The phenomenon of influencers has expanded greatly in recent years in the digital sphere, specifically in platforms of social media networks and blogs. Online social influencers may be celebrities, but more of them these days are professionals, serious hobbyists, and consumer peers with specific interests — individuals who developed an expertise in their areas of interest (e.g., electronics & computers, food, travel & tourism, photography). Those individuals have become recognised as influencers by virtue of their many followers, who may number from several thousands to several millions, especially followers who are loyal to a respective influencer and appreciate his or her expertise and opinion (and probably also like the influencer as a person).

A considerable challenge to the reputation and credibility of influencers is the adjunct business strategy of influencer marketing, which tries to build on the advantages and competences of influencers for the purpose of promoting brands and their products. Companies that utiilise influencer marketing aim to receive recommendations or advocacy that would be considered more reliable and trustworthy by consumers than their own advertising, and also to better reach targeted segments (e.g., niche consumer groups with specific interests relevant to the product). Brand marketers create partnerships of collaboration with influencers; these partnerships can be helpful financially to influencers, but if not managed diligently they may also become a threat to the more crucial relationships of influencers with their followers, by jeopardising their credibility and the trust of followers in them.

Ksenia Knewton (BrandWatch) suggests a concise and practical definition of influencers: “Influencers are usually subject-matter experts whose dedicated social media follower base turn to their favorite influencers for more information and advice on a particular topic” [1]. There is great importance, therefore, to the credibility of influencers and authenticity of the content they create, such as reviews, evaluations, and recommendations in the area they chose to specialise. Brand marketers should keep in mind that the consumers reached are followers of the influencers, not of the brands — they trust and care for their favorite influencers [2]. Hence, influencers have to remain on guard to protect their assets in the course of their influencer-brand collaborations. They have to maintain sort of a ‘fence’ between the brands they advocate for reward and their followers by staying the authority on the content they create and publish.

Influencers are customarily divided into four groups (see for example in Sprout Social [3]):

• Mega influencers (famed celebrities like movie stars and music artists) — 1 million+ followers
• Macro influencers (strong reputation) — 100k — 1m followers
• Micro influencers (strong presence) — 10k — 100k followers
• Nano influencers (strong personal connection) — under 10k followers

While celebrities can usually be viewed as endorsers of brands, as they have long done in traditional advertising, it would be more appropriate to describe the influencers in other levels as advocates and recommenders of brands. That should signify the kind of closer relations and interactions that influencers, from nano to macro, are expected to have with their followers. When the relationship is based more on trust than on admiration (e.g., of celebrities), followers are likely to seek the personal recommendations of the influencer they rely on in a particular category or topic.

The definition of Sprout Social for influencer marketing posits: “At a fundamental level influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that uses endorsements and product mentions from influencers — individuals who have a dedicated social following and are viewed as experts within their niches“. While accepting this definition, two reservations are raised: (1) that endorsements seem more applicable to larger-scale influencers (i.e., at mega and possibly macro levels); and (2) that niches seem more applicable to medium- and smaller-scale influencers (i.e., from nano to macro levels, depending on degree and scope of specialisation). Sprout Social explains that: “Influencer marketing works because of the high amount of trust that social influencers have built up with their following“, further accentuating why influencers need so much to be careful in safeguarding the trust of their followers during their collaborations with brands. More on the delicacy of such collaborations is explained shortly.

Yet, even more important than the scale of following, it is the level of engagement of followers with an influencer’s content that can determine his or her impact on consumers’ behaviour in favour of a promoted brand [4]. Engagement may be reflected through ‘likes’ and positive comments to content (e.g., brand experiences and recommendations), or more proactive and committing reactions by followers such as shares and re-posts (e.g., as used by researchers in [5]).

Followers usually do not know if influencers are rewarded in any form for complimenting and recommending the brand and product (note: declaring this is not required, yet, and if it were required, it would lose much of its value to the sponsoring brand). Influencers are most frequently paid a monetary fee, or rewarded with a free product or offered the product at a large discount. There may be a critical difference, practical and ethical, between the monetary and non-monetary types of reward.

