Are influencers officially dead?

Just before, I was avoiding some more … pressing … matters by scrolling through Instagram,* when I came across a post with the title:

“The influencer era is over as we knew it 👀✨🚨”

Okay, first of all, draaaaama. Chill out with that headline for Plop’s** sake.

Second of all: Actually, the post make a lot of really good points.

It starts off with a short history on influencing … gets into the early dot com era … and leads up today, where the author admits that influencing still works, even in 2024.

But then they shift their tone. Some things will change, they say. Chief among them:

• B2B influencing will grow, and leverage key leaders in niche industries. (Okay, that’s fine I guess).

• Brands will tap into employees to be the face of their company (deity, please no).

• Influencers will build private communities (makes sense).

• Depth over quantity (I didn’t really understand this one).

• Private “fan” spaces will be utilized more and more.

On that last one — the author of the post states “Daily time spent on socials is decreasing … I think influencers will begin pooling fans away from socials and into more intimate digital spaces.”

They cite newsletters and blogs as an example. I would agree with this assessment — I think it’s possible to envision a world where influencers and brands employ copywriters to use email and private spaces to attract leads, sustain an audience, and convert them into buyers.

In a lot of ways, I think we’re already this happen to a certain degree. Heck, I even run a “personality based” newsletter for the directors of one of the education brands I work with.

So if this ends up happening … what should you do?

First, I would recommend honing the skills of what I call “selling casually.” Aka, learning how to keep an audience engaged — while also growing sales — through more intimate channels like email, paid groups, etc.

Second: Even with more “casual selling,” I think brands will still be relying on paid acquisition of new users to build their lists, groups, and private spaces.

Personally, I believe much of this paid acquisition spend will likely be directed toward social platforms.

And the brands that are spending there — and can actually afford to hire copywriters — will want to see the results of their campaigns improve once they start working with you.

Currently, I’m working on a lovely little copywriting resource that can help unlock this exact skill for you, so you can offer it as a service to your own clients and potential clients.

More to come on that soon. As always, reply with any questions you have.

— David

*I know, I know. I told you a while back I use Opal to block my social media during the day. But what I didn’t tell you was that I unblock it during bathroom breaks. I didn’t want you to find out this way, but whatever, here we are, happy Caturday.

**If you get this obscure late-season reference to The Office, please let me know.