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Influencer Marketing Still On The Increase
Over the next few years, influencers trading their popularity for payment could be in for a rough ride.
Until now, influencers have operated and existed in a somewhat abstract world, beyond the realms of conventional legislation. They’ve bowed to nobody and essentially play by their own rules, often stacking up huge personal fortunes in the process.
And just as long as they’ve paid their taxes appropriately, they’ve faced no scrutiny whatsoever.
All of which looks set to change, and we stare down the barrel of a much more heavily regulated sector.
The End of Misleading Marketing?
Influencers have long held the power to make people think what they want to think, even if their ‘opinions’ and ‘recommendations’ have been massively misleading. A company approaches an influencer, asks them to promote a product in one of their YouTuber videos, and offers them a cool £10,000 for doing so.
Despite the fact that the influencer may despise the product in question, they’ll most likely comply. Not to mention, make out that it is fantastic, and that their followers should definitely buy it.
This kind of misleading marketing has been rubbing regulators up the wrong way for some time. Via conventional channels, marketers are strictly prohibited from bombarding the public with misleading messages. They can (and do) embellish the benefits of their products, but complete and total fabrications are prohibited.
Questions were therefore asked as to the extent to which influencers’ influence should be, to an extent, toned down. At least, to such an extent as to prevent them making huge sums of money for basically lying to their audience.
The answer, as far as regulators are concerned, is yes – it can happen and should happen. And it’s something that looks like it is going to start happening in the very near future, prompting some to predict the death of influencer marketing.
A New Beginning
In reality, this could not be further from the truth. Not only is influencer marketing not dead, but its power, influence and appeal are only likely to continue growing indefinitely.
We already live in an era where around 90% of consumers trust online reviews, ratings and recommendations to help them buy products. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of people no longer trust the promises and assurances of the brands they do business with.
Unless something gains the approval and recommendation of someone they trust – even an influencer they’ve never met – they won’t even consider buying it.
When the whole regulatory thing comes in, he could technically hand even more power to influencers. After all, they’ll be operating in a space where it is now prohibited to mislead masses of people purely for profit.
If influencers are forced (or at least encouraged) to make their activities more honest, transparent and authentic, their word could be seen as more believable than it already is.
Hence, to think for even a moment that influencer marketing is on its way out is to miss the mark entirely. We could be looking at a new beginning, but it’s all one that will mostly play right into the hands (and pockets) of the savviest influencers on the scene.