thebabyperks

Hello everyone, this week for my Campaigns 413 class I'm going to be discussing influencers and how they have revolutionized the industry of advertising.

It's been very strange growing up in a time where being an "influencer" is a career. I started reading fashion/lifestyle/beauty blogs in high school and then started my own blog my sophomore year of high school. I also watched a lot of YouTubers, but at the time they were all just doing it for fun. Sometimes they were sent products from companies to try, but mostly it was girls just like me posting content online. 

What is an Influencer?

Before I jump into more information about influencers I want to define the term. Influencers are people that are able to produce a compelling impact on the actions, behaviors, or opinions of others. This generally comes in the forward of sponsored posts on social media. The appeal of influencers over celebrities is that influencers are more closely related to us "every day" people. Celebrities have this air of exclusivity about them whereas influencers could be that girl in your communication class with 500,000 followers on Instagram getting brand deals. Even if an influencer is not someone you personally know, the idea is that they have a substantial enough following online but they aren't what we would call traditionally famous. We like to see content from influencers because we feel like we know them and can trust them when they recommend us products.

Examples of Influencers in my Life

The pictures sprinkled throughout this post are examples of #ad or #sponsored content I see on my Instagram feed. The first photo about EcoTools was posted by Katy Bellotte. I love Katy because she's honest and real. She is that big sister you've always wanted. When I was in high school I heavily relied on her boy advice and confidence tips. She built her following throughout high school and college, and now she's living in NYC with a job at Loreal. Watching her grow up and seeing her reach her dreams has inspired me to continue to push myself. Her partnership with EcoTools was smart because she works in the makeup industry. Her followers see her as a trustworthy source for product recommendations. She has established herself as honest and genuine which furthers her audiences' trust of her sponsored content. If you want to learn more about Katy I would recommend her blog, Instagram or YouTube channel. Katy recently started a podcast called "Thick & Thin" and it's incredible, too.

To the right you will see Brooke Miccio's post about Olly Nutrition. I don't remember when I first started following Brooke but I know it was on YouTube. She is a senior at University of Georgia studying business and is a Kappa Delta. I probably began watching her videos before college because I binge-watched every single "recruitment advice" YouTube video before going through sorority recruitment. I relate to her because she also is the VP Public Relations of her KD chapter. She doesn't have as many followers as Katy or Danielle (who I'll talk about next). Brooke is relatable, she's so driven and she seems to always have her life together. Out of the three influencers I'm talking about today I think I am most like Brooke (based off my assumptions from them from social media). She works hard and is always busy. I trust Brooke's sponsored content because I know she only picks companies to work with that she really supports and believes in.


The final influencer I want to talk about is Danielle Carolan. I just recently began following her because she's also a Kappa Delta at UGA. She has more followers on YouTube and Instagram than Brooke which is still strange to me because I started watching Brooke first. Danielle and Brooke just started a podcast called "Gals on the Go" so that was how I first discovered Danielle. I'm fairly new to her content so as an audience member I'm still learning what Danielle's interests and passions are. I would be least likely to follow up on her sponsored content because I don't "know" her that well yet. So far, though, I have really enjoyed listening to her thoughts on her podcast. I think that naturally when you first start following someone you aren't going to just jump on and support every product they post about, you have to learn more about their style and interests.

Competitive Environment

Something I'm very interested in studying is how the market for influencers will change over time. This is the first time advertisers are really experimenting with influencers and not using traditional celebrities to market products. One complaint I'm seeing is that there's too much sponsored content. When this happens audience members stop liking or engaging in posts online. Obviously, companies are paying influencers to promote their products and they want to see that influencers are getting more likes not less. In the next few years I don't know how influencer marketing will transform but I think changes are likely to happen.

Katy Bellotte  is a YouTuber, blogger, podcast-er, and runs the social media for Loréal Paris. As a high schooler I followed her blog and YouTube channel and viewed her as the big sister I never had. She went to a small, liberal arts college, joined a sorority, was super involved and ended up landing her dream job in New York City post-grad. 

She recently joined many others in starting a podcast and I've been hooked. It can be walking to class or working out in the gym, I love hearing Katy's stories. One of her most recent podcast episodes was about "ghosting." If you are unaware of what ghosting is it is basically cutting off communication with someone without explaining why. Social media makes it easy to ghost someone, you could be carrying on a conversation via text and get left on read, you could be Snapchatting and get left on open. You see this most in the college hookup culture but it's increasing in popularity in the job field as well. Candidates for jobs are beginning to not show up and not tell the hiring manager ahead of time.

