1st March 2026
Influencers, has it been one big con?
The world is full of people clambering to be seen as an ‘influencer’ a trend that started in the early 2000’s with folk blogging about products they had either been paid to endorse or were trying to get paid for sharing information on their socials. The explosion really happened in about 2010 when companies made the decision that this could possibly be a great way of marketing through social media channels, costing them much less than standard advertising, with potential reach from people who had thousands of followers being seen as a great investment.
BTW I’m not talking Kardashians, or Beckhams, or people with celebrity status.
The reality is very different. I have dealt with quite a few ‘influencers’ over the last few years and some of the requests and demands they make are quite staggering. One particular conversation springs to mind. I was contacted via Instagram by someone who told me they could help shift thousands of copies of my books. It was an interesting conversation as I didn’t have ‘thousands’ to sell and the investment to have more printed was hefty. When I enquired as to how this mega sale might happen, I was informed that for a fee they would share a link to my website on their Instagram and FB stories, and it would only cost me £**** – yes, a four figure sum for a 24 hour link, and when I asked how often the link would be reposted the answer was an emphatic none! The ‘influencer’ who was offering this fabulous deal had a six figure following, but when I looked at the engagement posts were getting on the grid and Facebook page, they were minimal, not even reaching the magical 1% of likes, comments and shares, (in case you don’t know, 1% engagement is seen as s success in social media responses). Suffice to say, the deal wasn’t done and I never heard from the person again.
Now, not every ‘influencer’ is as bad as that, but the sheer volume of people pretending that they can seriously influence people to buy has reached a ridiculous level. I am obsessed with a couple of guys on TikTok called ‘the goddess boys’, (check them out and you will see why I’m addicted) they spend their lives promoting goodies that they have been sent by companies; but nothing they ever do encourages me to buy what they are promoting. I’m sure they get paid a small fortune for all their posts, but does that transfer to increased sales of the products they are using? I don’t think so.
Of course I’m sure there must be some who have reached mythical status and genuinely do have influence over their followers, but speaking to family and friends, workmates and hairdressers up and down the country, the general consensus is one of annoyance that people are being given things for free, being paid to share them for a brief moment in time, and the general public are supposed to be ‘influenced’ enough to go out and purchase.
Is it a con? Not really, but it’s a marketing ploy that ultimately wasn’t thought through enough and now companies have got themselves into a situation where they think it’s really important to use influencers, either that ir they are caught in a trap that they don’t know how to get out of.
It makes me think of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ – everyone thinks it’s amazing until someone calls it out for what it really is.
Check this out, just seen on Instagram, it kinda consolidates what I think:
I have met some ‘influencers’ who genuinely want to promote brands and do it in a much more thoughtful and engaging way. last year I attended a Neal & Wolf gathering and they had one of their influential hairdressers presenting and it was refreshing to see his passion for the brand, something which carries over to his socials, not just his 24 hour stories.
I’ve said this before, if a business wants to grow via socials, much better to use ‘micro influencers’ who want to build their online presence whilst promoting products and services. The great news for salons is every single one of them has their very own ‘micro influencer’ just waiting for an opportunity.
#BeReal #BeMicro
