Digital Influencers

While Hollywood has always been synonymous with the stars, a new breed of celebrity has risen to power in a world far beyond California. Online influencers with massive audiences now live and thrive on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and blogs. They were once average social posters with big personalities who eventually amassed large and loyal online audiences through original content. Their ascensions caught the interest of brands, eventually leading to paid partnerships. While teaming up with online influencers is not a new concept, these potential ambassadors are now giving traditional celebrity spokespeople some tight competition for marketers’ money. Given the increasing focus toward valuing engagement over reach, this shift is happening with good reason.

Before diving in, it’s important to note the origin of the social media influencer phenomenon: people love to share. For the millions of consumers born into the digital age, creating and sharing content is second nature. Zeroing in on Instagram for some perspective, more than 60 million photos are uploaded on Instagram every day, according to WeRSM. In other words, the blog recently stated that the height of photos uploaded to Instagram every 12 hours would reach Mount Everest (8,848 meters), and every six days would reach the outer edge of the earth’s atmosphere (100,000 meters). Clearly the amount of content shared online is mind-blowing and is only continuing to grow.

Online influencers emerged alongside this explosion of content. These unique personalities have built large, loyal communities through original content and serve as relatable, trusted sources for consumers. They have become celebrities in their own right and proven that the biggest names in Hollywood are not necessarily the best fit for any given brand, nor always the most influential or valuable.

Forbes recently released its first-ever ranking of top-paid YouTube stars, basing data figures from Nielsen and IMDB, as well as from interviews with those connected to the stars including agents, managers, lawyers and industry insiders. The top 13 stars have attracted millions of fans and a pretty penny from brands. Topics include baking and makeup tutorials, pranks, comedy acts, videogame commentary, violin dancing, reaction videos and even live-action skits based on Pokémon games. The top YouTube earner of 2015, PewDiePie (whose real name is Felix Kjellberg), raked in $12 million. In July 2014, his “playing videogames with your bros” channel collected more than 10 billion video views, surpassing RihannaVEVO and becoming the most viewed channel of all time. Also in 2015, PewDiePie was included on Time Magazine’s list of the 30 most influential people on the Internet. Although PewDiePie has partnered with brands such as Mountain Dew, he conducts very few promotions and works with few brands by choice.

According to a 2014 survey by Variety, PewDiePie is not only more influential but also more popular than mainstream celebrities among U.S. teenagers between the ages of 13 to 18. Defy Media makes a case that online influencers, specifically those on YouTube, rival traditional celebrities. Among U.S. teenage Internet users polled in November 2014, 54 percent followed YouTubers on social platforms compared to 42 percent who followed TV and movie stars.

Making millions from YouTube may seem crazy, but it’s not so unreasonable when taking into account the massive fan bases and unprecedented engagement statistics. A recent study by software maker ZEFR found that not only do influencers often have follower counts on social media that rival traditional celebrities, they boast greater engagement in many instances too.

One example is ZEFR’s comparison between Connor Franta, a popular YouTube star, and Jimmy Fallon, currently the most popular TV host in the U.S. The results indicated that while Fallon’s average reach across social platforms was 207 percent higher than Franta’s (38.4 million for Fallon versus 12.5 million for Franta), Franta’s engagement was 66 percent greater (2 million for Franta versus 1.2 million for Fallon). Another compared Grace Helbig, who got her start on YouTube and Kelly Ripa, a traditional star who’s been on TV for more than 20 years. Not only did Helbig achieve 60 percent greater average reach across social platforms (4.1 million for Helbig versus 2.6 million for Ripa), she also scored a whopping 721 percent greater engagement (312,800 for Helbig versus 38,100 for Ripa).

Grace Helbig is a great example of how online influencers are redefining or morphing into mainstream celebrities. Helbig parlayed her success on YouTube into her own talk show on E! called “The Grace Helbig Project” and wrote a book that eventually topped the New York Times Bestseller list called “Grace’s Guide: The Art of Pretending to be a Grown-up.” Not to mention, she was nominated this year for “Choice Web Star” on FOX’s Teen Choice Awards. This award in and of itself is proof of the blurring lines between online and traditional celebrities, and Helbig is just one example of many who have taken Internet fame outside of cyberspace. Others have secured roles in movies, their own clothing lines, record deals and various other claims to fame.

Defy Media’s study also investigated other qualitative factors which play a role in overall engagement. One takeaway stated that 34 percent of teens say they respect YouTubers, and the same percentage say YouTubers were people they would like to be. In contrast, just 25 percent said the same about TV and movie stars. Even more so, when asked how relatable the two groups were, 41 percent of teens said YouTubers did the things they wanted to do, whereas 15 percent said the same about TV and movie stars. Considering these responses, it’s no wonder YouTubers had a much bigger influence on purchase intent among teens; 63 percent said they would try a product or brand suggested by a YouTuber, compared to 46 percent who said the same about recommendations from a TV or movie star.

