Why is influencer marketing so successful?

“With one of my influencers, I sold deals of twenty thousand for just one video.”

In an era of influencers, identity is one of the most common ways to be sold something. The relatability and perceived authenticity of someone setting up their phone camera, only to list things you should purchase has become the norm. This display of identity through the camera to only commodify and sell themselves out a second later is an expected action. Influencers are just about everywhere you look, the Met Gala, film premiers, high street retailers with brand partnerships... Gone are the days of TV adverts with digital and social media marketing being the most successful forms of advertisement. So what does this mean for those selling us products and what does it mean for us buying them?

Influencers can range from foodies and makeup gurus to fashionistas telling you ‘You have to buy the newest Adidas trainers or whatever t-shirt they have dubbed as trending but why are they so successful and why do so many buy into it?

Kristian Sturt, Head of Influencer Marketing at Colossal Influence explains, “Influencer marketing is when someone with a social media presence advertises a product or service to their following. That's a very simple way of looking at it, it's much more nuanced than that.”

“The reason influencer marketing works is because the concept is scaled up from word-of-mouth marketing. Theoretically, when your friend posts about a new top they bought from ASOS, and you see it, like it, and want to buy it, that is a form of influencer marketing.”

“Various studies have shown that YouTubers and Instagram creators are roughly ten times more relatable than traditional celebrities, and that's rooted in their identity.”

Cisco with a punchier take explains, “I don't see any difference between being an influencer and being an entrepreneur.”

“The mindset behind it is the same, the marketing behind it is the same, it's just that you sell to different people. Because influencers want to make sales based on the brand collabs.”

“But it's the same principle because it's still about growing a brand. When you're building a personal brand it has to be very much about you.”

This relatability is the key to the success influencers find, but how real is it when you're speaking to a camera? 

Sturt explains, “Influencers are 'attainable', relatable; they're ordinary people who turned on a camera and recorded or took pictures. Celebrities who act and then do adverts are so far removed from 'normal' that relating to their identity is tough.”
 

“In terms of how influencers act on camera, it's almost always an amplified version of who they are, their volume is turned up to 11. So, it's not disingenuous by any means, which is why it still works.”



Disingenuous or plain faking it, influencers have been caught time and time again acting a certain way for the camera and a strikingly different way off camera. My personal favourite still has to be Mikayla Lanogueira’s mascara scandal, in which she takes a brand deal for a L'Oréal mascara, fails to mention said brand deal and then applies false eyelashes claiming it is the mascara that has added the extra length and thickness. But what is the point? Why do influencers post this content?

Sturt tells us, “I think I'd probably give a different answer here compared to a lot of people in my same position. The truth is that the money for promotion often speaks and leads some influencers to endorse products they probably wouldn't recommend.”

An honest confession he continues, “So, for us, it's not a tough process, but across the field, it remains an issue. The reality is that someone experienced in marketing can spot a disingenuous promotion from a mile away.”

“Authenticity is why influencer marketing worked in the first place. The further it moves away from it, the closer it gets to traditional marketing, which can be effective but is less impactful.”

On taking brand deals and partnerships Cisco says, “Ideally only take the ones that are aligned with you. I understand, when we talk about making money it's really difficult to stay true to your integrity. Especially when there are these huge amounts of money flashing in front of your eyes.”

“With one of my influencers, I sold deals of twenty thousand for just one video to be posted promoting their stuff.”

“So I mean, I understand that people are like ’okay, let's just do it’. Now, the immediate result is having this money. But, how is it going to fit in your portfolio, how is it going to build your personal brand in the long run?”

Sharing a similar sentiment Cisco adds to this, “It lies in authenticity. I think that there is so much talk about authenticity out in social media now, that people are confused.”

“When we talk about authenticity, we don't mean you have to be filterless, and pick your nose in front of the camera or share everything about your life and you cannot have privacy.”

“No, authenticity means being at the core on social media, the same person that you are outside of social media, with the same values, with the same personality. It doesn't mean oversharing or being constantly on social media or being transparent about everything that is going on in your life.”

It could be argued that there is an oversaturation of influencers, for a period these roles were held to a select few individuals, think 2015-17 the reign of the Kardashian-Jenners and supermodels was the golden standard. Now if you are lucky you can blow up from one video and milk it for all its worth.

Cisco links to this, “I worked in an agency eight or seven years ago when influencing was just starting and it was very much about creating envy rather than inspiring people.”

“It was very much about ’look at what an amazing life I have.’ At the time we didn't have TikTok or videos on Instagram, It was just pictures.”

“So it was like these magazines of people's perfect amazing lives. That was not creating a community. So the only community power that they had was based on these feelings of wanting to be included, wanting to be part of it, wanting to be like them. Now it's much more about connecting with people and being relatable in terms of standing for the same values.”

Cisco explains it all lies in the reasons for becoming an influencer. She begins, “Why are you on social media if it's not important to you what your mission is? I work with an influencer who is hijabi, meaning that she's covered, and her mission is to make hijabi girls feel that they can be as stylish as non-hijabi.”

“So, it's still fashion, but everything that she posts is always related to that mission. You can post whatever you want on social media as long as it is always related to your mission.”

She elaborates, “Unless you are authentic, it's not going to be sustainable. If you are putting on a facade or trying to be something different than what you are in real life and what you stand for in real life, it might work for a while, but then, it's going to burn you out.”

So authenticity is where it lies, that's how it's so successful, but what if it has reached its breaking point? The climate seems to be tipping out of favour for those bold enough to post themselves online and it seems just posting yourself or your identity with no end goal is no longer enough for viewers to be interested. Brands offering thousands for promotions its unlikely change will come from the influencers themselves. With audiences most recently beginning to block and unfollow influencers and celebrities who no longer share the same values as them, a seismic shift seems to be underway and we will see what will happen next.