Facebook agency chief: Let’s stop using the term influencer for ‘Z-list celebrities’
Facebook Asia-Pacific’s head of agency has called for social media influencers to stop using the descriptor unless they can “prove” they have actually influenced something.
Neil Stewart argued that the term “influencer” was sometimes misleading when used for people on social media who just had “some friends and followers”. He suggested “Z-list celebrities” was often a more appropriate description.
Speaking during a session on influencers at the Mumbrella Asia’s Travel Marketing Summit in Singapore, the former chief executive officer of Maxus Asia-Pacific said: “Can I just ask that we don’t keep using the word ‘influencer’. Because there’s an assumption that they have influence.
“To be an influencer, you must have influenced something. I don’t necessarily think that’s true for a lot of influencers. There are plenty of ‘influencers’ who have friends, followers; they have a blog and people who see their content. But until you can prove that they have ‘influenced’ – so changed behaviour, an attitude or an action – I think we could almost sue them for using a false or misleading description.”
During the lively discussion, Stewart challenged his panel’s moderator, influencer Mar Pages, to “put her hand up and say [she has] influenced”. Pages, who has 22,000 followers on Instagram, rebutted him, saying: “In certain areas yes I can [say I have influenced] because I have the numbers to prove it.
“But I agree; there are a lot of of brands who will just be happy with reach on Instagram. [The influencer] doesn’t have a blog so the only thing [the brand] is getting is awareness. If you have a large following and you put some money into advertising so [the post] goes further, then yes you will get your objective. Is that influencing other people? Well yes in the discovery phase. I don’t book trips on Instagram, but I save a lot of posts for discovery.”
Upon being asked by Pages what term he would prefer to use instead, Stewart quipped: “You have some friends and followers. Z-list celebrities.”
“I think content creators is a better word,” countered Pages. “When brands work with you, it’s because you have reach and because you can create good content. I agree it’s a flawed word. Because often the reaction is…”
To which Stewart interjected: “Prove it.”
Rounding off her argument, Pages added: “I know I have influence in some areas because I know how many people read my posts and how many click. Some people call themselves influencers and they might not know. It’s an industry that’s nascent so a lot of these things are picked up by people.”
Actually, lets stop using the word influencer, period.
There’s a horrible ‘old wine new glasses’ syndrome being perpetuated by the creeps in digital shops whereby they claim to invent something that already existed eons ago….by giving it a new or more colourful/confusing name.
The correct word that has always been used and understood is spokesperson and the ads they appear in or the content they create are known as testimonials.
ReplyWell said Neil
More of this please.
I think many marketers will look back in a few years and be more than a little embarrassed at how they perpetuated this nonsense and paid over so much money,
ReplyThis is exactly what will happen! We will look back and laugh at how much we paid these social media “influencers”. They’re just the new shiny toy a few years ago with no actual precedent rate standards and parameters.
Reply“Influencer” in my mind has become a bit of a dirty word. Yes everyone would warmly welcome more followers/views/interaction, but a true influencer should be someone that can convince and lead to action.
Everyone’s using the influencer term because it just sounds cool and every other content creator is using it.
ReplyThey are here to stay folks, until something else catches everyone’s attention.
ReplyPages completely missed Stewart’s point. If the extent of your influence is to get people to click “like” on your posts, then you are not an influencer. Influencers need to actually shift purchasing behaviour. That’s real influence.
ReplyI think you are from a different planet :)))
ReplyI found that her earlier op-ed on this site clarifies the context of her comments. By ‘clicking’, she was probably referring to clicking on affiliate links. If she can show that people eventually completed their purchases this way, good for her.
Replygood point. 1. sales attribution is indeed possible and affiliates have been around for ages. they never called themselves influencers though and they only got paid if the sale happened. 2. The angst is about the REACH based payment model. Once everyone starts demanding “pay for performance i.e real influence” it will be clear who are the real influencers.
ReplyGood to see finally somebody calling it out. But the damage has been done. Marketers first spend money collecting fans, and then when organic reach dropped went to influencers, all in the hunt for cheap reach. The sooner they start focusing on DEPTH OF ENGAGEMENT, the better it will be for building a long term sustainable business and brand. DEPTH can create REACH, the vice versa is not true. The marketing mags/sites also need to share the blame as they have been covering/hyping the Influencer marketing space w/o digging deep into the questionable model. Would love to work with real influencers who are happy to get paid for performance v/s a rate card based on # of fans.
ReplyThis is gold. Thank you Neil for saying what so many of us are thinking. Sure they may be here to stay, but let’s just call it as it is.