Katy talked about how she has been ghosted by plenty of guys but admittedly has ghosted guys, too. Now the reason this is relevant to me is a little different. I see ghosting increasing in popularity because people fear commitment. The "what if" on the other side terrifies us. By constantly letting the potential negative "what if" rule our lives we miss out on the chance to experience something so incredible. 

That's where my story comes in.

I'm a chronic overthinker. I want to analyze each and every situation thoroughly before making a final decision. This can be a weakness at times because I can change my mind (I do have to say that I'm working on being more decisive). 

As I think back to the past (almost) year of David and I dating I think about how it could have easily been over our one year by now if I would not have let my hesitant-self rule over what I knew I really wanted. I was so scared of being a bad girlfriend, that I wouldn't be able to balance friends and a relationship, that I almost missed the chance of being with someone who has enhanced my life 110%. I still think back to how awkward the car ride was when he asked me out because I was so nervous. I'm so thankful I said yes and found out that 1) I'm a pretty good girlfriend and 2) I can balance a relationship and friends. If I would've let the fear of what-ifs rule my life I wouldn't be here 11 months into the best relationship.

Leadership positions also do the same thing. When I considered applying for VP PR for my sorority the doubt and what-ifs began to creep in. What if I wasn't good enough? This is my major I should  be able to do it, but what if I can't? I applied, was slated and got elected. If my fear of not being good enough ruled over my desire to get involved I wouldn't be here a year later looking back at what I've helped accomplish through my position.

If you knew me from 8th grade until 11th grade you knew I was set on going to Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. My mom saw that Drury had a public relations program and basically forced me to take a tour. I really didn't want to go visit. I didn't want to go anywhere near Missouri State University and I definitely didn't want to be located in Springfield. The moment I walked on campus I knew I wanted to go to Drury. I tried convincing myself I didn't want to go. Was I really going to give up four years of being obsessed with Truman State to go to this super small school in Springfield? What if I hated it? I visited again and realized Drury truly was the place for me. It's wild to think how vastly different my life would be if my desire for consistency ruled over the opportunity for me to find my home away from home.

Take the jump, be bold. You only have one life to live so you may as well make the most of it. In every situation I'm so glad I took the jump, I think you will be, too.

Until next time,
Taylor xx

On Saturday I completed my second half marathon in Kansas City. The weather was perfect and the atmosphere was incredible. I completed my first half marathon in April and my training was a little different than this time around. I still did a 12 week training program, but I found that I wasn't enjoying running 3 times a week like I was back in the spring. I made the decision around week 5 to only run 2 times a week while also focusing on strength training 3 times a week. During my first running session I would do a short or medium length run and my second run of the week would focus on increasing my mileage. This was so helpful in getting me to actually complete my long training sessions because I had the flexibility of choosing what day fit my long training session the best.

I completed my first half in 2 hours and 13 minutes but I knew I could get closer to the 2 hour mark which is honestly why I ran the KC race. While I wanted to run in under 2 hours, my times when training were around the 9:30-10:30/mile pace. With this in mind my goal was to finish in 2 hours and 5 minutes. I lined up with the 9:30/mile pace (2:05 finish time) and began running. Miles 1-10 had some hills and challenging points but I honestly felt so much better than I did when running my first half (probably because the weather was significantly better, my nutrition was also a lot better). Miles 10-13.1, though, felt like 6 miles. It was so hilly. The race had so many spectators which really boosted everyone's mood, but what wasn't great was them at mile 10 saying it was all downhill from there because it wasn't. Not even close. Miles 10-12 were excruciating, but finally at mile 12 the spectators were right and the last mile was downhill. I flew down that hill toward the finish line. When I crossed I was just a little bit behind the 2:05 pacers and I thought I didn't meet my goal (which would've been fine, I was just proud of myself for doing it), but when I got my ticket I saw that I finished in 2:03! I seriously beamed with pride.

The KC Half Marathon was just what I needed to celebrate what was a tough week of classes before fall break started. I love being a part of the running community, everyone was so encouraging the entire race.

With my race recap being done, though, what are my future plans?

