They huff and puff, put on a big display to impress you with their social media numbers… followers, engagement, even brand deals.

But when you peek behind the curtain, you’re faced with the nasty truth:  Some are nothing more than an illusion – all smoke and mirrors.

This is because they built their influence using tricks and short cuts to attract followers without putting in the time and effort needed to attract a genuinely engaged audience. 

Instead, their emphasis is on acquiring followers quickly, so they can impress brands into sponsoring content with them.

So how do you get a peek behind the curtain?

Fortunately, there is a tool that can help you do this.  However, let’s first take a look at the strategies many Instagrammers use to grow their accounts quickly, with minimal effort and that jeopardize the very influence they are trying to build.

Let’s dive in…

#1: Buying fake followers

We’ve talked about this problem before but unfortunately it still persists.

This is obvious but buying fake followers is a poor strategy because they are not real people.  Instead, they are bots, idle or stolen accounts that don’t engage with your content. 

It’s by no means limited to beauty influencers!

It’s a common problem found in many business niches including fashion, travel and food to name just a few.  No matter the niche, however, the trouble is some people are still trying to short cut their way to becoming an influencer, achieving status that they haven’t earned and don’t deserve.

Fortunately, brands are getting wise to this and influencer platforms and tools are getting better at spotting the strategy as you’ll see.

#2: The follow/unfollow strategy

This a common strategy used by Instagrammers and it’s simple: they follow accounts who might be interested in their content, wait a few days, and then unfollow them hoping they don’t notice.

If they don’t notice, they’ve kept them as followers while keeping their own follower count low. 

The reason is simple:

Keeping the number of people you follow low in relation to the number of people who follow you tells the Instagram algorithm that you are influential and your account is a good one.  It’s why you’ll often see huge accounts with millions of followers follow very few (if any) in return.

Okay, so what’s so bad about the follow/unfollow strategy?

First, automatically following and unfollowing is a direct violation of Instagram’s terms and conditions – so it’s not a good idea.

Also, it’s acting like a spammer, and Instagrammers who use this trick are manipulating (rather than persuading) users’ attention.

While this method can grow an Instagram follower count, they’re not growing the audience they really want to influence.

Therefore, even if they manage to grow their account to tens of thousands of followers but have little to no engagement, it isn’t worth it.

And know this, the followers who don’t engage are known as ghost followers.  Attract too many of them and they’ll drag down an account so it gets less organic reach.

This is because Instagram tends to show users posts that are liked and commented on more than others.

While analyzing hundreds of Instagram accounts the folks at HypeAuditor have noticed that users who practice follow/unfollow have a bigger percentage of ghost followers than those who don’t.

That’s something a good influencer doesn’t want.

Here’s a quick peek at what their tool can reveal:

HypeAuditor gives brands and marketers a significant peek behind the curtain so no one can play Wizard of Oz and fool you. 

From the example above, we can see what percentage of the followers are real people, how many of them are other influencers (not a bad thing mind you), mass followers and suspicious accounts (likely bots).

So, in the case of this influencer, we know that her “reachability” to her followers can be improved and that the authenticity percentage can be improved too – the 48.8% number above indicates room for improvement as the average for accounts her size (50k) is about 61%.

HypeAuditor also points out that this influencer is using Instagram engagement pods (more on this later). 

I checked with the influencer and she confirmed she’s using them for engagement and she was shocked that a tool could pick up on that.

#3: Loop Giveaways

A loop giveaway on Instagram consists of a dozen or more accounts teaming up to buy a prize, and then creating a “loop” of steps that users are required follow in order to enter to win the giveaway.

The entrants are required to follow every account in the loop in order to enter to win, thus an influencer could theoretically come away with hundreds or even thousands of new followers.

But all the new followers acquired from a loop giveaway likely followed to enter the contest and not because they’re interested in the content. 

Many of the new followers will unfollow shortly after the content is complete or turn into ghost followers.

#4: Engagement pods

Commonly known as Instagram pods or boost groups, these are private groups of twenty or more Instagrammers who team up to grow their Instagram engagement with the aim of getting more followers.

Pod members communicate with each other via messenger, usually Telegram, to keep the conversation off the Instagram and Facebook platforms so they don’t get detected. The trick works because every time someone in the pod publishes a new Instagram post, they share it in the group message thread. Pod members will then click on the post, like it, and leave a comment.

This method will increase engagement, but only while the Instagrammer remains in the pod. Once they leave the group engagement will drop.  Also, many engagement pods are made up of accounts that aren’t in the same niche, so the audience they’re collecting is disparate and not focused on the core audience they want to reach.

Another problem is that engagement pods usually don’t stick around for long as the members usually aren’t concentrated on helping each other over an extended period of time. 

That’s because they get distracted and stop being active.

Like the other tricks above, this one doesn’t help collect focused, quality followers.  It helps to collect followers for the sake of followers and nothing else.

#5: Paid Shout-outs

An Instagram shout-out is a post in other content creator’s account, presenting it to their followers and suggesting that they follow the account.

Generally, a shout-out is a good practice, but many creators use it incorrectly. The mistake they make is to collaborate with special shout-out pages or non-relevant creators.

But it gets worse:

Some unscrupulous shout out accounts buy bots for their “advertisers” in order to justify the cost of a shout-out.

They lose because even though they get a bunch of new followers many of these new followers are inactive and bots.

So how does an Instagrammer legitimately build influence?

Okay, now that you know the pitfalls, let’s spend some time talking about what Instagrammers can do to legitimately build a following, credibility and influence.

Tip #1: Publish Good Quality Content – Consistently

High quality photos are important, but the truth is there’s need to spend money on an expensive camera.  A mobile phone camera is just fine.

But don’t just focus on good photos. Captions are also important because they are the key to having a bigger and better reach.

Good captions are the best way to inspire followers to comment on posts.

So be sure to post genuine opinions, thoughts and observations.  This is a big component to showing individuality and personality.

Good captions can also motivate others to take an action.

Tip #2: Show up and engage with followers

People like to know they are valued for their thoughts and opinions, so show up and be present and respond.

