I happened to see the following tweet storm by Brianne Kimmel on Twitter and it got me thinking (spoiler alert: I agree with her).
1/ I'm calling it now, we'll see the end of influencer marketing this year. Brands are tired of working with influencers. Consumers are tired of seeing fake posts. Influencers are tired of being influencers. The current model is broken, here's why:
— Bri Kimmel (@briannekimmel) July 27, 2018
In my mind, influencer marketing is a four-sided market: companies, influencers, consumers and the underlying platforms (mainly Instagram and YouTube). All these participants benefit from each other in some form, however the power is mainly concentrated in the hands of the consumer, with the platforms capturing a meaty chunk of the upside.
Here’s my dirty little secret: I love watching beauty and lifestyle influencers on YouTube and I follow a number of them on Instagram as well. Plenty has been said about why the aspirational yet unattainable aesthetic of these influencers has captured the imagination of a generation, so I will skip justifying my low-key obsession and instead make some observations based on my expert understanding of this market.
Influencers go in and out of favor, much faster than artists in comparable industries (movies, music). The Insta-celebs get judged in the court of opinion, and any misstep however large or small can spell the demise of their careers (James Charles, Olivia Jade). The plethora of hateful comments, body image issues, and the stress of sharing your entire life on social media has left influencers burnt out. It has become harder than ever to stay relevant, to stay present, and to translate a social media following into actual engagement. No wonder influencers are tired.
On the other side of the equation, companies, specifically direct-to-consumer brands like Away Travel, Quip, and Casper depend on consumers being aware of their existence and value proposition to be successful. The easiest way to do that today is to get influencers to endorse their products to their loyal fanbase. While this worked fairly well in the early days of influencer marketing where this was somewhat of a novelty, companies and influencers now risk alienating their audience with tasteless shilling. The influencer marketing channel is also reaching a saturation point making the ROI impractical for most young companies.
The consumers aka the discerning crowd of millennials does not like products shoved down its throat. It is also now mandatory for influencers to declare if a post is sponsored, which makes subtle product placement impossible. Overexposure of a brand is a threat too; Audible, HelloFresh and NastyGal for instance sponsor pretty much every notable lifestyle vlogger on YouTube. The aggressive advertising and discounting makes you wonder about the quality of the product/service itself.
As for the platforms, well, they’re on top of the food chain here. They control distribution (i.e. user base) which means they can take a cut from companies and influencers. It is in their best interest to help support and sustain influencer marketing.
So what does this mean for the industry? I believe that authenticity has become key to a successful influencer campaign. Glossier is a prime example of a company that has done this exceedingly well. I think we will also see a transition from influencers to micro-influencers. Companies will want to reach regular folks like you and me that actually love and use their products, tapping into smaller but stronger channels of advertising. The trend of the mega-influencer will transition to micro-influencers who don’t make a living from social media. Overall, this will have a positive impact on everyone involved.
Image credit: https://www.beautyindependent.com/digital-influencers/