The Use Of Influencers In Social Media Marketing
Introduction
Technologic breakthroughs have made online platforms a source of easy access and influence that businesses must capitalize on to earn a competitive advantage in marketing. The use of social media had grown tremendously with the increase in smartphone technology that makes access easy and affordable. Traditionally, online marketing meant a company website, but today several social sites present tools and audiences that have transformed the perception of marketing. This trend has bred a new form of marketing that is centered on individuals with huge followership who can alter the opinions and consumer behaviors within this circle. This marketing strategy is known as social media influencer marketing, and the individuals are the influencers. Influencers come from any part of the supply chain. A producer, retailer, consumer, supplier, or third party agents could be influencers. There are also value-added influencers like journalists, analysts, and academics. Companies use marketing strategies that target the influencers who, in turn, influence the followers who often share the same interests as the influencer and regard their opinion highly. Social media influencer marketing helps create consumer trends that could not be realized in traditional marketing. With the growing social media use in the UAE, influencer marketing holds an even higher potential of determining industry trends and consumer behavior, especially for millennials.
Background
The emergence of influencer marketing evolved from the growing population online. According to Woods, there are over two billion social media users worldwide, and the figure keeps growing. According to Harley, Instagram is a preferred platform for 55% of the youth aged between 18 and 24 in the gulf region. Furthermore, Hurley’s article implies that teenagers online could be alit smarter than they are given credit for, thus making the most relevant trendsetters better influencers than going for celebrities. UAE influencer marketing began as unrestricted bloggers on food, which grew and gained attention and in turn, spread to other markets like travel and fashion. 34% of the entire UAE population was on Instagram by November 2019. The recognition of the Influencer market picked in 2019, resulting in legislation to license influencers to eliminate fraud. Influencers, as defined by several sources, are famous figures on social media that are capable of altering the attitudes of consumers. Talkwalker, classify them into three categories, namely celebrity, macro-level, and everyday influencers. The celebrities are already brands on their own owing to their public figure status, while some rose to fame through social media and have over a million followership. The macro-level have followers between 10,000 and a million and are often bloggers, journalists, or other professional analysts. The third level have minimal followers between 500 and 10,000 but are many compared to the different categories, including employees and consumers. Gould gives an example of “Frank Body”, an Australian natural skincare manufacturer that used several influencers to start a trending challenge #letsBeFrank which went viral and consumers joined in sharing photos of themselves using the product. According to Gould, the social media influencer market grew by 300% between 2016 and 2017. The reason is that it is considered the most efficient way to reach more consumers in one advertisement.
Why Companies Use Influencers for Marketing
Influencers have better reach to consumers and can help popularize a brand. According to Ranga and Sharma, there are three ways that influencers can sell a product. These methods include blogging, sharing of products through social media accounts, and they could let the company post on their sites. According to Isosuo, the modern consumer does not like to see advertisements but rather given information. Influencers relate personally to their followers and present the opportunity for sharing a product as part of daily life, which is more appealing. Companies have come to favor the use of influencer markets in the endorsement of their brands, given that the followers regard the influencer as a better market observer than they are. Secondly, they are negated at a closer level in terms of product placement where the influencer does product reviews explaining how to benefit from a given product. According to Talkwalker, authenticity remains a crucial aspect in selecting influencers because their opinion must pass to the consumers as a peer’s opinion to attract more acceptance. This opinion is also shared by Isosuo, who opines that influencers appear to customers as equals, thus making their opinion valid. Companies have realized the broad reach of social media and the power of convincing that influencers have over their followers. The two facts have resulted in increased investment in influencer marketing across various industries from tourism, fashion, hospitality, and also production.
Influencer Marketing Pros and Cons
Influencer marketing comes with several benefits. According to Ranga and Sharma, they are appropriate for reaching the proper target audience since the influencer represents a profile of the likeminded audience. Furthermore, there is the benefit of having comprehensive coverage because of the availability of a ready audience, which gives the company a guarantee of advertisement viewership, unlike other forms. Additionally, it is less expensive compared to the cycle of sale that it provides as a result of a trusting audience. Influencers often help the company create the advertising content tailored to their followers, thus saving the company both time and money. However, several shortcomings have emerged about the social media trend of influencer marketing. Social media is a challenging platform where the consumers have a tremendous power to influence the media presented to them. Therefore, if a company uses the wrong influencers, they may stand to lose more than when a normal advertisement went wrong. Furthermore, social media influencer marketing is criticized more than usual ads because of the image of the influencer; thus, a mistake is costlier. A good example is the Pepsi advertisement by Kendal Jenner, which raised social media uproar. She was shown in the middle of a protest giggling as she went over to a security guard and handed him a Pepsi can then he too joins in her jovial mood. The audience regarded her giving a beverage in a giggly mood to security officers as inappropriate for making light of severe social concern like black lives matter among other movements. The ad damaged the reputation of both the company and the influencer forcing her to apologies to her audience. Finally, according to Lim et al. , it is hard to measure the results from influencer marketing strategies compared to other forms. Many companies have followed the trend and invested a lot in this form of promotion, but the risk is high, given that there is no guarantee of acceptance or increased brand popularity.