Consumers-followers who read or view brand-related content (in text or video) of an influencer are advised to ask themselves the following two questions:

1. Would an influencer recommend the brand if not being (plausibly) paid for it?
2. Would an influencer write or say the same content (e.g., being all positive) if not being (plausibly) paid for doing so?

The answers that might be given to these questions depend on the impression followers get from the content and how it is presented, particularly its perceived authenticity. Consumers may not care so much that influencers could be paid for giving a recommendation, as long as consumers-followers are convinced that the influencer truly means his or her recommendation and stands behind it. However, if the consumers-followers get the impression that the influencer is complimenting and recommending the branded product just because he or she is being paid for doing so, they may react negatively and take a distance from the influencer. This can happen, for instance, when an influencer is excessively complimenting the brand with enthusiasm to the degree of flattering — this may be perceived as dishonest conduct that exploits the trust of followers in the influencer, and damage one’s credibility. Excessive positivity of posts can off-set the increase that a positive message could otherwise induce in engagement [5]. A brand will not be hurt by such an event as much as the influencer, and hence avoiding such events should be the primary concern of influencers.

As suggested above, collaborating with a brand may require influencers to sensitively balance between the expectations of the partner (sponsor) brand and the expectations of their followers. Joel Mathew (Fortress Consulting Group) proposes: “On occasion, an influencer may not have experience relevant to the product they are advertising. In this situation, they rely on the trust and loyalty they have built within their community to influence with their followers” [6]. Even if an influencer does not have sufficient personal experience with a product (for instance a new product), he or she might employ one’s extended knowledge in the category as a whole, an advantage that influencers would have over their followers, to make an educated assessment and judgement on the focal product. Yet, it is still much more desirable for the influencers to have some first-hand experience with the product they advocate or promote. In answer to such an occasion, the brand owner may give a product to the influencer to try and experiment with in expectation that it will gain his or her positive judgement and agreement to recommend it. In this case giving the product free of charge (or at discount) can serve both as an instrument and thereafter as reward. Nonetheless, in the case of promoting new products, research has indicated that influencers are not the appropriate channel to turn to for introducing the brand’s new products; a brand marketer should better focus on products with more proven experience [5].

• Comment: An influencer may suffice with making a product mention (similar to product placement), which is less demanding than giving a recommendation, but is far more limited in effect.

It is legitimate, and furthermore advisable, for the influencer to ask for and receive background information from brand managers about their brands to better understand them. On the one hand, such information can help the influencer to establish a well-founded judgement and create suiting content. On the other hand, the information submitted allows the brand marketers to convey the values, personality, and other attributes of the brand they expect to be communicated to the followers. Agreeably, the brand owner deserves to have a say on the content it is supposed to benefit from and that it rewards the influencer for advocating the brand. According to Sprout Social [3], for protecting the image of the brand, a business should “vet influencers to ensure they share your vision and complement your brand’s personality“. However, it is eventually the responsibility of the influencer as the content creator for what he or she is willing to convey to one’s devoted followers. As argued by Mathew [6], the reliability of the message could depend on the level of control an influencer is allowed over his or her content, and how the influencer chooses to portray the brand; greater control promotes authenticity.

Willing to satisfy and please the brand marketer excessively or without scrutiny, merely for gaining a reward (particularly monetary), might effectively render the advocacy or recommendation by the influencer latent advertising. Moreover, painting a ‘rosy picture’ of the brand and product does not contribute to the credibility of neither the influencer nor the brand. Likewise, the influencer can be expected not to misinform consumers or harm the brand’s image, but neither should he or she be expected to serve as a presenter for the brand and recite its messages. If the content becomes a form of latent advertising, then there will have to appear a disclaimer declaring that it is sponsored content (a movement in this direction could already be on its way, cf. [7]).

Instagram has become the leading, most popular channel used by influencers (89%) for publishing their content, followed by YouTube (70%) and Facebook (45%). Other channels used include Twitter and LinkedIn. In addition, influencers publish in blogs (44%)[4]. Video posts are rising in use, particularly on Instagram and YouTube. However, Instagram continues to accommodate content that combines text and still photos. The activity of influencers as content creators becomes more advanced, sophisticated, and also complex (mainly because of more intense competition on attention of followers). A whole branch of supportive services and software has developed to assist influencers in editing, polishing, and distributing their content (text, images, audio and video). Software is available for the management of content, design tools (e.g., Adobe, Canva), photo editing (e.g., Lightroom and Photoshop by Adobe, Facetune by Lightricks), and video editing (e.g., Videoleap by Lightricks)[8]. The platform of Instagram offers also its own tools for photo enhancement, particularly by the use of filters.

