Influencer mistrust can be avoided with transparency

Peer to peer selling may be the next big move for fashion and tech
entrepreneurs, but any new platform will have to have full transparency
when it comes to influencers marketing products.

New research conducted by BBC Radio 4, shows 82 percent of people who took
part said it was not always clear when an influencer had been paid to
promote a product.

The survey of more than 1,000 shoppers was carried out for Radio 4’s You
and Yours by consumer analysts Savvy Marketing. It found that 54 percent of
18-to-34-year-old beauty buyers were influenced by their suggestions.

Alastair Lockhart from Savvy Marketing said: “The shoppers of the UK are a
knowledgeable lot and tend to be pretty wise when deciding how much to
trust an influencer’s recommendations. However, we can see from the
research that it’s not always clear and a lot of younger people in
particular are influenced by their suggestions.”

The growth of social media over the past decade has changed marketing and
advertising in many ways. A major part of that has been the rise of “social
influencers”.

Cosmetic brands are spending millions of pounds promoting their brands
through influencers. They’ve moved away from traditional TV and magazine ad
campaigns to Instagram and YouTube.

L’Oreal group, the world’s largest cosmetics company, whose annual global
sales amount to 26 billion euros, spends half of its marketing budget on
social media.

The group’s director of innovation, Lubomira Rochet told the BBC L’Oreal
was embracing influencers: “Sometimes we consider influencers as our
extended marketing teams. They are so creative. The return on investment is
obviously a bigger concern, especially when you spend 42 percent of your
marketing budget in digital, so we are monitoring the whole area of all our
initiatives and influencers are pretty positive.”

In September the Advertising Standards Authority launched a new guide to
help social influencers stick to the rules by making clear when their posts
are ads. The guide has been developed in collaboration with the Competition
and Markets Authority (CMA).

When influencers accept payments or gifts their posts are subject to
consumer protection laws

When a brand rewards an influencer with a payment, free gift, or other
perk, any resulting posts become subject to consumer protection law. When a
brand also has control over the content, they become subject to the UK
Advertising Code as well.

Consumers must always be aware when they are being advertised to, and both
brands and influencers have a responsibility to ensure the content makes
that reality clear upfront. Failure to disclose a commercial relationship
leaves both parties at risk of action from the ASA.

Shahriar Coupal, Director of the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP)
said: “Responsible influencer marketing involves being upfront and clear
with the audience, so people are not confused or misled and know when
they’re being advertised to. The relationship between influencers and their
followers relies on trust and authenticity, so transparency is in the
interests of all parties. This guide on the standards will help influencers
and brands stick to the rules by being upfront with their followers.”

Photo credit:L’Oreal Nyx campaign, source L’Oreal; Article sources, BBC
“Most shoppers mistrust influencers, says survey”; ASA “New guidance
launched for social media influencers”