The False Trade-Off Between Aesthetics and Meaningful Influencer Content

Once upon a time, content creators faced an age-old dichotomy—aesthetic appeal or meaningful content? Striking visuals or blocks of text? A sleek design or a valuable insight? It seemed like an unavoidable trade-off. It doesn’t have to be.

Unlocking the perfect balance between aesthetics and substance

With an open mind, one can create a captivating experience that both informs and dazzles. All it really takes is a willingness to explore the possibilities of combining beauty with depth, crafting content that resonates with audiences on multiple levels.

The rise of ‘thought influencers’

As the influencer community continues to expand, there is a growing debate about how content creators can better engage their audiences. While criticism of relying predominately on looks for engagement has become commonplace, many influencers recognize that in order to stand out, they need eye-catching visual material paired with intelligent dialogue.

While forward-thinking, goal-oriented social media accounts have begun to emerge as a positive trend, the 'influence with purpose' philosophy has yet to achieve widespread adoption across today's leading social media platforms.

Influencers often bemoan the lack of engagement with meaningful, intellectual content. Therefore, prioritizing substance and purpose over style is refuted upon closer inspection. However, influential voices can have a powerful impact when they choose to promote thoughtful initiatives or inspire action through means other than superficial visuals alone.

Influencers are increasingly under pressure to transcend their conventional roles and become powerful change agents. The ‘intellectual aesthetic’ will further emerge as a key trend in the influencer culture; one that encourages individuals to engage with deeper topics while still providing an accessible platform for eye candy.

Action versus talk

The responsibility of influence doesn't end with a single post or campaign about a certain cause. It's an ongoing dedication that must come from within. If each influencer makes their own tangible contribution to sustainability, together they can make incredible strides in this arena; no matter how small their individual efforts may be.

Influencing for a greener, fairer future

COP28 will hopefully spark an invigorative movement of purposeful influencers, pushing them to make a valuable, lasting impact on various social and environmental matters.

Change is hard

Adding layers of intellect and purpose to influencers’ long-standing, visually driven careers will not be easy. That’s why our social media division at Keel Comms has been specifically designed to transform the influencer landscape by infusing a growth mindset where intellect and purpose are simply on par with looks and comedy. Our mission is to take influence to a whole new level through meaningful content with a unified purpose across the influencer community.

We believe in laying a thought-leadership foundation, bringing stability and longevity to influencers’ careers. We seek to take influencers on an exciting journey to the height of their influence, enriching their content, enhancing their image, bringing purpose and thought-leadership into their careers, multiplying their followers, and making them uniquely prominent to land bigger, longer-term collaborations. Making this shift a reality is possible through the following steps:

• Redefining content

Providing relevant and quality content empowers influencers to be more than just pretty faces or funny personalities—to become thought leaders and contributors of meaningful content, fresh thinking, and insights into topics they like.

• Instilling purpose

Bringing purpose into influencers’ lives and helping them identify and support social causes close to their hearts enables them to relay purpose to their followers and inspire them to take action.

• Taking influence offline

Helping influencers realize their full potential, from being featured in mainstream publications to truly becoming brand ambassadors and spokespeople beyond the ‘Instagram aesthetic’ and the ‘TikTok skit’ they currently live by.

• Breaking through the clutter

Marking influencers out as distinguished, thoughtful personalities and helping them maintain unique brand personas through the highs and lows of their social media journeys.