Is Influencer Authenticity Dead?
By: TOM AUGENTHALER

Is Influencer Authenticity Dead?

Is influencer "authenticity" dead?

It's a valid question and deserves asking.

Over the last few years, we've seen significant media coverage exposing improprieties and even blatant dishonesty by some well-known influencers.

Admissions of false representations including not trying products before recommending them to followers are almost common.

Underscoring this is the undercover video interviews published by the BBC which are still circulating on social media.

The credulity of some well-known influencers is almost breathtaking.

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In one video, several were are asked to tout a new "natural" product that contains the poison Cyanide.

Yes, you read that correctly. CYANIDE.

Fortunately, the product was fake and a setup - but this never occurred to the influencers who seem eager to accept the money without asking questions. A couple of the influencers even have trouble with the pronunciation of the word cyanide.

Pathetic, yes, but has this had the effect of undermining the credibility and authenticity of influencers and by extension, influencer marketing as a strategy?

One way to tell is by looking at the industry as a whole so let's look at some high-level industry statistics to get a better idea.

The Influencer Marketing Industry is Still Growing.

Statistics across the board clearly indicate that the industry is still growing which is substantiated by numerous industry sources including Google Trends:

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But the above chart is a rough growth indicator but doesn't reveal much beyond growing interest in it as a topic.

However, nothing signals belief in a movement or strategy more than the amount of money being invested in it.

The following chart is from Influencer Marketing Hub's latest industry survey published earlier this year.

According to their findings, influencer marketing is expected to continue its growth and to be worth about $13.8 billion which is a $3 billion jump from 2020 to 2021.

Influencer Marketing Survey By Influencer Marketing Hub.

Looking at growth like this, it's fair to say that the influencer industry isn't seeing corrosive effects from the negative press published about dishonest or even fraudulent behavior by influencers.

High-level surveys like this one are helpful, but they don't reveal what marketers using the strategy encounter in their day-to-day travails.

To assess that, I decided to poll my followers on LinkedIn to see what they think.

LinkedIn Polls and the Results

Before I get into the results, I want to be clear that my polls are informal and not scientific.

That being said, I did not know what to expect from them, but the results are intriguing.

My questions were simple:

In the first poll, I asked if influencer authenticity dead?

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With 60 votes (giving the poll some statistical relevance), over 57% of the respondents believe influencer authenticity isn't dead - at least not yet.

That's quite a bit higher than I was expecting.

38% of respondents said that, yes, influencers have jumped the shark and their authenticity is gone and only 5% said they didn't know.

Will this belief grow in the future? We'll have to wait and see.

Playing on this idea, I decided to tweak the poll and publish it in the Micro Influencer Marketing Group which I co-manage on LinkedIn.

In this case, I substituted "authority" in place of "authenticity."

I wanted to see if a change of diction garnered a different result.

Many of the respondents of the Micro-Influencer group work with influencers, so they may be a bit biased, but they also would be the first to know if influencer authority was waning with followers.

Here's the poll result:

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Clearly, people who work in the influencer arena don't see influencers losing their authority anytime soon.

So it's not surprising that over 72% of respondents to this poll voted that influencer authority is alive and well.

Comments and Conversations

I find that the comments made by respondents are often more intriguing than the poll results.

The first poll about authenticity sparked some interesting observations which you can read here.

But here's a sampling of some of the comments that stood out to me.

This one is from Kerry-Ann Betton Stimpson and she makes the observation and one I've not yet talked about in this article, employee advocacy.

Many consumers are looking for authenticity from brands, not only influencers:

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Some more insights include those made by Danielle Guzman. She brings up the need for influencers to leverage their own voices and to think carefully about the content they publish to ensure it remains consistent with their social feeds:

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Summing Up: Observations and Counsel

It's clear that influencers are not losing their impact on consumers to an appreciable degree.

Also, bad behavior by some influencers doesn't seem to be impacting the industry from a monetary perspective.

However, cracks are showing.

If the influencer community is not careful, unscrupulous, fraudulent, and even stupid behavior by invested participants could push consumers too far and cause them to lose trust.

In an effort to prevent this, I suggest that influencers keep the following in mind:

  • Treat your followers like gold. Your followers are your reason for being and without them, you are not an "influencer."
  • Think of your followers first in all that you do.
  • Don't work with a brand just for the money. You will regret it.
  • Use your own voice in talking about brands and products. Don't let anyone or any brand tell you what to say or how to say it. Your authenticity derives from this.

For brands, I suggest they work from some basic principles when working with influencers:

  • Working with influencers means listening to them for ideas and insights into their followers - your consumers. Hear what they have to say.
  • Let influencers use their own voices when discussing your products. This is why you are working with them. Don't lose sight of that.
  • Look to unleash your employees and let them advocate for your company. Some of these people are likely your best influencers.

Naturally, this is an ongoing conversation. As the influencer industry evolves, changes are bound to occur.

If you have any suggestions or observations of your own, please chime in by commenting below. I'd love to hear what you have to say.

#influencermarketing #influencer #authenticity







Nick Nikitin

Expanding my network to use LinkedIn full potential

2 年

Tom, thanks for sharing!

David Rivers

Mindful Digital Marketer

2 年

I think this would be a factor that is related to income and partly one which only applies to a specific segment of the influencer community. This is to say, some people have a predisposition to behave in ways that are inauthentic when the behaviour is related to increased finances. Yet, stress could also play a role, unconsciously acting out due to the stress of the lifestyle and work. You know, don't actors and musicians all or often express that fame, is not so fun after all? I think if this concerns Brands, the need is there to re-think or re-create the space to evolve a new set of distinctions for influencers. Why not, we have Micro-Influencers, how about Passion-Influencers?

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Chien Magdaraog

Influencer Marketing Associate | Connecting Brands with Impactful Creators

2 年

I work as an influencer marketing coordinator and you've put good points there. Followers, comments and likes it can all be faked, however it is is different with authenticity. People can tell if you are being true or not.

Philip Black, P.E.

Do you know about the hidden acquisition conversations that could derail your career? I'm happy to share them with you!

2 年

Interesting findings. Thanks for sharing!

DANIELLE GUZMAN

Coaching employees and brands to be unstoppable on social media | Employee Advocacy Futurist | Career Coach | Speaker

2 年

Great summary Tom Augenthaler, and I’m happy to see the results. We have an opportunity and responsibility whether on the brand side, agency side or influencer, to lead with purpose and act with integrity. ?? An influencer can score a project for pay. Don’t take it if you’re going to fake it, short term wins aren’t worth long term damage to your brand and network ?? agencies will be pressured by companies to just ‘get that person’ and throw more money at it. Focus on what’s right for the consumer and influencer. ?? companies won’t often have in house expertise to know what they’re doing. Don’t take advantage of them tossing over offers that are just for the win, putting their target audiences at risk. Too often still I see offers that make absolutely no sense, a complete disconnect yet someone seems to think it can be ‘pulled off’. We can all do better. #DanielleMedia

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