Engaging with followers is a good way to get them talking.

The easiest way is to ask questions, as it encourages people to stop and comment instead of just scrolling past. Also, people love to give their opinions, so Instagrammers should use this to their advantage.

Additionally, engage with other creators in the niche.

Regularly comment on their posts and don’t forget to also respond to the comments received. This shows people that they are valued.

Tip #3: Do shout-outs with relevant content creators

As I said earlier, shout-outs are one of the tools that can help to grow an audience, but they have to be done correctly.

First, be sure to collaborate with relevant influencers within the same niche.

Secondly, Instagrammer should check the influencers for authenticity using HypeAuditor. Don’t be fooled by fancy pictures and a big follower count.  Be sure to check their engagement rate at the very least. Like a brand, Instagrammers should check other Instagrammers for veracity.

HypeAuditor will generate a report that will shows the quality of the audience of any Instagrammer including where their likes and comments come from.

Tip #4: Leverage official Instagram ads

Think about spending some money on Instagram ads. It’s is a good way to grow a following, but the result depends on creativity and targeting.

Study your audience carefully and pay attention to who engages the most. Then target the ad to a similar audience.

For example:

If the core audience likes content about beauty and fragrance and they are between 25 and 35 years old, then target these people with ads.

Also, if you plan to boost a post, make sure it speaks to the audience. If the account is mostly about make-up, share some tips and secrets. Together with a fantastic photo this will produce a better result.

Tip #5: Use narrow, well defined hashtags

People don’t search for interesting accounts under broad hashtags like #beauty, #love, #instagram and so on. They are too broad, and the selection is endless. 

Instagrammers who use hashtags like these will get lost in the giant sea of Instagram and no one will find them.

Instead use more specific and relevant tags like #beautyqueens, #browtinting, #makeuplesson and others that are used less often and more descriptive.

Another reason to use more limited hashtags is to protect the account from users who practice the follow/unfollow method. Also it attracts followers who actually like the content who are relevant to the niche and content.

Wrapping Up

Identifying quality influencers takes time. The good news is that tools are now available to do so. Also, building influence on Instagram takes a lot of time and effort.

It’s human nature to want to find shortcuts to get there faster -by brands and influencers alike. This should be resisted by both.   

Brands should be careful about who they are working with and Instagrammers shouldn’t shortchange themselves by following questionable methods to grow their accounts.

Instead, brands should focus on relevant, quality influencers who have genuine influence with their followers.  Influencers should focus on organic growth, mindful content creation, and consistent analytics.

Both sides should use tools like HypeAuditor to peek behind the curtain, so they don’t get fooled by those pretending to be the Wizard of Oz.

The post How Brands and Instagrammers Can Spot Fake Influencers appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

Moderator Christine Philip of Global Glam magazine interviewed a panel of Experts including:

Christine Schott Ledes, Founder of The Beauty Influencers and President of the American Influencer Association

Eldonie Mason, an attorney specializing in entertainment law  at the Mason Law Firm

Parisa Wang, a handbag designer working with influencers around the world

Connie Chi, marketing strategist specializing in influencer branding and marketing at The Chi Group

And a panel of Influencers including:

Tina Lee, Of Leather and Lace, @OfLeatherandLace

Megan Mandell, Honest Twenty One, @HonestTwentyOne

Batsheva Weinstein, Sunnies and Sangria, @SunniesandSangria

Grace Lee, Gracefullee Made, @GraceFulleeMade

TOPICS OF DISCUSSION

BRANDS AND INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS

How can influencers gain the trust of a brand?

Influencers can gain the trust of a brand by building a quality, loyal audience of real followers that’s engaged and enthusiastic.  Publish quality content consistently.  Don’t be a diva and act professionally.

What is the best way for brands to get in touch with influencers?

Directly via email or DM.  The email option on must of the platforms is terrible.  Also, because marketers spam the influencers via these platforms, many influencers don’t pay attention to them any longer. Your best bet is to contact them directly.

What is the best way for influencers to get in touch with brands?

Find contact info (usually email) and send a thoughtful communication that spells out your value and why the brand should want to work with you.  Provide creative ideas about what you can do to promote their products and some stats about your audience.

What problems do you most often see in brand / influencer relationships?

Lack of communication about expectations by both sides. I also see brands looking to “control” influencer content and in some cases create it for them – which defeats the purpose of influencer marketing.  Instead, brands should look to cooperate with influencers in order to leverage their creativity and access their authenticity.

Influencers should look to build relationships with brands so they can work with them long term, focus on what really matters: serving their audiences by talking about beauty and makeup.  Instead, too many influencers focus on the money and what they can get out of brands.

What has been the most successful brand / influencer relationship you’ve experienced?

Schott pointed to the introduction she made between Lauren Bush and the UN World Food Programme as still one of the most rewarding and successful collaborations she has ever experienced, FEED Projects.  “What started out as Lauren’s inspiration for a re-useable grocery bag, sold on Amazon for $25, quickly became a hot fashion accessory sold at Bergdorf Goodman for up to $250, and has since grown into a whole line of products sold over the years at Barnes & Noble, Target, Whole Foods, on-line, and now in her own FEED store in Dumbo, which has raised more than $10 million to literally feed hungry children around the globe.”

What are some dos and don’ts for working with brands? 

Ensure the brand’s values align with yours.  Don’t sell out for money as your audience will likely sense it and begin to distrust you.  Realize that a smaller, engaged audience is better than a large, unengaged one.  Have a contract that spells out expectations for the brand as well as you.  Meet your obligations for the brand.  Be sure to specify all sponsored content clearly. 

 THE FUTURE OF THE INFLUENCER INDUSTRY

What do you see as the biggest problem facing the influencer industry?

Confusion and lack of education.  The purpose of influencer marketing is to access your target audience, your ideal consumers by leveraging other people (the influencers) and their content.  Its not about advertising, its about marketing.  See some of my comments above as I’ve already touched up this.

 What are bots and should an Influencer use them?

There are all kinds of bots and not all of them bad.  But when it comes to fake followers and fake engagement, don’t do either. Brands are catching on and starting to say no to working with influencers who have too many fake followers and/or engagement. And if you think they won’t notice, you’re only fooling yourself. 

