De-Influencers and the Growing ‘Expose’ Social Media Genre: What It Is & What To Do If It Hits Your Brand

The term “de-influencer” has picked up steam in the last year. Against the backdrop of inflationary times and a revolt against over-consumerism, a new class of influencers has emerged which urges followers to really weigh the purchasing decision they’re about to make. In the vein of the “DESTROYS” and “REACTION” style social media formats, a growing trend is the EXPOSE genre.

What is the Expose Genre?

This has prompted a new genre of influencer or aspiring influencer content which seeks to generate interest and user engagement by taking aim at companies and discrediting their products. A skeptical take on this phenomenon is that often these testimonials, typically in video form, are fabricated or intentionally sabotaged experiences seeking to take advantage of social media users’ inclination toward corporate criticism.?

This genre has gained a strong foothold in the beauty and cosmetics and hospitality spaces in particular. These two industries have experienced hints of backlash before. The #DropFilter campaign is a mild example where users shared realistic representations of themselves and their products.?

“What I Asked For vs. What I Got” is also popular, where users share a before-and-after with the end result designed to generate shock and outrage.?In the hospitality space, these have taken the form of documented journeys or customer experiences – walkthroughs of their hotel rooms, dining experiences, and beyond.

Why the Consumer Pushback Now?

Consumers are being bombarded by brands and influencers pushing products and promotions and believe they can take back their power. Beauty and fashion are easy targets because users can easily showcase before-and-afters.

See Something, Say Something

To be clear, brands are not beyond reproach. It’s a fair and necessary market function to hold brands accountable for their promises and ensure satisfactory customer experiences. Honest negative reviews are incredibly helpful for many customers overwhelmed by myriad purchasing options. It’s precisely because of this that this phenomenon has taken hold. Brands (and social media managers) are even used to harsh or bizarre online reviews.

What isn’t so fair are video testimonials from consumers featuring extreme, fabricated, or even intentionally sabotaged experiences designed to get attention.

Recently, a consumer attacked a company for extraordinarily poor product quality on a holiday-themed children’s item. This was a quintessential “what I ordered versus what I got” post. It went viral and several media outlets picked it up and wrote about it.

The only problem? It was a hoax.

The user has posted the same video four years in a row and changed the brand based on consumer trends and its current relevance at the time. Some news outlets updated their coverage, but none of them removed the stories.

Why Would Consumers Do This?

In addition to online clout, these users often understand that companies are typically reactive and will respond with free replacement products or other perks designed to mollify their critics.

Essentially, it’s a social media stick-up by wannabe influencers.?It’s social media extortion.

What Should Brands Do?

• Be prepared and don’t panic.
• Develop an issue response plan with your marketing, communications, and social media teams.
• Ensure that your customer service teams are equipped to identify when this is happening and have talk tracks and response checklists that allow them to respond effectively and flag the issue appropriately.
• Put steps in place that allow you to quickly determine the authenticity of the complaint and develop a decision tree that allows you to take the correct action quickly.
• Keep your marketing, sales, communications, and customer experience teams coordinated.
• Keep a finger on the pulse. Initiate social listening and brand monitoring efforts to understand the severity and velocity of the issue on social platforms.
• Continually reevaluate the user experience and double down on customer education and information sharing to improve alignment between customer expectation and product delivery.
• Keep your brand values and mission center focus. Too many brands attempt to respond with what they think is the “right answer.” Start from the place of who you are as an organization, what kind of company do you want to be, what are your brand values, etc. It is never the wrong move to act with authenticity.

Best Practice

5W has our finger directly on the pulse of these trendlines, the tactics used to avoid it, and the best practices that must be in place to ready your organization. Contact us today to discuss how to prepare and what you can do to avoid becoming an anti-influencing target.?