In f lu enc er m a r k et i ng
and co-CEO of Takumi, the influencer marketing platform. “Influencer marketing is very powerful when it comes to targeted brand awareness.” Given that 61% of UK consumers engage with influencers on a daily basis, with 80% making purchases based on their recommendations, it’s easy to see why partnering with influencers has become such a vital avenue for brands. A seemingly endless line of companies have attempted to strengthen their reach by enlisting influencers and having a celebrity talk directly to their followers as a cost-effective way to gain traction. However, some are far from convinced. “No matter how much shit you throw at a wall, some of it will stick,” says James Smith, founder of James Smith Academy, the personal training business. “If you
pay someone £5,000 to post something and you make £6,000 it’s a worthy investment because as a percentage you probably don’t need that many people to buy your products to earn money, so I don’t think it’s [influencer marketing which is] working – it’s just that you’ve got a big audience to tap into.” While it may still appear like a “worthy investment” to use influencers, Smith believes the model has taken the wrong turn over the past few years because bosses are putting more resources into tackling traditional business issues but “no one’s really looking or giving a shit about people being mis-sold stuff.” And well-known celebrities like the Kardashians posting about slimming teas and appetite suppressant lollipops and businesses such as BOOMBOD
It’s a saturated market where anyone with a few followers can do a story or post or whatever [for a product] and sell fucking dogshit in a can and they’d get paid for it James Smith, James Smith Academy
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fuelling body image issues continue to thrive on social media despite receiving much criticism. “The victims are impressionable young teenagers – male and female – who develop bigger issues from aspiring to buy this rubbish or to look like these influencers that they look up to,” Smith says. “It’s a saturated market where anyone with a few followers can do a story or post or whatever [for a product] and sell fucking dogshit in a can and they’d get paid for it.” These days it’s almost impossible to scroll through your social media feed and not come across models with chiselled bodies and fitness gurus promoting supplements, workouts and so-called healthy recipes with their videos on Instagram Stories as well as on IGTV. And while it would be acceptable if the intention was to motivate their followers, some post content only for their own financial gain. And Smith says sooner than later, people will start calling out unethical endorsements. “In the UK you have people like Joe Wicks [who] sold out to Lucy Bee, sold out to Uncle Ben’s, sold out to Myprotein – and he was getting people to buy supplements they didn’t need, getting them to buy coconut oil that has no health benefits and people were lapping it up,” Smith claims. “He was raking in the money. So now that people won’t, he’s not going to be so popular and I’m not gonna make that mistake. Even if that means I don’t make as much money, for my longevity in the industry, I don’t care.”
ELITEBUSINESSMAGAZINE.CO.UK APRIL 2019
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