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The so-called de-influencing trend is making corporate marketing teams around the world sit up and listen. It happens when people take to social media and urge their followers not to buy certain goods. They may be doing so to promote cheaper, more sustainable alternatives to the products in question, highlight unethical practices by the brand making them or call out misleading advertising by another influencer. The practice, occurring mostly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, is gaining significant traction.
Mentions of de-influencing on these networks increased by more than 3,000% between 1 January and 10 March, according to social analytics platform Brandwatch. Common associated hashtags include #antihaul, #overconsumption and #whatnottobuy. Reactions to de-influencing posts tended to be from users sharing their disappointment about products that didn’t live up to the marketing hype, despite their heavy promotion by other influencers.
The internet has democratised access to information (and misinformation) about brands and products. Its spread on social media is beyond the control of companies, so it can be a problem for them.
As a brand, you can’t control the narrative – nor should you want to
Traditionally, the big beasts of the creator economy have wielded their influence on their millions of followers to help companies market their wares. The growing popularity of channels with algorithms that favour short video content has proved useful for the success of in-app shopping features. More than a quarter of social media users have bought a product based on an influencer’s recommendation online, according to research by Kantar.
But you don’t need to have millions of followers to be influential. Micro-influencers – defined as those with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers – have become increasingly valuable to brands. Research by YPulse has found that 58% of millennial and gen-Z consumers don’t consider the…
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