When it comes to the business practice of influencer-brand collaboration, software and consultancy services are offered to help both influencers and marketers in distributing the brand-related content (e.g., in slices of it) across various channels; services aimed specifically at marketers offer to help them in tracing influencers that are better fit for promoting their brands [8](e.g., Influential, YouTube Connect). This service is based primarily on relevance of areas of interest, quality of content, and influencer characteristics. Sean Kenny stresses the importance in targeting of properly linking the product type with associated influencer categories [4].

• Alexandra Sternlicht (Fortune) gives a nice illustrative example wherein “an influencer who is a DIY-savvy Midwestern mom with 10,000 followers may be the better fit for a Lowe’s social media campaign to sell home-improvement products than a major Hollywood celebrity with no DIY cred” [8].

Two ingredients could be vital to influencers for creating sensible content while also reaching out to followers: storytelling and images. First, an influencer may tell a story about a personal experience with a branded product, within it a recommendation can be embedded, supported with facts, description and impressions of the brand. Second, the story may be told in a video clip, or written and joined with photographs. This kind of composition is meant to make the recommendation or brand advocacy more persuasive yet personal and authentic, not least if it is intended to be rewarded in collaboration with the partner brand. The story can thence be combined with information provided by the brand. Video posts may look more lively, suitable for product demonstrations, but they have drawbacks: consumers may capture less information in a video post, and the post may appear less authentic when the influencer presenting becomes overly theatrical (“acting a part”). Additionally, in many situations and contexts photo images can be more impressive, inviting and persuasive (e.g., landscapes in countryside vacation resorts, scenery of architecture and interior design, food, fashion, and more).

Consumers may trust the recommendations of influencers who appear to be independent, whose content sounds and looks authentic. However, the intervention of influencer marketing in the activities of influencers, who are voluntarily drawn in, can make it more difficult for consumers-followers to make this kind of judgement. Influencers who engage in collaboration with brands can remain credible only if they know how to draw a line and maintain their control and authority over the content they create, including when being rewarded for recommending brands and products. It surely requires a delicate balance by influencers between the expectations of their followers and expectations of the partner (sponsor) brands, possibly calling for a good sense of diplomacy.

Ron Ventura, Ph.D. (Marketing)

Sources / References:

[1] “How to Develop an Effective Influencer Marketing Strategy“, Ksenia Knewton, BrandWatch, 8 August 2022

[2] “What Is Influencer Marketing? The Ultimate Guide for 2023“, Influencer Marketing Hub (viewed August 2023). They estimate that the business surrounding influencers has grown to $16.4b in 2022.

[3] “What Is Influencer Marketing: How to Develop Your Strategy”, Sprout Social (viewed August 2022), a guide to businesses on partnering with social influencers.

[4] “Influencer Marketing Ultimate Guide”, Digital Marketing Institute (BPP Education Group), Lindsey Hall, 28 June 2022, see a video guide (short webinar) presented by Sean Kenny (original May 2021, viewed August 2023). Additional emerging channels: TikTok , Twitch (a livestreaming platform).

[5] “Does Influencer Marketing Really Pay Off?”; Fine F. Leung, Jonathan Z. Zhang, Flora F. Gu, Yiwei Li, & Robert L. Palmatier; Harvard Business Review (HBR), 24 November 2022

[6] “Understanding Influencer Marketing and Why It Is So Effective?”, Forbes, Joel Mathew (contributor, President / CEO of Fortress Consulting Group), 30 July 2018.

[7] “The Search for Authenticity in Influencer Marketing”, USC Annenberg: Relevance Report, 16 January 2020 (Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at University of Southern California).

[8] “Creator Capitalism”, Alexandra Sternlicht, Fortune, December 2022 / January 2023, pp. 14-15