SOC alumnae, student, become social media influencers
| March 22, 2018 |
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By Maggie Yarnold
People have been given a powerful tool to become influential: social media.
But who can become an influencer?
With strong branding, passion and a low cost to entry, more and more people are able to join the influencer community through social media and blogging.
Loyola鈥檚 School of Communication will host an Influencers Panel 4-6 p.m., Wednesday, March 28, to discuss how people can turn social media skills and branding into a successful career.
The panel will feature two 黑料门graduates and one student: Abbie Boudreau of ABC鈥檚 Good Morning America, Addie Martanovic of Chickpea in the City, and Megan Rogers-Reilley of Bowtiful Life.
These women built successful careers by presenting their ideas and inspirations to a wider audience.
鈥淢y biggest thing when it comes to branding, marketing and blogging is to be true to yourself,鈥� said Rogers-Reilley, a 2017 graduate with a degree in Communication Studies. 鈥淛ust being true to my own voice and my own writing. The content that I share 鈥� [nearly] everything I鈥檝e shared I鈥檝e created.鈥�
The event will be moderated by Dr. David Kamerer, Associate Professor in Public Relations and Digital Media, and a noted social media researcher and scholar. He said influencers are usually on social media platforms, such as Instagram or blogs and influencers posts lie somewhere between advertising and public relations.
鈥淚n advertising we pay for influence, in public relations we earn it,鈥� Kamerer said. 鈥淎n influencer post is somewhere in the middle. It reads like an article, it reads like a third-party post 鈥� like a public relations post 鈥� but it鈥檚 paid.鈥�
Rogers-Reilley runs a lifestyle and fashion blog, but she said she has branched out into multiple categories since she first started Bowtiful Life in January 2012. She currently works three jobs and said she started working at retailer Kendra Scott only part-time to devote more time to her fashion and lifestyle blog.
鈥淓ven when I鈥檓 not physically, consciously working on it, I鈥檓 thinking about ideas and writing them down, or I鈥檓 editing a photo on the train,鈥� Rogers-Reilley said.
Boudreau started Abbie Live!, her live-streaming blog, around January 2016. Boudreau said Abbie Live! is a fun, family-friendly blog meant to bring a little bit of happiness to people鈥檚 days. She said she enjoys live-streaming more than traditional interviewing set-ups.
鈥淲hat would take a network [of about] 20 people to accomplish, is just me sitting at a computer doing a very similar thing. So, the idea that live-streaming can give an individual, especially a journalist, so much power [to] tell the stories they want in the way they want 鈥� that鈥檚 really exciting,鈥� said Boudreau, a 2000 graduate with a degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Political Science.
Kamerer said influencer advertising and blogging is easy to jump into and the market is open. He said influencers reach a smaller, specific audience, compared to mass culture. However, influencer audiences are more likely to engage with the content and purchase the products.
鈥淲e want to show our students and anyone in the audience a close look into this advertising niche. The barriers to entry are low, so anyone with a passion can jump in and create,鈥� Kamerer said. 鈥淎ll the eyeballs are online, but we don鈥檛 really have a good advertising unit. That鈥檚 brings us to influencer programs.鈥�
Boudreau said once she left investigative journalism and moved into entertainment, starting Abbie Live! was a great way to be active on social media.
鈥淚 thought [live-streaming] was a total adrenaline rush,鈥� Boudreau said. 鈥淚t was basically the same skill set I鈥檝e always used as a reporter, but instead of cutting-and-pasting one or two sound bites, the whole fifteen minutes of interviewing someone was live. It鈥檚 a really cool way to tell the full story.鈥�
Addie Martanovic鈥檚 blog, Chickpea in the City, is centered around health and food. She is a senior studying Advertising and Public Relations.
Rogers-Reilley said she is excited to be on the panel, because she loved going to School of Communication events while at 黑料门and networking with people. She said the panel has a good group of people who fill different niches.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited. I love just sharing what I do because I am so passionate about it,鈥� Rogers-Reilley said. 鈥淏eing able to have an environment where people can ask [how I started blogging 鈥� It breaks down that cyber wall. It鈥檚 a face-to-face interaction rather than a screen-to-screen interaction.鈥�
Boudreau said she鈥檚 excited to come back to her home and spend time with family. She said she鈥檚 a Rambler and would do anything for Loyola.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited to share ideas and listen to what other people are doing with their social media accounts,鈥� Boudreau said. 鈥淎nd how they hope to build a stronger and more positive community.鈥