Consumers appreciate a brand’s digital honesty now more than ever.
A recent study by Label Insight found that 94 percent of consumers are likely to be loyal to a transparent brand, and 73 percent say they would pay more for a product that offers complete transparency.
US influencers benefit from transparency—and not just because they avoid FTC penalties. An influencer’s audiences sees them as a friend, and often considers new partnerships as good news.
Vincent Juarez, principal of the Influencer Orchestration Network (ION) explains this phenomenon. “Michelle Phan was thrilled about working with Marvel and TinyCo as the voice of Jessica Jones in the Avengers Academy app,” said Juarez. “She knew her fans would be happy for her. Part of her disclosure was right in the video as she spoke about her excitement about doing the voiceover work.”
A study by Altimeter Group showed that out of the 1,753 influencers surveyed, 71 percent say their followers remain engaged due to the influencer’s authenticity.
On the other hand, a lack of transparency can leave influencer audiences feeling deceived. The Fyre Festival took place just weeks after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued over 90 letters to Instagram influencers to “clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands.” When the festival failed to deliver (to put it mildly), not only did fans feel betrayed by those who endorsed the event, but those influencers are now named in a number of law suits seeking $100 million in damages.
Transparency isn’t just a problem in the US—in the UK, 12 percent of marketers had no idea about CAP influencer rules, according to a study by Takumi. Of the 500 public relations and marketing professionals surveyed, 34.7 percent who were familiar with the rules actively choose not to adhere to it due to a lack of understanding or a reluctance to be transparent about paid-for content.
Some 30 percent of consumers say they now have little or no trust in brand information they see on Facebook—up from 20 percent in 2014—per Censuswide. In addition, 38 percent of consumers would lose trust in a brand if content wasn’t genuine.
Trust is everything.
