A few thoughts:
1) It's very disingenuous to say I am authenticating my Instagram account by following yours That's not how accounts are authenticated. If you're dishonest about this, what else are you dishonest about in the name of "growth hacking"?
2) The current brands signed up are limited.
3) Asking for the photos I would use in a post before I can bid is backwards. I have an IG account with about 10k followers and I've never seen it done that way, at least. Typically the brand chooses an influencer that aligns with their brand both because of the person and the aesthetic of their typical post and then based on campaign objectives the two parties will work together on creative strategy.
@ffumarola Hi Frank! thanks for your thoughts:
1) All I can speak to is how we ourselves conduct the authentication process. We authenticate Instagram by constantly monitoring our own Instagram account and matching recent sign-ups with recent follows. If you know of a better way to do it, please feel free to let me know, and we'll have it up and running in no time! As for your claims that we are Disingenuous or dishonest, I apologize that you feel that way, but that is just not the case: We said we authenticate Instagram by following us, and that is exactly what we do. Our core promise stays the same, and is 100% truthful: we will pay you to post on your social media profiles. but thanks for the feedback!
2) We completely understand that we only have 5 brands signed up, we have only been operating for around 8 days now. We are currently negotiating with some higher-profile brands, and, if you'd like, I can send you updates when these brands are added to the marketplace
3) We don't believe that how things are "typically" done stops innovation! The current process is inefficient, as I hope you will come to acknowledge in the upcoming months! Feel free to refrain from posting an image in your pitch. Those options are provided for less sought-after instagram users, so that they may provide these brands with additional information and encourage them to accept their post.
Thanks again for the feedback!
Report
@ffumarola wow, baring teeth on this one.
in regards to #3, seems like this is an attempt to simplify the process in return for less money and more "influencers." i don't think large brands would use this, for the reason you stated. however, smaller startups could get the benefit without needing to go hardcore into approval hierarchy.
Report
@ffumarola #3 is exactly how it works. Influencer outreach, as we know it, is being replaced by Participation Marketing as we speak.
@joshua_kameel
1) https://www.instagram.com/develo... That is account authentication.
2) Yep, that's fair and understood!
3) In this case, it puts the onus of all work on me, though. It may be more efficient for the brand, but not for me! I'd much rather connect with a brand that sees value in working with me, get to understand their objectives, and THEN put time into creative strategy. An authentic IG shot that will perform takes a lot of time.
@thejeremycarson Baring teeth? Hardly.
I called out the growth hacking attempt because there is a very well documented IG authentication method that many services use. Following an account doesn't authenticate my ability to use that account on their service (and shouldn't do so if they're doing it manually as suggested...).
For #3, it doesn't seem more efficient to me. But definitely more efficient for the brand, agreed on that!
Shoutout to @AndrewEtt for the hunt!
Hey Hunters! Plugg is a Social Media Marketplace that allows regular people to become Brand Ambassadors!
Nowadays, the most popular Social Media Influencers make millions of dollars a year posting on different platforms. The average person? Gets nothing. We're giving the masses a way to get a cut of that pie.
With us, you don't need millions of followers to get paid to use social media. Browse our curated selection of brand campaigns on the Marketplace and submit pitches to the brands that fit your style. New users are even assigned a Plugg representative to assist with brand negotiations.
We also provide a personalized suite of analytics to grow your follower base. Track global trends, the best time to post, and where your fans are geographically located. The best part? It's all free!
We hope you enjoy our product and we look forward to making you all rich!
@keeranoor Hey Rahul! Right now we have an interesting variety of brands, from skateboard start ups to international hotel chains. These particular brands may not be as well known as Coca-Cola or McDonald's, but I guarantee you the payment is the same! We've only been operational for about 8 days now, and luckily we are currently negotiating with some big-time brands, from major fashion companies to professional sports teams. So keep your eye out on the marketplace for some big updates next week!
@realdontae Very true Dontae! People are definitely making moves in this space, and we don't expect that to change. However, most people are only focused on the biggest and most famous digital personalities. At Plugg, we like to think big by thinking small.
Regular, non-instafamous people telling their friends about a new product has tremendous value, and we plan on making that fact very well known. It's essentially how we got onto Product Hunt, we had someone post on their Facebook profile for us, and next thing we knew we got hundreds of sign ups and were Hunted by the best Product Hunter we know!
We're also in the process of developing IP that we are sure is going to revolutionize this industry (everyone says that, but I look forward to backing that statement up). I can't say too much about it, or we won't be competitive for very long!
@realdontae with demand increasing and the prices for the top creators skyrocketing, I think targeting normal people like this is just considered backlink buying.
I've seen a few startups pivot away from this concept over the last year when brands began seeing people spamming their few followers rapidly in an attempt to throttle their payout.
It will be interesting to see where this goes. Good luck @JoshuaKameel and Team
Report
Do you have some case studies and examples? What's the minimum audience you need on each platform you need on average to stand a chance of getting involved with decent brands who actually pay cash rather than offering discounted or free products? What is the most popular niche on your platform?
@ashtube Hey Ashley, thanks for the questions. You don't need any minimum audience to view the marketplace, submit bids, and use the analytics suite. That said, under 1k friends or followers, the amount of consideration offered in payment may become negligible, unless that person's niche/pitch is particularly engaging.
We've only been operating for about a week now, so it's tough to say exactly what our most popular niche is. I can definitively say that we have been incredibly effective for start ups thus far. I can also share with you our own test of our product: https://ibb.co/btTbTv
The week of March 14th (Blue line), we shared a traditional Facebook advertisement with a $20 daily budget. On March 22nd (Orange line), we paid for a $5 Plug from someone on Facebook advertising us to her followers. For the next three days, we averaged 2.8x more sessions, from a Plug that cost a fourth of the price. As we grow, add brands, and complete more campaigns, I hope to really increase the data we draw from, and I'll revisit this post and provide you with all the case studies and examples you'd like!
Report
I love this idea. Two questions come to mind: How many followers do you need to be considered? If no minimum requirement, then what's the value for the brand? Thanks!
@mrabramowitz
Hi Corey,
Thanks for the great question. We do not impose a minimum requirement to be considered as there is value in all influencer profiles. A specific use case for an ultra-micro-influencer, someone with say less than 1000 followers on a platform, could be for a small business to get the word out in their local community. These campaigns would benefit the businesses by utilizing the power of many ultra-micro-influencers in their area to crowdsource their message. Of course, the more followers you have, the more you'll get paid. Regardless, everyone has a chance to participate!
Report
When I saw adMingle, my first thought was "great idea, poorly executed". Glad to see someone is interested in fixing this system.
@bettinadraws Thanks Bettina! We've got big things in store for the next couple weeks, we hope you sign up and get to enjoy all the benefits you missed out on with adMingle!
Report
Honestly, this is a great tool and as a content marketer who helps artists to monetize their brands I can totally see this being incredibly useful for small brands especially and fledgling influencers. I love the plugglab feature. It has a lot of potential to drive growing influencer traffic to your site. Is there currently or plans for a way for people to build relationships with brands they have worked with in the past through a messaging feature?
Also the idea of sharing potential images that could be used in the post seems counterproductive to be honest. It would make more sense for influencers to share images of relevant past work, kind of like a mini-portfolio, in their bid. That way it could really be more of a starting point of the conversation instead of an exchange of potentially unpaid labour.
fintech spy
Plugg
fintech spy
fintech spy
Plugg
Plugg
Signum.AI
Betches
Plugg
SandStorm
Plugg
Plugg
Plugg