The largest ever industry study into influencer marketing practices has revealed 6 in 10 PR and marketing professionals admit to flaunting the rules of the CAP code of conduct.
A survey of 500 PR and marketing experts found that just 37% fully adhere to the the UK's official advertising code, which provides guidelines on how to advertise and promote products to consumers.
Shockingly, the study showed that 12% had no idea what the CAP code of conduct is, and of those that were familiar with the recommendations, over a third (34.7%) actively choose not to adhere to it due to a lack of understanding or a reluctance to be transparent about paid-for content.
Conducted by Takumi, an app which connects Instagram influencers with brands they want to partner with for consumer engagement campaigns, the survey highlighted a knowledge gap, showing that the industry is failing to get to grips with this relatively new practice and falling short of delivering the most for their brands.
Smaller brands are more inclined to ditch signposting in their influencer marketing campaigns, with 50 per cent of those working in businesses of 50-100 employees openly admitting that they don't fully comply with the CAP guidelines when working with influencers. For large brands with over 500 employees, this drops to 1 in 5 (20%).
Nearly three quarters (72.7%) of marketers expect influencers to participate in brand campaigns for free in exchange for product or credit. One in five (19%) have promised influencers paid work later down the line in return for their efforts and one in 10 (9%) have refused to compensate influencers at all, believing the kudos of working with the brand is enough of a repayment in itself.
Of those that do pay influencers, the average spend is £800 per post, with 12.5% paying over £1,000 for a single photo. The average total campaign spend is nearly £6,000 run seven times a year, totalling £42,000 per annum.
It also found that it isn't just payment causing widespread confusion in the industry. Only two thirds (63%) of those questioned collaborate with the influencer on the campaign creative, with just 1 in 5 (20%) offering the influencer total creative freedom. In fact, seven per cent go as far as to provide exceptionally restrictive briefs leaving no room for imagination - failing to benefit from the increasing levels of engagement achieved with original and authentic content creation by influencers.
Mats Stigzelius, co-founder of Takumi, said:
"Influencer marketing is a relatively new practice, and brands, PRs and marketers are still adjusting to it like they did with social media not too long ago. Our research proves there's a lot of uncertainty and trepidation about the best way to run campaigns - from the rules of payment to how much creative freedom to offer. The industry has only scratched the surface of the potential that influencer marketing holds but for brands to develop campaigns and make them more effective there needs to be more clarity around the rules of engagement."
About
Translated as 'artisan' in Japanese, Takumi is an on-demand app and web platform that connects brands with relevant Instagram influencers (with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers) who are interested in promoting products. It allows PRs and marketing professionals to run influencer marketing campaigns quickly and easily by logging on to the platform, creating a brief and then watching as the campaign unfolds, providing clients with a whole host of content they can re-purpose on their own channels.
PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.
comments powered by Disqus