In a variety of ways, we’re in the midst of a huge authenticity crisis. Nowhere is this more apparent than online, where content is churned out at such a staggering rate. It’s harder than ever for audiences to determine people’s sincerity, and this specifically includes the work of influencers.
As digital audiences become more intelligent and aware of the lives of those they follow, it’s easier for them to feel they’ve been lied to. In fact, 43% of people feel that many influencers are inauthentic and work with brands just for the money rather than with brands they truly believe in.
Worried? Don’t be! In fact, the authenticity crisis can give your brand an advantage: you now have an easy way to stand out: be authentic!
Here are the tools to make it happen.
1. Choose Picky Influencers
In one survey, nearly 45% of participants said that they can’t trust an influencer who promotes too many products. And over half said they’d be much more likely to consider buying a product after seeing an influencer post about it who doesn’t promote many other products.
In short, if an influencer hardly ever promotes anything, they’re sending a message of sincerity to their audience when they finally do partner with a brand. Use Perlu to seek out influencers whose values and interests align so closely with your brand that their audience won’t doubt for a second that the campaign is an authentic one.
Your influencers should not be ones who posts a dozen products at all times; these influencers simply aren’t trusted by their audiences. Audiences should feel that influencers support the brands they partner with so much that they would be using their products even if they weren’t being paid.
2. Leave Room for Creativity
Many brands make the mistake of viewing influencers simply as digital tools to promote their products instead of as people who understand their market. Influencers on Perlu know what their audience loves to see – they’re the experts!
Give your influencers the creative freedom to create a campaign or post that they know will resonate with their audience. When you partner with an influencer, you’re joining forces with a person who has cultivated an engaged audience with their posts. Use that to your advantage by allowing them the breathing room to make something truly great.
By allowing influencers to help in the creation of their posts and campaigns, you’re giving them the space to speak to their audience in a more sincere, genuine tone. In turn, the audience will trust these campaigns more, even though they know it’s paid, because it doesn’t read like an advertisement.
3. Endorsement is Not Enough
In the same study, most survey participants agreed that their top three favorite kinds of digital content are: tips and advice, fun content, and stories about influencers’ lives. Only 8.45% agreed that promotions were their favorite kind of content, which makes sense. Audiences are smart; they know when they’re being given a sales pitch.
Instead of writing copy that simply advertises your product through an influencers’ posts, you should aim to create campaigns that align with what their audience wants to see, whether it’s fun content, personal stories or tips and advice.
Like we said, if you aren’t sure, let your influencers help. One of the biggest benefits of partnering with influencers is that it emulates word-of-mouth endorsements, which is one of the top ways that people learn about new products and brands they enjoy.
Influencer marketing is an ever-evolving field, but the human element has always been the most important part.
Take full advantage of your partnerships by truly collaborating with your influencers rather than simply sending them images and text to copy and paste into their blog or social channels. Let them be authentic and watch your audience grow!
