The Problem
Blind faith/trust in influencer/blogger Marketing on social media platforms
The new and current “fad” form of marketing comes from influencers/bloggers promoting brands through their social media platforms. While this is a great way for brands to reach thousands of people about their products, it poses some concern for the consumer. Many of these influencers personify the “perfect life” when they are always dressed in the best clothes with the best accessories and are in popular destinations. In reality, these influencers are sitting on their couch in sweats and no makeup posting these photos promoting products. More times than not these influencers are putting on a pretense that’s not very reflective of their real life, which can be misleading to their followers who are depending on these people’s opinions of brands. Also, most of these influencers are paid to promote these products so the product may not be something they genuinely use in their everyday life or something they enjoy. Other than disclaiming that a post is a #ad, these influencers are not regulated like other forms of marketing and advertising such as TV or magazines.
My goal for this research and project was to obtain a better understanding of how influencer marketing worked and what was the genuine opinion and attitude toward influencer marketing. I identified an audience for this research as social media users, predominately millennials. I being a millennial who has a decent amount of followers on Instagram and friend on Facebook decided that surveying my followers and Facebook friends was the perfect way to conduct my research.
I plan to use a series of interviews to gain a more broad perspective on how my audience views social media influencers/bloggers. I will then use this research to see how to better the experience and create more credibility for said influencers/ bloggers, which would improve the overall influencer marketing experience.
After analyzing the results of the Instagram polls, I realized I needed more results for comparison. Also, I realized that I needed a more organized medium to use to collect the data. So, I decided to create a survey via Survey Monkey and share with my Facebook community this time. I received 69 responses from this survey, and the responses were somewhat different than the Instagram polls.
I know had a clearer grasp on the public’s view of influencers but for the research to be fully developed of the culture surrounding influencer marketing I felt that I needed to contact some blogger friends of mine and see what their opinions were. I reached out to 5 friends from college that were now bloggers all with followers ranging from 8k to 50k on their Instagram platforms.
questions to consider
• Who are you developing a solution for?
o Influencers/ Blogger and their followers
• What does this audience need?
o More transparency when an influencer promotes a product
• Why do they need this?
o To be able to purchase quality products that are useful to them
• How will the solution be used?
o To provide a way to allow followers of these influencers/ bloggers to trust their promotions of products and brand they present more easily
• What do we know about the audience that must be considered?
o Many are distrusting of the persona and promotions of these influencers/ bloggers
The 9 Dimensions in Spradley’s foundation applied to this problem:
1. Space: Social Media platforms, more focused on Instagram
2. Actors: Influencers / Bloggers and Social Media users
3. Activities: Influencers/ Bloggers are posting about products people should buy, including paid promotions
4. Objects: any product a brand is trying to promote using an Influencer/ blogger
5. Acts: Influencers and social media users are scrolling through content and posting their own, they are interacting with other social media users through likes and comment
6. Events: the context of the acts, actors, and space, such as a meeting or dinner.
7. Time: anytime any one of these people is online
8. Goals: Influencer/ blogger goals is to promote their brand and others: Social media users goal is to gain inspiration and advice on what products to buy and why
9. Feelings: peoples feelings toward influencer marketing is 50-50 either love it or hate it
Instagram polls & results
1. Do you follow more than 5 Instagram influencers/bloggers?
67% yes
33% no
• Out of 811
2. Do you trust these influencers/bloggers opinions of products they promote?
64% yes
36 %no
• Out of 760
3. Do you believe these influencers/ bloggers use the products they are promoting?
52% yes
48% no
• Out of 732
4. Or do you believe they are only promoting a product because they are being paid or sponsored?
80% yes
20% no
• Out of 711
5. Do you think the life these influencers/ bloggers portray online is genuinely reflective of their day to day life?
11% yes
89% no
• Out of 686
6. Do you think influencer marketing is becoming over saturated? Are there are too many influencers/ bloggers out there?
81% yes
18% no
• Out 671
7. What is your honest opinion of bloggers/influencers?
Facebook survey & results
1. Do you follow more than 5 Instagram influencers/bloggers?
62.32% yes
37.68% no
• Out of 69
2. Do you trust these influencers/bloggers opinions of products they promote?
69.57% yes
30.43% no
• Out of 69
3. Do you believe these influencers/ bloggers use the products they are promoting?
56.52% yes
43.48% no
• Out of 69
4. Or do you believe they are only promoting a product because they are being paid or sponsored?
68.12% yes
31.88% no
• Out of 69
5. Do you think the life these influencers/ bloggers portray online is genuinely reflective of their day to day life?
27.94% yes
72.06% no
• Out of 69
6. Do you think influencer marketing is becoming over saturated? Are there are too many influencers/ bloggers out there?
66.18% yes
33.82% no
• Out 69
8. Are you more likely to trust the promotion of a project straight from a brand or influencer/blogger?
50% Brand
•50% Influencer
• Out of 69
9. Do you purchase products that they promote?
33.33% yes
66.67% no
• Out of 69
10. What is your honest opinion of influencers/ bloggers?
"these people are interesting to follow, but many of them don’t promote products that are relative to me daily.”