 How can brands figure out if an influencer is using a bot?

There are some third party tools that can help with this, but it also helps to know what the bots are programmed to do.  Often fake followers don’t have profile pictures and they follow many people but have no followers of their own.  In terms of fake engagement, bots often leave thin comments like “Love this” or “Great post” or “Love your feed.”   Real people ask questions, offer specific observations about the post – bots don’t do that.

 Is using an influencer critical for a brand to grow their sales?

No, there are many ways to drive business, influencer marketing is just one strategy.  However, as a strategy, influencer marketing can get intricately involved in the customer journey where other strategies cannot.  Remember, people like to buy from other people when possible and this is the power of behind the strategy.

What one thing would you like to see change in the Influencer industry?

For brands and influencers to get more educated about the possibilities the strategy has to offer. For brands, its to stop thinking bigger audiences are necessary and to stop throwing money at influencers.

Who are the style or industry icons you most admire and why?

Kylie Jenner of Kylie Cosmetics was noted as just one of the many industry icons most admired. Like her or not, Kylie not only successfully launched a direct-to-consumer line of cosmetics, inspiring thousands of other influencers to do the same, but is now showing that the brick and mortar retail experience is still important by launching the brand in Ulta Stores for the holiday season. She is a clear leader in the influencer industry

What trends do you see coming next in the influencer industry?

The two trends that both Influencers and Experts agreed were important to watch are Influence Marketing and the growing importance of Micro Influencers.

Fashion Mingle is a platform for fashion industry professionals, creating local fashion directories in over 100+ cities nationwide. For more information, please visit: www.fashionmingle.net. 

The post Fashion Mingle’s: Influencers Unscripted appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

It might also provide some needed case studies about how not to do things.  We’ll have to see how this all shakes out…

The latest flap to roil an already turbulent influencer industry came from an unlikely source.  It was sparked by Marlena Stell @MarlenaStell –a beauty influencer who has been building her own influence and credibility for the past ten years in addition to recently starting her own beauty brand.

Stell published a YouTube video in which she bemoans the current state of influencer marketing and how it’s devolved into a prickly environment where many are focused on nothing but greed and fame over makeup and relationships.

Her video is instructive because she straddles both sides of the coin – being a well-established beauty influencer as well as a business woman representing her own start-up brand. 

As she explains in her video, she seems genuinely conflicted about the industry and what it’s devolving into.

Honestly, her observations aren’t unusual for a rapidly growing industry where the guard rails for professional behavior and rules of engagement are few.

Brands clamor to leverage influencers and often reward larger audience sizes over authenticity, relationships, and a genuine desire to connect and help their audiences.  Instead, she says, it’s all about sales.

This last part is where Stell seems the most disappointed. 

As she tells it, the focus of many beauty influencers has shifted away from the makeup and connecting with followers to forge deeper relationships with brands.

Instead, she claims, the focus for many influencers seems to have has shifted to social climbing, becoming famous and padding their wallets.

As I’ve written about before, the beauty industry is paving new ground where influencer marketing is concerned while showing its ugly side in the process.

But let’s recall why influencers became important at all.

Influencer marketing gained traction because consumers started to trust the “regular” people they were seeing on Instagram and YouTube, instead of the professionally made up models shown in magazines and on television.

The authenticity and relatability they brought was refreshing and something magazines and TV couldn’t compete with.  Soon it became evident that these regular people could influence followers to buy stuff.

Once that came about, it gave rise to personalities like Marlena Stell, who ended up with a huge following and makeup brand of her own.

And she’s not alone because there are plenty of others who followed in her footsteps and made the jump from influencer to beauty brand start-up.

It’s one thing to encounter the customary greed and back stabbing behavior found in high growth situations where opportunity is ripe, but it’s another to claim some influencers are threatening to tell their followers not to buy your products if you don’t pay them enough. 

Even worse, some brands evidently are willing to pay influencers to trash competitors in their posts and videos. 

Stell wasn’t willing to name anyone, but she was very clear that she knew this behavior was happening.

Kevin James Bennett @kjbennettbeauty –an Emmy Award-winning Cosmetic Developer, Makeup Artist, Educator and Journalist, with a following of 40K of his own, claims he was actually offered the opportunity to pay for the “dedicated negative review of a competitor’s product” of a brand he consulted with by the management team of a top-level beauty influencer.

If true, and we have no reason to believe they are making this up, this is a new low and completely reprehensible.

As an influencer marketer, if I got wind of an influencer trashing brands in exchange for payment, they would never work with my brands or clients again.

Many influencers are not seasoned business people as many of we marketers know. 

For some, this may be their first experience in business. Many of them are young and haven’t had the benefit of working in a large corporation, but still, I don’t think that’s any excuse for this kind of behavior.

It’s the kind of thing that only leads to disappointment, broken trust and ruin. If someone is willing to do this for money, it doesn’t speak well of their character.

So, if you know of any influencer engaging in this kind of thing, tell them to stop now.

But Stell’s observations about beauty influencers didn’t end there.

She was adamant that some “billion-dollar brands” confided to her that they weren’t getting the ROI they wanted from the influencers they were working with, especially the ones with large followings.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise as many researchers have noted the correlation between massive audiences and lack of engagement.

This is why Stell encourages brands to work with smaller, micro influencers instead. 

Their followings are more engaged and their authenticity is intact.  Also, because they are less well known, they will jump at the chance to work closely with a big brand as I’ve noted before.

It also affords brands the opportunity to cultivate and forge relationships that can be fruitful in many ways and longer lasting.

One last thing, if the beauty industry doesn’t get a handle on this problem, the influencer community will be undermined and possibly irreparably harmed.

So something needs to be done.  Fortunately, the American Influencer Association is working on measures to help guide influencers and brands alike.

Not only is this an important thing for influencers and brands, but most importantly for the consumer, too!

The idea is to set down some guidelines so the beauty community can work within a framework that supports good business practices, fosters relationships between brands and influencers, and give consumers the best experience possible.

