The use of bots to artificially inflate follower counts and engagement and the use of unauthorized content are the major unethical practice social media influencers engage in today.
Becoming a social media influencer involves choosing a niche and creating an effective content and branding strategy as well as consistently delivering valuable content and increasing following ethically.
The history of social media influencer marketing can be traced to 1760 and social media influencer marketing is based on the same principles that made influencer marketing popular in the past. Becoming a social media influencer involves choosing a niche and creating an effective content and branding strategy as well as consistency in delivering valuable content and increasing following. The use of bots to artificially inflate follower counts and engagement and the use of unauthorized content are the major unethical practice influencers engage in today. However, social media platforms are working round the clock to eliminate bots and brands can also inspect the influencers following and engagement for clues on if they bought their following or if they are using bots. Below, you will find more details.
HISTORY OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS
The use of influencers to market a product or idea has a long history. Influencer marketing is the use of someone else – someone with influence or fame – to promote a company's products or services. Brands started exploiting this type of marketing centuries ago to help them build trust among consumers and found that sales increased tremendously when their products or services are used or endorsed by famous people.
The beginning of this trend can be traced to the late 1700s when companies started recruiting celebrities, religious leaders, and royalties to endorse and market their products. In 1760, Josiah Wedgwood got Royal endorsements for his pottery. Lillie Langtry appeared on “trade cards” for Brown’s Iron Bitters in the late 1800s. In 1905, Fatty Arbuckle became the "first recorded celebrity endorsement with Murad Cigarettes." In fact, the Pope and the queen helped endorsed patented medicine at that time to increase its appeal. With the dawn of the industrial age and the competition that came with it, brands needed more effective marketing to reach their consumers. Word of mouth marketing was a good way but they needed a way to further expand their reach and influencer marketing allowed them to do so. Influencer marketing was seen as word of mouth marketing on steroids.
Characters were even created by some companies to "strengthen connections with buyers and to build personable brands around products." An example of this is the Aunt Jemima character that was created to market the pancake mix product in 1890. The move was brilliant at the time and helped the company make lots of sales, however, the marketing is slammed today for promoting racist stereotypes.
Another brilliant example of influencer marketing was the use of Santa character by Coca-Cola in 1920 to market its product. Coca-Cola was able to make the Santa Character real to consumers and consumers cared about the character and that helped make the Coca-Cola brand popular.
The Marlboro Man character is another character that was used successfully to endorse Marlboro Cigarettes in 1950. The Marlboro Man was played by different men in the US and was used to portray smoking as "macho" up until 1999. The character portrayed the idea that smoking Marlboro cigarettes made someone more macho and the company enjoyed tremendous success with the marketing tactics.
With the advent of social media, Influencer Marketing today is mostly done on social media and by social media influencers and celebrities. With over 40% of the world's population on social media today, brands started actively trying to reach their market on social media. The bulk of influencer marketing today is done on social media. A good example is the Old Spice campaign that used celebrities and social media influencers to achieve 107% sales increase in a month.
Social media influencers today are Celebrities, Industry experts, and thought leaders, Bloggers and content creators, and Micro Influencers. Micro Influencers are becoming the most important of the group of influencers because brands find targeting their core customer base more effective than just using someone with large but diverse followers.
Anyone can be an influencer today with social media, not just celebrities, controversial voices, or hand-drawn illustrations or characters as it was in the past. Social media and the internet has democratized influence. The future also seems bright with 84% of companies planning to use influencer marketing in the future.
Not only is influencer marketing today cheaper, as companies can use non-celebrity influencers, "bloggers and influencers in social media (predominantly micro-bloggers) have the most authentic and active relationships with their fans."
In addition, with 84% of millenials not trusting traditional advertising, brands have found social media influence marketing more appealing and effective and some brands now have an exclusive long-term contract with some influencers. Generation Z can tell when an influencer is promoting a product simply because they are paid to, so companies have found long-term relationship with influencers to be more beneficial and effective.
Logan and Jake Paul are two of the first wave of influencers that dominated Youtube and went on to launch enormously successful merchandise businesses separately. The beauty blogger Michelle Phan also successfully created beauty subscription box Ipsy that is valued at over a $100 million with her social media influence. Jessica Alba also leveraged her social media following to create her "well-known brand, The Honest Company, can be found in virtually every market across the USA." Examples of such success abound.
HOW TO BECOME AN INFLUENCER AND HOW THEY ARE ACCEPTED AS ONE
As already discussed above, an influencer is someone who can "affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience." The individual also has to have a significant following in a particular niche. The exact size of following depends on the niche, but influencers with 10,000 followers are generally considered to be micro-influencers, which is like the entry point. However, there are influencers with less.
