Influencer Marketing - all the Dos, Don'ts and What's nexts

The headline is quite self-explanatory already. I'm going to discuss the ups and downs and speculations for this popular marketing trend!

SOAR HIGH WITH INFLUENCER MARKETING

Nowadays, when consumer trust is on the decline, along with other complications, influencer marketing swoops in as a lifting solution for advertisers. The tool offers brands a fresher way to become more genuine (when poised against traditional ad) in the eyes of consumers, as well as increasing their conversation with them. Influencers have strong fanbase, trust and dynamic interactions with their audience, thus having a powerful say in customers’ decision making (WARC 2018).

Also, when chosen correctly, that KOL personifies brands’ campaigns to audience as he/she shares similar traits to the product/message endorsed. Take Tóc Tiên and Kotex as example. Tóc Tiên image is of an independent millennial who dares to break off conventions and succeeds in doing so, which sits perfectly with Kotex message - ‘Dare to do the Incredible’. Overall, that campaign was a hit with positive sentiment on social media increased by 30% and understanding branded message 17% (Advertising Vietnam, 2018).

The viral video for Kotex 'Dare to do the Incredible' with Toc Tien

Moreover, this trend is born out of a necessity to utilize social media such as Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and reach out to younger audience while dodging adblock algorithms. (WARC 2018). The last benefit is cross-platform amplifier. Influencers have established their presence on various channels, much stronger than that of brands, hence partnering them would help brands reach out to wider audience, namely Truong Giang and Tiki Lunar New Year video ‘Làm Dâu là Het Tet?’. The clip is posted on both Tiki and Truong Giang Youtube channel but Truong Giang’s outperformed Tiki’s vastly (13 mil. vs 700k). And his Facebook post promoting the video also received 11,000 interactions, contributing greatly to Tiki’s Lunar New Year campaign success.

Truong Giang Youtube channel outperforms Tiki channel immensely

BUT DON'T FLY TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN

The reason for its potency is that this affair defeats the purpose which influencer marketing was chosen for in the first place.

However, that is not the say this trend is flawless. One top-of-mind disadvantage is a brand’s inability to control its partners’ image. Controversies relating to KOL are devastating for collaborations. Small scandals include mishaps of Listerine and its partner Scarlett Dixon for an overly fanciful Instagram post (Stewart 2018) while larger examples consist of major deal breaks between Tiger Woods and Nike, Gillette, AT&T after his infidelity scandal (Ha Minh 2016). Nike then got into even bigger trouble when its long-time partner Lance Armstrong when he was busted for doping usage, forcing the sport giant to cancel multiple ad campaigns and initiatives with him (Williams 2012).

Influencers with mishaps & scandals -

Lance Armstrong (top left); Scarlett Dixon (top right); Tiger Woods (bottom).

The second drawback is the rise of fake influencers who use bots to increase followers or have unusual social interactions (Bloom 2019). The reason behind is quite straightforward, brands only care about a KOL followers, not their image compatibility with products or engagement with audience, which leads KOL wannabes to use cheat tools for quick money. This trouble is so imminent that Unilever had to kick off Cannes 2018 with a clear message on banning collab with fraudulent KOL (Pearl 2018).

Finally, the most potent pitfall is the issue of separating genuine content from commercial posts, which is widely mentioned in both academic literature and major news outlet. The reason for its potency is that this affair defeats the purpose which influencer marketing was chosen in the first place - helping a brand become more authentic and increase interactions. As consumers become more cynical, insincerity equals death. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. If both parties are upfront and genuine about their works, consumers are more likely to accept it. Take Instagram for instance, it just recently released hashtag #ad to help viewers differentiate the two types of content (Audunsson 2018).   

Instagram notifies an ad post with quote 'paid partnership with...' to help users differentiate organic & paid content

SO...WHAT NOW?

Last question, how do marketers approach influencer marketing from now on? In Vietnam, Facebook is the undisputed king with 55 million active users/month, ranking most active social media platform in Vietnam, with Youtube coming second (Lê 2018). Therefore, big companies often use these two for tentpole campaigns targeted to a specific festive season. During Lunar New Year 2019, there are 13 stand-out TVCs reported by Advertising Vietnam, all of them were displayed on Youtube and 10 of which included big names such as My Tam, Bich Phuong, Tran Thanh, Truong Giang, etc. (Ngoc Trâm 2019). Brands should also incorporate popular Facebook pages like ‘Mot chút cute’ ‘Thang Long Comics’ to maximize audience reach instead of just using them to promote pop-up, dispersed promotions. Or they can create mini series on these pages for product teasing or sales periods to engage more with consumers.