I love running, I always have. I've been running on and off since elementary school in a variety of Turkey Trots, 5Ks, relay races, etc. I've decided that I'm going to take a bit of a break from running and work on getting my strength back to where it was this summer. I saw a lot of positive changes in my body composition and I would love to make even more progress.

I've ran for 24 weeks out of the year and I am so excited to switch up my training. I am going to give myself a few rest days to recover from my half, but then I'll be ready to hit the gym. I'll be sure to keep you all updated on how my training goes!

Until next time,
Taylor xx

Recently I've been trying to write more in a journal that I keep. Sometimes I let myself ramble and write down life updates, but other times I start drafts of blog post ideas. Here's one I began working on this morning:

I've been saying that I've been trying to focus on myself for a good portion of this year and I've definitely made some progress. When I began this journal at the end of April my skin was at its worst. Throughout the summer I really focused on lowering my stress, eating properly and working out. Part of me was honestly terrified to come back to school-- I didn't want my skin to revert back to the way it was. I had made a lot of progress with my body composition, too, I was scared I'd lose it all. I definitely have seen some of the redness return along with acne but it's not where near as bad as it was last semester (even when I wrote my "Skin Woes" blog post I didn't upload photos of my face because I was too embarrassed).

With all this being said and with me trying to adjust to this semester being different than previous ones, I'm declaring this next year the year of me. I have some more announcements to make soon once everything is set in stone, but I'm ready to live the next year truly embracing every moment of my college experience. I know that as I advance each semester that my classes will become harder, and while I still want to focus on my grades, I want to make the most out of my time in college. By focusing on myself I will no longer let the worry of what other people think or want me to do consume me. I will do what I really want to do.

Over the past three years I've really grown into the person that I one day hoped I would be, but I don't want to stop there. I don't think there is ever a time where we should stop learning or challenging ourselves. I went from a shy, quiet girl who had never been to a party to someone who isn't afraid to vocalize her feelings. I have come so far but I'm not going to stop now.

I'm looking forward to spending more of my time figuring out who I am and what I want to do. I really want to work on expanding my writing and pushing myself. I want my blog to reach more people and to engage in discussions with other college students like myself. The excitement I have toward this next year really cannot be put into words other than "I'm ready."

Until next time,
Taylor xx

Hello everyone, this week for my Campaigns 413 class I'm going to be analyzing Love Your Melon's brand personality, voice and tone. In class we discussed how we categorize a company influences our perception or idea of the brand. Here's my take on Love Your Melon.

Over winter break my family attended a New Orleans Pelicans game (we obviously got there very early, I promise those seats filled up). Brand Personality LYM definitely fits the brand personality of sincerity. Across all of their social media platforms they are cheerful, honest, wholesome and down to earth. Something really unique about LYM is that they let you in to the production of their products, too. If you look on their YouTube channel you can see how the hats are made and learn more about childhood cancer. Cancer is a tough to talk about but Love Your Melon does a great job at easing into the discussion by providing a talking point. It also is heart-warming to know that Love Your Melon is so invested in donating hats to children with cancer and raising funds (approximately $4.7 million according to their website). This authenticity reinforces the sincerity of their brand. Brand Voice A brand's voice is its distinct and clear style. This is seen through Love Your Melon's theme (specific filter) on their Instagram feed that translates through the rest of their social platform. I think that the brand voice really reflects the brand personality if the company aligns with their values. It is clear with LYM that they are passionate about the cause they support. The style of posts is bright and cheerful. The content LYM creates is all very well written and welcoming. They have created this warm and welcoming platform to shed light on a hard issue.  Brand Tone The brand tone is a subset of the voice, it focuses on the mood and attitude of specific content a company publishes. The mood of Love Your Melon's posts are all pretty positive and joyful. This fits within the brand voice of being clear and cheerful. LYM's content wants to show that cancer sucks, but the kids they feature on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are so strong. Instead of focusing on their cancer diagnosis they really highlight how incredible the kids are. This is important for creating an uplifting mood across social media platforms and their website. It is also seen within the business' interaction with customers. Overall, Love Your Melon has created a business that aligns with its values and has a strong social media presence. The content that they have created has generated a warm, welcoming and clear brand voice on something that is usually hard to talk about. The brand mood is very joyful and positive. Love Your Melon has continued to grow and I think they will continue to grow if they continue doing what they are doing.