Big companies including Audi, David Jones and Unilever ditch fake influencers
SOME of Australia’s biggest brands — including David Jones, Holden, Audi and Unilever are re-evaluating their use of social media influencers over concerns they are not improving sales and are artificially inflating their followers.
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BIG brands including David Jones and consumer giant Unilever are dumping dodgy social media “influencers” who use tricky tactics to artificially inflate their followings.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal some of the country’s biggest brands are starting to “re-evaluate” the use of influencers following concerns they are not delivering a big enough bang for their very considerable bucks.
In some cases Instagrammers are even being asked to sign contracts which state they have not purchased followers.
The moves follow reports Holden is reducing the number of free-car contracts it has with influencers.
The Telegraph understands Audi has also reworked its marketing strategy since the start of the year after concerns the influencers it was using were not delivering an adequate return on investment.
An Audi spokesman said it had not cancelled existing contracts but added: “As a general rule, we always strive to ensure our data sources are reliable and accurate, so that we can make informed marketing decisions. We only work with authentic content creators.”
So-called “influencers” are popular social media users who are paid by companies to spruik products to their large numbers of online followers. While top influencers can earn more than $5000 per post, it is easy to purchase fake followers and likes.
Sydney-based influencer Eleanor Pendleton is an authentic content creator who currently works with Audi.
Lumio chief executive Dan Anisse — whose company provides data on influencer success — told The Telegraph he was working with both David Jones and Audi to ensure the companies were only hiring influencers with genuine clout.
“In the past brands have really been stabbing in the dark about who has real influence,” Mr Anisse said.
“Unfortunately the data Instagram provides doesn’t give a true insight into actual influence, which is why brands are digging deeper.”
Unilever, which owns a raft of everyday household brands such as Dove, Sunsilk and Rexona, also last month introduced a policy stating it would not hire influencers who purchased followers. It will now only work with social media platforms which made efforts to stamp out such tactics.
Unilever chief marketing officer Keith Weed said some influencers were ripping brands off by using “fake followers, bots, fraud or any dishonest business models”.
“At best, this is misleading and at worst, it’s fraudulent,” Mr Weed said. “We need to take urgent action now to rebuild trust.”
Lauren Bath is a Queensland-based travel influencer who helps set up deals for other Instagrammers. She said those she worked with had to sign a contract stating they had not purchased followers.
Ms Bath said she was concerned the practice was rife.
“There are sophisticated techniques influencers can use to cheat,” Ms Bath said. “Sadly some brands turn a blind eye to it, particularly because some people working for them have their own KPIs to meet.”