I love how people have turned simple “sharing photographs and lifestyle” apps like Instagram into internet revenue streams. It’s impressive how one individual can produce material that millions of people find appealing and interact with consumers to develop a brand that generates millions of dollars from freely available services. Yet, not all social media users with millions of followers have been successful in business. Influencers make the mistake of assuming that just because they are popular, they can create a lucrative brand that would earn them six figures. The point is, when you have a user base for a free app, you may monetize in one of two ways:

With advertisements.

After seeing your work, other companies opt to pay you to advertise their products along with goods. You establish your own brand and begin to market your assets. But in order to do so, you need a special item for those two methods: effective personal marketing focused on a niche. As a result, businesses want to partner with you to advertise their goods, or customers want to buy from you because of what you have to say. I’ll explain why having millions of “potential clients” is not the only requirement for starting a business in this article using the tale of Ariana Renee. Who is Arianna Renee and how did she start her company, which was unsuccessful?

In 2019, Arianna Renee (Arii) became well-known on Musical.ly and Instagram. She displayed a luxurious lifestyle while in Miami, which helped her gain 2.9 million followers on Instagram. She made the decision to open a clothing shop while she had all this attention. She reportedly stated it would be “too simple” and that “it was a small number for what she possesses” because the company that was going to make the merchandise needed a pre-sell of at least 36 T-shirts to move forward with the deal. Despite having a large number of followers, she was unable to sell the required 36 items of clothing in the required 13 days, therefore she was forced to stop.

She posted an update on Instagram explaining why she will not continue with her project and how she was disappointed that no one helped her promote her brand. She was also disappointed that, despite all of the promises of people saying they were going to buy, she didn’t end up with any of those sales. She basically blamed others for her company’s failure, claiming that they couldn’t keep their promises or provide feedback, but the truth is that it was all her fault.
Why? Because she built her brand solely on photos of herself. There is no specific content, no niche, and no solution. Just a pretty face in a prosperous state.

Focus on genuine engagement rather than followers, or people will not buy anything from you. Customers require problem-solving solutions. Fans require entertainment. If you create something for entertainment, the only way to make money is to provide more content. According to Brandhero’s in-depth analysis, despite her large number of followers, the majority of them were not active consumers but rather people aged 18 to 25. (who are not likely to buy things). Furthermore, many of her followers were fake accounts or people who did not interact with her content. She also led a lifestyle that few could understand.

Her pictures were all filled with new cars, clothes, and clubs. There was no reason for anyone to think they had to buy her a t-shirt because it would not make her more popular or famous like her, and she appeared to not even need to sell them to keep living the way she did. Users will not buy from you if you do not focus on genuine engagement with them and only serve as entertainment for them. What she could have done differently and what we as marketers can learn. All famous influencers who succeed in building a brand on social media, in my opinion, share one trait: they all have a specific niche that people understand and engage with.

For example, Ben Francis, the creator of GymShark, built a million-dollar sports brand and competed with big brands like Nike and Adidas because he created an Instagram account focused on fitness and engaged with people in his community with his brand. You must also develop your personality. Even if your account serves a business purpose, people prefer to interact with real people. Arii was a model, and most people couldn’t relate to her. Apart from her lifestyle photos, Anastasia, a small influencer and model, shares how difficult it was for her family to move from their country when she was a child and discusses how to take care of yourself and your skin while living on an island.

She created a brand based on what people liked about her: skin care products and advice, as well as swimwear, which makes sense given what her Instagram is about.

Millions of followers are not the same as millions of fans. People will follow you for thousands of reasons if you do not create a brand with a purpose, and you will not have a specific product to sell. Before you begin anything, consider why people are interested in you and how you can use that to your advantage. Users are also consumers; they are not stupid. Don’t think that just because you have something to sell means that people will buy it. You must give them a reason to exist.

Finally, as I previously stated, influencers are dying. People no longer want to follow millionaires who live glamorous lives. They want real people who share their problems. They won’t buy you anything if you don’t understand them.

Hi, I’m Garima and I write about life experiences. I have several books available on Amazon. Check them out today! Any purchases or KDP reads will be greatly appreciated. If you like my books, do leave a review. Here’s my author page on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0BQDZXYNV