We see celebrities promoting products on social media all the time, but is it worth investing in as a marketing strategy? While working with the right influencers can have some serious payoff, our Boca Raton marketing agency expects the hype to fizzle in 2018. Here’s why.

INFLUENCERS ARE EXPENSIVE

Popular social media influencers have realized how lucrative their endorsements are becoming for companies, and now they’re asking a pretty penny for their services. Therefore, this marketing method is going to get far more expensive this year. It was reported that Starbucks paid more than $1,000 for a social media influencer to share a single GIF, and that’s not even on the high end for posts like these. For the average company, this practice simply isn’t cost-effective.

ROI ISN’T PROMISED

Influencer marketing is also diminishing because of the difficulty companies have proving its value. When you are shelling out thousands of dollars on advertising, you probably want to be able to track the return on your investment. That is much easier said than done when it comes to this type of marketing. It's tricky to get your hands on the data needed to support funneling money into influencer posts. After all, “likes” don’t necessarily turn into dollars, and it can be tough to determine where leads come from when you’re not the one doing the posting.

LEGALITY ISSUES  

The Kardashians, among others, have garnered a high level of attention in recent months for allegedly misleading followers with their posts due to a lack of transparency. If your influencer fails to appropriately label a post as sponsored, they aren’t necessarily the only ones who pay. In April, the FTC warned 90 prominent celebrities about misleading sponsored posts. They stated that posts that were not clearly labeled as an advertisement are a breach of consumers’ rights — and it seems that consumers are starting to agree.

BREEDING MISTRUST

Consumers are now wary of influencers’ overt advertisements, and that mistrust isn’t just causing them to scroll on by. It’s causing them to question the companies behind them as well. Even with an influencer’s recommendation, consumers still look to online reviews to determine if a product or service is right for them. If fellow consumers tell one story, and your influencer is telling another, your company might be written off as untrustworthy.  

SO, WHERE DO YOU PUT YOUR MARKETING DOLLARS?

Even in the age of the influencer, unpaid peer-to-peer reviews are deemed to be the most effective for creating customers. These posts are viewed as authentic because they’re perceived to be based purely on the quality and experience using the product — not on how much money the poster gets. For this reason, our Boca Raton marketing agency suggests focusing more on cultivating a brand that your customers want to rave about. Creating a trustworthy company that follows through on its promises will always be a stronger tactic than influencer marketing.

Of course, you shouldn’t walk this road alone. We’ve got a team of experts who can take your brand to the next level. If you’re ready to learn how, click the button below to reach out.

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