Brands, Influencers, and Social Media Marketing

    The very reason I chose the Principles of Social Media class in the first place was to find a space to have discourse surrounding social media and its usages as a marketing tool. So I am more than happy to share some of my own thoughts about section 2 of chapter one "Social Media as a Marketing Disrupter". 

    Many brands pre-social media relied of physical pieces of media such as newspapers, billboards and advertisements in local establishments. With the rise of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and most recently TikTok, brands unlocked a whole new way to reach their current customer base while extending to new customers. Several corporate brands have established themselves on social media through "iconic" moments such as the fast food chain Wendy's overall presence on X (formerly Twitter). 

    In its early days, brands were able to make advertisements using studio made videos and pictures. They would then be uploaded to their platform of choice with a link to their own website. While advertising like this still exists for several companies, especially small companies with limited budget. I have found many cool and unique companies through this method of social media marketing. The chapter then talks about in the early 2000s that UGC (user-generated content) began to rise with users began to partner with big corporations to create advertisements that built customer trust. In a similar sense, somewhere in the late 2010s rose a new way to advertise, influencer collaborations. Brands began partnering with whoever was having a "viral" moment at the time. I still vividly remember after Brittany Broski went viral in 2020 for drinking kombucha, she went on to be featured in Sabra's (a hummus brand) 2020 commercial in the super bowl, which also featured other "TikTokers" like Charli Damelio. This began the time of brands using creators and their virality to attempt and hop on the bandwagon. However, most of the time a brand has made it to a trend, the general population has moved on to the next big thing. 

    This style of advertising content continued for a while as the number one way to platform your brand while simple graphics and brand created content took a backseat. This second style of presenting a brand and its content is still very prevalent on many platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. The most recent phenomenon very similar in nature to UGC however, has been 'TikTok Shop". In September of 2023, TikTok launched a new shopping platform for its users to utilize. Since then, it has grown to be many individuals number one way to shop for everything ranging from clothing items to home appliances. This is mainly due to the fact that not only can brands collaborate with influencers, they can even not be attached to the advertisement at all. What many brands offer is free items from their TikTok Shop in return for a video reviewing their product. It is still made clear that it is an advertisement, but a brand's own logo or affiliation is not present in the recording, along with several of the promotional videos being filmed on smartphones in ones own home. This from a marketing standpoint can encourage the consumer trust the brand even more than traditional UGC more because they are listening to someone that they relate to, an everyday person like them in a setting that feels familiar. I do feel like TikTok specifically is beginning to turn into a new age QVC because I can only scroll about 3 times on my for you page before seeing an ad for something. Personally, seeing ads on the platform where I find mindless entertainment is a bit disrupting.