23

Apr

Influencer Marketing

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Today’s Edition

New Delhi, 23 April 2024

V L Rao

Earlier, it was the celebrities and their fans. Now, it is the influencers and their followers. Many fans and followers eagerly implement the suggestions of celebrities and influencers in the purchase of goods and services.

It is claimed that the followers are provided with more information than the fans about the products or services they consume.

Article at a Glance

 

The article discusses the influence of social media influencers on consumer behavior, highlighting the potential risks and benefits. While influencers provide more information about products and services, the quality of this information may not always be reliable or suitable for every consumer. The article advises consumers to consider the expertise, potential conflicts of interest, and individual needs when evaluating influencer recommendations.

 

A study of 750 Canadian young adults revealed that many aspire to become influencers, potentially undermining their perceived trustworthiness. An analysis of influencer marketing campaigns showed a positive return on investment, but consumers should remain cautious and not blindly follow influencer suggestions.

 

In summary, while influencers and companies may benefit from influencer marketing, consumers should supplement influencer information with additional research from reputable sources, as well as personal experience and knowledge. By doing so, consumers can make informed decisions and avoid potential pitfalls associated with blindly following influencer recommendations.

 

 

There may be more information but not necessarily better information than before. For example, a news item in the Washington Post, 5 April 2024 mentioned about a lady who stopped her efforts to control weight following some influencers who advocated listening to her ‘mental hunger’. The lady commented that the influencers made her feel safe eating whatever she wanted. When she regained 50 pounds and her weight neared 300 pounds, she began to worry about her health.

The consumers need to take the following into account:

•      The influencers may not be having the expertise that is claimed to make the recommendations.

•      There may be conflict of interest. It is for the consumers to check how the benefits of the knowledge and information supplied by the influencers and the companies are shared by the consumers, the influencers and the companies. 

•      Even if the influencers make the suggestions or recommendations purely focusing on consumers’ welfare, what works for one consumer may not work for another.

A study of 750 Canadian young adults (between 16-30 years old) showed that 75% of them wanted to become social media influencers. One of the stated reasons was their willingness to accept money to promote a product even if they may not truly believe in or like it. This shows that not all social media influencers are as trusting as users perceive them to be.

An example of the strong impact of the influencers on followers is an analysis of more than 5,800 influencer marketing posts written by 2,412 influencers for 861 brands across 29 product categories and costs ranging from $200 to almost $100,000 per post. The study showed that a 1% increase in influencer marketing expenditure led to an increase in engagement of 0.46%, suggesting that the strategy yielded a positive return on investment (ROI). The study also showed that the average firm could have achieved a 16.6% increase in engagement simply by allocating funds according to the impact of individual elements of the influencer campaign, viz. – number of followers, posting frequency (neither too high nor too low), alignment of the influencers’ followers with a brand domain, influencer originality, positivity of posts, and posts that include links to a brand’s social media account or external webpages.      

 

To sum up:

  • Among the three stakeholders in influencer marketing – consumers, companies, and influencers, the latter two seem to be benefiting more than the consumers. 
  • So, it is for individual consumers not to blindly follow what the influencers and companies say, but supplement it with:
  • Some additional checking from reputed websites, experts, and organizations in the field, and from the experience or knowledge of friends and relatives.
  • The impact on the individual consumers themselves.

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