“I think some are in it for the right reason to truly help others and some are in it to get free things.”
"It’s such a ‘keeping up with the Jones’ scheme to guilt people into feeling as though they should have this or that product.”
"They are an interesting addition to traditional marketing strategies. However, their reputation as a group is starting to color the perception of the brands they promote in certain demographics. For instance, being an influencer is unbelievably corny in my social circles, and brands they promote also seem lame for reaching out to these guys.”
“I do like to hear honest opinions from real life people who buy and use the products as opposed to commercials or ads made by paid individuals. I do realize that some bloggers are paid as well, but I think the propensity of truth is greater from a blogger. I do believe there are too many bloggers/ influencers out there, but I don’t have to look at what I don’t want to. However, I do believe we live in a media/ technology driven world and people are consumed by it and hate it. Real personal relationships are the best, and half of the products we read about and watch aren’t things we need anyway. Simplicity is the key to a peaceful , satisfying life!"
“I think it’s a great platform for people to share their experiences, ideas, products, and things the person is passionate about. I wish it were somehow more regulated, though”
“A blog is not writing where you bought things from every day. A blog should be at least a little more purposeful and tell somewhat of a story. Posting pictures are not writing. Blogging is not a career and something you “do” as a job. Not possible”
When asked why they followed these influencers many responded with “motivation,” “inspiration’, “enjoyment,” “pretty pictures,” “style inspiration,” “to stay on trend,” or “I have a personal relationship with the ones I follow.” A few people pointed out that the reason they followed these influencers/ blogger is that many of them are former Bachelor or Bachelorette contestants. A good many people responded they only followed these influencers/ bloggers because they often do giveaways of luxury items. Some even pointed out that they only follow many of the ones they do “because they caught me in the giveaway loop and I still haven’t won an LV bag.” The giveaway loop is when multiple sometimes 50+ bloggers team up for a giveaway and to enter to win you must follow all 50 bloggers. Afterword’s, you are now following 50 strangers that you have no connection to or desire to view their feed, other than to win the giveaway.
Blogger survey & results
1. Why did you decide to use social media as your platform to promote your brand and others?
“The best way to reach my target audience of millennials.”
“I don’t think a brand can reach its full potential without social media. Social media is vital to promoting your brand and your business to reach as many as possible, which ultimately determines your success.”
"I use it to ultimately promote and push traffic to my blog!"
"Because social media is the easiest and most efficient way to hit my target market. Everyone who sees my posts are people who choose to follow me and/or are interested in the type of content that I provide. More so than if I were to pay for advertisements in a magazine, pamphlet, or flyer"
2. What is your process of choosing brands to promote?
“If they align with my values, beliefs, and genuinely work well for me.”
“It’s not a process but more of a feeling. If the brand doesn’t immediately make me excited – then it’s a no. I only want to work with brands that make me feel overjoyed and proud.”
"I choose brands that I love, have used before, or know have a good reputation!"
"1. Does the product offered to me actually fit with my niche and content type? 2. Would this interest my audience? 3. Is this something I actually want or would use? 4. What is the brand’s reputation on social media?"
3. Do you genuinely use all the products you promote?
“yes”
“100% yes.”
"Yes! I did a campaign with Neutrogena, and I have continually used the foundation from it!"
"Yes absolutely. I do not accept free product or collaborations for products that do not interest me and if the product does not meet my expectations, I kindly let the company know that I will not promote it."
4. Briefly explain how influencer marketing works and how the business side of it (like sponsorship's and paid promotions) works.
"We can be paid for sharing our opinion on our websites and social feeds in commission from sales, sponsored posts, product credit or ongoing kickback from codes and promos.”
“Pretty much – you reach out to a brand, or they reach out to you, and you come to an agreement about the work you will do together. There are sooo many details from compensation to contracts and what not”
"Influencer marketing is when someone with an audience shares products/services they love and think the people who follow them will too! The business side has many components. There’s pitching to brands, answering potential collaboration emails, reading over contracts, invoicing just to name the biggest points!"
