Will 2020 finally signal the end of the social influencer era?

It’s been a topic of hot debate for the last few years – at PR conferences, at marketing debates, within my friendship group, on TV documentaries and in increasingly click-baitable headlines.

With the new cohort of Love Islanders confirmed, social media influencers is a subject of intense discussion around our water cooler. Apparently one of our team members recently bought a hair crimper because Molly Mae, from last year’s Love Island fame, promoted it.

A recent event for marketing professionals raised this thorny issue. Some amongst the panel saw social influencers as ‘a dirty word’, claiming that businesses should consider their customer base as the best influencers for their products/services and put more effort into keeping them happy and getting referrals. But do these two tactics have to remain mutually exclusive - surely all businesses should be using whatever tactics work well for them?

Doesn’t it ultimately depend on what your business does, what the objectives are, who you’re tying to reach and whether that audience might be influenced by someone they follow on social media?

Surely, we need to consider the type of company, and product, that would find value from using social influencers? The beauty and fashion industry in particular seem use them more than any other.

What considerations do you need to make to assess whether a social media personality is worth working with? There are varying aspects to consider and there doesn’t seem to be a true consensus. The fundamentals include the size of their audience, how relevant that audience is to your brand or product, and how engaged that audience is with the influencer’s posts.

It would also be worth considering how that person rose to the ranks of being considered influential. Mrs Hinch is a great example of someone that became influential by offering a useful service, in her case cleaning tips, and has transformed the sales of the some of the products she promotes. There’s no denying that social influencer marketing can be very effective – it just seems to be a minefield, filled with many aspiring influencers who are trying their hand at it to create a career.

One client of ours refers to them all as ‘blaggers’ and won’t have them anywhere near our PR campaign. Another client has employed someone in-house to handle influencer relations as they consider it worthy of a full-time contract. There are reports of PR agencies and professionals turning their back on social influencer marketing, including Atticism who reportedly consider it ‘a waste of money’ and ‘rife with fakery’.

I’d love to hear your thoughts – on both sides. Do you love them? Are you one? Did you use to use them and now don’t? Have you never used them? If so, why?

The Fyre Festival documentary really got tongues wagging and is regularly used as an example of social influencer marketing gone horribly wrong. If you haven’t seen it yet – please do. It’s a brilliant and astounding watch. As a PR professional, I watched most of it cringing behind a cushion.

Speaking of bad news, recent stories haven’t helped the overall reputation of social influencers. The papers do love a negative story and a social influencer falling from grace has become a delight for the tabloids.

Take Paul Zimmer, a ‘disgraced Instagram influencer’ accused of returning to social media under a different identity – report from the Metro.

According to another recent Metro story, social influencers will promote anything so long as they’re paid, including a drink containing poison.

But, just a few weeks later, the same paper is offering advice for those considering becoming a social influencer, so I don’t think this is the end… yet.

The Evening Standard has just gone live with a story about the launch of Zyper, a marketing platform that purposely eschews influencer culture in favour of ‘interest-based communities’.

One thing the Fyre Festival fail made abundantly clear – social influencer marketing needs better regulation. It should be absolutely clear when a post is promotional. I have seen improvements in the use of #ad and the ASA has published a helpful guide, but that hasn't stopped Molly Mae getting into hot water recently.

Will 2020 signal the end of the social influencer era? Perhaps not. However, there is definitely a shift change in the way people view social influencers. It might not be the end of an era, but we may be fast approaching a tipping point.

So… what does it come down to? If you think a social influencer campaign is the way to go for your brand, you’ve got to do your homework or speak to a professional about what would work best for your individual objectives and target audience.

I’d love to know your thoughts!