Econsultancy recommends asking the following questions : “Does the influencer represent the lifestyle characteristics that the brand represents? Is the influencer involved in activities and causes supported by the brand? Is there anything special that makes the influencer particularly qualified to be associated with the brand?” Let’s go back to the Olivia Jade case: her former partner, Sephora, offers tuition reimbursement as one of its employee benefits. In this case, the brand did not do the necessary research to verify that the influencer’s public image aligned with the company’s values.
Disclosing the relationship between brands and influencers is a powerful list of australia consumer email tool for achieving greater transparency. The FTC has stated that the integrated tools available on social media are not enough: it is essential to use them in combination with other tools, such as hashtags. Make sure that the hashtags are explicit (such as #ad) and include them at the beginning so they are clearly visible.
This infographic from the FTC explains perfectly how you and the influencers you work with should properly disclose sponsored content.
social media influencers
How can we improve?
The goal of influencer marketing should be, as Keith Weed put it in Cannes, “to clean up the influencer ecosystem, make brands and influencers more aware of the use of dishonest practices, and improve social transparency to help brands measure impact.” While we wait for more scalable solutions that can be universally applied across the industry, we can already start laying the groundwork for transparent and authentic relationships to maintain and restore trust with consumers.