influencer marketing in South Africa is a pyramid scheme.
- a thread

the people who got in really are early / are right at the top get paid the rest are all trying to secure the bag via 'influencing' others. in reality, they're just copying the people at the tops tactics, in this case, content, but without getting paid..

and this really works brilliantly for brands, because they select a few at the top. generally the same people over & over again. they generally have great content & big engaged followings. they get the

some people on like tier 2, who also create good content will get free product aka a trade exchange.

because everyone copies up, the brand only has to spend a relatively small amount of cash + giving away product to the people at the top. everyone else copies / posts about the same brand, hoping to get in on the action..

the brand wins because the ROI is enormous! the amount of free Instagrams, Youtube videos, Tweets they get + are tagged in!

so v little spend = maximum exposure.

content creators think the other content creators are getting paid, lol they aren't, so more & more people start trying to get noticed / work with the same small group of brands who seemingly have marketing budget..

basically land up in this very vicious cycle, because of how many people are willing to post for free, and how many people are constantly entering the bottom of the pyramid, trying to make their way up to the

too many content creators. too few brands playing in this space. not enough money allocated to influencer marketing in

there is also no incentive for brands who are spending a little, to spend more, because of the the free amazing content they're already getting/being tagged in.

tier 1 influencers who get the really are influencers, because they actually influence purchasing decisions. however their influence extends much further than that. they're influential because they also influence what others post about, for free.

tier 3 etc. content creators go out and buy that brands products to be able to IG post (+ while tagging brand) about it. so brands not only get sales, they also get free advertising!

this current system is extremely winning for brands. minimum input - with the correct people. maximum output in terms of sales + content.

caveat: of course there are people (micro influencers) who make money via influencer marketing/content who aren't at the top. but, it's not consistent and it's certainly not enough to cover monthly bills & allow you to quit your 9-5.

my definition: tier 1 influencer, would be someone who makes enough money to be able to do this full time, it's not their side hustle!

Q: how many tier 1 influencers in do you know?