The post The Prickly Subject of PNR: Paid Negative Reviews appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

A growing litany of exposés by news organizations about how these platforms are riddled with bots, fake followers and fake accounts and more.  All of this leading to questions about the viability of working with influencers.

YouTube is notable because so many beauty influencers inhabit that platform and have huge followings there.

As The New York Times reported a couple of days ago, there’s an entire cottage industry of small firms and individuals who cater to the impatient people who are looking for a short cut to building an audience.

Whether it’s to boost the appearance of popularity or to leverage that fake following into a money-making scheme by tricking brands into paying them, it’s become problem.

Either way, its underhanded and undermines the credibility of the other influencers who aren’t buying fake followers, etc. Stories like this tend to inflict collateral damage by tarnishing the entire influencer industry.

No matter the motivation, it’s cheating (and possibly worse) and we’re thankful to The New York Times for outing another underhanded practice many would-be influencers are utilizing.

This has gone on for far too long

As I’ve written before, the urge to buy fake followers comes from the desire to “juice” the algorithm, to artificially boost the visibility of content, to get in front of more eyeballs.

This phenomenon isn’t limited to cyberspace and the brick and mortar world has its comparisons.

For example, it’s like driving past a night club on a cold, Friday evening with a long line waiting outside the velvet rope, everyone shivering, waiting to get in.

As you pass by, your immediate reaction is to think “this club is popular,” so you get on line with your friends anticipating that inside it’s hopping with fun and interesting people.

It’s not until you enter the club that you realize you are some of the first people there!

The beautiful people you were hoping to meet haven’t arrived yet, so you spent that time outside, shivering in the cold, for nothing.

You were duped by the appearance of popularity.

Let’s look a more “extreme” example, but one that works in tandem with cyberspace:

Imagine you walk past a shop that appears to be jam-packed with people. 

This triggers a thought in your mind, causing you to believe the place is popular, luring you inside for a few minutes, to look around to see what the fuss is about.

But once you get inside, you find out the place if full of… mannequins.

The shop you thought was packed full of people is instead filled with lifeless dummies standing around.

Okay, I admit, this last example, when you think about it, is creepy – almost something out of the Zombies!

But really, the analogy works when we relate it to cyberspace. 

The mannequins in the store are equivalent fake followers and subscribers online. They aren’t real and they certainly aren’t going to buy anything. 

Now, it also stands to reason that fake followers don’t respond to beauty tutorials by influencers. They don’t engage, share, comment, like and certainly don’t buy product.

So my advice to firms and influencers is this: don’t do it.

Want more evidence that it’s a bad idea?

The Times article is replete with examples of people and organizations who’ve been duped into buying fake views for one reason or another – and all regretted it.

Remember the old adage, “Anything worth doing, is worth doing well!”  Same is true when building an online following.

Keep in mind, YouTube as a social media platform is different than Twitter and Instagram 

The reason is that not only does the number of views factor into the algorithm, but the number of subscribers, comments and time watched counts as well.

Unfortunately, all of these social metrics can be bought to some degree. 

The good news is that their quality is usually poor and easy to spot.

So, what about beauty influencers, are they buying fake views for their videos? Is this something to be concerned about?

Well, as to how many beauty influencers have bought fake followers, I’m not sure (and neither is anyone else). But the problem isn’t any more prevalent in beauty than any other retail category.

So, beauty isn’t squeaky clean because no one is immune from the temptation.

But with news stories like this one by The Times and with company announcements like Unilever’s CMO Keith Weed calling for an end to the practice of buying fake followers, the influencer marketing industry is moving in the right direction.

This is all good for the beauty industry: brands and influencers alike.

The tolerance for bad behavior – like buying fake followers, views or subscribers – is finally on the wane. This is what the American Influencer Association aims to address, as well.

As we learned last week, fake followers are basically impossible to avoid entirely, because bots start following influencers as soon as they get to a certain level. So, even the most legitimate influencers unfortunately have them, but we can certainly look at percentages.

And, I predict that as this trend gains momentum, the beauty influencers who are legit and honest, will benefit even more.  Their reputations will be burnished because of their desire for integrity.

Adding to this, is that the number of tools being developed to determine who’s buying followers and views and who’s not, is on the rise.

This is good news for marketers as it will become easier and faster to determine fake followers.

Platforms like Instagram and Twitter are making an effort to stamp out the fakes, now its YouTube’s turn to step up to the plate.

In YouTube’s case, the administrators make periodic system updates to disrupt the suppliers of the fakes.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t normally take much time before the suppliers are able to adjust and be open for business again.

The suppliers say they get around YouTube’s system updates by making their traffic appear more believable (more human) by ensuring that the views come from users with prior views.

No matter what, the suppliers of fakes views and followers aren’t going away soon.

But with the trifecta of the social platforms getting more vigilant; brands demanding more transparency and accountability; and with honest hard-working influencers standing by their integrity, and the importance of micro-influencers on the rise, I see the battle being won. 

It may just take a while.

The post Another Domino Falls: Now YouTube Gets Outed for the Problem of Fake Views #YouTubePurge appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

As I’ve written before, influencers collaborate with brands in many business verticals including travel, fashion, home furnishings and technology, but it’s the beauty space where they are most prevalent and make the huge impact.

In fact, beauty influencers are so effective, they’re beginning to supplant the role of sales representatives found behind the beauty counters in department stores. 

No other retail category has seen such a profound and dramatic shift in how products are discovered and evangelized.

And the data is hard to dispute.

According to a 2016 study by The NPD Group —a market research firm, makeup launches for prestige brands that involved influencer collaborations generated twice the sales volumes in their first month (on average) as compared to launches that involved traditional celebrity collaborations.

Why is that?

Beauty influencers operate differently than their counterparts

Unlike influencers in other retail categories, beauty influencers often specialize in a particular product niche, such as makeup or skincare, and they commonly provide educational information about the products they like and use. 

But some of the most valuable content they publish – for audiences and brands – are the tutorials about how to apply the products. 

Makeup and skincare can be involved topics because of the variety of skin types, skin tones, allergies and environmental factors. 

