We are living in an age where Digital influencer has become a full-fledged career. Well, there is nothing bad about it, but the number of influencers that are entering the market every day shows that the hype they earlier had is losing to some extent.
Everyone is looking to become an influencer and most of them don’t even know what it takes to become one. A fashion brand recently lost all the hopes about Influencer marketing after associating with a girl who had over 2.6 million followers. She failed to make people buy the minimum number of t-shirts for starting a collection. This has started a debate in the industry on the power of marketing and branding in the age of digital fame.
Even the influencer involved in this whole thing- Arii took to her official account to share the disappointing news with fans. The fashion brand has decided not to launch their collection on schedule.
The 18-year-old social media told that the clothing company she had made an agreement of at least 36 t-shirts required to launch the line.
Her post has been deleted and Arii has turned off comments on all of her Instagram posts. Twitter user @Kissmyelite managed to get a screenshot of the influencer’s reported message before it was taken down.
The influencer bubble is bursting. This young lady has well over 2 million followers and couldn’t sell 36 shirts. Focus on genuine engagement and not followers cuz they ain’t gonna buy a thing. pic.twitter.com/uOSVxc2k4D
— Flawless and Brown (@kissmyelite) May 27, 2019
“Unfortunately the company that I’m working with goes based on your first drop sales. In order for them to order and make my products (even to keep working with them) I have to sell at least 36 pieces,” Arri wrote online. “But I was getting such good feedback that people loved it & were gonna buy it.”
“No one has kept their word so now the company won’t be able to send out the orders to people who actually bought s— and it breaks my heart (don’t worry you’ll get a refund),” she added.
People are looking at this case study as a valuable marketing lesson for digital marketing.
1.
The truth is that her followers aren't her customers.
Understanding who will actually buy from you and what they will buy is a key business lesson.
— Tamara Sykes 🇧🇧 (@baydiangirl) May 27, 2019
2.
Understanding how marketing works is very important when launching a product.
Followers/Traffic/Interaction/Views doesn’t equal sales
Understanding your target, sell what they need at a price they’re willing to pay and a quality worth the $ = Sales.
— XOLI (@Mbhele_Xoli) May 27, 2019
3.
Twitter is least profitable app for selling. Twitter is great for PR, brand positioning and relevance.
Facebook, IG, Google is where the sales revenue is because they can target your products to potential customers better than any other platforms using customization
— XOLI (@Mbhele_Xoli) May 27, 2019
4.
So many of these influencer ‘drops created from hard work and creativity’ are essentially just fancy fonts and an adapted design from an existing design. And they aren’t cheap. Why wouldn’t one just spend that money on an actual brand?
— Khizra (@KhizM) May 27, 2019
5.
Some people will launch a business prior to creating a business model to support their concept. Sounds like she truly didn't understand her target audience, market product fit, revenue generating model, marketing strategy.
— Shavaughn (@shavaughn_B) May 27, 2019
6.
Most followers are passive and account for an audience of spectators rather than a targeted audience of buyers. You said it right, the focus should be on genuine conversations with engaged people that you choose to understand. Forget about the optics.
— Dondrey Taylor (@dondreytaylor) May 27, 2019
What marketing lesson have you learned from this? Share them with us in the comments section.
