Influencers: billboards or talent?
For many in the digital marketing world, the term influencer or creator has become almost synonymous with the word marketing itself. The consistent rise of using influencers or creators to promote brands in the last 5 years raises a unique question. Should creators be treated like any other advertising medium, or should marketers see them as “talent”/contracted employees? Let’s explore both.
Influencers as billboards
Firstly, to make things clear I am using the word “billboards” to refer to older advertising mediums. It’s easy for one to think that at their core, an influencer is just a human advertisement platform. Similar to how a company could run an ad on tv, a well-designed graphic for social media, or those big signs on the side of the road. Generally, influencers are provided some type of request for proposal (RFP) from a brand that goes over what to post, when to post it, and all the required copy that needs to be included. An RFP like this would be similar to one that a graphic designer working the brands marketing department would execute for a traditional ad. With that said, you might quickly think in that case the influencer is basically a human billboard. By thinking that you aren’t wrong in those types of scenarios. Often, it’s smarter for brands to use an influencer in this way because it allows the brand to have more control over their advertisement. At its core it also makes a ton of sense. Research shows that most consumers are likely to purchase products when there is at least “one aspect of social influence included in advertisement.” (https://uwm.edu/news/how-advertisers-are-using-mounds-of-data-to-persuade-us-to-buy/) This is trusting people you follow online or your friends who are advocating for the specific brand. By having an influencer/creator follow a specific set of guidelines, provides security to the brand that their messaging is just the way it should be and that their advertising is cohesive across multiple platforms.
Influencers as talent
Now on the other side of the aisle, I want you to imagine that a brand is hiring the influencer to be a part of the marketing department. This is something that is being seen more and more across the digital marketing space. Even larger, Fortune 100 companies are opening up to this approach in their influencer marketing budgets. How this works, is by opening the door to creative liberties when brands are trying to advertise to consumers. Allowing influencers to really assume the title of “content creator” and explore ways to create a larger return on investment (ROI). The downside marketers see in this approach can be lumped into two categories. Firstly, “well what if it bombs?” and secondly, “our voice is not going to be unified.” This absolutely can be scary approach but utilize that same research regarding social influence, it allows the creator to really tailor the brand’s image to their specific audience. It also opens the opportunity for the brand to have unique messaging across platforms. An example would be using two different niche creators to promote the same product. This gives the brand more reach to a diverse group of people, while still staying true to the messaging the audience can relate to.
So, what’s better?
The problem is that the question of whether you should view or use influencers as a billboard or talent is incredibly subjective. Both of these situations have their use cases within the grand scheme of marketing. My opinion is that the use of a creator as a part of the “talent” department is and will continue to become more the norm when it comes to influencer marketing. Creators are at the forefront of trends and understand target demographics better than most software. Companies have already become more open to letting influencers run away with the direction of a given campaign and it allows them to be more fine-tuned in their marketing approaches. With the future going more and more digital, the need to open the door to more niches is also super important. People on the internet tend to find “homes” and when they are a part of that community the influence goes far. Letting those influencers within the communities lead the conversations can only lead to better marketing results. The focus for brands is delivery the best possible product they can in order to make those conversations amazing.
Would love to know what you think? Should influencers be seen more as a billboard or “talent” for brands? Connect on Twitter or Threads: @jcvaughan_
