Over the past two years or so, advertisers seemed to have been excited about using social media influencers to promote various brands. Now, some experts are saying that the trend is over. We discuss some of the challenges of influencer marketing, especially in the social media space, and whether use of the social media influencer in the Caribbean might also be on the wane.

Late last year we, at ICT Pulse, wrote about what we believed was a growing trend: the use of influencers in digital marketing. Many of these influencers are seemingly ordinary individuals who have garnered large social media followings, especially on Facebook, Instagram and/or YouTube. Further, based on the relationship seem to have with their followers, these followers may be more inclined to buy products and services those individuals use or recommend.

In the early days, a company might approach a social media leader to use or recommend a product, which the individual may have done for free, or for a small fee. Now, the influence role has become big business. Many of them have agents and are demanding substantial fees for featuring a product or service.

True versus paid engagement

However, while the influencer space was becoming more established and potentially lucrative, the question of authenticity began to emerge. At its core, the strength and true value of influencers is the relationship they have with their followers, and more importantly, the authenticity of that relationship. However, the value of that relationship can be compromised, if influencers are no longer perceived as genuine, such as through marketing promoting certain products (or services) for financial gain.

To that end, consumers demanded to know when influencers they follow were being sponsored to promote certain products and/or services. However the result is that frequently, those sponsored posts or videos tend to have considerably less views than those were not (directly) sponsored. In essence, followers gravitate toward genuine engagement, and may not be as interested when influencers are hawking products and/or services.

Do influencers have really have influence?

Among advertisers, there is a growing scepticism about the ‘influence of influencers’. As noted in our previous article on this topic, they were concerns. In addition to the inherent conflict between genuineness/authenticity and being a paid sponsor, influencer-related scams have been on the rise, where people have been buying followers to promote themselves as influencers. Additionally, the number of fake social media accounts to legitimate ones have been on rise year on year. In March 2018, there were a reported 2.42 fraudulent social media accounts for every one legitimate business accounts (Source:  The Telegraph), which again makes legitimate engagement uncertain.

Another perceived challenge is the difficulty in determining the true return on investment when influencers are used, especially when they are buying followers. Hence the benefit and value of using an influencer, versus other forms of promotion, may not be easily and accurately tracked to support the continued use of influencers.

Finally, there are concerns that the influencer space is getting saturated. Almost anyone who has a social media channel, particularly on YouTube, is hoping – and trying to do what they think it takes – to become an influencer. However, as being an influencer has grown into a business, it could be argued that the result has been in a general drop in the quality of the engagement, which ultimately is undermining the value and importance of influencers.

Is use of the social media influencer in the Caribbean on the wane?

In summary and in the Caribbean region, we have very few social media influencers, who for now, may still be able to leverage their appeal. However, some of challenges and concerns that have emerged in other parts of the world, are likely to become issues here in the region, especially since there is a decided thrust within the advertising space globally to get more clinical about the impact of their spend, especially in social media.

Image credit:  geralt (Pixabay)