I work in influencer marketing, and this course has made me reflect on many aspects of my job. First and foremost, the positive benefits of data are extremely important in marketing, and I work with various data daily. Targeting the right audience using data is crucial for achieving results. Campaigns need perfect influencer matches, and data can help achieve this with great precision. Verifying results requires data, and actions cannot rely on gut feelings or personal impressions.
Currently, necessary data is available from social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, as well as from paid third-party software services, which I also use daily. Opinions on “selling” personal data to social media platforms vary, but I choose to see the positive aspects. For example, I don’t always have time to research or find the things I need. I appreciate targeted advertising because it gives me good tips and ideas for products or services I need, like planning my friend’s bachelorette party.
Regarding TikTok, there has been a lot of talk about data privacy issues: the security is inadequate, and the app can collect an unusually large amount of user information. The Finnish Security Intelligence Service has warned about using TikTok and banned its use among its employees. I use TikTok quite a lot myself, and I am also concerned about its algorithm. The app feeds you content based on what you pay attention to. While this isn’t a problem with positive or neutral content, it can also present unhealthy content, like content that encourages eating disorders. I have good media literacy, and social media content doesn’t negatively affect me much, but I’m concerned about younger people who are exposed to such content at a developmental stage when it may not be good for them. I wish for higher and more strictly enforced age limits for social media services.
AI has already significantly changed content production: images can be created and edited with AI, Chat GPT can provide a reasonably good and free content plan in seconds, and data can be used to analyze effective content, among other things. Instagram now requires labeling AI-created or edited images, which indicates that there is already a lot of such content on social media, making it sometimes difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is created by AI.
Ten years ago, people shared everything on social media, mainly Facebook, from a child’s birth details to their home address – and some still do. The most engaging content on social media is genuine: educational, supportive, and emotionally appealing. Content and personal life details are a hot topic, but where to draw the line? Once information is shared on the internet, it cannot be retrieved, so today’s children and young people are the first generation whose baby pictures have ended up being publicly visible rather than in private photo albums. Many no longer have the same opportunity for privacy as the previous generation did. Data lives on even if we stop sharing it immediately. I think data’s importance will continue to grow, and privacy will become valuable. Even if we take care of our privacy, others can violate it: friends, colleagues, parents, or even employers.
I was involved in implementing GDPR-related reforms at my workplace and saw how meticulously it was done. It has given me security and trust that my private information remains confidential and the right to be forgotten in the future. However, I was struck by the statistic that 71% of Europeans share their data online, but only 15% feel they have control over it. I can relate to this feeling. I don’t fully understand the challenges the future may bring regarding personal data.
One video I watched discussed emails – how gaining access to your email can reveal a lot about you: your contact information, communication, personal details, and behavior and communication patterns. I have probably been too naive until now and haven’t fully realized what a significant security threat accessing my email would be.
I have used Chat GPT for both work and leisure, and in some things, I have been able to utilize it well – sometimes not. I asked Chat GPT a typical question I hear during my workday: “Hi, I want to create an influencer marketing campaign on Instagram and TikTok targeting Finnish men over 30 with young children. Who would you recommend?” Chat GPT offered me three foreign influencers who did not meet any of my criteria except for presumably being over 30. This, in my opinion, clearly shows that various expertise will still be needed in the workplace, and AI cannot yet replace all of it. I will likely get the “right” answer to this question in a few years, but by then, the market and practices will have taken another leap forward, meaning I will likely still be ahead of AI in this matter. I intend to continue using AI and develop my practices around it.
Influencer marketing is largely based on social media platforms and the influencers operating there. The future challenge is what kind of social media platforms we will have available and whether they will allow data usage or restrict it to internal use only. Previously, we worked with blogs, but it has quieted down as a channel, and TikTok has continued its rise. It is challenging to predict the next rising social media channel that everyone will use, but it is certain that such channels will exist in the future.
In the future, my job and way of working will likely look very different. Some people might completely escape the social media world while others continue to share content. There will be people who cannot be reached by any marketing because they don’t subscribe to newspapers, watch linear TV, listen to the radio, use social media, and block ads when browsing the internet. Paid streaming services for both video and audio ensure that one doesn’t have to encounter advertising if they don’t want to. On the other hand, those of us working in the field will have new methods and technologies to perform our jobs. People still want to connect with each other, and recommendations from one person to another remain the most effective form of marketing.
I consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the subject, but I want to become more skilled at using AI in my work and increase my understanding of how I can utilize it. I have only used Chat GPT and a few AI services related to images, but I plan to update my knowledge of other tools when I return to work from study leave. I also hope that new technologies will allow me to work less and focus more on what is most important to me – my family.