Local content creator Gail Baldacchino has taken to Instagram to share some insights about the so-called influencer industry. How soon should followers be made aware that a particular post is a brand advert? What’s the deal with #gifted? Gadgets took a deeper look…
How things should be done?
There’s no better place to start than determining @itsgeeb’s goals, that is to seek to create unity among local content creators, that they may be seen as professionals, and that what they do is an actual job. It takes time and effort to create quality content. And if “anyone could do it”, then everyone would.
What she makes abundantly clear is that no post uploaded is a direct call-out to anyone. It’s simply addressing the industry at large, be it creators, brands or followers. By following the practices she’s suggesting, then that industry might operate on better standards, with more understanding and less hate in general towards content creators and influencers.
#Gifted
When receiving a gift (or PR product as Gail goes on to explain) from a brand, are influencers expected to upload material featuring this item? Can it really create confusion? What’s the alternative? Check out Gail’s answers below.
Dear Followers
If you follow content creators who work closely with brands, what should you expect to see?
Dear Influencers
There’s nothing quite like transparency. The importance of clearly showing a post to be an ad (and show that early on, don’t hide that #ad) cannot be understated. There’s nothing wrong with showing that something’s an advert, as Gail explains, because if that’s your job as a content creator working closely with a brand, you deserve to get paid for it!
Dear Brands
Last but not least, to address the full spectrum of the industry: the brands. Content creation is a job, which means that the person doing said job, should be paid for it. Gifts are pretty nice from time to time, but they can’t be used to pay bills and mortgages, and as we all know, time is money. If an influencer is giving their time away to promote a product, then they fully deserve to be paid for it.
Do you agree with these guidelines? Tell us in the comments below!
