How influenced are you by social media?

According to a new study by performance marketing firm affilinet, sixteen per cent of its respondents were influenced on a weekly basis by social media and another eleven per cent on a monthly basis. In relation to influencer marketing, the study also found that the majority (sixty three per cent) of respondents said that they were aware that bloggers and social media stars are often paid to promote products or brands, and half (forty eight per cent) said that finding out that a particular post was sponsored would not make them less likely to trust it. So what does this mean for the growing impact social media is having on PR? Three leading industry bloggers share their thoughts with us on this topic.    

Simon Collister, consultant, lecturer, researcher and founder of simoncollister

“My first thought from looking at the survey would be that 11 per cent of a sample being influenced by social media is actually not very influential! And I am always wary about the term ‘influence’ as it can mean different things to different people. However, the real power of social media is that it lets people find and engage with people with similar interests and ideas. Research shows that information shared by ‘people like yourself’ is one of the most trusted sources of information out there and has the power to shape opinions and purchase decisions.

“In terms of whether I think that social media will become more powerful than traditional media in relation to public relations, I believe that in a number of respects social and digital media already is more powerful – but it depends on your sector. For example, if you work with a consumer brand aimed at 18-25 year-olds then social media is going to be much more important; if you are working for a corporate client then the Financial Times still matters. But then social media monitoring can play a powerful role in issue and crisis management. Social media presents a lot of opportunities – but you still need to think strategically about how you use it.

“In relation to influencer marketing which was highlighted in the study I think it is interesting that one of the features that made bloggers so trustworthy in the first place was their independence and authenticity compared to traditional media. Perhaps the public are a lot more savvy and aware of how marketing works. Or perhaps it is the disclosure and openness that bloggers adopt by being up-front about the role of sponsorship in their content. It goes without saying that all brands must adhere to the ASA’s CAP Code, Fair Trading laws and any relevant industry guidelines when paying for social media content or risk being penalised.

“In terms of what I think about what the future holds in terms of the influence that social media has on us – it’s always dangerous to predict the future but I can only see the rise of ‘social media talent’ in terms of consumer marketing. But a lot of these trends are cyclical and at some point we may become tired of endless sponsored content and a new form of ‘influence’ will emerge within social media. One trend to watch out for this year is the rise of ‘post-fact’ social media. We’ve seen it with campaigns in the EU Referendum and US presidential primaries. Social media becomes a great way of generating emotional responses to sensationalist – if not entirely accurate – content. Social media allows this to spread rapidly and trigger highly emotional actions. While it’s mostly been adopted by political groups to date it may well become used in more mainstream campaigns. Perhaps this ‘sensationalising’ of social media may switch influence back to more traditional trusted sources.”
Elle Croft, social media strategist, copywriter and founder of A Bird in the Hand

“Social media breaks down barriers that traditional media has always had – you feel like you know someone on social media, and can actually have a conversation, unlike in traditional media. That’s powerful – that human connection – and there are no substitutions for it.

“In the future, I don’t think social media will overtake the traditional media, as they both work in different ways – traditional media is still extremely powerful, and not just within older generations. Social media is, of course, a huge part of our world today, but although it’s influential, people do have a skepticism that they don’t always have when it comes to traditional media. Our job is to try to make social more authentic so people do trust it just as much.

“When it comes to influencer marketing and sponsored posts it really depends on the blogger and the brand, and their past partnerships. I’ve followed bloggers who have suddenly promoted a brand so out of character it’s made me stop reading their blog altogether. As a blogger, I need to make sure all partnerships I embark on are truly a good fit for me, my blog and my readers. Unless it’s a natural fit, people will lose their trust in me (and rightly so!).

“In regards to what I think the future holds in terms of the influence that social media has on us – social media is not going away, but the way we use it will change and evolve as we understand the effect it has on us and our relationships. Social feeds will become even more curated, and users won’t stand for bad content, as there’s no excuse for it anymore. The connections and relationships you can have on social will become the most important part of the experience – gone will be the days of robotic, clearly not human brands trying to succeed on social.”

Marko Saric, Blogger and founder of HowToMakeMyBlog

“Social media is very personal. People spend a lot of their daily life browsing social media platforms. You have your family there, you have your close friends and colleagues, people that you love, like and trust. This is completely opposite to traditional marketing where you have faceless corporations trying to sell you things you don’t need. A recommendation from a friend through social media is much more trustworthy and influential.

“In terms of whether I think social media being more powerful than traditional media, for companies that have tried it, it probably is more powerful already. The fact is that people do spend many hours of their daily lives in social media today. They share their lives there, they form their opinions there, and they get their news there. If you do want to reach these people, you better go where they already are.

“In relation to the points raised in the study about influencer marketing it comes down to the relationships these “stars” have built with their audiences. People love them and trust them. They find them relatable. They are real people just like us. Many of the influencers state that they have been paid to post something. The majority stress the fact that either they’re doing it to pay the bills or that they would only post things that they love, no matter if they’re paid for it or not. This has the elements of transparency and likeableness that people relate to and find good enough to still trust them. The recent development of Facebook “approving” branded content posts will help bring this transparency to an even higher level and will hopefully be introduced on Instagram too.

“Looking forward I believe social media will continue to be the place where people spend more and more of their hours, while traditional media will continue to see a decrease. Social media companies such as Facebook do have challenges, though. People are increasingly using Facebook and Instagram to browse and keep updated on their friends, while they’re actually posting their thoughts, photos and other personal details privately in messenger apps such as Snapchat, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. This is not necessarily bad and steps are being made to allow brands to get in touch with people through messengers too, but it’s a development that will be interesting to follow over the upcoming months and years.”