It’s a case where advice from a like-minded person comes in very handy – and you don’t have to go to a store to get it. 

Instead of going to the mall, you can look up your favorite influencer on Instagram or YouTube using your mobile phone during lunch or while taking a walk.

Naturally, as part of their tutorials, influencers mention products they like and use.

In these tutorials they demonstrate how to best use the products and apply them which their followers respond to enthusiastically.

When influencers mention products, it’s like mana from heaven for brands, especially when it’s done organically and authentically. 

Now, that’s not to say sponsored content isn’t effective too, because it is. It’s just got to be handled differently.

Yet, until recently, mass market beauty brands have been the ones to embrace influencer marketing.

Only recently and because of market forces, have their prestigious counterparts started to explore it, too.

Luxury brands have been slow to embrace social media influencers

Mainstream celebrities like movie stars, television stars and professional athletes have traditionally been prime candidates for prestigious brands to enroll as ambassadors.

And for good reason, it’s s model that’s worked for decades.

But the millennials and GenZers have different expectations and experience brands and products differently than their older counterparts. 

They weren’t brought up on traditional movie going and television, the way their parents were.

Instead, they’ve been brought up with the Internet at their fingertips and social media as a way to interact with friends and colleagues. 

Everything they could ever want is a click away on their mobile phone or tablet.

Just ask any teenager about who they like to follow and you’ll likely get an earful about YouTubers and Instagrammers instead of movie stars and television personalities.

That’s not to say traditional celebrities have no place in the marketing mix any longer, but smart brands are diversifying, looking for new avenues to approach and engage their target markets.

Especially the younger generations.

Look for Prestige Brands to Shift Away from Celebrities to Beauty Influencers

So, times are changing fast and high-end luxury brands are beginning to follow their mass market counterparts into the realm of influencer marketing.

They’re beginning to partner with influencers who’ve built their audiences on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.

For example, some Dior product sales have benefited by working with such beauty influencers such as Jaclyn Hill.  Dior also acknowledges that many influencers command highly visible and engaged audiences on these social media platforms.

Therefore, they see the value, but it’s even better when the hard data backs it up.

According to Bain & Company consultants, millennials and GenZers contributed 85% of global luxury market growth in all categories in 2017.

This means younger people are a serious growth engine to luxury and prestige brands now -and going forward, so leveraging the power of beauty influencers makes good sense.

It must be remembered that social media for these generations is part of the fabric of their everyday life. Its not simply an enhancement, but a critical element to their interactions with others -not to mention how they get their news, purchase products, and learn how to use them.

If prestigious brands are to compete, they need to adapt so they will remain relevant and secure mindshare for their brands.

It might seem odd to older generations to learn that traditional celebrities are losing their hold on consumers’ attention, i.e. their influence, but as with so many things these days, rapid change is the norm.

Luxury beauty brands must not hesitate, they need to get on board before their competitors beat them to it.

The post Are Influencers the New Celebrities of the Prestige Beauty Market? appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

However, the problem of fake followers, and the use of bots in general, has got marketers and brands a little nervous.

They’re so nervous that the problem is coming to a head and some social platforms are taking the initiative.

You don’t have to look any further than the latest #TwitterPurge for evidence.

But what about the other social media platforms, and in particular, Instagram?

Is Instagram in need of a purge now, too?

A recent study by Ghost Data suggests that of the reported 1 billion users on Instagram —up to 95 million bots, may be posing as real accounts. 

The last time Instagram cleaned out fake accounts was back in 2014 as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Back then, Instagram had 300 million users compared to the 1 billion it claims now.

Curious about the possibility for a parallel rise in the use of bots, Ghost Data conducted a survey to determine if fake accounts were growing in use. 

To do this, they purchased 20,000 bots and analyzed their qualities to assist them in identifying similar bots in over one million other accounts. 

The firm found that the bots tended to follow many famous Instagram accounts, but didn’t post much content of their own, other than reposting popular content scraped from other sources.

Therefore, the problem of fake followers is a real one.

The trouble is, however, not all “bots” are created equal and the term can mean different things.

The truth is, some bots are created to perform specific functions –often to save you time and make your life easier, while other bots are designed to trick or exploit the algorithms.

I know one prominent influencer who admitted to me that if you need a little extra something to juice up the algorithm, to get the algorithm to pay attention to you, buying fake followers is a common way to do it.

That being said, my goal here is not to discuss the ethics of buying fake followers, but to show you the many uses of bots and to show you how to spot fake followers – so you are in the know.

So, to clarify things, here’s a breakdown of some of the more popular uses for bots:

• Schedule and post your content on social platforms
• Send automated messages or replies
• Post similar messages over multiple social media accounts to scale your content
• Aggressively follow and unfollow other accounts as a strategy to grow your audience
• Auto-rounds are a bot that likes your Instagram posts (usually from small sized accounts) within 30 minutes of publishing to trick the platform algorithm into thinking your content is popular
• Power-likes are similar to auto-rounds but come from accounts with huge followings (500k to 1mm) prompting the algorithm to believe your content is really good stuff
• Fake followers to pump up the appearance of having a larger audience

As you can see, bots perform many functions.  Some are useful and meant to make posting content easier, while others are developed to deceive the algorithm into giving you more attention.

As we’ve written before, many users, even some notable celebrities, are guilty of boosting the appearance of having a large following by buying fake followers, a move Unilever’s CMO Keith Weed denounced in Cannes last month.

Since Weed’s statement, there’s been a marked reaction by brands and agencies to find better ways to vet influencers.

Even so, the problem will persist for a time until brands, social platforms and influencers come together to squelch it.

This is one of the challenges the American Influencer Association aims to address this year.

Until a solution is developed, we’ll have to make do, so let’s take a closer look at what this fake activity looks like, so you can identify it.

Good news: Fake followers are generally easy to spot. 

Fake followers are generated by small, boiler room operations located in the Philippines, Thailand or some other far eastern country.

These fake followers are created without much depth given to them and often lack profile pictures and even profile descriptions, like this one on Twitter:

It’s important to remember, however, that not all fake followers are purchased.  Some of them are bots that are sent to scrape content or perform other tasks.

