This document discusses the rise of influencer marketing on social media platforms. It notes that millennials spend more time watching YouTube videos than traditional TV, and are influenced more by recommendations from influencers than traditional advertising. Influencer marketing involves content creators promoting brands and products organically to their large online audiences. While this can be an effective marketing tactic, issues around disclosure of sponsorships and maintaining authenticity have arisen. The relationship between brands and influencers has evolved from initial pay-per-post deals to more collaborative partnerships. Platforms have also emerged to connect smaller brands with relevant influencers. Future research may examine finding the right balance of influencer promotions to avoid oversaturation.

1. The Use of Promotional Influencers in
: An Introduction, Issues and The
Future of Marketing in Social Media
Marti Vaughan

2. Today, millennials spend more
time watching videos featured on
YouTube, than traditional TV
Armed with ad-blockers,“skip ad” buttons and unsponsored content

3. traditional advertising hardly reaches this market

4. However, the same consumer
group dodging advertising, are
the same viewers that actively
search product-reviewing content
across the web.

5. Up to 300 hours of video, such
as beauty tutorials and video
game reviews, are uploaded
every minute on social media,
reaching viewers in the billions.

6. The creators of the content reaching this large audience,
hold the key to mass advertising in this new age.

7. Current Capitalization of the
“Influencer Market”
YouTube content creators have already
become major tools for advertisers
The influencer creates content featuring
product placement and brand integration in
exchange for $$$
A recommendation from an influencer is
akin to that of a friend or family member and is
trusted by more than 80% of consumers
worldwide

8. Working with online influencers has been shown to build brand credibility and turn
promotions into more of a person-to-person conversation
uencers with millions of subscribers are generally a part of multi-channel networks, which func
PROS

9. CONS
• lack of disclosure can cost content
creatures hard-earned trust with their
following
• this makes finding the perfect brand-
influencer partnership, more difficult
than ever.

10. CONS (cont.)
• The more brands that use influencers for
various marketing campaigns on social
media, the less impact all influencers
have
• many influencers have become very
picky when it comes to choosing a
sponsor for fear of appearing inauthentic
or being a “sell out”

11. PR Nightmare
YouTube’s Felix Kjellberg, known as
PewDiePie, plugged a game from Warner
Bros. called Middle Earth: Shadow of
Mordor
Pewdiepie boasts more than 54 million
subscribers with almost 4 million tuning
into the video in question

12. “Warner Bros. instructed influencers to place the disclosures in the description box below the video.
Because Warner Bros. also required other information to be placed in that box, the vast majority of
sponsorship disclosures appeared ‘below the fold,’ visible only if consumers clicked on the ‘Show More’
button in the description box.” - FDC Settlement Documents

13. Are there any influencers who have maneuvered this area very well?
What do they do to maintain their following AND relationships with
brands?
Style focused Instagrammer, 29-year-old Chiara
Ferragni, has been flown around the world to
• walk red carpet events
• attend Fashion Weeks in complimentary luxury gear
• be featured on the covers of magazines
• collaborate with designers like Chanel & Dior
• created her own fashion line
since beginning her fashion blog in 2009.
The blog now boasts almost 9 million followers
Note: you can buy everything in the picture from the
lipstick to the phone case

14. Where Chiara thrives is finding sponsors that
fit her personal “brand” of influence. Deborah
Tan, founder of content marketing agency
Material World says, “I don’t think commerce
and authenticity are mutually exclusive. You
can be authentic and still make money from
your online platform. The key, in my opinion,
is to not allow the brands to pressure you into
saying or writing things you don’t believe in,
or promote benefits you have not personally
experienced”
Note: You can also buy everything in this photo

15. Have the relationships between brands and influencers changed
throughout the development of this marketing tactic?
There is no doubt that the
way in which brands connect
with influencers has evolved
from the preliminary stages
of the pay-per-post business
model and grown into mutual
relationships with the content
creator and their legal
representation
These partnerships have
almost become a courtship
between brand and creator

16. How would a smaller un-developed brand get in touch with influencers
when starting out?
Many media companies such as Viacom and Tumblr have
developed marketing platforms that connect brands with influencers
in real time.
Another common marketplace were influencers can “shop” for
sponsors is called “Free Store”
Since their launch in 2015, Free Store has become the leading
influencer intermediary in the world where brands can distribute
free products to influencers and see them featured in millions of
videos.
To date, more than 48 thousand YouTube videos have been
created with Free Store products, generating over 206 million views
for the brands utilizing the service.

17. The Future of Influencers
Future research should look at the balancing act brands will soon find themselves in.
There is a delicate balance between not getting your name out enough and over saturation.
If it is obvious to viewers that an influencer mentions the same product in every video, it can
come off as insincere.
Where is the perfect balance? We may need to wait to see.