PRs now following guidelines on influencer marketing

According to new research, 54 percent of marketers and PRs now use the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) guidelines on influencer marketing, compared to just 37.5 percent in 2016.

In the past, PRs have often been accused of not following the guidelines when it comes to blogger outreach following some high-profile scandals including the likes of Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid who failed to disclose that they were paid to advertise products and events on behalf of big brands.

Conducted by micro-influencer marketing platform Takumi, their survey reveals 600 UK marketing and PR professionals now agree that full transparency is important when working with influencers.

“PR and marketing individuals and brands are becoming more and more savvy when it comes to working with influencers and content creators,” said Mats Stigzelius, co-founder and CEO of Takumi. “Whereas before there was a certain amount of confusion with regards to the guidelines, the research has shown that there is a greater awareness on how to get the most out of influencer marketing and what the guidelines are.”

Here at Vuelio, we have published various guides, webinars and white papers about how to work with influencers and stressing the importance of disclosing product placement. Influencer marketing is no longer the wild wild west where PRs don’t have to abide by any rules.

“As more and more brands begin to educate themselves on how to effectively use influencers and are able to measure the results and the ROI, I think that we can expect to see an increase in the use of influencers as part of a more targeted approach for consumers particularly for millennial audiences,” said Stigzelius.

The research also found that 84.5 percent of professionals believe that ‘live’ content is becoming increasingly important to influencer marketing. Furthermore, 28 percent say Instagram’s algorithmic feed – which prioritises high engagement content – hasn’t impacted their campaigns. However, 11.5 percent now budget for advertising to boost influencer posts. Takumi found that 65 per cent of professionals work with influencers as part of their marketing strategy and 61.3 percent of respondents said they feel they are able to accurately measure engagement levels and return on investment (ROI).