One of the most interesting trends

One of the most interesting trends of recent times is branding by promoting social influencers or influential stars of social media. For so long, the issue has been considered a trend outside of the mainstream brand marketing. But now that situation is no more.

This kind of propaganda is being seen as very important in different countries of the world by using influential stars. In some places, the government's income tax department has also caught the eye. As a result, the British magazine The Economist thinks that social influencers have now reached the mainstream.

Last week's crackdown on influential people on social media by Chinese tax authorities came to the fore. These social influencers basically promote their products to their followers in exchange for money from different brands. Fans of these social media stars flock to the products promoted by their favorite stars. As the brand gets promoted, so does the sales. In return, the brands do not hesitate to spend a lot of money for that star. Via is one of the biggest social media stars in China. His other name is Huang Wei. However, she is widely known as the live stream queen.

According to China's South China Morning Post, the 36-year-old star has more than 16 million followers on China's Web. In addition, there are more than 6 crore followers in Taobao. This internet star is known as an expert in e-commerce sector. He gained fame by selling various products through live stream.

Vieira is said to be able to sell anything online. However, he did not inform the income tax department about his huge income in this sector. In this he has fallen into disarray. The Chinese government has fined him ২১ 210 million.
Looking at the fines imposed by the Chinese government on Via, one must understand where the hugeness of this sector has reached. Be aware that 12 percent of China's online sales are now through such social influencers.

The situation outside China is also quite tense. Social media stars are now playing a strong role in the expansion of the e-commerce sector. The market for various brands and companies in this sector is now more than seven trillion US dollars. So the issue of selling products by exerting influence through social media is no longer just a hobby.

The issue of personal promotion using stardom is not entirely new. In 1950, Elizabeth Taylor promoted Colgate-Palm Olive Shampoo. In 1984, Michael Jordan took basketball and branding to new heights. However, through social media, the influencers have taken the issue one step further. The promotion of products as well as sales has made them more famous and famous. By posting various video clips and filtered pictures on social media, they suggest buying products of different brands from the customers. They also add some moments of their daily life. It gives a hint of truth to the issue of artificial propaganda. Many people bring up the issue of taking money for such propaganda. Again, most of the time it is hidden.

The Economist says that this new generation venture or business is now seen as a big business. This is especially true during the Corona epidemic.

Researchers say that this year, the cost of influencers from different brands will exceed 16 billion or 1.6 billion US dollars. Outside of China, the number of people interested in becoming such influencers on social media is in the millions, but the number of celebrities who have more than one million followers is close to one million. Most of the income in this sector is going to their pockets. In addition, the front row seats of various fashion shows or events are now allocated for them.

The issue of stardom on social media is being exploited in various ways. In the case of many organizations, it is considered to be economical. Take Elon Musk, a technology entrepreneur. His online presence as a social media influencer is coming in handy for Tesla. There is no need to spend money on conventional advertising separately for the organization. Tesla's rival General Motors, on the other hand, spent ০ 3.3 billion on advertising in 2021. In addition, the network of influencers helps to reach new visitors or customers; Especially attracting young buyers. 

Various global brands can take their products to the local market by signing deals with these stars. In China, for example, local shopping arrangements or style matters depend on local celebrities. There is no such thing as a Western-style marketing campaign. Apart from this, these stars of social communication quickly adopted technology. In this case, they are far ahead of the merchants of the old ideas. They have also adapted quickly to new platforms like TickTock. Apart from this, their vocal presence can also be seen on platforms like Instagram.

Surprisingly, one-third of the brands have not yet reached out to such social media stars. They are concerned about reputation. Controversial posts by some celebrities through social media can create the risk of tarnishing the brand by tarnishing its long standing reputation.

Despite the many negative aspects, it would be wrong to ignore the internet stars considering the demands of the present age. Globally, the current budget for digital advertising for these stars is less than 3 percent of the total cost. However, this rate is increasing. Another important aspect is the addition of new privacy policies to platforms like Google and Facebook. It threatens the marketing strategy of advertising on Google and Facebook that became popular in 2010. Now the opportunity to get customer information from popular devices like Apple's iPhone is closed. As a result, brands are not able to advertise directly targeting the customer's choice.

Economist, South China Morning