How the Stars of The Bachelor Turn Their Instagram Accounts Into 'QVC on Steroids'

Tonight, millions of people—let's face it, predominantly women—will tune into ABC to watch Colton Underwood, the star of The Bachelor this year, hand out his final rose. (Though previews indicate that he may buck tradition and not do so at all.) But even though the season is ending, the log of 2019 Bachelor-themed content is just beginning. Three months from now, The Bachelorette airs, subsequently followed by Bachelor in Paradise. Some years, like in 2018, audiences get extra Bachelor treats in the form of spinoff shows like The Bachelor Winter Games. Even when the cameras stop rolling, fans have plenty to tune into, thanks to the Instagram accounts of their favorite cast members. Over the past half decade, it's become something of a tradition for a slew of Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants to graduate from reality-show cast member to full-on influencer status. "With the Real Housewives, people feel connected to them, but their lifestyles are just not attainable. Whereas the Bachelor girls, you feel like 'that could be me,'" said Jolie Jankowitz, senior director of influencer marketing at FabFitFun, a subscription-box company that has worked with 30 Bachelor cast members and has long-term partnerships with 12 of them. This phenomenon isn't exclusive to the Bachelor franchise—Bravo's reality stars, as well as the Teen Mom and 90 Day Fiancé contingents, also attract a significant following after their turns on TV. But it's something that Bachelor stars in particular are known for. Perhaps their social media popularity is because it's routine for contestants to chirp that they're "there for the right reasons," meaning to find love, not fame (and subsequent social media deals). Or maybe it's due to the sheer volume of Bachelor contestants who exist: Each new season adds over 20 more to the fold (and remember, there are two seasons a year). [kickout id="4"] In marketing, the growth of the microinfluencer has been a buzzy topic. Even if their follower counts aren't as high as influencers, microinfluencers are known for their relatability and resonance with consumers. Bachelor contestants, however, represent a unique prospect in the space: They're as relatable as a microinfluencer but have the high-six- to seven-figure follower count of a bona fide celebrity. "It's a good place for brands to land if they're looking for mass exposure," said Lauren Bushnell, who was a contestant and the eventual winner of The Bachelor's 20th season. "Seventy-five-year-old grandmas watch The Bachelor, and then you have 25-year-old women who gather with all their friends on Monday night and drink wine and watch it. It's a diverse demographic." "It's QVC on steroids," said Paul Desisto, a talent agent at Central Entertainment Group who represents and manages brand deals for several Bachelor stars. He adds that a bulk of a typical Bachelor contestant's followers are usually female, affluent millennials—a prime demographic. What's that translate to for brands? A whole lot of conversion and a real ROI. "We've tested bigger names and bigger celebrities," said Jankowitz. "Bachelor girls convert better for us." Authentic and approachable Some of the most successful Bachelor influencers are those who have been off of the show for years and starred on it just as the culture of social media endorsements was gaining steam, according to Desisto. He points to Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert, who appeared on Chris Soules' season of The Bachelor and Kaitlyn Bristowe's season of The Bachelorette, respectively, before both joining the cast of Bachelor in Paradise later that year. The couple met while filming Bachelor in Paradise, got engaged on the show's finale and tied the knot in a televised ceremony in early 2016. Neither has been on television since Bachelor in Paradise wrapped at the end of the summer in 2015. But their social followings have never been bigger: Roper has a million followers on Instagram, Tolbert has over 600,000 and their daughter, Emmy, has 142,000. Even their unborn child, whose account is @tinytolbert, has nearly 65,000 followers. Their social media success was so great that Tolbert recently quit his 9-to-5 at a car dealership in Kansas City, and the family relocated to California to pursue it full-time. Roper credits the family's social media growth in part to the fact that they're a Bachelor "success story." She noted, "People like to see those, because they are rare on the show." [kickout id="2"] And when it comes to brand partnerships, the fact that the couple has been able to expand into the parenting space has made their earning potential skyrocket, Desisto said. "When you start a family and have children, now you're working with larger brands and larger companies in the parent and baby space," he said. "That industry is probably the most lucrative out there in terms of the social media space. Most of their fans are mothers and have families, so it really hits home with their fanbase." It makes sense that people feel connected to Bachelor contestants: After all, they rise to fame going through one of life's most intimate processes—falling in love—in front of the camera. "When you go on a show like The Bachelor, you're really putting it all out there," said Bushnell. "You're making yourself vulnerable on national television. That in itself allows people to connect with you a little bit better than if they just saw your platform on social media." Sharee Gibson, the global director of marketing for Ava, a fertility bracelet that tracks a woman's ovulation schedules, said authenticity is the predominant reason the company works with Bachelor contestants. (The brand has had partnerships with 13 contestants, including Roper and Tolbert.) "Who you follow on Instagram often changes depending on where you are in your life," she said. "The reason these stars worked so well for us is that many are also planning to start families of their own in the near future. Their fans and followers are often in a similar life stage." Education and erasing stigma are Ava's priorities when it comes to influencer partnerships, and