When I earlier posted the article titled ‘How Number Games are Affecting Fashion Blogging in India’, little did I know that I’ll get to know about a typical rich Delhi kid who spends on several thousands of fake Instagram followers overnight and calls herself a fashion blogger.
A reputed fashion website like PopXo decides to put this newbie fashion blogging clone in the same league as some of the most influential and eminent fashion bloggers in India. What’s worse is that they tie up with Swarovski, run a competition and send her to Paris! A golden opportunity wasted on someone undeserving. Only the founders of PopXo, Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom can clarify if they were genuinely unaware of the so-called blogger's unethical practice or if they were aware and it didn’t matter to them or if she simply bought her ticket to Paris, just like the Instagram followers. 103K+ Instagram followers. The number can give orgasm to fashion brands. Now that’s comparable to the likes of global power house like Park & Cube. The number is more than that of even organized brands like Miss Malini. However, here’s the real deal - in spite of staggering Instagram following, the Google Page Rank: 0, Moz Rank: 0, Alexa Rank: 4,25,498. Of course, the mammoth Instagram numbers didn't really reflect on the blog readership. Paid following is (one of) the reason. But even otherwise, can Instagram numbers alone reflect a blogger’s readership? Can Instagram alone measure a blogger’s influence? I decided to compare the Instagram figures of different Indian fashion blogs with that of their blog's Alexa, Google PR & Moz Rank.
Comparing Instagram followers vs Alexa rank of various Indian Fashion Bloggers
First and foremost, I find it ridiculous to compare fashion blogs merely based on numbers. The comparison above merely illustrates the correlation of Instagram numbers with that of blog traffic rather than comparing blogs itself; thus, I have removed the domain names. The chart shows how someone with 8K followers can almost have the same blog traffic as someone with 103K Insta followers. A fashion blogger with 28.5K Instagram followers can have an Alexa rank of 5.8 million or 35.6K Insta following can coincide with 5.9 million Alexa rank. Going by the Alexa rank, there are barely few 100s reading their blogs. If Instagram cannot drive the thousands of following to their own fashion blogs, I seriously cannot help but question the legitimacy of their following or the quality of their blogs.
I've mentioned this in my previous article and I am saying it again... Few fashion PR agencies, brands and other websites churning out 'best-blogger-lists' have clearly reduced the whole fashion blogging scenario to mere number games. The fashion blogger with 17.1K Instagram following & 1.1 million Alexa rank reportedly earns Rs.25,000 for a collaboration. Technically, that means one Insta image that barely fetches few 100s-1K likes and a blog article read by few 100s. And I personally know bloggers whose articles reach out to 1000s and they have hard time in negotiating for Rs.5-7K! Why? Instagram count. If some brands were clear about if they're looking at ROI or merely filling number of likes in an excel file, if a self-proclaimed fashion expert didn't make a 'top-fashion-bloggers-list' based on Instagram numbers, I wouldn't be doing their homework today.
Over the years, I have primarily worked on content based articles and have earned my bread and butter by writing for various newspaper journals and fashion brands. Luckily, my clients understand that I write about fashion trends and style that depends on word power and insights. They understand my blog readership and don’t bother me with Instagram numbers. But what about the personal style bloggers out there? Will brands continue to judge them from Instagram figures or do their research and know it for themselves if people are actually reading what the blogger has to say?