Marketing Ethics in Influencer Marketing
One big question is what happens when the influencer does not believe in the product. This is one of many ethical concerns with influencer marketing. Countries such as the US have legislation against this where companies are mandated to disclose any partnership with influencers or get fined as a way of limiting malpractice. The UAE has also issued mandatory licenses to social media influencers in a bid to regulate the use of internet in marketing. The reason behind crack down on influencer marketing is to eliminate unethical advertisements where the brand is not specified as a promotion. There are several ethical concerns, and anyone could fall victim. In most cases, consumers are duped into presuming that the influencer has a genuine liking for a product while it was a paid-for advertisement. On the other hand, some influencers may generate fake followership to dupe companies into considering them influential on social media. Cases of inactive ghost accounts have raised concern over the effectiveness of influencer marketing. Finally, companies may, at times, repurpose influencers’ content without asking them. Another concern arising is data collection. Every social media user has the right to privacy. Thus companies using influencer advertising must ensure they are granted API approval from the platform. According to Permal, a Dubai based marketing specialist, the non- western countries are yet to enforce laws that can adequately implement ethical influencer marketing in all markets. A fundamental problem with transparency in influencer marketing is that there is no way of confirming non- contracted advertisements where influencers receive benefits that are not directly financial with no direct request for an ad. Unfortunately, this is not a problem for the UAE but the world at large.
UAE Legislation against Unethical Influencer Marketing
There is a crackdown on unethical social media use that begun in 2018. According to D’Mello, the National Media Council (NMC) enacted rules that require all influencers to be licensed. A fine of Dh 5,000 may be enforced on those who do not comply in a bid to bring integrity into the emerging industry. According to the Director-General of NMC, the country targets to remain abreast of leading technological advancement and the new set of rules governing the internet and electronic media sets basis. Sharjah Social Security Fund launched its own Instagram account as an example of how the media is growing influential in the UAE (D’Mello). Millennials are less influenced by media forms like television and radio, thus making social media the best way to reach them. However, as NMC observes, the dangers of negative uses are apparent and have to be tackled earlier to optimize benefits.
The Future of Social Media Influencer Marketing
The influencer economy shows the potential for even more significant growth because the entire world population is yet to be on social media. Millennials are the leading users at the moment, and considering other trends such as online shopping; there is bound to be a significant role of influencers. Woods suggests that influencer marketing will grow with the investment it receives. This investment is bound to increase, considering the strife for online competitive advantage. Technological advancement also contributes to this trend because social media are replacing physical interaction. The argument that influencer marketing will get saturated fails to take into account the varied fields of competition and the dynamics of social media that make every influencer’s effect limited. This argument can also be countered by giving the distinction between genuine influencers and those using traffic enhancing tricks. There are several lessons that companies are learning quickly about influencer marketing. First, the micro-influencers use is bound to grow as the aspects of integrity and ethical practices advance. Additionally, small companies are likely to take advantage of influencers within their locality. Another anticipated change, as predicted by D’Mello in his article, is the advancement in regulations where integrity will be essential in influencer selection. In the UAE, these changes are underway, especially with the new legislative focus on internet use and social media. Furthermore, there is a growing cultural shift that is resulting in the acceptance of technology and trends from the west. Thus, the changes there will reflect. An example is the Saudi Arabian fashion designer Alanoud Badr who has become a fashion figure internationally attracting the followership of celebrities like Lady Gaga (Euronews). She started as a style blogger in KSA. She then opened a cloth line Lady Fozaza in UAE, where she marketed the merchandise by showcasing them on her accessible social media pages.
Conclusion
Social media has grown popular as millennials adopt the growing social culture that seems to be universal on the internet. This new trend has led to changes in social advertising because traditional forms are growing obsolete. Businesses have adopted online strategies to reach many consumers, b, and one of them is social media influencer marketing. However, as a new platform, there are emerging challenges that companies learn in the go. The potential benefits are quite impressive and have attracted investment from various fields, but the risks are equally high. The social media platform provides a dual communication system that was not achievable in traditional advertising. Lousy reception can spread and damage the company’s reputation and brand. Furthermore, ethical concerns arise, including regulations to protect the interests of all stakeholders. The UAE, in its crackdown on social media abuse, have covered influencers through the provision of registration and licensing. However, this may not be enough given the rapid growth of the sector and the constant increase in the population of UAE citizens on social media. The future of marketing could be an influencer economy, and the sooner regulations are put in place, the better.
