Influencers are people who are highly active on social media and blogs. They can be branded as advocates or nice promoters but they're mostly people with loud online voices that other people listen to.Influencer marketing is being in a mutually beneficial relationship. It's surprisingly effective, but the issue here arises in the lack of diversity and perspective. When you embrace a group of influencers from privileged backgrounds they drown out marginalized voices. Ending: everyone's feeds look the same.

The Problem With Influencer Marketing

If you’re using influencer marketing, consider sharing content by marginalized people. If some happen to be influencers, and some don’t, that’s fine. By ensuring that you're also connecting with intelligent and savvy people creates a richer experience for everyone.

The Simple Solution

<img alt="Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*ldwT6XKuto5AEN0Ta88KXA" width="28" height="28">Influencer marketing works. How? Influencers are people who are highly active on social media and blogs. They can be brand advocates and niche promoters. Most importantly though, they are people with loud online voices who other people listen to.Influencer marketing leverages the loud-speaker like qualities of this group to, essentially, create word-of-mouth buzz about a business or product online. But it’s not all about buzz — as <a href="http://www.jaybaer.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">Jay Baer</a> says: “True influence drives action, not just awareness.”When you align with an influencer, you’re entering into a mutually beneficial relationship. You amplify their voice even more by promoting their blog or social media presence; they talk about your company or product. Consumers trust recommendations from them, more than from you, because they’re third parties. They have enough distance from your company to maintain objectivity, and they have enough cache with their audiences to where their recommendations are trusted.You don’t have to adopt an official influencer spokesperson — the relationship is usually not that formal. Rather, influencer marketing often takes the simple form of trading guest posts, or even “you retweet me, I retweet you.”It’s surprisingly effective.But when you look at influencer marketing from a perspective of diversity, it’s not working so well.Of the “<a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253522" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">50 Online Marketing Influencers to Watch in 2016</a>,” published by Entrepreneurmagazine, you’ll find that:74% are male86% are whiteAs far as non-race diversity factors go for this group, they’re anyone’s guess, but I would venture to say that even this remarkably diverse list (you should see some of the other ones), is lacking in a diversity of perspective.So what happens when brands embrace the same group of influencers, whose voices are already loud and out there, who come from relatively privileged backgrounds?We get a whole lot of the same.In the influencer version of “the rich get richer,” the loud and privileged are even more amplified, to the point where they saturate the conversation and drown out voices from marginalized groups.Pretty soon, everyone’s Twitter feed in the same niche looks identical, because they’re all re-tweeting the same influencers, over and over again. Is there an echo on here?<figure><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*WmeVDCWzi257r3MMr43OWg.png" width="581" height="266"></figure><h2 data-selectable-paragraph="">A suggestion for a simple solution</h2><figure><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*Oy4_ijhpfZx5LsJFC7BzkQ.png" width="573" height="246"></figure>I would suggest that if you’re using influencer marketing, consider sharing content by marginalized people along with your regularly scheduled programming. Then, you’re not leaving them entirely out of the conversation. Stumped for where to begin? I’ve got you covered — try these:<a href="https://twitter.com/AlterConf" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">@AlterConf</a> — “An evening of critical culture discussions in tech and gaming. We’re moving the diversity conversation beyond 101. Coming to a city near you!”<a href="https://twitter.com/FundBetterTech" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">@FundBetterTech</a> — “Pledge $100/month to fund tech projects by and for marginalized people.”<a href="https://twitter.com/ModelViewMedia" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">@ModelViewMedia</a> — “A magazine about tech + culture + diversity. We tweet articles and news.”<a href="https://twitter.com/TransH4CK" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">@TransH4CK </a>— “Creating tech for the transgender community &amp; visibility for trans technologists and entrepreneurs.”Ensuring people who already have massive followings get their messages out there is fine, but it’s not going to add any new insights into the conversation. When you include the intelligent, savvy voices of people we don’t traditionally hear from, you allow the conversation to reach its full potential, creating a richer experience for everyone.But honestly, just connect with people whose work you love. And if some happen to be influencers, and some don’t, that’s fine.<h2 data-selectable-paragraph="">Curation as a power-tool</h2>My style of Twitter using is curation. It’s what I do. It’s what I love. I’ve also found it to be a powerful tool for supporting, promoting, and amplifying marginalized influencers who deserve far more retweets than they get. For me, curation is a form of self-expression, which is why I share what I love — not what I think others will love.Ultimately, diversity is so much more beautiful and interesting. Just check out some of the latest tweets by <a href="https://twitter.com/odyism" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">@Odyism</a>, a fantasy illustrator who posted art for Black History Month on his feed.I’m available for a limited number of <a href="http://nicholeelizabethdemere.com/need-saas-consulting/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">SaaS consulting retainers</a>, <a href="http://nicholeelizabethdemere.com/need-blog-content/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">writing engagements</a>, and <a href="http://nicholeelizabethdemere.com/contact/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">I offer Twitter curation + growth</a> (500–1,000 or more followers / mo.) with an authentic approach so that your feed doesn’t look like everyone else’s.

