Influencers Are the Retailers of the 2020s

Social influence rests on the fact that, when faced with an abundance of choice, we habitually rely on others to know what to buy, read, wear, or listen to. When these others are “regular” people just like us, we tend to trust them more than we would a compensated spokesperson, a model in an ad, an invisible editor, or a distant celebrity.

Now-established players have learned that Instagram advertisements and influencer campaigns only scale to a point: they can net no more than a few hundred thousand of a brand’s “first best” customers. This has driven a shift toward physical retail and prompted founders to agonize over if and when to peddle their wares on Amazon, making direct to co... See more

TikTok, Depop, and Instagram have created a new kind of fashion influencer: the vintage micro-curator. Their power lies not in designing clothes, but in storytelling — spinning historical context, designer lore, and aesthetic moodboards into content gold. This type of content is coming along leaps and bounds, and there’s real value in this narrativ... See more

if people now cultivate their own personalities in order to sell products and build a community, brands need to figure out what it is that they are doing. Originally created by companies to give selling a face and a human emotion, retailers are getting killed by their own customers. People are increasingly more likely to build their own brand — and... See more

And in the midst of the current situation surrounding coronavirus, influencers have only become more valuable to brands as companies search for ways to keep their audiences engaged without coming across as tone deaf.