This would be great exposure for you | Part One

The influencer marketing industry is on track to be worth up to $16 billion by 2022, up from as much as $8 billion in 2019. If that statistic isn't enough to prove to you that influencers are changing the digital landscape then maybe this article isn't for you. Influencers/content creators are an integral part of many brands marketing strategy. With 80% of marketeers finding influencer marketing extremely effective it is crucial to ensure that these relationships are healthy. So what has gone wrong? What is causing so much friction in the industry?

Content creators and influencers hold the key to a target audience. They also have a deeper, more personal relationship with said audience than a brand will ever have. Understanding what they like, dislike, what content works well and what will flop. They have worked hard at building authentic, organic and engaged followings.

Queen of authenticity Lucy May Finnegan, you'll find her @_lucymayfinnegan on IG, spoke on how important it is for her to be true to herself and her morals. Newly on the influencer scene, Lucy is setting an extremely high standard for how she wants to be seen by brands & followers.

"If a brand asked me to do something that I didn't believe in, or didn't feel comfortable doing- I just would not do it. I've never been manipulated into a situation"

This calls for influencer relations to be shaken up. It should be about collaboration, not dictatorship and brands must stop demanding all of this work for barely any - or sometimes no money at all. It is pretty obvious that terms such as "this would be great exposure for you" are a big reason as to why influencers & content creators feel so disrespected. Can you pay a mortgage with exposure? Imagine having your talent and skill valued at pretty much nothing from some of the world's biggest brands? I'd be pissed too.

It's hard to carve a path down this route, especially if you aren't in your 500k+ numbers then you're definitely not getting respect from brands. It's more like "this is the campaign idea and this is what we want you to do in it" explains super cool girl Chloe, @chloejade_story. Chloe elaborates on how flawed this approach is "the thing is this same campaign is being given to 12 different content creators with 12 different pages, 12 different aesthetics, and 12 different audiences... it just won't fit with everyone".

"It's quite a struggle, and often I will ask if brands can be flexible with their brief or suggest something that will be more suited to my audience, like doing a video carousel instead of a feed post, and even though there is evidence to show that it would perform better they will not steer away from their brief" 

It seems that brands are so stuck in a time where what they say goes that collaboration is being resisted, even at the cost of the performance of a campaign. Unfortunately more shady behaviour is common within the industry.

"Often there will be extras snuck into the contract after the discussion on the deliverables, for example, giveaways, the background colour for a post, even camera angles, the finest of details... if you attempt to try and change this they threaten legal action" 

That’s right, corporations threatening legal action on a one-man-band. When all the one-man-band is trying to do is create successful, authentic work for the campaign. This leads to the question, should there be more to help protect influencers? On that topic could there be more done to protect all freelancers who face many of these same issues?

Of course, not all brands behave this way. Some have fantastic influencer partnerships and create wonderful content together. However, this is a small percentage of a huge industry. In my opinion, it is high time that brands wake up and put a more bespoke effort into creating some truly authentic and game-changing campaigns WITH influencers/content creators. This is not a one size fits all style of marketing.

Ultimately, nobody knows the brand the way the brand does, and nobody knows their audience like the owner of the page. There is space to make some seriously creative and innovative campaigns here. Everyone can win in this situation. But as it stands are brands being too rigid and not adapting to this new wave of collaborative marketing? In part two I will be talking to brands, agencies and more influencers for their take on the industry and more on how the social media marketing space is evolving.

Thank you to the wonderful Chloe (@chloejade_story) and Lucy (@_lucymayfinnegan) for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me.