Of the 13 TVCs released during Lunar New Year 2019,

10 of them featured major celebrity influencers

Popular  fanpages are only used for dispersed promotions and have not been utilized to full potential

Also, Instagram might be useful for small scale campaigns through the year. Though underperforms in Vietnam, Facebook’s sister is still hailed as the best tool for influencer marketing in other countries (Bloom 2019). The channel can then be combined with the use of medium to micro KOLs to save budgets, which is how smaller companies approach influencer marketing.

Medium influencers promoting products of smaller companies. Man Tien (left); Salim (right)

Finally, brands should think about long time partnership with influencers to create better bonds and stronger recall in consumers’ minds. To illustrate, think Biti’s and Soobin Hoang Son. Until 2019, this is the third appearance Soobin has made in the Vietnamese shoe giant’s Lunar New Year campaign revolving around the idea ‘Di that xa de tro ve’ that has garnered so much love and attention from audience.

A three year partnership between Soobin Hoang Son abd Biti's for Lunar New Year campaign.

REFERENCE

Advertising Vietnam, ‘Kotex Và Câu Chuyen Phi Thuong cua Tóc Tiên’, AdvertisingVietnam, November 14th, viewed March 17th, <https://advertisingvietnam.com/creative-work/kotex-va-cau-chuyen-phi-thuong-cua-toc-tien>.

Audunsson S. 2018, ‘2019 will be the year influencer marketing shifts from who to how’, Campaign UK,  December 6th, viewed March 17th, <https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/2019-will-year-influencer-marketing-shifts/1520478>.

Bloom D. 2019, ‘Five Key Trends Shaping Influencer Marketing In 2019’, Forbes, January 1st, viewed March 17th, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/dbloom/2019/01/01/influencer-marketing-top-trends-2019/#7a907a606b25>.

Ha Minh 2016, ‘Nhung nhãn hàng 'ngam trái dang' voi dai su thuong hieu’, BrandsVietnam, February 26th, viewed March 17th, <https://www.brandsvietnam.com/8846-Nhung-nhan-hang-ngam-trai-dang-voi-dai-su-thuong-hieu>.

Lê Duc 2018, ‘Vietnam Digital Landscape 2018’, LinkedIn Slideshare, February 26th, viewed March 17th, <https://www.slideshare.net/kiditer/vietnam-digital-landscape-2018>.

Ngoc Trâm 2019, ‘Nhung chien dich quang cáo khoi dong Tet 2019’, AdvertisingVietnam, January 5th, viewed March 17th, <https://advertisingvietnam.com/2019/01/nhung-chien-dich-quang-cao-khoi-dong-tet-2019/>.

Ngoc Trâm 2019, ‘Quang cáo Tet 2019: Cuoc chien dành cho dung trong tâm trí nguoi tiêu dùng’, AdvertisingVietnam, January 18th, viewed March 17th, <https://advertisingvietnam.com/2019/01/quang-cao-tet-2019-cuoc-chien-danh-cho-dung-trong-tam-tri-nguoi-tieu-dung/>.

Pearl D. 2018, ‘Unilever Says No More Fake Followers and Bots. Influencers Cheer, and Question the Future’, Adweek, June 26th, viewed March 17th, <https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/unilever-says-no-more-fake-followers-and-bots-influencers-cheer-and-question-the-future/>.

Stewart R. 2018, Influencer featured in ‘ridiculous’ Listerine ad condemns ‘nasty’ response, The Drum, September 2nd, viewed March 17th, <https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/09/02/influencer-featured-ridiculous-listerine-ad-condemns-nasty-response>.   

WARC 2018, ‘What we know about influencer marketing’, WARC, May, viewed 17th, <https://www-warc-com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/content/article/bestprac/what_we_know_about_influencer_marketing/111564>.

Williams M. 2012, ‘Nike drops deal with Lance Armstrong after he 'misled us for a decade'’, The Guardian, October 17th, viewed March 17th, <https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/oct/17/nike-lance-armstrong-misled-decade>.