Social media is a melting pot of all things that you can find under the sun. You can just scroll down and you find memes. Scroll a bit further and you would find news articles, and a few more then you might have reached either an existential crisis post or a bright and bubbly post thanking everyone for today’s blessing. Of course, your social media algorithm and friends or following list will have a lot to say about this. But aside from all these things, social media also offers you different items on sale—items that are not always available in common department stores, boutiques or supermarkets. If you even delve deeper (or not really), you will be welcomed by a Mecca of counterfeit products. Today, we’re going to talk about these products that trickle down into the black market, through digital spaces and finally, into your homes.
Counterfeit Products And Social Media
We all love to finally grab our hands on those pricey shoes we have seen on celebrities. Finally, we see it with a price so cut down that it’s such a waste to let it pass you by, not to mention, it looks exactly the same. Buying counterfeit items may be a steal but wait until you hear that counterfeit cosmetics, for example, contain superglue to copy the consistency of original items and come out positive for faecal matter. All these are also made accessible for purchase because of the massive platform that social media offers. With our reliance on the digital space, it has also offered an avenue for smooth transactions for counterfeit products.
How then, will this affect social media and digital marketing per se? Well, for one, people may be more suspicious about anything that’s marketed and sold online. Sure, it is kind of easy to know which is the original and counterfeit, but with the volume of resellers (of both original and counterfeit items) and with how similar counterfeit products capture the packaging of original products down to the last dot, consumers may be at a loss. On our end as content marketers, we must also do things to uphold the authenticity and integrity of the products we introduce.
How Can Consumers Be Cautious Of The Counterfeit Industry?
1. Size Up The Item
Counterfeits may do a terribly great job of imitating the original product but there will always, always be differences like with the font used on the packaging, the tone of the colours used, and many more. There will always something that will give this away.
2. Check The Price
If the price is just too good to be true, drop it. If the item you want is really good, then the price on its tags must really be deserving of its quality. With counterfeit products, its producers have a way of cutting costs and still achieve the closest it could to that of the original item. An example would be the fake liquid lipsticks where a compound is replaced with superglue to achieve sticky consistency because superglue is cheaper.
3. Consider Their Social Media Reputation
It cannot be avoided for some legitimate brands to have resellers. With this, check the reviews and the standing of social media accounts to see if there are already a lot of people who trust them or if they really sell authentic goods.
4. Become Informed
Educate yourself about how counterfeit products move around and trickle down into the market. Normally, you would really get a feel of how counterfeit products are.
How Can Brands And Their Content Marketers Neutralise Counterfeit Products?
Some consumers cannot be blamed for choosing counterfeit products due to its lower price, but we can just worry about their toxic components. Usually, the famous and expensive brands are the ones vulnerable to counterfeiting. Brands should be able to amp up their social media presence and continue marketing their products and services. This would highlight their brand identity and would allow the audiences to know more about your product. This will also tell your audiences about what they will miss if they do not try out your product or service.
Here are just some of the things that we can say about the rising counterfeit products and how they were able to trickle down to your feed. We know that counterfeit products can be tempting, especially when they do not look all harmful. Well, aside from talks of its legality, consumers and businesses alike must be cautious about this. If you are a reseller who is proud of the authenticity of the products he or she sells, you better seek a reliable digital marketing company that will build up your social media presence. If you are still looking, you can inquire at OOm and see if they have something for you. They can surely help you with the things you need.
