Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Influenster: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

As you may recall, I am a member of a site called Influensters. For a more formal definition:

An exclusive online community where tastemakers and trendsetters (such as yourself) come to share the latest and greatest news, places, products, and reviews with each other. 2. The hotspot you just bookmarked on your web browser that turns your social influence into sweet rewards.
I joined because I like trying new products and writing what I think about them. For a quick recap, I have received Holiday Voxbox 2011 and the Spring Beauty Voxbox 2012. While I didn't mention it, I also won the Sally Hansen Challenge from the Spring Beauty Voxbox.

That being said, they recently did an entire revamp of their website and overall look on their social media sites. So I'm writing out my thoughts on the site as well as the program as a whole.

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The Good
The overall look of the site is WAY better than the old format. It has a nicer, more user-friendly feel.

I do appreciate the effort they put forth on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. As someone who is studying and implementing social media plans, I think they do a pretty darn good job. Of course, an internet-based company that is all about spreading the word should be pretty good at using social sites.

I think the Twitter parties are great. They are incredibly active and pretty good at responding. Whereas with Facebook, they know not to post nearly as much. Twitter is very fast paced, while Facebook works on a slower schedule. It also gets allows for interaction between Influensters.

I like the challenges too. They send out products to get people to talk about them. The prizes for the challenges encourage people to talk in a public way. Everyone wins.

The Bad
I do not like that I have to go through the badges stuff all over again. It's a minor annoyance if only because it took so long to get some of them before. I remember waiting weeks/months before a badge I had submitted showed up.

And as crazy as it sounds, maybe try and send out a reminder e-mail about social media gatherings like the Twitter parties. I know they announce them on Twitter and Facebook but these messages can get lost. Depending on how many people you follow on Twitter, you may not see the reminders. With Facebook, the new way they are rolling out posts and monetizing pages makes your chances of seeing a post lower unless sponsored.

The Ugly
There is only thing I think really belongs in this category and it has to do with timing. I currently find that Influenster takes way too long to ship the voxboxes out. They build up this incredible hype around a box by e-mail and social media... And then it takes a month before we ever actually see any products. It's really sort of depressing in a way. In fact, I have forgotten about boxes because it takes so long for them to come.

Also, the Sally Hansen Challenge I said I won from the Spring Beauty Voxbox? I only got my prize the other day and we are already into fall. I was originally told it would be sent by end of August.


Overall 
I really do like the program as a whole. I like that they interact with their customers and that the whole program has remained free. Do I get annoyed sometimes with the slowness? Yes, and anyone would. Is it enough to stop my participation? Not really. As long as Influenster continues to remain free, I will continue to put the bit of effort in to maintain my status.