Everything you buy is influenced
- Lucy
- Apr 21
- 4 min read
Updated: May 22
I’ve been on a bit of a spending ban this year, which I originally told myself was because I really wanted to go hard on my savings. This has somehow turned into those savings being necessary to pay for all the holidays I’ve booked (China, Altea, Valencia, Miami, South France, the Lake District, Egypt, whoooops…). Anyway.
Finances aside, I started to reflect on why I have still bought the things I have, to see if I could uncover a common thread in positioning or marketing across the brands. So many of my client calls recently have been centred on really trying to define their why and what sets them apart from their competitors. What ultimately makes people choose their brand over another? It’s probably the most important question for businesses and my favourite to solve.
But rather than me noticing a pattern in positioning between the items I’ve been drawn to (although they do exist too, that’s a topic for another week), there was another reason that began to emerge.
Everything I have bought this year has been influenced.
This isn’t groundbreaking news
It was a relatively surprising realisation for someone who claims to be reasonably set on what they do and don’t like and pretty confident in some of my purchase choices. But of course, it’s not a new discovery that influence occurs.
For as long as businesses have existed, brands have known the importance of product recommendations, word of mouth, and general influence.
But it is interesting that, at a time when so many marketing gurus are talking about how traditional influencers are ‘dead’, I find myself turning to influence more than ever.
Every market is getting more crowded, and with AI, even those technologically advanced are becoming uncertain of claims, new brands that are suddenly popping up, and our own decision-making abilities. How many of you have asked AI a question that deep down you knew the answer to yourself? (Raises my own hand).
Hearing other people use a brand or product gives us the confidence boost we ultimately need to make a purchase. And partly, simply seeing a product in the hands of others or hearing of a service being successfully delivered at least tells us that the thing is real.
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I’ve recently been influenced to buy:
A satin headscarf.
Need: My scalp was getting burned, and I don’t really suit caps (turns out I don’t suit these either)
Influence: Influencer Lucy Georgia. Can confirm I don’t look like her in them.
Brand: Local market stall in Altea
Rating: 2 stars. Did the job but sadly not (yet) for me. I will keep persevering.
Shreddy subscription.
Need: I love Barry’s classes but ran out of credits and didn’t want to drop another £200 on just 10 classes. So thought I’d try an alternative.
Influence: My brothers girlfriend recommended Shreddy. Plus, I follow Grace Beverly so had already seen lots about the brand.
Brand: Shreddy
Rating: 3.5 stars. It is a good app, but it’s no Barrys class.
Tinted moisturiser
Need: I hate heavy makeup but sometimes you do need something to brighten your skin.
Inspired by: My best friend, whose helpfully my personal skincare professional
Brand: L’oreal
Rating: 4.5 stars. So light and perfect for me.
Email platform subscription
Need: I have been saying forever that I need to up my marketing and start email marketing
Inspired by: SO many other business owners talking about Flodesk on my IG/ Threads feeds in particular.
Brand: Flodesk
Rating: 3 stars. It’s a good platform, but the purchase hasn’t motivated me to start email marketing yet.
New sports watch
Need: My trusty Garmin died after 10+ years of use. I love running and needed a replacement.
Inspired by: My whole family use Garmin, and originally recommended it to me. I’d also already had a good experience with the brand, so no other option even crossed my mind.
Brand: Garmin
Rating: 5 stars, use daily and would influence everyone else for it.
There’s more to it than influence. Obviously.
Garmin watches are not cheap. Investing in that brand is down to a combination of positioning, marketing, and influence. And of course, having a genuinely good product (else no one would influence you to buy it, you’d hope). But if all my family were Coros Watch users, I probably could’ve been influenced to try something new, as the products aren’t really that different.
The same applies to service-based businesses.
It’s easy to think of influence and think of an influencer with thousands of followers, being paid thousands of pounds to say something good about a brand. But influence occurs in every part of our life.
I could flick through Instagram stories at any given time and see a combination of:
Requests for places to visit in X location.
If anyone has a local Y recommendation .
Has anyone bought A from B before, asking if it was worth it.
I had a discovery call last week, which I usually include a brief overview of my background and how I can help. But as I started to introduce myself, they simply said they already knew all about me and wanted to work with me because someone they trusted had recommended me. When asking about who, this was actually someone I worked with over 18 months ago, the other side of the world (not quite, they’re in America. But basically far away).
Influence is on the rise
Influence is on the rise, so you need to consider how it works for you and your brand. Whether it’s offering a referral scheme for your services or getting people to post about your product on social media, if you haven’t started already, then now is the time. Trust is going down in businesses, so you’ll be increasingly relying on the rising trust in people.
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