ReplyBravo Neil! I can’t stand Z-listers who call themselves as “influencers” and especially for the luxury sectors because the real people who influence dont do this for commercial rewards. It’s embarrassing when you have an unknown person with pretty much unsubstantiated numbers selling herself as an influencer when she can’t prove that she’s actually directly been the cause of a purchase.Just because you have a “following” doesn’t mean you have any influence…or taste for the matter.
ReplyTo a certain extent, he’s absolutely right. But at the same time, if she (or any other ‘influencer’ for that matter) are branding themselves as advertisers, the results of a campaign should be seen very easily by the company. They should demand to see the statistics and then they can self reflect. Are they influencing anyone? Did they make a dent in sales or searches? Then they can confidently raise their hand and say they can prove it. For the most part, I dont think many ‘influencers’ can do so.
ReplyI’d rather be an Instagram model.
ReplyThe other term i cringe at is “fashionista”. They get free samples, puts them on, take pics of themselves, get their friends to “like”, and then believe they are on the same level as the fashion editor of Elle.
ReplyInteresting point by Stewart… But i think he is also being deliberately provocative. If his only point is what individuals with high follower counts (and hence reach) are called then fine – call them whatever. But Z-list celebrities is just trying to provoke a reaction.
The organic reach of a z-list/influencer is usually way higher than an organic page post – thanks to FB’s own algorithm. In fact its often higher than paid FB ads – which he is paid to sell.
And if someone has, say 100,000k followers and they can get a post engaged with by say 10,000 or even 5,000 people then doesn’t that beat a mag ad in a mag with an iffy 35k readership or even a PR piece which is measured in CPM?
I too sometimes roll my eyes at influencer stuff but why should it be held to such a higher standard than press ads, PR or even digital ads?
ReplyHe is not making the point about different standards. He is saying the naming/term is wrong. If you or industry calls you Influencer, then show/deliver on an influence metric ( not a reach metric). Call it, what it is- another form of paid awareness. Don’t call it Influencer. It is misleading, and it has led to million being wasted and the industry getting a bad rep for running after fads. How many decks I have seen where , the sum total of the Advocacy Strategy = We will engage 40 Instagrammers and bloggers to write about us. That is a sham
ReplyAgree that influencer label may be a bit misleading as mere reach does not equal influence. So if the issue is only the name then sure… Call them whatever. A rose by any other name is still a rose though.
ReplyYou are right – I was being deliberately provocative on the point as to the question of ‘what should we call them?’. The panel actually aligned on ‘Content Creators’ as a more accurate desciptor. One of the panelists said she describes herself as a writer. If her clients see influence as a result of her writing then it is up to them to describe her that way.
ReplyIf I sing a song on stage – I have the right to call myself a singer. If the audience have been entertained – they can call me an entertainer. I can’t call myself an entertainer!
Very true – agree with you on the label – ‘influencers’ is quite grandiose and self-serving. Content creators is far more descriptive.
And yes let the audience decide if they were entertained! haha!
Reply‘Content creator’ only makes sense if they are actually creating content, and many are not.
Unless we now include a few lines of copy as ‘content’. We probably do, which shows what a mess the ‘content marketing’ sector is in.
ReplyI don’t agree with content creator either. There should be standards with regards to that too. If it’s just about sharing information and let’s face it most of them are just regurgitated then anybody who posts anything on social media is a content creator.
ReplyWhat is the added value here? How much can you brand posting a selfie or copying a press release as content?
What has actually been created that is actually original or interpretative or has added value?
For the most part – nothing!
I would just call them instagrammers.
ReplyThe onus of what they influence lies on the marketers and their agencies.
You need to develop methodolgies and tools to determine that. Isn’t that your job- Mr social network, Mr Marketer and Ms Agency? Since when have you guys started believing what the 3rd party says at face value?
And on what name to call them with- They did not create the term – some marketers did. And now create new terms. The real issue is measurement and standards! ??
Who spoke about how to measure influence and the real, tangible outcomes from that measurement discussion? What did they speak/solve? That would be nice to hear- not the equivalent of Page 3 gossip.
-Shalabh
Replyso where to do I sign up to be this influencer thing…
Replywho the crap cares what it is called. Arent you guys just being a tad silly? Do you really think everyone is going to stop saying that word just because some [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] on stage decides to say so or random people on the blog comments section of Mumbrella says so?
NO.
The world is going to continue moving, transactions are going to continue in the industry, influencers are going to continue to be able to put food on the table and the only bunch of people who are going to be whining about the next trivial thing are all the douchey advertisers. pfft.
ReplyHave your say