OPINION
Sehar Raothar
How can influencers evade exploitation from advertisers?
them content that does not go with the influencer’s persona and expecting unrealistic targets. When social media audiences are bombarded with sponsored content on their feeds, they are less likely to engage with both influencers and advertisers, which is reflected in recent studies which reveal an overall decline in Instagram engagement. Reports show that “The engagement rate for sponsored posts fell to 2.4% in Q1 2020 from 4% three years earlier, while the rate for non-sponsored posts slid to 1.9% from 4.5% for the comparable periods.” So how can marketers circumvent this industry-wide issue? Rather than working with influencers who have large followings, consider that “nano-influencers” are able to interact more with their audiences and are able to form more tight-knit communinfluencer marketing has become one of the hottest trends in ties, thus inspiring higher engagement. It is all about engagement. marketing in the past few years. And for good reason: In 2020, The same report states that “the engagement rate for Instagram 81% of marketers reported that using influencers to bolster influencers with at least 10,000 followers is steady at about 3.6% their marketing plans was an effective strategy. worldwide. Influencers with 5,000 to 10,000 followers have an Given so many marketers are already working with engagement rate of 6.3% and those with a following of 1,000 to influencers, or are considering it, it is worth delving into what 5,000 have the highest rate at 8.8%, per Influencer DB.” When some of the pitfalls are in brand-influencer partnerships where the choosing which influencers to work with, focus more on engageinfluencers can feel exploited in different ways. ment than name recognition. However, micro-influencers are As social media allows for more people to achieve fame and more likely to not be paid the right amount for brand promotions influencer status, it has quickly become oversaturated with influencand content generation. ers. It is impossible for audiences to keep up with all of the content Everyone knows that it’s not always a given that influenc(especially sponsored content) coming from the influencers they ers use (or even like) the products or services they endorse on follow. It’s also worth noting that fame, particularly the kind formed social media. While many advertisers don’t seem to care if an on social media, is fleeting. The same influencers that capture the auendorsement comes from a place of true authenticity (however dience’s attention may not be holding onto that attention tomorrow. hard that may be to measure), should audiences be able to interHowever, how can this make a brand overuse its influence? Giving pret influencer endorsements as inauthentic or misleading, the brand and influencer lose credibility. A study reports that 47% of customers are tired of influencer content that appears inauthentic and 62% of customers believe that influencer endorsements take advantage of impressionable audiences. Sehar Raothar The best practice would be partnering with influencers who have used and liked the brand’s product or service before even entering an endorsement deal, but at the very least, marketers leads strategy for the BL should make sure they partner with influencers who have authentic connections to their brand. Group Of Companies and For instance, a beauty brand should probably find an influencer who people look to for beauty can be reached on sehar. advice. Makes sense, right? It is also crucial that marketers give influencers autonomy in creating the copy and images/ raothar@gmail.com video for sponsored content. While marketers may be inclined to tighten the leash, influencers know their audience best. A great example of a brand and influencer partnership is Jonathan Van Ness’s Instagram
As advertising continues to pivot towards influencers, they need to look out for themselves
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