The false influencers in the brand image
24/09/2019
The CHEQ cybersecurity company has concluded, in a recent study, that 15% of all companies invest in influencers end up in false followers. Their estimates point out that this year we will close it with an investment of 1,300 million dollars in false influencers, which generates two negative consequences; On the one hand many companies that badly invest their money will end up damaging their brand image, and many of them, by that same fact, will end up distorting their calculations of return of the investment.
Fake influencers not only hurt the health of a brand and the trust that consumers can have, in the long term, hurt all companies that invest in marketing campaigns so that consumers will be increasingly distrustful and companies will have to make efforts to reach your target audiences.
At this time, the market of false followers, false influencers, false results ... continues to grow and it seems that in the short term it does not have to go back. CHEQ's study authors talk about "institutionalized fraud" in the industry, as evidenced by the fact that there are thousands of portals where fake followers are sold at prices that seem to be regularized.
While businesses are beginning to see that investing in influencing often does not achieve the desired results, other reports suggest that marketing professionals continue betting on the influencers and that in future campaigns they will still invest more.
A fish that bites your tail
If marketing professionals insist on investing in influencers, if there are no results at the end of the campaigns, if there is always a higher thickness of false influencers and companies and consumers distrust while the brand image is deteriorated, There is only one possible destination for the "influencing bubble" that we have experienced in recent times.
Both marketing professionals and companies must demand maximum transparency and sincerity for the influencers with whom they work. Investing in an external figure to the house, a figure that will put your face on you, who will talk about your company in the first person is more than risky and consumers have many tools to remember, to viralize, and if necessary, to discredit a brand that has used bad practices or has invested in an influential who has not acted according to the values of the company.
Brand ambassadors
We are currently at a crossroads where you need a model change. The comfortable and fast investment of the influencer does not work, it is about to expire and will give way to what has always worked; the micro-fluid or brand ambassador.
A brand ambassador is a person who represents a company and that is relevant to the target audience to whom it is addressed. They are usually figures that are easily recognizable and that allow to improve the image of the companies they represent. Its objectives can be diverse, but mainly they look for that a mark emphasizes ahead of its competition and allows to arrive at its potential customer.
The ambassador has to project a positive image of the brand and we often find it facing fairs, events, an advertisement, a recommendation or advice ... They tend to be public figures such as journalists, actors, athletes or singers, but His skill must fit well with the values of the company and with the future strategies that this one poses.
The brand ambassador should not be confused with the influencer, the latter is a respected and experienced person in his sector, but he is not engaged with the brand and tends to stay impartial or distant (if he intends to keep something of credibility). On the other hand, a good brand ambassador could be a satisfied client, a blogger, a journalist, a social network follower, a company worker, celebrity, celebrity or sportsman, for example.
The first thing you need to do to invest in a brand microinfluence or ambassador is to identify the appropriate people, enhance your fidelity and motivate them to get involved with the campaign. Once they are already selected, we need to think about the strategy that allows them to increase their links and reach potential audiences.
It is necessary to have clear what is its activity, where it comes from and where it goes, to see if its paths and those of the company come together and do not distort the message that is to be transmitted. Only in this way will you be able to count on a brand ambassador that will last in time and will allow to enhance the qualities of the company.
Alternatives to influencers and microinfluenters
Influencers and microinfluencers are figures that temporarily represent a brand, campaign or company. They often allow you to make an important jump reaching an audience that was hard to access but not all companies need to have them.
Today, there is a lot of talk and sometimes it seems that if you do not have an influencers or brand ambassador, you will not play "first division". It is not true, not all companies require their services and many things need to be clear. Some people disregard the services of the brand ambassador or influence for economic reasons, for mistrust or because they can not find anyone who can link to the brand. There are other companies that do not want to invest in because they have other avenues to reach their target audience, to rejoice and keep growing or rooted in the market.
There are many alternatives to the two figures that we have been discussing so far. There are companies that invest in traditional marketing and focus on the specifications of the products they market, others that transmit securities through their employees, who prestiged the service, who busts prices or who simply seeks to position themselves through the product and quality service .
It is clear that not all companies have a vocation for service or have the best products, but if they merge some of these two ingredients the positioning of the company will improve in a transcendental way.
Communicating quality of service or product, transmitting a good work environment or being transparent to the consumer can be exemplified by many ways. Investing in trademark influencers or ambassadors are just actions that can help you achieve a number of goals, but it must be clear that these goals can be achieved by other means such as advertising, direct marketing, good customer service , creativity, social networks ...
SMDE
A couple of years ago at the marketing agency where I worked, we did a study on small and medium-sized Catalan companies and we realized that the main problem of companies is not knowing how to invest in the influencer or ambassador of the appropriate brand. Although a company has a lot of money to invest in marketing, often the problem is that it is not knowing how to properly calculate the return on your investment.
To combat the main problem of Catalan SMEs, we designed our own method, the Dynamic Efficient Social Media (SMDE), which allows to ensure the return of investment in digital and offline marketing campaigns. The method, which served as part of my doctoral thesis, uses the traditional ROI (Return On Investment) indicators but with three added peculiarities that often oust the marketing professionals; Reputation, loyalty and prescription.