Some brands consider influencers that have between 10,000 and 100,000 followers to be the most effective. In fact, "a survey of 2 million social media influencers by influencer marketing platform Markerly showed that for unpaid posts, Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers have a like rate of about 8 percent, while those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers have a like rate of 4 percent."
The key indicators for someone to be considered an influencer are credibility, relatability, and attractiveness. Studies show "that the credibility of a peer endorser depends on the factors of trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, and similarity. Taking the first two into account, we can note that the degree of influence a person possesses depends on his degree of perceived power." In addition, an influencer's authoritative position is "further strengthened by a game of sheer numbers: a large number of followers, shares, and likes will provide viewers with a form of social proof. "
To become an influencer, the following steps should be followed:
1) The person has to decide the kind of influencer they want to be. This has to do with deciding if they want to promote their own product or services or promote that of a company. The person may also choose to not earn any money from his/her influence. Regardless of the choice, it is important the person decides the kind of influencer they want to be from the start.
2) The person then needs to choose a niche. It's generally better for an influencer to choose a niche they are passionate about. One doesn't need to be an expert to become an influencer, however, one needs to be consistent and it's easier for someone to talk about something he/she is passionate about over an extended period consistently.
3) Selecting a platform is the next step. Some experts advise choosing one or two social media platform but no more than four, while others advise starting with a platform such as a blog, youtube or podcast before trying to build a social media presence. The reason some experts advise the later is that blogs, videos, and podcasts can be searched and found through search engines, and it is easier to communicate authority, expertise, and passion through those platform than using just social media posts.
4) Creating a content strategy and plan is the next key step. The content being put out must offer value to people to gain followers. The strategy should also help the would-be influencer create his/her image and identity, including what makes them unique and different from other competitors. It is also important to create a branding style and a professional image that is in line with the niche.
5) Once there is a content strategy and plan for two to three months, it is time to start publishing and sharing the content. It is important to be consistent both in message and style.
6) To promote the content, the would-be influencer should share the post on all platforms their audience frequents. They can also contact other people in their industry and exchange content, likes, advice. In addition, inviting people to view your content may also help in promoting it. Joining forums, groups, and pages in your industry is another way to help them grow. There are also paid strategies that can be used to grow following.
7) It is also important to have a bigger picture or a bigger cause such as promoting diversity or environmental cause.
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE INFLUENCE
Apart from the traffic, trust, engagement, awareness, and sales a brand can gain from using an influencer, a brand can also be seen as more socially responsible by using influencers that are known a positive cause.
One of the reasons "Natalie Kay - Sustainably Chic" has been successful is because she doesn't just advertise brands that sponsor her, but she highlights and explores the values behind the fashion brands she features.
"From a Haitian social enterprise supporting teenage boys as they transition into adulthood through jewelry making to Malaysia where a social enterprise which is helping women step up from poverty through batik fashion accessories, Natalie ensures the bigger picture is always highlighted." Her fans then come to associate the brand she promotes as socially responsible and ethical.
The same is true for "Hannah Theisen - Life Style Justice" who uses her blog to advocate for social justice through the small choices people make every day. She "advocates a conscious lifestyle and the importance of slow fashion and responsible travel." Another influencer in the Safia Minney that advocates ethical fashion choice and environmental consciousness.
It is important to note that although brands can benefit from the positive image some influencers have and are able to target core enthusiast and consumers, brands can also be negatively affected when they use influencers. For example, when Adidas used Naomi Campbell to launch its 350 SPZL kicks, it backfired because the post made on its behalf included the promotional instructions meant for Campbell’s private review on the actual Instagram post and this made Adidas lose credibility.
Another example is when Microsoft got Oprah Winfrey to endorse Microsoft Surface, however, the post endorsing Microsoft Surface was made with an iPad and it affected the campaign.
Pepsi also lost some credibility and goodwill when it used Kendall Jenner for its “Live For Now” social media campaign that was "intended to capture the spirit of the Millennial social protest movements, especially the actions of Black Lives Matter." According to experts, the campaign backfired because "Pepsi broke two cardinal rules of social media influencer marketing - not choosing the right influencer (no one believes Jenner is interested in social protest, because she hasn’t shown that side of herself yet), and expressing the wrong message (Pepsi can solve society’s problems)."
HOW MUCH INFLUENCERS ARE PAID
Pay varies widely and also depends on platforms and the influencer's influence or following. Youtubers generally charge $10,000 per 100,000 views to advertise a product. However, some Youtubers charge as much as $300,000 for a campaign. Influencers on Instagram charge between $3,000 to $5,000 per post, and may charge between $20,000 and $30,000 for a campaign. An Instagram influencer with 100,000 followers easily commands $5,000 per post. However, some Instagram and Facebook influencers charge as much as $187,000 and $150,000 respectively for a campaign.
