are influencers trustworthy?

 Can you even trust an influencer on social media? 

We all know that social media lives are exaggerated and the lives portrayed on social media are better online than in person. People create a new life for themselves on the media that focus on the highlights of their lives instead of the struggles. Which you can't blame them right? No one wants to see the horrific problems people are going through. We all use social media to portray positive things like releasing a new song, posting about a wedding or even showing off a new pair of shoes. Social media is a place for people to take the best things currently in their lives and show them off to the world. That being said if people are showing an almost unrealistic part of their lives can we trust the products they are promoting? 

Many influencers promote products because they get paid for the content. If we all had that option, we would do it too. Honestly, as someone learning about marketing through the media, influencers can create a revenue greater than most companies can imagine. It's whether that company has the funds to pay for that influencer or not, for the partnership to work. When working with certain influencers it may be hard to afford a mega or macro influencer with millions of followers. The more followers the influencer has the bigger advantage the company has to reach a wider audience. 

When reaching out to influencers, businesses must have a goal and a target market. Companies can't go out and pick just a random influencer. The influencer must show interest in the company's identity. For example, a company that wants to promote running shoes they should target influencers that love to run. By doing so, the product will reach other runners that haven't heard of their brand. Influencers can establish a large audience for the company which can ultimately create revenue for the business. 

But the question still remains whether or not influencers will tell the truth about the product. They may just be promoting it to make money from the company, then later never use the product again. I have to admit I have fallen into the trap of just sliding up and purchasing a product I didn't even need. These products we are buying from influencer may not positively impact us. 

So, before purchasing a product from your favorite influencer, think whether or not you actually need the item. Because in the long run it's mostly just an ad for the influencer to put some money in there pocket.