Sharman chats to media update’s Nikita Geldenhuys about this phenomenon and how South African marketers can go about fixing the problem. 

At the Brand Winning Social Media Content Briefings conference, you said that the repeated use of the same influencers is a problem in South Africa. How big is this problem?

I'm a firm believer in highlighting challenges, because as uncomfortable as that is, it forces a conversation – and out of that comes change.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen more and more brands turn to influencer marketing as a way to share their message, and as a result, we’ve seen many of the same influencers used on multiple campaigns. I’m not counting Webfluential out of this. We’ve followed the same journey, we’ve made the same mistakes.

On the one side, we’re seeing many of the same faces popping up in campaigns. On the other side, we’re seeing a wave of amazingly talented creators hit the African social scene. If we’re being really honest as marketers, we have to admit that we’re not keeping up – and if we’re being even more honest, we have to admit that it would be almost impossible to keep up.

With 3 000 influencers registered on Webfluential just in South Africa, and on average 30 new applications a day, it’s impossible for brands to have their hand on the talent pulse all the time. The old method of finding talent through personal relationships and the names on your spreadsheets just won’t cut it anymore.

Why do you think the marketing industry is opting for the same influencers over and over?

The main reason is that there’s a lack of research and strategy in this space. It's easier to leverage the relationships you know than it is to build new ones. The same principle applies to influencers. Often, as marketers, we are not the target market for the brands we’re working for, so it’s important to look outside of what we know when doing influencer research.

The other reason this happens is because we still think about the influencer first, and the audience second. If we want to reach as many potential customers as possible, we need to make sure our influencers talk to the right age group, in the right location. We need to care about the audience, not just the influencer.

What are the disadvantages of overusing the same influencers and how does it affect brands?

This question could be seen in two ways.

One, if a brand finds the right match, and as a result sees great results, then works with the influencer on more than one occasion, that means the brand sees a good result. It builds authenticity and makes sure everyone is wholeheartedly invested in the campaigns.

Two, if that influencer, for example, works for similar or competing brands in a short time frame, then the authenticity of the campaign decreases. Then the brand, and the audience, sees a bad result.

I do believe that long term this will be moderated by the audience, but as marketers, we need to do our research and make sure we’re connecting with influencers who will help our brands achieve the best results.

What are the drawbacks for influencers that make themselves available to too many brands?

In a nutshell, lack of credibility. If we look at how this industry plays out long term, there will be enough influencers that brands will want to work with those that help them achieve the best results – which is fair.

The only influencers that achieve good results are the ones that take on campaigns that align, and ones that care about their audience just as much as they do about the brand.

My suggestion to influencers who are in this for the long run is to focus on building relationships with brands that are ‘win-win-win’: you win because you're proud to post the content, the audience wins because they love receiving it, and the brand wins because, as a result, there is a successful transfer of influence.

How can the local marketing industry remedy the situation?

First thing we can change is our mindset. We need to start feeling more comfortable about collaborating with influencers who we don’t know, but who our target market does.

We need to be open to new relationships. We need to learn to operate in an uncomfortable manner. Mercedes-Benz is a great example of a brand that stepped outside its comfort zone and created an incredible piece of content with Loki, Instagram's most popular Wolf Dog.

Something for marketers to keep in mind is how important it is to associate with the right audience, and collaborate with an influencer who is credible within that audience. Sure, it takes time, technology, and research to get this right – but your brands will reap the rewards in their next Influencer Campaign report.

For more information on Webfluential, visit webfluential.com.

Sharman was a speaker at the Brand Winning Social Media Content Briefings conference. Read her and other speakers’ insights in our article, Three marketing predictions from the Social Media Content conference.