I found the above follower on my account and I have no idea why it’s there.

The important thing to keep in mind is that every account has some fake followers present. The question is, how many? 

My goal here is to show you how to vet influencers’ followers so you can determine whether they are buying fakes to pump up their numbers.

But, don’t jump to conclusions. If some of your influencers have fake followers, it might not be their fault.

Now, let’s examine what they look like on Instagram:

Like Twitter, fake followers on Instagram will often have little information.

I’ve noticed a trend recently where fake followers will show up as private accounts like the one above. This is so you can’t see their lack of content or depth as a real person has.

A few details to notice about the example above:

• The profile photo is of a cartoon character rather than a person although fake accounts do sometimes use photos of people (scraped from dating sites)
• The name of the account “tgh_gg” makes it obvious this is a fake
• Lack of a profile description
• The account is private

However, these are the cheap and easy-to-spot fake followers. 

There are firms that will furnish real looking followers that include photos, profile descriptions and some content for a higher price, so this method is not foolproof.

This is where third party tools come in handy. 

One of the better ones is SocialBlade.  Using this tool, you can find information about the history of the account and stats on its followers whether it’s on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch and others.

Let’s look at one.

Instagram’s luxury niche has many accounts that are guilty of buying fake followers.

I’ll show you how to use SocialBlade and what to look for.

First, review the follower graph for the account you are reviewing and look for spikes in growth and steep drop offs.

The steep rises in followers are a sign of buying followers. Steep drop offs are evidence of purges by Instagram to weed out fake followers. 

Legitimate, organically grown audiences don’t look like this. Now look at the image below:

It’s a detailed look at evidence of fake followers being purged by Instagram.

Notice the daily drop off in followers – which is not necessarily abnormal.  This happens if an account is not maintained with fresh, quality content because the followers get bored.

But the precipitous drop of over 1500 followers is indicative of fake followers being purged from the account.

This begs the question, what do you look for then?

Look for an audience graph that shows a steady growth.  Growth can be rapid depending upon what strategies the influencer is employing to attract attention.

But more often than not, organically acquired audience growth looks like this:

The above chart is what you want to see with your influencer’s audience growth trajectory: slow and steady.

Wrapping-up

Fake follower bots are everywhere.  Therefore, be knowledgeable about how to spot them.  Also, be informed about what a healthy audience profile looks like on Instagram or any other social media platform.

Additionally, don’t cast influencers aside just because you find some fake followers on their rolls.  Instead, determine what percentage of fake followers is acceptable to you.  Is it 5% or 10%?

And one more thing, be sure to let the influencer you choose to work with know you are looking for fake followers.  Ask them to be transparent with you and purge them if they do exist.

Remember, the effort to stamp out the problem of fake followers is everybody’s job, not just the influencers.

The post Is an #InstagramPurge Next? appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

It’s 2018, and many brands remain baffled about how to work with influencers. 

They struggle with which influencers to work with, tools to use and how to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Rather than establish their own goals and then work to understand which influencers can help them achieve those, many brands continue to choose influencers based on inaccurate measures like number of followers and audience sizes.  Shallow measures like these lead to poor selection and disappointment with the return on investment.

And then there’s the problem of fake followers 

How do brands tell if an influencer’s audience is even real? 

As The New York Times reported, the problem of fake followers is widespread and often pursued even by well know celebrities. Surprisingly, even with the available tools, brands remain blind to this and find out only when it’s too late and the desired results disappoint.

Thankfully, many third-party tools exist for marketers to discover the viability of influencers’ followers, but knowing which ones are effective -and the sheer plethora of them, leaves one’s head spinning.

As I’ve written lately, choosing the right influencers for your brand doesn’t have to be difficult.  It simply requires using a proven method, some help from third party tools, along with that essential, human element of knowing what to look for.

And because the influencer industry is not as transparent as many of us would like, we still have to rely on our own skills as marketers to sift out the good influencers from the chaff.

Brands that don’t use proven methods are either ignorant, not working with seasoned professionals, or simply too lazy.  The result is that many continue to overpay influencers and work with ones who are incongruent.

Are Brands at a Disadvantage to Influencers?

According to some influence marketers, some fashion and beauty brands feel “out of control” when working with influencers and somehow believe the influencers are in charge. This mindset is baffling.

Since brands hold the money, and influencer marketing as a strategy wouldn’t exist without them, how can brands feel powerless when working with influencers? 

I can’t help but wonder where their PR and in-house marketing teams are? 

And don’t they work with competent agencies?

I wonder if the same brands feel “out of control” when conducting a traditional PR or advertising campaign? 

No, of course not.

So why is there a difference when working with influencers?

Brands setting up an influencer campaign need to pay attention to two simple things: relevance and engagement. 

These two basic metrics guide the philosophy and selection process necessary to working with the right influencers every time.

Third party tools and platforms can help you with this process, too, but you must know that none of them adequately vets the influencers or checks for fake followers.

You and your team have to do that on your own and this is where the human element is critical.

Thankfully, social platforms are slowly cleaning up their acts.

Just this week, it was reported that Twitter is cleaning house of fake accounts.

This is welcome news, but I expect fake followers to remain a problem.  Until influencers are held accountable for propping up their follower count by buying followers, they will likely continue.

Fortunately, the movement for influencer accountability is already underway -and being led by Unilever’s Keith Weed, as we’ve reported recently.

Additionally, some social platforms are easy to check for fake followers. 

For example, Twitter can be checked using the tool TwitterAudit, but other platforms like Facebook are more difficult and the human element is still required to spot fakes on most social media platforms.

So vetting influencers can be effectively done, it just takes some time and effort.

Brands that don’t vet influencers carefully can expect uneven or poor results.  Like any other marketing strategy, influencer marketing requires an upfront investment of time and money to be done right.

Any successful influencer strategy should be carefully mapped out and designed to achieve specific campaign goals.  These goals should be measured by specific KPIs used to measure success and to help re-adjust campaign strategy, if and when necessary.

Should brands focus on micro-influencers over “big name” influencers like the Kardashians?