Influencer marketing works. How? Influencers are people who are highly active on social media and blogs. They can be brand advocates and niche promoters. Most importantly though, they are people with…

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Influencer marketing works. How? Influencers are people who are highly active on social media and blogs. They can be brand advocates and niche promoters. Most importantly though, they are people with loud online voices who other people listen to.

Influencer marketing leverages the loud-speaker like qualities of this group to, essentially, create word-of-mouth buzz about a business or product online. But it’s not all about buzz — as <a href="http://www.jaybaer.com/">Jay Baer </a>says: “True influence drives action, not just awareness.”

When you align with an influencer, you’re entering into a mutually beneficial relationship. You amplify their voice even more by promoting their blog or social media presence; they talk about your company or product. Consumers trust recommendations from them, more than from you, because they’re third parties. They have enough distance from your company to maintain objectivity, and they have enough cache with their audiences to where their recommendations are trusted.

You don’t have to adopt an official influencer spokesperson — the relationship is usually not that formal. Rather, influencer marketing often takes the simple form of trading guest posts, or even “you retweet me, I retweet you.”

But when you look at influencer marketing from a perspective of diversity, it’s not working so well.

Of the “<a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253522">50 Online Marketing Influencers to Watch in 2016 </a>,” published by Entrepreneur magazine, you’ll find that:

As far as non-race diversity factors go for this group, they’re anyone’s guess, but I would venture to say that even this remarkably diverse list (you should see some of the other ones), is lacking in a diversity of perspective.

So what happens when brands embrace the same group of influencers, whose voices are already loud and out there, who come from relatively privileged backgrounds?

In the influencer version of “the rich get richer,” the loud and privileged are even more amplified, to the point where they saturate the conversation and drown out voices from marginalized groups.

Pretty soon, everyone’s Twitter feed in the same niche looks identical, because they’re all re-tweeting the same influencers, over and over again. Is there an echo on here?

I would suggest that if you’re using influencer marketing, consider sharing content by marginalized people along with your regularly scheduled programming. Then, you’re not leaving them entirely out of the conversation. Stumped for where to begin? I’ve got you covered — try these:

<a href="https://twitter.com/AlterConf">@AlterConf </a>— “An evening of critical culture discussions in tech and gaming. We’re moving the diversity conversation beyond 101. Coming to a city near you!”

<a href="https://twitter.com/FundBetterTech">@FundBetterTech </a>— “Pledge $100/month to fund tech projects by and for marginalized people.”

<a href="https://twitter.com/ModelViewMedia">@ModelViewMedia </a>— “A magazine about tech + culture + diversity. We tweet articles and news.”

<a href="https://twitter.com/TransH4CK">@TransH4CK </a>— “Creating tech for the transgender community & visibility for trans technologists and entrepreneurs.”

Ensuring people who already have massive followings get their messages out there is fine, but it’s not going to add any new insights into the conversation. When you include the intelligent, savvy voices of people we don’t traditionally hear from, you allow the conversation to reach its full potential, creating a richer experience for everyone.

But honestly, just connect with people whose work you love. And if some happen to be influencers, and some don’t, that’s fine.

My style of Twitter using is curation. It’s what I do. It’s what I love. I’ve also found it to be a powerful tool for supporting, promoting, and amplifying marginalized influencers who deserve far more retweets than they get. For me, curation is a form of self-expression, which is why I share what I love — not what I think others will love.

Ultimately, diversity is so much more beautiful and interesting . Just check out some of the latest tweets by <a href="https://twitter.com/odyism">@Odyism </a>, a fantasy illustrator who posted art for Black History Month on his feed.

I’m available for a limited number of <a href="http://nicholeelizabethdemere.com/need-saas-consulting/">SaaS consulting retainers </a>, <a href="http://nicholeelizabethdemere.com/need-blog-content/">writing engagements </a>, and <a href="http://nicholeelizabethdemere.com/contact/">I offer Twitter curation + growth </a>(500–1,000 or more followers / mo.) with an authentic approach so that your feed doesn’t look like everyone else’s.

The Problem With Influencer Marketing

The Problem With Influencer Marketing

The Simple Solution

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