And in order to be able to take these three peculiarities into account, we marked a minimal roadmap supported by content marketing. If a company generates quality content and knows how to distribute it to its target audiences, it will make the company reputable, reach new audiences and generate more sales.
Article published in the Open Board of the College of Social Graduates of Barcelona
Fake influencers not only hurt the health of a brand and the trust that consumers can have, in the long term, hurt all companies that invest in marketing campaigns so that consumers will be increasingly distrustful and companies will have to make efforts to reach your target audiences.
At this time, the market of false followers, false influencers, false results ... continues to grow and it seems that in the short term it does not have to go back. CHEQ's study authors talk about "institutionalized fraud" in the industry, as evidenced by the fact that there are thousands of portals where fake followers are sold at prices that seem to be regularized.
While businesses are beginning to see that investing in influencing often does not achieve the desired results, other reports suggest that marketing professionals continue betting on the influencers and that in future campaigns they will still invest more.
A fish that bites your tail
If marketing professionals insist on investing in influencers, if there are no results at the end of the campaigns, if there is always a higher thickness of false influencers and companies and consumers distrust while the brand image is deteriorated, There is only one possible destination for the "influencing bubble" that we have experienced in recent times.
Both marketing professionals and companies must demand maximum transparency and sincerity for the influencers with whom they work. Investing in an external figure to the house, a figure that will put your face on you, who will talk about your company in the first person is more than risky and consumers have many tools to remember, to viralize, and if necessary, to discredit a brand that has used bad practices or has invested in an influential who has not acted according to the values of the company.
Brand ambassadors
We are currently at a crossroads where you need a model change. The comfortable and fast investment of the influencer does not work, it is about to expire and will give way to what has always worked; the micro-fluid or brand ambassador.
A brand ambassador is a person who represents a company and that is relevant to the target audience to whom it is addressed. They are usually figures that are easily recognizable and that allow to improve the image of the companies they represent. Its objectives can be diverse, but mainly they look for that a mark emphasizes ahead of its competition and allows to arrive at its potential customer.
The ambassador has to project a positive image of the brand and we often find it facing fairs, events, an advertisement, a recommendation or advice ... They tend to be public figures such as journalists, actors, athletes or singers, but His skill must fit well with the values of the company and with the future strategies that this one poses.
The brand ambassador should not be confused with the influencer, the latter is a respected and experienced person in his sector, but he is not engaged with the brand and tends to stay impartial or distant (if he intends to keep something of credibility). On the other hand, a good brand ambassador could be a satisfied client, a blogger, a journalist, a social network follower, a company worker, celebrity, celebrity or sportsman, for example.
The first thing you need to do to invest in a brand microinfluence or ambassador is to identify the appropriate people, enhance your fidelity and motivate them to get involved with the campaign. Once they are already selected, we need to think about the strategy that allows them to increase their links and reach potential audiences.
It is necessary to have clear what is its activity, where it comes from and where it goes, to see if its paths and those of the company come together and do not distort the message that is to be transmitted. Only in this way will you be able to count on a brand ambassador that will last in time and will allow to enhance the qualities of the company.
Alternatives to influencers and microinfluenters
Influencers and microinfluencers are figures that temporarily represent a brand, campaign or company. They often allow you to make an important jump reaching an audience that was hard to access but not all companies need to have them.
Today, there is a lot of talk and sometimes it seems that if you do not have an influencers or brand ambassador, you will not play "first division". It is not true, not all companies require their services and many things need to be clear. Some people disregard the services of the brand ambassador or influence for economic reasons, for mistrust or because they can not find anyone who can link to the brand. There are other companies that do not want to invest in because they have other avenues to reach their target audience, to rejoice and keep growing or rooted in the market.
There are many alternatives to the two figures that we have been discussing so far. There are companies that invest in traditional marketing and focus on the specifications of the products they market, others that transmit securities through their employees, who prestiged the service, who busts prices or who simply seeks to position themselves through the product and quality service .
It is clear that not all companies have a vocation for service or have the best products, but if they merge some of these two ingredients the positioning of the company will improve in a transcendental way.
Communicating quality of service or product, transmitting a good work environment or being transparent to the consumer can be exemplified by many ways. Investing in trademark influencers or ambassadors are just actions that can help you achieve a number of goals, but it must be clear that these goals can be achieved by other means such as advertising, direct marketing, good customer service , creativity, social networks ...
SMDE
A couple of years ago at the marketing agency where I worked, we did a study on small and medium-sized Catalan companies and we realized that the main problem of companies is not knowing how to invest in the influencer or ambassador of the appropriate brand. Although a company has a lot of money to invest in marketing, often the problem is that it is not knowing how to properly calculate the return on your investment.
To combat the main problem of Catalan SMEs, we designed our own method, the Dynamic Efficient Social Media (SMDE), which allows to ensure the return of investment in digital and offline marketing campaigns. The method, which served as part of my doctoral thesis, uses the traditional ROI (Return On Investment) indicators but with three added peculiarities that often oust the marketing professionals; Reputation, loyalty and prescription.
And in order to be able to take these three peculiarities into account, we marked a minimal roadmap supported by content marketing. If a company generates quality content and knows how to distribute it to its target audiences, it will make the company reputable, reach new audiences and generate more sales.
Article published in the Open Board of the College of Social Graduates of Barcelona