Phạm TúHey, aspiring influencers! Want to build a lasting career in this exciting world? Then listen up! There are three magic ingredients that make a successful KOL/Influencer: Real, Professional, and Exciting.
Nail these 3 Cs, and you’re on your way to the top. But mess them up, and even the biggest influencer can come crashing down.
- Exciting: This one’s kinda built-in. Let’s be real, nobody wants to follow a boring influencer. But keeping your audience engaged and entertained over time? That’s the real challenge.
- Professional: You need to know your stuff! Building expertise in your niche is essential, and it needs to evolve as you grow. Your professionalism directly impacts your authenticity – the most fragile of the 3 Cs.
- Real: Authenticity is EVERYTHING. It’s the foundation of trust, and trust is why people follow influencers in the first place. After decades of being bombarded with traditional advertising, consumers crave honesty and relatability. When an influencer’s authenticity is questioned, their career can crumble faster than you can say “sponsored post.”
Case Study: The Influencer Who Cried Wolf
Remember the Elle Darby drama? This UK-based beauty and travel blogger, with a decent following on YouTube and Instagram, reached out to The White Moose Café in Dublin, offering to promote them in exchange for a free stay.
The hotel owner, Paul Stenson, wasn’t having it. He publicly slammed her email as “arrogant and entitled,” even going so far as to deny the legitimacy of influencer marketing altogether. Ouch!
This sparked a massive backlash against Darby, with people calling her “entitled” and “delusional.” She responded with a tearful 17-minute video, claiming she was the victim of a smear campaign and that people were being too harsh on a 22-year-old entrepreneur. The internet remained unimpressed, forcing her to take down the video.
It seems Darby underestimated The White Moose Café and its owner. She probably didn’t realize they had a huge online presence, with a massive following on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. Stenson himself was a daily blogger. In terms of influence, they were arguably bigger than Darby herself.
Had she done her research, she might have approached the collaboration differently. Stenson, on the other hand, might have handled the situation with more grace. His actions damaged Darby’s authenticity and eroded trust in her brand. But he did raise a valid point: how can people trust an influencer who’s clearly getting a freebie?
The Takeaway
This story highlights the biggest challenge for new and smaller influencers: finding that sweet spot between authentic content and brand promotion. Influencer marketing is still a relatively new field, and with that comes skepticism about its authenticity and effectiveness.
Some influencers have responded by trying to become celebrities in their own right, branching out into acting, modeling, or music. But for those who stay in the influencer game, maintaining the 3 Cs and knowing your audience is crucial.
