Why the surge in Influencer popularity?
Needless to say, influencers influence a wide variety of people. They actually get their followers to listen to them, engage with the content and this has been leading the brands to achieve their sales. It goes with saying that more eyes for the brand increase the awareness which has a chain effect on the sales and visibility on a longer cycle. But what do you do when your brand isn’t well known by the public? When you know that your product is good, but the traditional methods don’t work in pushing your brand to the public. This is where influencers come in.
This means the right influencer for you – i.e. someone who not only has a decent-sized following but who also has an engaged following that fits your brand – can be invaluable to your content.
In fact, one in three consumers reportedly trust the words of an influencer over the brand itself. The 2018 digital landscape has almost been completely taken over by influencers and most of the brands seem to have taken notice. And, that is an understatement. It’s no wonder the influencer marketing industry is projected to reach $5-10 billion over the next couple of years.
Looks like some of these social media influencers have fallen prey to the money game and started resorting to fake means of gaining followers. Some of these accounts buy followers that it can gain up to 15000 in a day. To give an illusion that the engagement rate is high, these “influencers” can also buy comments, likes and any source of engagement. These fake likes and comments aren’t new to the fraud industry. Facebook has shown the advent of this concept with business accounts which purchase fake accounts, likes, and comments to develop an image of a successful page. But with Facebook, that’s where it stopped. Here, the so-called influencers deceive these brands into paying them under the pretense of influencing a bunch of people.
Followers and Sponsored Content
Despite the issues that some influencer sponsored content produces, thoughtful and relevant campaigns can still provide value to audiences. As tastemakers, influencers have the power to offer useful tips and advice, which may or may not include products or services. It’s when influencers make inappropriate, hypocritical, unreliable, and too frequent recommendations to their followers that influencer fatigue and rejection can occur.
Followers – Influencer Trust
What is so great about micro influencers is that consumers look for trustworthiness in an influencer than the number of followers. While some of them claim that they require the influencer to be an expert in the field, some followers expect the influencers to personally use the product that they are reviewing.”In a poll by Bloglovin’, influencers were asked how brand guidelines affected the authenticity of their posts. Among respondents, 54% of influencers didn’t feel brand oversight negatively affected the content, while 51% said it had some damaging effect on post-performance, and 64% claimed to resist brand guidelines. Authenticity and Transparency remain key.
Tackling follower hesitancy about sponsored content
While influencers who produce inauthentic and untrustworthy content tarnish the influencer marketing industry, reputable and credible sources have the power to offer value to brands and audiences. Influencer marketing agencies work to produce authentic influencer sponsored content by pairing brands with influencers who are original, creative, and genuine. Influencer marketing agencies like Greenroom can help influencers and businesses partner in honest and principled campaigns. Agencies have insights on how audiences perceive influencers so they can help brands tailor their message.
Influencers who don’t follow advertising best practices or government guidelines risk compromising the integrity and reputation of the influencer marketing industry as a whole. For influencers interested in producing valuable content, being transparent and authentic with their audiences is integral to success for all parties.
Despite issues created by disreputable influencers, influencer marketing has become a widely-accepted method for reaching online audiences. Brands partnering with influencers who observe industry guidelines and best practices can ensure campaign transparency, as well as maintain influencer marketing’s reputation as a viable strategy. After all, reaching and pleasing target audiences determine ultimate success.
Your thoughts
The whole idea of influencer marketing is that the followers see the influencers as peers and not celebrities. As long as the influencers are honest about their sponsored content, there wouldn’t be a problem. What do you think of this? Does your trust go down just because the content is sponsored? Do let us know below on comments or on Greenroom’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram page.
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