Research shows sixty-one percent will not engage with Influencer posts that do not feel genuine
Social influence plays a significant role in consumer purchase decisions according to a survey by Collective Bias on whether social media swayed consumer decisions in 2016. A-lister power is waning with non-celebrity influencers driving 10 times more purchases than celebrities.
Only three percent of US consumers that said they would be most likely to consider buying a product in-store if a celebrity endorsed it.
On the other hand endorsements from our peers tend to have a strong impact on us. Almost one in five respondents say they are influenced by peer posts when developing their grocery shopping lists.
We are influenced by our peers, more than celebrities, which seems worth a closer look to discover the real reasons why some posts receive likes, while others don't.
New York based social discovery platform Bloglovin' surveyed over 20,000 digitally savvy female users in November 2016 to get an in-depth look at what makes influencer campaigns and posts successful from a consumer perspective.
It discovered that over half (52 percent) of women surveyed reported that inconsistent caption writing on an influencer's feed makes a sponsored post feel fake or inauthentic.
Over half (53 percent) purchased a product or service from an influencer's post, whilst one in four followed an influencer to enter a product giveaway (28 percent) or receive a discount or promotion (26 percent).
With thousands of sponsored influencer posts crowding social feeds every day, it takes a strategic campaign to stand out and get people to engage.
The survey found that 61 percent of will not engage with an influencer's sponsored post if it doesn't feel genuine, and one in three (36 percent) will not engage because they know the post is paid.
There is a fine line with brand messaging. 31 percent of respondents think too much brand messaging in the post can make it feel fake.
A connection and trust in influencers has brought 53 percent of women to purchase a product or service from an influencer's post. That said, the key to sustaining that trust is an emotional connection, with 32 percent reporting this is why they follow influencers on social.
Multi-platform campaigns such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are the most successful according to the survey, and brands should utilise influencers that engage well across multiple channels.
Two to three platforms is the sweet spot, with 32 percent of respondents reporting they would follow an influencer on up to three, and 29 percent reporting they would follow influencers on up to two platforms.
Kamiu Lee, VP of Business Development at Bloglovin' said: "As the power of influencers continues to grow and become more evident to marketers, it is essential that brands understand how consumers really want to engage with this form of distributed content--which in turn drives the best results and ROI"
Consumers might follow an influencer on social media because of the niche topic they post about, or their posts provide achievable inspiration, or because their pictures are beautiful.
With consumers demanding authenticity over everything, brands should build authentic influencer campaigns. Influencers' sponsored content must be consistent with the rest of their posts to feel trustworthy to the consumer.