Consumers: Under the Influence of Influencer Marketing

Consumers are served up hundreds of advertisements every day. From digital ads on various social media channels to live reads within podcasts, consumers can’t hide from the brands that want to sell their products or services.
This holiday season, many brands are adding a new strategy to the mix, influencer marketing campaigns. Unlike traditional or digital advertising, influencer marketing is the closest thing to word-of-mouth advertising. When brands engage social media influencers, they are leveraging the next generation in marketing strategies. According to Business Insider, a global look at influencer marketing shows that brands are expected to spend up to $15 billion with influencers by 2022.
But do consumers know when they fall in the target market and how often they are under the influence of influencer marketing? Unlike traditional advertising, consumers choose who they follow on social media. They often make these decisions based on who they feel a connection with or demonstrate an aspirational lifestyle. Maybe it’s for a unique fashion style or home decor tips, social media influencers (content creators as some prefer to be called) have established significant followers as a result of the authentic content they create and share. This is great news for brands because consumers who have activated an ad blocker are still electing to be affected by influencer marketing. Brands both big and small have noticed. But what about consumers?
In general, consumers understand that many individuals on social media are paid to endorse products for brands. And they don’t care. That’s right, they know they are being marketed to and they don’t care. These social media influencers have the credibility and have gained the trust of their followers. The majority of consumers understand they are under the influence of influencer marketing.
Now, where consumers care, and what is quite transparent is when influencers are imbalanced and doing more paid content then unpaid. For example, if an influencer is constantly incorporating a product into their Instagram posts, that’s going to get some backlash from their followers. An influencer who is posting every day should limit two out of the seven posts each week to sponsored content.
Because influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to get products in front of consumers, its broadest appeal is to Millennials and Generation Z. Yes, these two groups are defined differently, however, the 2018 Adobe Digital Advertising Survey highlights that for each group, the ads they see on social media are more relevant to them than television, website banners and streaming videos.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is tasked with ensuring consumer protections, including in all forms of advertising. This is an important role as it relates to influencer marketing. The FTC works to ensure that influencers disclose a sponsored post to the consumer so they are aware it is a paid, or compensated, endorsement. This can be done as simply as including #ad or #sponsored in each post.
Influencers will always push the boundaries more than brands. While the majority of influencers follow all of the FTC’s Endorsement Guidelines, there are a handful of influencers who continue ignoring these guidelines and do not indicate sponsored content. It’s very possible that the FTC could start going after these individuals. In the next one to two years it’s a likely bet that the FTC begins issuing fines to influencers to make a statement.
Brands around the globe have achieved success through influencer marketing. Influencers are creating authentic content to endorse products they believe in. The FTC has policies in place to protect consumers. And consumers are under the influence of it all. And don’t care.
