibliometric analysis on scopus database.” Heliyon vol. 7,12 e08603. 14 Dec. 2021, doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e0860

Geyser, W.: The State of Influencer Marketing 2020: Benchmark Report. In: Influencer Marketing Hub (2021). https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report- 2020/. Accessed 30 Dec 2021  

Kemp, Simon. “The Global State of Digital in July 2022 - DataReportal – Global Digital Insights.” DataReportal, DataReportal – Global Digital Insights, 21 July 2022, https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-july-global-statshot.

 Martínez-López, Francisco J., and Luis F. Martinez. Advances in Digital Marketing and ECommerce : Third International Conference 2022. Springer International Publishing AG, 2022. Martínez-López, Francisco J., and Steven D'Alessandro, eds. Advances in Digital Marketing and eCommerce. Springer, 2020.

McEvoy, Jemima. “Kim Kardashian Is $600 Million Richer after Shapewear Brand Skims Hits $3.2 Billion Valuation.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 Apr. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2022/01/28/kim-kardashian-is-600-million-richer-after-shapewear-brand-skims-hits-32-billion-valuation/?sh=6d0db9c70d61.

McKinnon, John D. “Meta's Mark Zuckerberg Is Sued by Washington, D.C., Attorney General.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 23 May 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/metas-mark-zuckerberg-is-sued-by-washington-d-c-attorney-general-11653329482.

Parker, Kim, and Juliana Menasce Horowitz. “The Great Resignation: Why workers say they quit jobs in 2021.” Pew Research Center, 9 March 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected/. Accessed 11 March 2022.

Pei, S., Morone, F., Makse, H.A.: Theories for influencer identification in complex networks. In: Lehmann, S., Ahn, Y.-Y. (eds.) Complex Spreading Phenomena in Social Systems. CSS, pp. 125–148. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77332-2_8

Rakuten: 2019 Influencer Marketing Global Survey: A Rakuten Marketing Report. In: Rakuten Advertising Blog (2021). https://blog.rakutenadvertising.com/insights/rakuten-market ing-2019-influencer-marketing-global-survey-report/. Accessed 30 Dec 2021  

Simpson, Jon. “Why Content Consistency Is Key To Your Marketing Strategy.” New York Times, 11 February 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/02/11/why-content-consistency-is-key-to-your-marketing-strategy/?sh=1ef804904ef5.

Victor, Daniel. “Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Apr. 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/business/kendall-jenner-pepsi-ad.html.