Arguments exist on both sides of the micro vs mega-influencer strategy, but the governing principle should be what the brand wants to get out of working with influencers.

Is the purpose to drive brand awareness?  Or is it to generate leads and sales?

Once this is determined, the decision about what type of influencers to use can then be made.  If the goal is to boost awareness, then working with many influencers is necessary since frequency and repetition are needed. In this case, micro-influencers are the way to go.

An example of a beauty brand doing this well is L’Oreal which reportedly works with up to 20,000 influencers – most of them, micro-influencers. 

But they also work with select “big name” macro and mega-influencers, working hard to develop and maintain those relationships.

After all, don’t forget, many micro-influencers are influenced in their own right by the “big name” influencers they look up to!

Either way, brands are, indeed, in the driver’s seat.  And, the sooner they recognize this and begin to choose influencers based upon congruence while demanding accountability from them, the sooner they’ll start to feel how powerful this strategy really can be!

The post Are Brands Throwing Money Away on Influencer Marketing? appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

On June 20^th, CEO, Kevin Systrom, announced its new IGTV App which allows for video uploads up to 60 minutes in length. Doing so enables Instagram to transform itself into a more integrated, and powerful, social media platform.

Clearly, it’s a shot across the bow to YouTube which reigns supreme as the choice social platform for long form video content. But is this a case of over-reaching?

Don’t discount Instagram.  When they were threatened by Snapchat, they quickly introduced Instagram stories triggering a mass migration of users solidifying their position as a preferred social media channel for content creators.

Is IGTV really as big as we think it is?  Let’s take a closer look.

IGTV is a new video app that enables expanded capability for content creators to communicate value to their followers. 

Allowing up to 60 minutes in length, Instagram creators no longer have to rely on YouTube for somewhere to post in-depth video content. Not only that but its vertical format is built for mobile, and it connects seamlessly to Instagram’s one billion users.

Also, let’s not forget social media platforms are notorious for wanting to keep their users’ attention and to prevent them from straying to other platforms. 

Facebook discourages users from posting non-native content by making it less visible to friends and followers. With IGTV, Instagram gives users a reason to stick around longer.

Prior to this, Instagrammers were limited to simple photo posts and Instagram stories.  Now they can post video content up to 60 minutes in length – which beauty influencers will love.

IGTV is a game changer.

Not that YouTube has anything to worry about in the short term.

It’s the second largest search engine next to Google and it boasts thousands of influencers who occupy nearly every business niche you can think of, including beauty. 

Many of those influencers have been with the platform for years and have grown along with it. There’s a certain familiarity and comfort associated with YouTube, how to use it, build an audience and to monetize it.

But there’s more. YouTube has built an impressive billion-dollar revenue generator out of many millions of video posts there. Not only that, but YouTube’s parent Google is also buying higher-end content these days for YouTube Premium (formerly known as YouTube Red).

YouTube’s masterminds realize they needs to offer other kinds of experiences to its creators and their followers.  Therefore, it shares its enormous ad revenues with its biggest and best creators. By contrast, IGTV has no such sharing arrangement – yet.

So when the entertainment industry and huge brands gave a collective yawn about the introduction of IGTV, that’s why.

Instagram said it plans to offer ways to monetize content by the end of the year, but that’s a little iffy.

In the meantime, expect to see a lot of boring content by brands as they scramble to market themselves and populate this new territory.

Compelling content on IGTV, however, will come from the influencers themselves, especially in the beauty, fashion and travel niches. They know what their followers want and are good at creating it.  With IGTV, they now have another tool to do so.

As to monetizing content, the influencers will take the lead on this, too.  Of all the social platforms, Instagram is where influencers have blossomed accelerating the growth of influencer marketing as a strategy.  Now that IGTV is here, expect the influencers and the brands they work with, to jump on it quickly.

When its all said and done, though, perhaps the biggest beneficiary of IGTV is Instagram itself. IGTV promises to transform Instagram into a more robust social platform where content can be consumed in multiple ways.

Beauty influencers, in particular, won’t have to migrate to a different platform like YouTube to create their video tutorials and can now keep it bundled together in one place.

Some influencers will undoubtably double down on Instagram and concentrate their content there.  Others will likely keep their options open until they see how it all shakes out.

Either way, beauty influencers and the influencer marketing industry win as they now have a powerful tool in IGTV.

The post IGTV: Instagram Gives Beauty Influencers a Reason to Stick Around appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

And this light looms large as its from a heavy weight, global consumer brand.  Reportedly spending over $9 billion every year in marketing, Unilever has the chops – and the bucks – to affect change.

Weed was very clear.  He announced early Monday that Unilever will not work with influencers who buy followers.

Are you listening? Other brand leaders are and its welcome news to an industry that’s been struggling to tame the gold rush mentality that’s invaded its psyche.

Weed also made it clear that Unilever’s sub brands will actively look to eradicate from their marketing spend any influencers who buy fake followers, use bots to pump up their engagement, or any other dubious practices.

And, that Unilever would use its muscle (I mean clout) with vendor relationships where financial commitments were made to root out and eradicate such fraud.

(Can you hear Keanu Reeves say “Whooooaaa!”)

But it gets even better.

Weed also announced his intention to convene a summit of sorts with the World Federation of Advertisers, Instagram and Edelman chief executive Richard Edelman.  The aim is to hammer out a framework for bringing transparency to the influencer space.

The announcement, coming as it did during the festival, puts the spotlights right back on influencers.

That’s rich.  Really rich.  I mean, come on.

Why?

Because if it weren’t for huge firms like Unilever and Edelman – who’ve thrown money at influencers for years without demanding much transparency, the influencers wouldn’t be scrambling to pump up their follower counts and engagement ratios to get onto their radars.

It’s a symbiotic relationship, you see.

The public relations industry, in particular, treats influencer marketing as transactional because it’s how most PR people deal with journalists.  They pitch them when they need them, then move on.

But true influencer marketing is not about transactions.  It’s not just another form of advertising or media relations.  Done with care and effort, its about building real, lasting relationships with people who’ve built legitimate and engaged audiences of their own through their unique, genuine content.