in Roper's case in particular, Gibson said that her accessible personality made achieving those goals possible. [kickout id="5"] "She wanted to be really transparent in the whole process," said Gibson. "A lot of women aren't comfortable sharing with the whole world that they're about to conceive because you don't know what that journey's going to look like. But Jade was really comfortable with that. She wanted to openly discuss this and be a source for women. Her transparency from the beginning of the process and willingness to talk about trying to conceive was a great natural fit for us from the beginning." For Roper herself, the best brand partnerships come "when you find something that you're like, oh, my God, this is a game changer," she said, referencing parenting products in particular. "It's really fun to work with brands like that because what I'm sharing can really help somebody." This enthusiasm has a major impact on turning followers into customers. Gibson said that through Ava's internal research, the team has been able to deduce that when potential customers see an influencer's ad for their product, they are more quick to purchase. Not only are people buying more quickly; there are more of them total. "The whole exposure to a new audience is increasing our overall sales as well," she said. A never-ending reality show Contrary to popular belief, a spot on The Bachelor isn't an immediate ticket to a lasting influencer career. In the immediate aftermath of being on the show, it's true that opportunities come rolling in—but translating that initial interest into something long-term is a challenge. "[Success] really depends on how they take control of what they're given," said Desisto. "If they get right off TV and start doing ads every day, their page is going to burn out immediately. But if they look into long-term revenue versus short-term, and try to develop an authentic page, and treat their page as a reality TV show and develop it the right way, then it might be more valuable four years after television." [kickout id="3"] For the most successful of Bachelor influencers, social media acts as a continuation of their television experience. And unlike the show, there are no commercial breaks or limited time slots. "The season we fell in love on Paradise, we maybe got a couple hours of screen time the whole season," said Tolbert. "Fans can actually see more of your life and your story on social media than they can on the actual show." Ashley Iaconetti, who competed on the same season of The Bachelorette as Roper, as well as two seasons of Bachelor in Paradise, is a perfect example of using social media as her own reality show. Desisto attributes a large part of her success (she's racked up a million followers on Instagram) to her willingness to talk about her own romantic struggles—namely, her unrequited love for fellow Bachelor in Paradise cast member Jared Haibon. She's so open, in fact, that when Iaconetti and Haibon finally did get together, they published a 44-minute video on YouTube recounting their love story. "There's so many women who like a guy who were just never able to get that person," said Desisto. "She's always highlighted those struggles and talked about it, so people are just so happy for her that she's happy now." And consumers and brands connect with that vulnerability. "With Ashley, she's shown the good and the bad," said Jankowitz. "You saw her going through a bad breakup, and now you're seeing her engaged to Jared and she's in the best place in her life. People feel really connected to that." Instagram endorsement deals are primarily what Bachelor contestants are known to go on to do after the show wraps, but Desisto says it's only one piece of the puzzle. The more avenues you create for people to reach you, the more interested people are. He points to Bachelor alumni like Iaconetti and Kaitlyn Bristowe, both of whom have podcasts, or Carly Waddell, who started a Facebook group to connect with fans. Roper and Tolbert have an active YouTube channel. All of these platforms give a further glimpse into their lives. [kickout id="1"] "People want to talk about the real things," said Jankowitz. "They don't want to see this perfectly beautiful curated feed of how perfect your life is." Here for the right reasons Authenticity may be a major key to the success of these partnerships, but it wasn't always there, particularly for people like Roper and Tolbert, who got off the show just as this culture was beginning. "I'm not going to lie, at first it was more of a yes to whatever," admitted Tolbert. "We didn't really know the space and were just thankful for any other brand that wanted to work with us." As they've settled into this as a career, however, they've partnered up with an agent (they work with Desisto) who helps them navigate and negotiate these deals. Desisto said that the culture has changed, and that now the threshold is a bit higher—meaning you're likely seeing fewer ads for "fit tea," a controversial product that's known for attracting negative comments. "There's literally hundreds and hundreds of opportunities. It's to the point now where a lot of our clients like to be a bit more picky," said Desisto. "Some of them may stray away from brands that people might have been working with three or four years ago, and they might want to get with some of the creative and cool stuff." Of course, now everyone knows that when you appear on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, some level of social media fame is likely to follow. How many followers you get on the show is usually directly tied to how far you make it. So the show's most frequently asked question—are you here for the right reasons?—is a bit harder to answer. "There's always been a little bit of ulterior motives for people that want to just create a character and make good TV," said Tolbert. "Now it adds an extra element for people to be memorable, even if there is no connection with the main person." After all, the typical Bachelor franchise-born relationship doesn't usually end in happily ever after. A career as a social media influencer can turn out to be much more fruitful—and lasting—than a final rose.