This article provides insights regarding Influencer Marketing, outlining the good, bad, and ugly implications of influencer marketing for brands.

Influencer marketing has skyrocketed in the past decade as social media has become an integrated part of our everyday lives. However, it is not with great surprise that this strategy has exploded recently. For decades well-known people have always been paid to promote products for decades. Consumers have subconsciously turned to their favorite Instagram stars, Twitter personalities, and YouTubers for recommendations and advice on purchasing decisions.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Nevertheless, what is Influencer Marketing?. It is a form of collaboration whereby a brand collaborates with an influential person to promote a product, service, or campaign. These influencers are trusted by millions of consumers, and have established credibility in various industries, and have the access and ability to persuade large audiences through reach and credibility.

“A recent survey discovered that 34% of daily American users bought a product based on a recommendation from a blogger or influencer.”

-Digital Marketing institute

The Good of Influencer Marketing

Brand awareness

Firstly, Influencer marketing has fast become the best way to supercharge your branding without having to do much. Brands can now benefit from organic content that drives brand engagement without creating it yourself. Through the use of platforms like Instagram can gain access to a much larger target audience increasing brand awareness.

“According to a recent survey 84% of millennials not trusting traditional advertising, many brands have looked to influencer marketing to gain trust and creditability while simultaneously boosting brand awareness.

Digital Marketing Institute

Building trust and credibility

Additionally, using influencers as a marketing strategy allows brands to build trust with an audience. These social influencers have previously built trust, relationships, and creditability with their fans. Influencer marketing has been the highly effective strategy of late for many large brands who achieved a more prominent online presence and reach through the right influencer. Social media users can learn more about your brand, who you are, and the solutions you offer.

The Bad

Wrong Influencer choice

Unfortunately, when it comes to influencer marketing, it is not all revenue and rainbows. Many of the associated benefits are heavily dependent on the right choice of influencer, which can be challenging to find. Collaborating with an influencer who does not fit your criteria can do more damage than good, and runs the risk of annoying existing customers or targeting the wrong audience.

High costs of Influencer Marketing

Furthermore, the cost can be significantly high depending on the number of followers that the influencer possesses. A compelling example that highlights this can be seen in Pepsi’s “live for now” campaign featuring Kendall Jenner. This campaign received significant criticism, and Pepsi was accused of appropriating imagery from serious protests to sell its products while minimizing the dangers protestors encounter. Kendall Jenner was deemed an ineffective choice to promote this campaign as she was yet to voice her opinion on the Black Lives Matter campaign.

The Ugly

Influencer Marketing affiliation scandals

Finally, influencer marketing consists of various pitfalls- however, the bad can quickly turn to the ugly. The ugly side of influencer marketing can appear at unexpected times and can tarnish a brand’s reputation and brand image. An excellent example of influencer marketing gone wrong can be seen with Youtube’s new red streaming service. PewDiePie, a YouTube sensation with millions of followers who was poised to become the face of this service along with Google and Disney. However, after the streamer made antisemitic comments on his channel. The brands were forced to drop the streamer since no brands want to be associated with an influencer with this kind of rhetoric.