Some industries approach influencers better than others and the technology industry is ahead of the pack.  By way of example, take a look at HPE. 

Since 2010, they have methodically built and maintained a sustainable influencer marketing program. (In full disclosure, I was instrumental in designing and driving this program.) The point is, they carefully identify and cultivate influencers who speak to their target consumers. Relationships are built by including them in their events and other marketing activities throughout the year.

And the beauty industry is catching up. Take a look at L’Oreal’s Beauty Squad.  The company is taking the long view by cultivating strategic relationships with influencers they deem to be instrumental in reaching their target consumers.

Now, does the influencer industry need accountability and more transparency?  Yes, it does – from brands and influencers alike.

(That’s what the American Influencer Association aims to do, but that’s for an upcoming post.)

But the cleanup, if you want to call it that, needs to come from the industry itself, not from some artificial summit organized by a PR firm and colossal brand. It needs to include the consultants, the agencies, practitioners and most of all the influencers.

As the beam from Unilever’s spotlight in Cannes scans over the influencer industry, we’ll see where this all takes us.

All said and done, it was one hell of a moment.

The post Unilever puts Spotlight on Fake Followers appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.

Still, influencers question: “How is this good for influencers?” “Why do we have to do this?” And, “Will anyone really notice?”

Let me explain.

First, why did the FTC step in?

Hundreds of thousands of influencers post content every day.

People like you and me, find that content and often take action on it by liking, sharing, commenting and even buying products that influencers talk about and promote.

It’s a form of word-of-mouth marketing, and it is very powerful.

But how do you know when an influencer talks about a product, it’s something they really like or use?  And, when is content a paid advertisement and when is it not?

Remember the Fyre Festival where influencers were used to promote a shoddily planned event on a Bahamian island where there wasn’t enough drinking water for the guests?

Consumers call in complaints to the FTC about unscrupulous conduct by influencers like this.

FTC guidelines were issued as a result of these situations and incidents.  For influencers, this is a good thing.  We now have clear guidelines to follow.

Why the Guidelines are Good for Influencers

Influencer marketing is sometimes described as the “wild west” because there are no industry standards, privacy is an issue, and there is a gold rush mentality about it.

To a degree, some of it’s true.  Clickbait articles are published every day telling tales of the big ROI to be gained by using influencers.  While other articles talk of influencers getting rich by charging brands who don’t know any better.

Many influencers are clamoring to make themselves look like they have bigger audiences than they really do by buying fake followers and using other shady tactics.

Brands are confused about which influencers are legitimate or just faking it.

And many consumers have been misled by influencers hawking products and not disclosing about being paid.

The dirty little secret is that many newcomers lose money when they first try influencer marketing. Unfortunately, these stories are not widely circulated because no one likes to admit they were duped.

But word has a way of getting around.

Not surprisingly, this causes many brands, marketers and consumers to look at it with some suspicion.

With the FTC guidelines, it’s clear there’s now a marshal in the territory and much needed law and order.

This should be welcome news to influencers because the real ones work hard to build an audience and to produce high quality content.

Here’s What You Need to Do

The influencer marketing community is a little confusing.

Some people say you only have to place hashtags in your post saying #ad or #sponsored and it should be okay.

According to Brian Igel — an attorney who develops best practices for influencers, agencies and brands to comply with the FTC’s guidelines on making and tracking disclosures, the clearer the influencer’s relationship with the brand is made, the better.

“If a brand is compensating you in any way, whether by making an actual payment or providing perks such as free product in exchange for the content you create, you need to disclose that. Be clear. Be upfront,” he says.

You should do your research, too. Don’t think that placing a couple of hashtags in your post is going to satisfy the FTC because it won’t. Even big celebrities have run afoul of the FTC for not disclosing their marketing arrangements clearly enough. Don’t make their mistake.

So, let’s get started

Social media platforms that compress content such as Twitter and Instagram don’t give you a lot of runway to work with.

For Instagram sponsored posts, it’s critical to place your connection with the brand at the beginning of the post and to label the post with appropriate hashtags such as #ad and #sponsored.

Here’s an example of how you can label your sponsored content on your Instagram content:

Twitter is another social media platform with compressed content, so you can do something similar there.

Longer form content needs to be clearly labeled, too.

Make it clear at the beginning of the blog post if content was sponsored by a brand or if you received free product in exchange for it.

I’ve seen influencers also add a caveat saying that because the content is sponsored, that doesn’t mean the brand told the influencer what to say or how to say it.

If you make a statement like this, it demonstrates you don’t necessarily agree with everything the brand claims about the product.

Audience members will appreciate your being upfront and honest.  It helps reinforce the relationship you have with them.

If you produce videos, disclosures should appear at the beginning of the video and on the screen long enough to be noticed, read, and understood. Be sure the font is large enough to read easily.

Many other marketers will tell you that this is not necessary, but I suggest you err on the side of caution.

You should also pay attention to and follow the terms and conditions of the social platforms you are using.  Be sure you understand what Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube expect of you.

One more thing…

Some brands are more compliant than others. Some are downright lazy.

This does not mean you should be this way.  Don’t wait for a brand to tell you what you should do regarding making your relationship known.  Take the initiative and do it without being asked.

Remember, you cannot be too careful.

How You Benefit

The FTC guidelines are meant to ensure everyone has a good experience.  They ultimately look to protect consumers.

By complying, you are showing your willingness to be upfront and honest in all of your dealings with brands and your audience.  Not only that, you are not trying to hide anything.

I’m a firm believer that honesty is the best policy.  The FTC guidelines simply give you a way to do this that’s clear, concise and consistent.

Your audience will appreciate it, and it will help you grow faster and easier, because believe me, brands are now watching!

Tom Augenthaler, The Influence Marketer @theinfluencemarketer

For more information, contact: Brian Igel, Bellizio + Igel, (212) 873-0250, or visit their website at http://bilawfirm.com/

Brian Igel is a contributor to The ABA’s Legal Guide to Fashion Design

The post Why FTC Regulatory Compliance Is Good for Influencers appeared first on The Beauty Influencers.