“Link in Bio” Is the Worst Thing About Instagram
To turn your network into a customer base, and to turn your business model into something repeatable and long term. There are people who are starting to do this pretty fucking effectively. The real issue is that your value as an influencer is calculated only on your influence. On your network. And because you’re building that network inside of someone else’s social app, you don’t own it… Influence marketing mistakes are just marketing mistakes. The vast majority of marketing is not creative and uses the dead paradigm that pushing out enough content will overwhelm any shortcomings in your message. That’s the mass marketing paradigm of the last century.
Don’t make the kind of marketing you hate
Additionally, looking at the landscape, the ad-based model seems to take a relatively predictable path of implementation. One part of which includes algorithms. In walking that line between revenue and experience, perception means a lot, and to many, fairly or not, algorithms are perceived as mathematical black boxes that take control away from the user, “unlevel” the playing field, and are as much there to decide what you don’t see as they are to decide what you do. Which, without going down too much of a rabbit hole, has the potential to create self perpetuating filter bubbles of information that diminish the diversity of thought and perspectives you encounter. The impacts/benefits of which are arguable but not inconsequential.
Yo, Instagram folks. Holding packets of tea is not a business model
The thing is, the Instagram success is not worth nearly as much as the people enjoying it think. It’s just not. In fact, as an asset it’s almost totally worthless, when you compare its monetary value with the hours spent building it, and how easy it would be for it all to disappear. Social media needs to help share information with purpose and self compassion needs to be considered rather than self esteem while you read/watch. There’s no better way to hate yourself than to look at someone you love just a little more. The future of marketing, selling, business, and life will be found in us moving beyond the commodity based paradigm and serving the interests of our audiences. Listen to your customers, engage them and the people who they look up to. Find out what they want and see that they get it.
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