Are influencers influenced by money?

Last week, I was craving a really good dessert, but I did not have any specific place in my mind to go. All I knew was that I wanted a mouth-water sweet treat–and it would be an added bonus if it made for an impressive Snapchat picture to share with my friends! My thoughtless action was to read reviews on Yelp to help me decide where to go: spoiler alert– I decided on Bridies in DTLA.

Brands implementing “Influencer Marketing” strategies has become a popular and increasing trend in marketing communications. People are more reluctant to trust what other people have to say about a brand, over the brand, itself, is saying. Personally, when I chose to check Yelp for dessert suggestions, I dismissed any review that had the word “AD” across the review, to avoid getting an opinion that may have been influenced by the payment received.  I value the opinion of ordinary people, like me, to give their honest, unbiased, and truthful opinion of someone who does not work for the company.

According to Forbes, in 2017, influencer marketing is set to represent 75% of brands’ advertising efforts that could cost a company up to $20,000 for ONE blog post from a tier-two influencer (having a reach of 1 million followers). As influencer marketing continues to trend and influencer’s prices continue to skyrocket, I question the authenticity of what influencers are communicating to their audience. Consumers create influencers by supporting a person they connect with and trusting what they have to say about a brand before they get paid to say it. How unbiased is an influencer who is getting paid $20,000 dollars to talk about their company, and think about what company would pay $20,000 for one blog pos if it wasn’t positive? Is influencer marketing changing why we began trusting influencers in the first place? What do you think?

-Erika Najera