"Sponsorships could be anything from paying an influencer a certain amount (depending on follower count, engagement percentage, and variety of platform exposure offered by influencers) in exchange for blog posts, Instagram story unboxing, staged photos of/with product, etc"
5. Does your blog reflect your actual day to day life?
"yes"
“My blog is my version of me, and I always want people to feel inspired when they visit my blog. My day isn’t always inspiring or beautiful, but my blog is a place that (hopefully) always has that vibe and energy.”
"It does because my day to day life is spent building and growing my brand since blogging is my full time job!"
"Yes 100%. I am very transparent with how life goes on my blog and my Instagram. My IG feed is a bit more put together than my real life and I tend to show the outakes in my IG stories"
6. Do you think influencer marketing is becoming over saturated?
“There’s room for everyone. There are lots of average bloggers, but not as many great ones.”
“I used to think that but not anymore. There is room for everybody. If you bring something new to the table and you’re consistent, success will follow”
"I think you really have to know how to set yourself apart from everyone else to succeed!"
"No I think it’s just getting started"
7. What do you think is the public opinion on influencer marketing is?
“They don’t get it.”
“I think they find it interesting and there’s still so many people don’t know.”
"I think most people don’t understand it and don’t take the time to research it, so they have a skewed view!"
"I believe the public views influencer marketing as more trustworthy than traditional marketing due to that fact that influencers are their own boss, so they can pick and choose only the products that they want to promote"
8. What inspired you to become a blogger?
“Other bloggers!”
“the desire to share affordable options for girls on a budget and to share real-life things.”
"I absolutely love fashion, and I wanted a space where I could document the outfits I styled to hopefully inspired others to wear whatever makes them feel pretty and confident!"
"I sell LipSense and started to realize how much I loved creating content for people. I saw my two of my sorority friends launch their blogs and saw the fun and success they had with it so that encouraged me to get started"
9. How do you vet the brands that ask partner with you?
“try them myself before agreeing, read reviews, research ingredients.”
“I look into the company – their products, brand, purpose, meaning”
"I research them if I’m unfamiliar and go from there! I turn down a lot of opportunities because they aren’t a good fit for me or my brand."
"I research their customer service AND product reviews on various retailer websites. I also research their various social media platforms to see their brand image, values, and how they interact with their audience/customers"
10. Share anything else you believe would believe would be valuable in the research of understanding the effectiveness of influencer marketing.
• “It’s a lot of hard work, don’t just think it’s a pretty picture. And if you see an influencer that is successful, just know she worked her booty off to make it there.”
"Most influencers dislike the term influencer! It has a negative connotation, so I prefer being called a blogger because that’s what I truly am! Yes, I influence people, but I only share what I truly love on my social media and blog!"
"Influencers marketing is much more effective for companies than traditional marketing. 95% of my followers have some sort of interest in home decor and DIY projects. So when a company pays me to promote something, they know that 95% of the audience seeing the promotion is their target market. Rather than a magazine ad or billboard where maybe 10-15% seeing it are their target market"
Conclusion
As previously stated, My goal for this research and project was to obtain a better understanding of how influencer marketing worked and what was the genuine opinion and attitude toward influencer marketing. After sifting through all the responses I received, I have concluded that influencer marketing is a love it or hate it type of advertising. The people who enjoy interacting and purchasing from these influencers are probably not going to be swayed by the negative opinions of those who do not enjoy it, and vice versa. The ones who were against this form of marketing had very strong opinions and reasons to back their distaste. When this type of marketing came about there was, a frenzy of excitement and everyone jumped on the bandwagon so quickly. I remember following all of these strangers and trusting their opinions on random products I never heard of before. In the beginning, it was such a new and refreshing way to shop; I had to put less thought into because someone else did all the thinking for me. However, as time progressed and more and more influencers were joining in the promotions, I grew tired of it. My feeds were full of strangers; I was no longer seeing posts of my friends and families and what they were doing with their lives. I was all of sudden knee-deep invested in strangers lives, and that made me uncomfortable. Most people’s concerns with influencer marketing are that :
1. It presents a false reality of what the influencer day to day is
2. It is hard to gauge if the influencer is genuine in the products they promote, meaning believing if they use a product or are just promoting a product to get paid difficult to discern
3. There are too many influencers out there promoting brands, and they are over posting and filling up peoples feeds.
Even people who love influencer marketing stressed those three points to be a concern for them, as well as the ones who are anti-influencer. The problem I see now after conducting this research is how can we find a suitable way to sift through all of the noise of influencer marketing and make it a reputable form of advertising for brands that is enjoyable for most if not all audiences.
Credits:
Created with images by Sophieja23 - "blog blogging wordpress" • Rodion Kutsaev - "Cellphone" • TheDigitalArtist - "instagram social media communication" • Alexas_Fotos - "social media internet security" • Elena Koycheva - "untitled image"