There are literally hundreds of thousands of micro non paid influencers on all manner of social platforms today, many of those people are building out successful micro lifestyle businesses - is this an opportunity?. 

The recent surge in popularity on social platforms is well documented, today we also have TikTok which is being used by Gen Z and the like. It seems we crave authenticity over the polished corporate message, and when it's delivered from someone we can relate to, and both parties have taken the time to build up trust it invokes a level of trust like never before. 

We all know that the traditional advertising model that was thought up for the internet isn't working anymore. People in their millions around the world are skipping your ads, they're also blocking them, and with the draconian impact of GDPR diluting the digital marketing landscape what can companies do to remain front of mind. 

The celebrity influencer sector is huge, and as celebrity has always been used to 'endorse' your brand in those intrusive and spammy ads it seems that prior to this pandemic companies were jumping on the 'celebrity' influencer bandwagon as well.

But is the consumer growing more cynical of this approach as well?.

The latest data shows that micro-influencers, influencers with 10,000 or fewer followers, are getting the best results for brands and businesses. More engagement, more clicks, and lower ROI.

If you have a Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn account you will have already seen the 'go live' feature. Something that has allowed thousands of these influencers the ability to reach out to followers and for some, even do product demos with the ability for consumers to purchase directly from the stream.

TV shoppingsales response and if the numbers look good - bingo happy days all around.

has been doing a variation of this for years, brands take a product, get a slot, test the

Butretailer created that customer experience in the form of a pop up store, Xmas market style stalls, using social streaming and social media as the communication channel, including its audience as part of the stream, thus leveraging the ability to stream to an already engaged audience - 

, what if a

Be socialengage, and immerse your customers in the experience.

, don't advertise,

With advertising budgets slashed - would this idea get people back to the stores?