Where Does Real Influence Come From?

Are you keeping up with the Kardashians? How about Paris Hilton? Do you know what she’s up to? Okay, we’re showing our age. But we do know that there are thousands of so-called influencers out there, workin’ it, having been hired by a firm to pose with their product, trying to influence buyers. It’s the age we live in.

These so-called influencers have to work hard to stay in the spotlight. Every day is a challenge of what to do next on Instagram or promote on Twitter to stay in the spotlight. If the spotlight today is on BLM, then they’ll comment on BLM, trying to get inside the spotlight. If the spotlight on the importance of vaccinations, then they’ll pull every string to get their vaccination today with a camera pointed at them.

But when we ask ourselves, where does true influence come from? We mean influence that transcends the look-at-me culture, influence that is enduring. We conclude it comes from a source with moral authority; not a place of temporary visibility.

We think about the most influential people we know of and suggest it’s people like Susan B. Anthony, and Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King or Greta Thunberg who have had the most recent influence on our culture. Their influence is on-going. They have one thing in common: They don’t seek attention for attention’s sake but their goal and their example was and is influential because their motivation comes from human-spiritual values. They lived those values, and millions, even billions, were influenced.

Spirituality & Health serves people who come from a place of purpose too. That is why so many are healthcare professionals, spiritual advisors and mentors, yoga and fitness instructors, or simply book-club leaders make up our audience. They don’t set out to be ‘influencers,’ but they are influential because they walk the walk of their values and because they serve others.

We have written before about research that shows that the greatest marketing success doesn't come from a few big influencers but from many influential people, known by their ‘followers’ because they are friends, family, clients, and colleagues. These people are influential because they are known and trusted. As we wrote last fall: “We think of Spirituality & Health as the foundation on which successful health and wellness marketing plans are built. When you start by building awareness and trust and adoption among the influencers to whom your target market listens, your advertising dollars work overtime.”

Contact our trusted advertising sales team for a proposal to help you build a base of influential customers—or just to learn more. It will be time well spent.

Ann Reed: [email protected]
Tabetha Reed: [email protected]
Peter Lymbertos: [email protected]