Marketers Plague of Fake Followers
In the digital age, being ‘followed’ or going ‘viral’ is as important as any other marketing scheme. One of the best ways to advertise your brand and product is through e-commerce or online advertisements. If you are a brand marketer, then the internet is your bread and butter. Consumers rely on the internet for product reviews and brand knowledge. This allows them to fully scrutinize the ins-and-outs of a business. And as technology evolves so does the criteria for purchase. Buyers now dig deep into a company’s ethical standpoint on workers, animal treatment, and hygienic procedures to determine if they should be patronized…or not.
Online marketing is a fast-paced world, something relevant today could be obsolete in the same day. For businesses to stay relevant they seek help from Marketers. These are creative people that write content and create infographics to entice consumers with the allure of their products or services. Sounds easy you might think, but it cannot be further from the truth. Marketers are often the ones that feel the whiplash of the fast-paced e-commerce trade. Just think of spending hours on end to create an amazing article about your company, only to find out that it does not gain the amount of traffic you expected. It is a tiring and thankless job.
Marketers demand to solidify their own profiles.
Brand marketing is no easy task, it implores creativity and critical thinking to have a leg up on the competition. This is the main reasons why they have a growing thirst to establish their stand and immortalize their brands. In the fast pace world of trade and commerce, marketers are struggling to keep their brands relevant. As consumers become more involved and intrigued by the nooks and crannies of the brands they patronize, more and more factors affect their consumer behavior.
According to a recent study by Frey Pircher last August of 2018, consumers are now basing purchases on a different criterium such as animal welfare, ethical sourcing, cultural appropriation and the like. Whether animals were treated with respect while they were alive is the main factor that affects consumer behavior. Constant information spreading about the pressing issues of animal welfare for fur, meat, or other produce, animals should be treated ethically and with respect. It is no surprise that with global campaigns for animal welfare spreading it has become a vital criterium for consumers. Ethical sourcing of raw materials also affects consumer behavior. More and more customers prefer purchasing products that have a positive effect on their immediate society. Supporting local farmers is one of the raging consumer advocacies that is greatly affecting the market. With so much change in consumer behavior, it is no surprise that companies have a high demand to solidify their brands in the constantly evolving market.
Why do they often hire fake followers?
The average time a person spends on social media is rapidly increasing. As of 2017 people are spending a minimum of 135 minutes per day on social media. Comparing it to 2012’s results that were only 90 minutes a day, it is easy to see how much technology has affected our lives. Because of this trend, fake followers began to thrive. What is a fake follower you might ask?
Having a huge following is a major one-up on the competition. That is what ‘fake followers’ are tasked to do. These accounts are being bought by the bulk load for as low as $5-$80 per 50-1000 followers. Fake follower accounts earn by simply liking, sharing and subscribing to the companies social media accounts. Sounds like easy money right? But you must know that a most if not all of these accounts are just bots created to make an illusion that a brand is relevant. New York Times has reported that in 2013 4% or 20 Million of Twitter users were fake and, or bots.
Finding a contractor that provide fake followers is as easy as running a search on Google. Generating ‘fake followers’ is not exactly a profession, but it is a lucrative business. However, these accounts have been labeled as one of the Top 9 social media threats in 2015 by Zerofox. Fake followers are in the same list as email hijacking, impersonations, customer scams, and malware. This should serve as a huge red flag for anyone who thinks this is a potential marketing ploy.
Are magazines also culprits of fake followers?!
Unfortunately .... yes
With the modernization of society and commerce, print media is slowly losing momentum in terms of relevance and market reach. To keep up with the change in tides, magazines especially start-up magazines cling on to the dirty and dangerous business of fake follower factories. If a small startup could gain enough momentum via followers, it would save them the hassle of intricate marketing schemes where they would probably spend more.
Fake followers feed off of necessity. The more startups and companies that believe in the misconception of followers equals relevance, the more these factories will thrive. Magazines are becoming more obsolete as time passes that’s why as a sign of desperation they cling on to fake followers. This intern creates an inorganic experience for actual followers and likers.
Why is this bad for their consumer?
Consumers, as the “King” have high demands. They insist on having information transparency with companies. Which is a huge contradiction to the culture of fake followers. Experts believe that customers are now more conscious about patronizing products, fake followers discourage the organic relationship they are trying to establish. Customers want to feel like they are part of a greater picture. The secret to relevance is bonding with your patrons. If your customer feels you are not being transparent with them, or the company does not acknowledge their concerns, marketing relationships are sure to deteriorate.
Social media was created as a platform for people to express themselves and voice out there opinions. If the only numbers you have to show for are fake followers, then how can you that you have maximized social media. Creating marketing strategies are difficult, filled with ups and downs but having real people react to what you have to say determines your success.
How can we shape this industry better?
As a brand, the goal should be customer satisfaction. Fake followers cost money but do not guarantee interaction. If companies prioritize satisfying real followers by creating a partnership then the marketing industry is sure to get better. Remember, followers and likers are only numbers that make your brand seem relevant, but interaction with customers makes a brand withstand time.
As a brand, you should learn to adapt to the modernization of the market but still strive to get customer engagements. These interactions will flower into a relationship that will benefit you both. Fake followers are just ones and zeros that don’t add value to your brand. They will not be able to give feedback and criticism hence, leaving you unaware of what your customers really want.
Forget fast results, go for REAL results
It is not always a race. There is no award or certificate for being the first brand to achieve the most followers. Misguided goals like this are the reason patrons loose connectivity with the companies. The journey to your goal might be long and tedious but it would all be worth it in the end. Imagine a world where companies create a conducive environment for genuine customer interaction; wouldn’t that be amazing. A significant number of your patrons are sure to spread the word about their relationship with your brand, therefore providing the best marketing tactic.
When you choose your friends do you go for fare-weather relationships? Or would you rather have a genuine heartfelt bond with specific people? The same concept applies to marketing. Increasing customer interaction with engaging and creative marketing schemes is better than running a race with fake followers. Though it might be the quickest way to gain followers, it is still not worth a dime if they do not engage with your brand or do not have a deep interest in your services.
Marketing is all about human interaction, innovating new ways for people to react to your brand. A good marketing scheme is one where you trigger your target market to the point that they cannot help but react. Word of mouth is the oldest and most reliable marketing tactic. Generating enough reaction and intriguing people about your brand is sure to sling you into the limelight. And of course, the relations you have built on the way will be the stepping stones for your brand to cross boundaries and increase visibility in the modern-day market.
Remember the key to social media is providing VALUABLE CONTENT + ACTUAL ENGAGEMENT...
We hope this helps your journey and give you some tidbits towards not only time differences within your social media growth but also pricing. The real thing will always contain more value hence the price may reflect.
References:
Frey UJ, Pirscher F (2018) Willingness to pay and moral stance: The case of farm animal welfare in Germany. PLoS ONE 13(8): e0202193. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202193
Global time spent on social media daily 2017. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/
Global time spent on social media daily 2017. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/
Top Social Media Security Threats Companies Face. (2017, July 22). Retrieved from https://www.zerofox.com/blog/top-9-social-media-threats-2015/
About Design Moves
Design Moves is a hybrid marketing shop in South Florida. We cross the line when it comes to marketing with a purpose and integrity. Pushing boundaries and documenting the process throughout our journey. Design Moves provides services such as digital marketing, graphic design, web design, and content marketing