Do you follow anyone on any social media channels?
One of the newest trends in social marketing is using”influencers” to promote new products. Influencers, as described by the CBC podcast included in this post, are people who have an ‘organic’ following on social media channels like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or Linkedin. They are people, like you and me, who have gathered an audience of followers because of their ideas.
I guess you could say that it’s not unlike having a hero or a mentor or a model, but I think it is slightly different because they can be anyone and everyone and have complete strangers follow them.
I would like to preface this lesson by saying that the podcast is geared toward a more business English discussion on marketing and sales. But I think it can also feed a more general discussion about the place of social media in our lives as well as critical media literacy. It’s up to you to angle it the way it can work best for you.
Pre discussion
- Do you have an “influencer”? In other words, someone you trust for wisdom and advice.
- Do you follow any social media groups or people?
The Podcast
The podcast uses a lot of business vocabulary, so if you are using this post for a more general discussion, you could skip the listen portion an go right to the questions. Otherwise listen to the podcast (11 min.) to flesh out some of the main ideas and key vocabulary.
- What are some of the features of an influencer?
- What are some of the dangers of using an influencer to endorse a product?
- Why use an influencer instead of traditional advertising?
- How do you know that a source or influencer is reliable?