Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Consumer products giant Unilever is urging greater transparency and improved measurement in influencer marketing. Unilever is publically calling for the industry to unite to combat fraud and increase brands’ ability to measure the impact of influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing has exploded in recent years to become a major component of marketing strategies, enabling brands to reach consumers though influencers’ deep connections with their audiences. The problem is that fake followers, bots and other dishonest business practices threaten to erode trust and ruin the entire sector, Unilever warns.
‘Everyone Goes Down Once Trust is Undermined’
“Trust comes on foot and leaves on horseback, and we could very quickly see the whole influencer space be undermined,” Keith Weed, CMO of Unilever told Reuters. “There are lots of great influencers out there, but there are a few bad apples spoiling the barrel and the trouble is, everyone goes down once the trust is undermined.”
Unilever says it will not work with influencers who buy followers. It vowed that its brands will never buy followers, and said it will prioritize partners who increase transparency and help eradicate unethical practices. Weed urges the industry to work to remove misleading engagement, making brands and influencers more aware of dishonest practices, and improve transparency on social platforms to help brands measure their influencer marketing activities.
Unilever has the size to make an impact. It’s one of the world’s largest advertisers with brands that include Dove, Camay, Lipton, Knorr, Hellmann’s, Ben & Jerry’s, TRESemmé, Brut, Jif, Noxema, Nexxus, Pond’s, Vaseline, Pepsodent, Popsicle, VO5, and many others.
Time for Action
Influencers offer companies a powerful way to reach consumers and grow their brands. “Their power comes from a deep, authentic and direct connection with people, but certain practices like buying followers can easily undermine these relationships,” Weed stated in the announcement. “We need to take urgent action now to rebuild trust before it’s gone forever.”
Unilever’s announcement highlights both the growing importance of influencer marketing and marketing leaders’ frustration over its shortcomings. As influencer marketing budgets have grown, upper management has started to seek better data on how the tactic is impacting sales and ROI.
Marketers will increasingly turn to social media measurement tools to gauge the value of influencer marketing and demonstrate its benefits to management. Social media measurement tools can identify ideal influencers for brands, what content they share, how widely their content spreads across the digital landscape, and how they improve public sentiment toward the brand.
Besides buying followers, fake influencers can quickly build large followings through reciprocal following. They may have 100,000 followers and follow back most in return only to push follower numbers higher. The practice is dishonest as no one can realistically listen to such a large audience. Most likely, their followers also pay the influencer little heed in return.
“Given this, the next wave of influencer marketing will revolve around measuring actual engagement, and actual influence, as opposed to easily cheatable numbers,” comments Andrew Hutchinson at Social Media Today.
Bottom Line: Unilever’s call for greater transparency, better measurement and an end to fraudulent practices in influencer marketing may galvanize the industry. Influencers’ deep connections with audiences enable companies to reach consumers, but dishonest tactics may destroy the entire business. Through concerted action and improved measurement practices, the industry can keep influencer marketing alive and thriving.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
