Influencers have become a huge part of our lives and we probably don’t realise how much we are influenced everyday on Social Media. Fashion and Beauty brands have always had a strong presence on social but if they’re only now looking at Influencer Marketing, they’re far behind the curve. With the new regulations being implemented on Influencers/Celebrities posting with integrity and transparency (having to clearly state when a post is sponsored or when they are paid to endorse something). So what does 2019 hold for influencer marketing and what brands are WINfluencing?
Instagram is at the forefront for influencers and I imagine its presence will continue to go from strength to strength in 2019. We can now seek fashion inspiration from our favourite reality TV stars, jump on to the same diet or fitness program, wear the same make up and visit the same places… but do they genuinely wear this stuff? Do they shop in these places and follow this diet? Does Robbie Williams truly have a subscription with Weight Watchers (I very much doubt calorie counting would supersede a personal trainer and nutritionist that he probably pays for). Does Claudia Winkleman actually use Head & Shoulders? Does Mark Wright actually buy clothes online from Littlewoods? Did some of the biggest influencers on Social Media promote FYRE Festival because they sniffed out a great gig and recommended it to fans… no, they were invited by some crack pot fraudster who paid them a tonne of cash for posting and invited them for a weeks’ luxury holiday.
I’m asking these questions because I personally believe some brands work with influencers for the ego or bragging rights of being associated with that celeb, rather than considering if they’re going to get an ROI from this marketing activity.
“People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising” — Mark Zuckerburg
gOkay, I might not be Mark Zuckerburg’s biggest fan, but he makes a solid point. When choosing the right influencer for your brand, it shouldn’t all come down to the amount of followers they have — you don’t know how many out of those 100,000 followers are actually loyal to that celebrity or influencer and, out of those, will be interested in your brand. If you are choosing an influencer based on a numbers game, it will not work (Unless you can afford one of the Jenners or Kardashians). If an influencer or celebrity has 40,000 followers but only gets on average 1,000 likes a post and 22 comments with a ‘claps hands’ emoji, that will not benefit your brand. You need to be reaching an engaged audience, with loyal fans who believe in your influencer and value their opinion — not just following them because they saw them on Love Island last year and came up in their ‘Recommended’. However, if you have an influencer who has 10,000 followers but the average like rate is 4,000 per post, with conversations springing up in the comments, their followers are more likely to trust in the product the influencer is endorsing.
A fair example of how I think a brand’s influencer marketing might have potentially fell short — Last week Cath Kidston promoted its new collection on Instagram using actress and model Poppy Delevingne…huge name in the model industry and obviously sister to better known Cara — but what has Poppy Delevingne got to do with Cath Kidston? In my opinion, the imagery looks stiff and forced. You wouldn’t put the two together. I saw customer comments saying how much they loved the bag (as do I)… but asking ‘Who is she’? It was great to see how many people loved the products and new range…but how much money was potentially wasted using Poppy Delevingne’s face on the brand if it didn’t have an impact on sales — could they have used another beautiful leggy blonde to promote the range for a fraction of the fee?
Defining a celebrity vs an influencer is difficult, but the clue is in the title! MARKETING a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media.”influencers can add serious credibility to your brand”
A celebrity relies on press, media and PR to promote an image they want to portray to the public… their Twitter/Insta are usually managed by a community management Agency, their pictures are usually staged and their opinions false. A true ‘influencer’ will share the same views as their community, they’ll have a dedicated fan base, a loyal following and a passion for what they promote. The metrics that determine the difference between the two will be engagement, response rate, forum discussions, messages of empathy when they ‘dun messed up’ and messages of praise when deserved. The key when sourcing an influencer is to do your research, don’t rely on the media and don’t believe the hype — just because they’re hot right now, doesn’t mean they’ve built a loyal fan base that will purchase your products because their celeb said so.
The celeb that can build a following so vast and so loyal will hold the keys to Social Media… one example being Kylie Jenner. Remember when Kylie Jenner posted a tweet about Snaphchat? “Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad” and Snapchat saw a loss of $1.3 billion of its value. — Famous for nothing in particular, but absolutely mastered social media, image and perception… can influence the stock market by $1.3 billion with less than 20 words…INSANE!
My advice would be… do your research, don’t get sold on follower count, stay relevant and remember the objective. I’ll be running an Influencer Marketing Event in March, post a comment or drop me a message if you’d like to come along.
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