Customers Want Honesty from Influencer Marketing Campaigns
The idea of influencer marketing, using someone of some notoriety to endorse a product, is not a new one in the world of advertising. However, the factors that make these campaigns so effective in motivating consumers to take action have been changing. At one point in time, the allure of these campaigns was to emulate celebrities, to live lives similar to them. Now, however, it seems consumers find another key factor important to influencer marketing campaigns: honesty.
Promise Phelon, CEO of the influencer marketing centered company TapInfluence, commented on this recent change. “The category of influencer marketing is changing faster than many brands and agencies can keep up. The legacy form of this industry, which was the exclusive domain of celebrities, is dead; from its foundational 'ashes' has risen the most powerful marketing channel of the 21st century that is delivering on the promises long-made by social platforms and content marketing.”
While in the past consumers saw these influencers as celebrities, people they should look up to and thus attempt to emulate, this is no longer the case. Increasingly, consumers instead see these influencers as experts in their field. For example, YouTube star PewDiePie has earned a reputation as an expert on video games by virtue of his wealth of original videos featuring him playing and commenting on the games. Consumers have grown to value his honest opinion about video games, and thus his views can have an influence on their buying habits.
Content marketers thus have to be cognizant of a lot of factors when selecting an influencer for their campaigns. They need to select an influencer who is trusted and whose opinions are valued. In addition, they must be someone who is regarded as an expert in the appropriate field. It would make no sense for a cosmetics company to select the aforementioned PewDiePie as an influencer, as that is not his field. Selecting the right influencer is the key to any successful influencer marketing campaign.
Edited by Alicia Young
