CEO at The Outloud Group, a full-service influencer marketing agency that creates & executes strategic campaigns at scale.
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Authenticity.
Yes, it’s quite the buzzword these days when it comes to influencer marketing. And while it is important (you did see the title of this article and are reading it, so you probably at least somewhat agree), I wouldn’t blame anyone who may have written off “authenticity” a long time ago simply because of its ubiquitousness.
Authenticity is still the best word to define that secret sauce that separates dynamic influencer campaigns from average and even, sometimes, boring ones.
When we look at common threads across the thousands of influencer marketing campaigns we’ve run at The Outloud Group over the last 15 years, the similarity between all of our best-performing brand creator partnerships is pretty simple: true authenticity.
So, here’s the natural question that looms large: What is authenticity? And beyond its meaning, how can you tell when you’re seeing an authentic influencer campaign?
Consumers trust a consistent voice.
When a creator’s voice changes from what their audience is used to hearing, that audience can detect it a mile away. Creator’s audiences have become accustomed to not only what that influencer likes to say but also how they like to say it.
This is why it’s key to try to invite your influencers into the driver’s seat (with great built-in safety features thanks to good talking points) when discussing brand integrations.
It may sound scary, but when brands are too prescriptive with what a creator says or how they go about doing so, it not only turns off the creator but also the audience who has heard the creator speak in hundreds of situations across many topics.
Said differently, the audience knows the creator very well and can quickly recognize if the creator is saying something that’s not “normal,” even if someone (cough, cough—the brand representative) who isn’t tuned into the specific creator thinks it sounds great.
Consumers trust a detailed voice.
When a creator says that they love a product because it made “insert benefit here” so much better, it reeks of a script. Instead, let a creator get personal and share obscure likes about the product.
After all, if the product really is something that the creator loves and supports, their audience will already understand why the creator wanted to use it because the audience already understands how it fits into the creator’s day-to-day life.
In other words, let creators talk about obscure details that are important to them and their audience rather than what the brand thinks is important to their default audience.
Consumers trust a nuanced voice.
The last time you purchased an item from Amazon, did you look only at the five-star reviews? Or did you skip down to the three- and four-star reviews? You know, those reviews from the folks who were overall pretty satisfied with their purchase, but had some nuanced feedback.
I’m personally a sucker for only looking at the four-star reviews because it helps me understand what’s good about the offering and also where it could stand to be improved.
When an influencer can add some nuanced constructive criticism and even some direct commentary to a sponsored post or video, it can actually have a positive impact.
At the end of the day, an authentic campaign looks a lot more like a product review than an infomercial, so see what you can do to create a great four-star review that people trust and believe versus a five-star review that you’re quick to dismiss as too positive to be credible.
Consumers trust a familiar voice.
We trust people we’ve known for years a lot more than someone we recently met—except that crazy friend from high school we somehow still stay in touch with. And regardless of how someone gets into our circle of trust, we certainly value those we trust.
There’s a lot of psychological significance when someone decides to follow a creator, and this translates into audiences caring about what the creator recommends. Consumers will always trust someone who is part of their circle—and the truth is, a brand simply cannot relate to them the same way an “insert all the demographics of a person” could.
In many cases, people have been following some of their favorite influencers for years and they trust them like their friends. That’s authenticity earned over the long haul.
What are the results of authentic campaigns?
We’ve unpacked the different ways that authenticity can come through, but you’re probably wondering how this relates to the key goal: supporting a profitable business.
Trust is one of the strongest forces in driving a sale, and when an influencer has an authentic connection with their audience, it’s seen as a high-value word-of-mouth recommendation by the audience. A recommendation from someone you trust is taken more seriously than any other form of advertising out there.
The proof is in the pudding. In my experience, brands that partner with the right influencers for their audiences wind up with stronger customer acquisition and higher retention rates on average compared to traditional channels.
But while it’s a simple solution, it’s not an easy solution. Often, creators who say “no” the most to brand partnerships are the best-performing creators. Finding the influencers who have that “secret authenticity sauce” can take a lot of trial and error in every niche, but the results are worth the effort.
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