Disingenuous Influencer Partnerships Are On Their Way Out

Kendall’s partnership with Proactiv.

According to my crystal ball 🔮 the days of influencers as we know them, are numbered. You know the ones I’m talking about. The self-proclaimed influencers with their self-proclaimed influence. Marketers are finding that these influencers, let’s call them finfluencers (fake influencers) have less and less effect on their followers. Too many #ads = a desensitized audience that doesn’t trust their endorsement. Finfluencers are losing credibility fast. And marketers will have to adapt and pivot to account for this.

Throwing a mil’ at a Kardashian to endorse your beauty product, especially if it’s not a luxury brand, is just plain silly. Why? Because it’s not even remotely believable!!! Kardashian/Jenner influence comes from their wealth and the assumption that they only buy the very best. Therefore, we trust their product recommendations.

When Proactiv got Kendall Jenner to claim their acne line cleared her skin, consumers weren’t buying it. The over-hyped campaign was received poorly causing Kendall to issue a retraction of some sort, AKA an IG caption for another #ad.

“For me, I can honestly say that the magic was Proactiv” -Kendall Jenner.

Nah girl, the magic was the best dermatologists and procedures money can buy.

But that’s not my point. My point is this type of celebrity endorsement isn’t new. Proactiv’s been partnering with celebs from Katy Perry to Jessica Simpson and Justin Bieber for over a decade. So why the backlash with Kendall? Consumers want authenticity now more than ever.

So, how do we address this as influencer marketers?

A.

Finding influencers aligned with your mission and values so partnerships feel as organic as possible. A well curated Influencer roster is important. You want a review, post, or shout out about your product to feel as genuine as possible (especially if you’re paying them the big bucks).

Additionally, passion is key. A passionate customer with 700 followers who tells everyone they know how well your acne patches worked for them, is more valuable than a ‘finfluencer’ with 11,000 followers (a lot of them inactive) who posts an unboxing on their story one time and calls it a day.

B.

Co-create content that’s entertaining and doesn’t disrupt the user experience. E.g. when Chipotle named a burrito after David Dobrik (the YouTube sensation) and had him deliver “the Dobrik burrito” to anyone who ordered one. He then surprised a select few with a giant check for “free burritos for a year.” And of course, vlogged the whole thing on social to his 7.5m + followers. Because it felt so native to his regularly scheduled programming (same humor, pranks, squad, etc) fans were more likely to engage with the campaign.

C.

Choose influencers who have earned their influencer status. This will ensure their audience has established deeper trust in them. AKA if Away the travel brand partnered with activists, talented musicians, public speakers, an entrepreneur teaching STEM to girls in 3rd world countries, etc. Cool people that happened to travel a lot not people who travel a lot to be cool.

Let’s start granting ‘influencer status’ to people doing bad ass things. It’s better for your brand in the long run.

What if your network of influencers looked more like Time’s list of most influential people than an assortment of textbook aesthetic IG feeds?

Research shows that Gen Z are more woke than ever. As this generation comes into purchasing power (the oldest of the cohort being 24) they’ll want to buy from brands who stand for a cause (or associate themselves with influencers who do).

In today’s society, attractive people are pedestaled. That’s not going anywhere soon. But what wins out over looks? People who are respected and admired. Now that’s a force.

I’ll end on this note for you to ponder. “Influencer of the year” Kim Kardashian is working toward her law degree. And I predict she’ll unlock a whole new level of influence fighting for unfairly incarcerated citizens. You can say what you want about the Kardashian, but you can’t fault her for using her status to effect positive change. That’s not just influence, that’s impact, the currency future generations deal in.