Of course, while key engagement metrics can help indicate the extent of fan interaction and influence, the target audience must be a good match in order for the partnership to be successful. Not all consumers are actively engaged with online personalities or platforms. But those who are, namely teens and young adults, make up an extremely receptive audience.

eMarketer’s Alison McCarthy suggests that young consumers—especially those in their early teens—have grown up in an era where branding and advertising have been tightly integrated into most aspects of daily life. In general, the wide range of marketing content this demographic has been exposed to at an early age makes them savvy consumers and more accepting of different types of marketing messages. For example, according to an August 2015 survey by Trendera, 40 percent of respondents between the ages of 13 to 20 said that Internet celebrity partnerships make them more interested in a brand compared to 18 percent of adults aged 21 to 35 and 12 percent of adults aged 36 to 50.

Most notably, personal recommendations were by far the most likely type of brand marketing to pique the interest of teens and millennials. Consumers are having conversations online with friends and family way before they make a purchase. They are seeking out relevant, first-hand information from like-minded people they trust— third-party experts and their personal networks—which include online influencers, in the case of millennials. Those who partner with relevant personalities are able to piggyback on this trusted relationship and immerse their brand in the conversation.

By now, there are countless success stories to know this type of influencer partnership works. In fact, a 2014 study from IZEA found 52 percent of marketers claimed they have used social influencers in the previous year. Engagement, generally measured in likes, comments and shares, is higher for content that comes from influencers. AT&T noted engagement on its Instagram feed had increased about 250 percent per photo since last fall when the phone company partnered with Dave Krugman, a photographer who has more than 200,000 followers on the platform.

While there are many upsides to partnering with influencers and celebrities, it’s important to consider the risks of extending control over how a brand is represented. Those choosing to partner with online influencers can obviously face much of the same fallout risks as companies who get burned by a celebrity spokesperson’s bad choices (such as Subway). For instance, consider the controversial clips shared in quick succession by Sam Rader, one half of the popular Christian vlogging duo “Sam and Nia.” The couple posted a viral pregnancy announcement and an equally viral miscarriage video, which were both accompanied by ads. The videos were timed and setup in such a way that made viewers question if the pregnancy had been made up for profit. Surely the brands whose ads ran alongside these videos intended to align themselves with the personalities behind the channel, not the controversy.

Then there is Belle Gibson, the 24-year-old Australian blogger and entrepreneur who for several years claimed that a healthy diet and alternative medicine had cured her metastatic cancer. Trusting consumers got on board and sales for Gibson’s app and cookbook soared, but when the truth came out that she had never been ill, her fanbase dismissed her overnight. It’s likely that Gibson received interest from brands looking to associate with such a ground-breaking movement as her popularity was on the rise, but fortunately the truth came out before anyone got seriously burned.

Beyond potential scandals, brands must also be acutely aware of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) regulation and compliancy rules when running an influencer campaign. Those that aren’t can face both consumer blowback from individuals who may have felt duped by a campaign, and potential fines from the FTC. Lord & Taylor was one of many rule breakers in 2015. This retailer employed 50 popular fashion bloggers to post photos of themselves in the same dress on Instagram to help introduce a new collection. While the dress sold out quickly and the campaign was deemed a success, the bloggers neglected to include a disclosure that they had been paid by Lord & Taylor to post this content. Those actions violated the FTC guidelines for digital advertising, which state that when people are paid to post, they must disclose that fact in a “clear and conspicuous” way. Examples of this include adding a hashtag that reads “#ad,” or copy that includes “sponsored by.” Given that these rules have been published since 2009, claiming ignorance is a questionable excuse. Although the FTC has yet to seriously enforce such violations, disregarding the rules can still have repercussions on brands and influencers alike; consumers may lose trust in a brand, perceiving it negatively if they feel like they’ve been tricked, deceived or lied to. Consequently, they may no longer view the influencer as authentic or credible.

At the end of the day, influencers–vloggers, bloggers, YouTubers, Instagrammers–are people too, and they make mistakes. It’s critical that brands vet their potential partners thoroughly before establishing a relationship. All things considered, brands have to weigh the benefits against possible risks in their individual situations. For those that do choose to deploy online influencer strategies, opportunities to engage and build loyalty with captivated, young consumers through unique partnerships await. As long as engagement continues to reign supreme in 2016, as is expected, influencers will too.