Rachel Aaron, 24, who works in public relations in New York, recently dressed up for a work event at Bloomingdale's. Back in the days when “get ready” videos existed on TikTok, this was a great opportunity to create content.
Aaron, who has just 3,300 followers on TikTok, filmed herself chatting to the camera while choosing a black Skims dress, blazer and belt. Her post received hundreds of views and some positive comments, including one that read, “Kill moms.”
Aaron is not a major social media star or a celebrity. At least not yet. But she's part of a generation that is increasingly posting on social media in the manner of professional influencers, sharing their daily lives, promoting and unboxing products, modeling clothing, and selling their own personal storefronts on Amazon. They are doing advertising etc. These videos are often seen as cool and entrepreneurial by her peers (and sometimes perplexed parents). It can also lead to free stuff and extra cash.
Aaron includes an email address for brand inquiries on his TikTok profile, along with a link to his Linktree page. Linktree is a site that aggregates her commercial affiliations in one place as a way to demonstrate her influence as a tastemaker. Some of the links also include her Poshmark page where she resells her clothes.
“It's generally accepted among people my age to talk to the camera and recommend products,” Aaron said.
She added that Gen Z, defined as a group of people born between 1997 and 2012, are particularly fluent in such conversations and are accustomed to ordinary people promoting products on YouTube and Instagram. .
“For a lot of people in my group and the Gen Z creators I know, we talk to the camera as if we were FaceTimeing a friend, which is probably better. It will be less uncomfortable,” she said.
People like Aaron spend so much time on TikTok and other social media sites that it's a big deal to act like an advertiser without the embarrassment that comes with door-to-door sales and multi-level marketing pitches. Not.
The idea behind it is that anyone can become a creator and bring in money and free products from companies willing to work with young and savvy people on TikTok, which is difficult for brands to break into. Thing. A Pew Research study last year found that women ages 18 to 29 follow influencers and content creators on social media, and half of them have purchased something after seeing an influencer's post. That's what it means.
“You might have 12 followers and you're selling merchandise,” said Vicki Seeger, founder of influencer agency Village Marketing. “The macro movement of everyone being a creator, and the idea that creators should make money in every way possible, is trickling down to the general public.”
Ngozi Oka, 21, a third-year student at the University at Buffalo, started using TikTok after giving a presentation on makeup with women of color at the Black Student Union on campus, and has been gaining influence. He said he has started giving.
“I thought if I can create PowerPoint, I can also create TikTok,” Oka said. The platform has about 5,100 followers and specializes in videos about hair and wigs.
Oka said she created a new email account on her TikTok profile for business inquiries, and included links to Linktree and Amazon storefronts for recommended wigs. When people buy her recommended products on her Amazon, she receives a small commission. Despite her not-so-large following of Oka-san, several brands have contacted her to endorse their products, and she has earned hundreds of dollars by doing so. said Oka.
The mere presence of Linktree and Amazon storefronts can demonstrate “areas of deep involvement and influence across content production,” she said.
“When you go to someone's page and look at it, it's very eye-catching,” Oka added. “It's like LinkedIn.”
Most social media sites only allow users to promote one link on their profile, so millions of users insert Linktree links in that space and visit the page containing the list of sites they want to share. guide the person. Although several companies offer similar services, Linktree has become popular with performers and social media celebrities, from pop star Katy Perry to TikTok icon Dixie D'Amelio. The White House also recently joined the service. (Besides e-commerce, Linktree is also used to list personal girlfriend websites, her Spotify page, etc.)
Benoît Vatel, CEO of Mammoth Media, a marketing company that connects TikTok creators with brands, said, “Gmail is the equivalent of email, but Linktree is the equivalent of “link in your bio.'' “This is a status marker for Gen Z.”
One hotlink you should include is a link to an Amazon storefront with curated recommendations for clothing, makeup, body lotion, and more.
According to Linktree, its data suggested that most users who linked to Amazon's storefronts were not influencers, but rather people acting like influencers. 77% of Amazon links created on Linktree last year came from users who visited their profile less than 1,000 times.
Still, many young people spend painstaking time curating Amazon storefronts as part of their TikTok persona. It's often the only link on your TikTok profile, or the first link on your Linktree page.
Chloe Van Berkel, 19, a freshman at James Madison University, has 47 items listed on her Amazon store in categories such as “skin care” and “summer essentials.” Van Berkel, who has about 6,800 TikTok followers, earns only a small commission from her storefront, which she said earns her about $10 a month. But, she added, there's always a chance that her videos will go viral and send tons of traffic to her site.
“It's just an ancillary thing to make more money, and of course it's nice to be able to promote something you like and tell your friends to buy it,” Van Berkel said. .
Van Berkel, who also received free swimwear and workout gear in exchange for social media endorsements, estimated that one in seven of her friends promotes products on TikTok or Instagram in their spare time.
“People make videos all the time saying do this, buy this, this is what you need for your dorm,” she says. “It's definitely not something you would think was weird.”
Norms are different for many Millennials and older generations. They may feel even more uncomfortable when they see their social media friends suddenly pitching products to their cell phone cameras.
Aaron said millennials often hesitate a beat before speaking to the camera. She and her friends jokingly refer to this as “millennial life.”
College students are inspired by other undergraduates who have become famous on TikTok in recent years. Several women pointed to the rapid rise of University of Miami senior Alix Earle. She has more than 5 million followers and prominently promotes Amazon's recommended products, while also partnering with brands like Nars and American Eagle.
Oka said she looks up to TikTok star Monet McMichael, who has more than 3 million followers and graduated from nursing school last year, and thinks that's the ideal balance.
But fame and a large following are not necessarily the main goals.
“You don't need to have thousands of followers. That's a big misconception that a lot of people have,” Oka says. “If you can put that email in your bio and prove that you have influence and want to have more influence, you'll get the attention of the people you're looking for.” think.”