UNETHICAL PRACTICES AND HOW BRANDS CAN DETECT AND THWART
Unethical practices used by influencers is a huge problem and the problem has grown as the industry, a one billion dollars industry currently, keeps growing.
It's estimated that "$100 million could be going towards fake followers, engagement, and influencers. 64 million Instagram accounts could be fake, bots, or inactive. Facebook removed 583 million fake accounts and 865 million posts that were mostly spam in the first quarter of 2018. 48 million Twitter profiles are fake (15% of total Twitter users)."
The main unethical practice among influencers is the use of bots to increase their followers count artificially. Some influencers also buy followers, comments, and likes to help them appear bigger and attract brands. Although some bots are easy to spot, some are difficult because they mimic the activities of a real user. Recently, consumer giant Unilever raised an alarm about the use of bots and also announced that it would also stop working with influencers that buy followers. Unilever has also called for greater transparency in influencer marketing.
Companies like Devumi have collected millions of dollars selling fake Twitter followers, comments, and retweets to celebrities, influencers, businesses, and people who want to appear more popular or exert some influence online. Influencers such as Justin Blau bought 50,000 followers from the company and thousands of retweets. The company has over 3.5 million bots and have sold over 200 million followers to various accounts.
Two "influencers", California model Alexa Rae (calibeachgirl310) and travel photographer Amanda Smith (wanderingggirl), were recently revealed as fakes. The accounts were a creation of Mediakix, "a marketing company that works with brands and influencers on YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and blogs", to prove that the influencer marketing industry is filled with fake influencers and can easily be gamed. The accounts bought fake followers (bots) and used artificial comments and likes to boost its profile. Mediakix created the account and posted it on popular influencer marketing platforms and started getting clients. Mediakix aim was to show that the influencer industry is full of fake influencers that use bots and pods to game Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter's algorithms.
Another unethical practice is the use of stock photos. Sometimes the follower count and comment may be real but the content the influencers post is not theirs. For example, an Instagram influencer based in Singapore with over 100,000 followers was caught posting stock photos and claiming them as his own work.
Detecting and thwarting fake influencers is not always straightforward. According to Mediakix, "at present, we don’t believe a tool, platform, or algorithm exists that can accurately detect and vet fake followers and engagement. If this technology existed, then Instagram and Facebook (with their considerable resources and top-tier talent) would have successfully eradicated the problem themselves. It’s difficult to believe that if Facebook is unable to adequately remedy its fake follower and engagement issues that companies of lesser resources and talent would be able to provide a viable solution."
However, there are a few clues that can help someone gauge the authenticity of an influencers followers includes:
1) Engagement Rates:
An engagement that is too high or low in relation to an influencer's following may be a red flag.
2) Follower-To-Following Ratio:
Apart from celebrities, an influencer generally follows about 1-5% of their followers. An influencer following only a hand few of his/her followers may indicate that they bought the followers or used an unethical tactic to build the following such as bulk follow-unfollow tactics.
3) Followers and Following Inspection
Another way to detect fake followers is to inspect the influencers' followers and following profiles. If a lot of the influencers' followers (and followings) do not have stock photos, have a private account, do not have a profile picture, or have weird names, it may be a sign that the followers (and/or followings) are bots.
4) Comment Inspection
Inspect the influencers comment and see if the comments are from actual users. If the comment section is proliferated with words such as "Great", "Love this" and other generic comments, it may be a red flag.
5) Content-To-Follower Ratio
Building a large authentic following generally requires active, consistent posting and engagement over several years. Hence, an influencer would generally have thousands of contents and posts. If an influencer with a very large following has only a few posts, it may be a red flag.
6) Video Views
If the influencers posts video in their field, checking the number of views a video has garnered can also help. Check if the number of views the video has makes sense based on the number of followers.
7) Follower Growth
Although an influencer can grow rapidly if his/her posts go viral, most influencers grow gradually and at a consistent pace. You can use tools like Social Blade to examine the growth trajectory of an influencer. A sudden spike in growth may indicate the influencer bought followers. If an influencer is always growing by a precise number (for example 100 followers a day), it could indicate that the followers were purchased.
It is important to note that although the above guidelines may help detect and thwart fake influencers, some unethical influencers are quite sophisticated and it may be hard to detect them. Although there are several companies offering software and services that help to detect fake accounts, it is unclear how effective they are compared to social media platforms that are working round the clock to remove such fake accounts.
CONCLUSION
To wrap up, the history of influencer marketing can be traced to the late 1700s and social media influencer marketing grew as social media democratized influence. Becoming a social media influencer involves choosing a niche, platform, and consistently creating and spreading content one is passionate about. Some social media influencers use bots to inflate their following and engagement count, however, social media platforms are working round the clock to help thwart the practice. In addition, inspecting an influencers' following, followers, profile and engagement can help a brand decide if the influencer is unethical.