A reader wonders what it’s like to constantly be an advertising space. A food influencer on TikTok responds.
When it comes to “Mac & Cheese,” it’s all about the spices Photo: Lucie Regensdorf/imago
28, nurse, asks: “Dear influencers, what is it like to be an advertising space?”
, 31, food influencer @nikaabo on Tiktok, replies:
When I first asked, I couldn’t believe it. A brand asked me if I could post their spices. They had seen me use it on a cup of macaroni and cheese. I was very grateful and especially proud that someone noticed me and wanted to work with me. I was and am a social media consumer and have bought a lot of things. It was an honor for me to be able to advertise a product that I use.
I got into social media and have mainly been a food creator on Tiktok for four years, but I also do a lot of lifestyle. I didn’t earn anything from it for the first year and a half.
Do I ever feel like I’m a walking advertising space? In the sense of selling yourself? From the audience’s perspective, I can understand the idea. Sometimes when I consume social media, some people find it too much. But that depends on the platform. It says on Instagram much more advertising then on TikTok. Creators post slides to their story for 24 hours and can upload many. I do not do that. Some makers get paid very good money for this. But I don’t want to judge it. Ultimately, consumers also decide whether to accept or repurchase the content, and whether to skip the stories or not.
For me and my management it is about quality and not quantity. I often only do two product placements per month. Sometimes none at all. That’s not because I don’t get requests. They come every day, but many of them I would never implement. Therefore I reject a lot. For example gummy bears, with which you should lose ten kilos per month. I only promote products that I have used and stand behind. Then I would like to offer my platform. I advertise in the way I feel comfortable. The customer doesn’t tell me that.
This text comes from the weekday. Our weekly newspaper from the left! Every week Wochentaz is about the world as it is – and as it could be. A left-wing weekly magazine with a voice, attitude and the special taz view of the world. New every Saturday at the kiosk and of course via subscription.
I think it is important that my content prevails. So advertising doesn’t take up that much space for me. That’s how I feel and you can see it in the comments. Otherwise it would be really uncomfortable for me. When my daughter was born, I had to take some time off. During that time I actually had to fulfill contracts and post videos, which were already recorded. But I didn’t have the heart to just publish promotional posts for over two months. I then had to move everything, the customers understood that, and I didn’t post anything during that time.