The question arises regularly about the degree of confidence to attribute to influencers.. what about when they highlight the benefits of a product?
Can we trust influencers and especially those who promotes the perks of a product or service?
It’s a question that we ask regularly, but also a question that too many people answer negatively… because for them, it is obvious that we cannot trust an influencer who is “paid” to speak well of a product or service.
So it would be good to demystify this subject in influencer marketing. For this, let’s lay the foundations again on what an influencer is from a digital point of view.
The influencer from a digital point of view!
The influencer blogger, Instagramer, YouTuber or any influencer working on any social network only has influence because they have an audience that follows them. Without audience, no influence … since it is unfortunately still the size of the communities that we will define the influence in our regions.
The influencer will therefore have the ability here to grow his visibility in different channels by his community and gain through their sharing and their feedback, more exposure. This engagement will result in various interactions such as likes, comments, shares and clicks pointing to a particular web page.
We can also say that the influencer is often an expert in his field … even if he clowns in front of a camera. He just needs a large audience to follow him through his videos.
The influence can then take on different hats with or without an interest in brands … but we bet that any brand will bounce back on an influencer with a large community. We can call on an influencer for product placement, unboxing, photo, article or a simple sponsored post. For these actions, he will be remunerated in the amount of the commitment that he can potentially generate, see directly according to the size of his community.
The influencer is therefore paid to promote a product or a service, but can he say bad things about it, really say what he thinks or even devalue it to the point of losing credit to the partner brand?
To these questions we can imagine that the answers are rather no … while the influencer decides in some cases, what is his room for maneuver and how does he work to the point of always being positive?
How do some influencers choose the brands they are going to partner with?
A rational brand will never let an influencer it pays openly speak ill of their product. And it makes sense on the brand side, otherwise it would lose all credit vis-à-vis consumers and their acquired customers. How does it work then?
Within the brand influencer relationship, it is understood that the influencer regularly has a course of action to follow towards the brand. This line can sometimes be neutral, or it is up to him to refuse a collaboration that would raise the negative points of a product. That is, in some cases it is better if the brand can review its product and update it to avoid negative fallout.
On this subject, we can say right away that the influencer is not completely free to say what he thinks, as soon as he is paid for an action. He must therefore know how to refuse and argue the reason for his refusal. The goal is for the brand to improve and offer a mature product ready to find its audience. It therefore has no interest in having a product tested which is incomplete or unfit for sale.
How some influencers ensure the choice of the brands they partner with?
We are talking here about the paid influencer … who could on the other hand, apart from any remuneration, say whatever he thinks positively or negatively of a product or service.
The choice of partner brands by the influencer, will therefore mainly go towards sure values where the influencer will be able to raise the positive points while rarely pointing out aspects that are harmful to the brand. On the other hand, he may make relevant remarks aimed at improvement.
How to trust an influencer in the end?
First of all, a brand will have an interest in weighing the value of its product and minimizing the risks. It will not submit a risky product to an influencer. Secondly and that is the main point for the influencer, it will be out of the question to say that a product is excellent, magic or to use a term which places the product in orbit, if it is false!
Why? Because it will not only be the brand that will be incriminated but the influencer as well. And if the influencer is discredited on a lie or too much positivity towards a product, it is his e-reputation that will fall apart. An influencer will not take the risk of losing his influence, which he took years to gain.
So we can say that we can trust an influencer … but one question leads to another:
Is it relevant to consult influencers for product / service reviews in this case?
This is the real question to ask and the one that could be answered negatively, because in what interest to consult an influencer who will tell you good about a product. We must see the only interest which is to make the product known and to viralize its existence, its release etc … In short, it remains a promotional action in all cases and not a clear opinion which would decide you to acquire a product or not .
On this subject it is preferable to consult neutral blogs or reviews which will remain objective on their product tests. An influencer is not a real tester, he shares a bit of dreams and allows the brand a significant peak in visibility.
In conclusion, we must keep in mind that the influencer is sharing a promotional action that aims to reach a large number of people and that they have every interest in weighing the value and the real interest of the product being promoted. It is of course assumed that he is paid to do so.
Apart from any compensation, he can balance his role and decide between positive and negative opinion, vis-à-vis any brand to which he has no commitment.
We can also highlight the lack of interest in consulting influencers to get the opinion of a product, under penalty of a generally positive feedback. It is therefore best to consult neutral bloggers or consumer reviews.
Reference: https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2019/12/20/can-we-trust-social-media-influencers/#4f6cd61563e8
Photo de Ketut Subiyanto provenant de Pexels
