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The influencer bubble may be bursting—how should brands prepare?

by | May 16, 2018 | Public Relations

Influencer marketing was one of the most buzzed about topics at the recent Social Media Week event in New York, with nearly 25 percent of all sessions focused on working with influencers—but one PR exec and event presenter is warning the industry that the sudden and meteoric commercial success of influencers is creating a bubble that will soon burst.

“We’ve seen this before with the rise and fall of Mommy Bloggers,” said Paul Dyer, president of NYC-based Lippe Taylor, in a news release. “Monetizing influence is a very delicate dance, and brands need to manage their approach precisely.”

Also at Social Media Week, Lippe Taylor debuted its State of Influencers Survey, a topline summary of the most informative results from a recent polling of over 500 vetted and established influencers, created in tandem with influencer platform, Julius. The survey dives into key details of influencer brand relations by shedding light on everything from the prevalence of paid followers to expected methods of payment and best practices when working with influencers. Some images from the survey are included below.

The influencer bubble may be bursting—how should brands prepare?

What makes influencer marketing particularly precarious is the wild west sensibility that pervades the practice with drawbacks such as fake followers, Instagram pods, poor measurement and attribution, and most notably, a saturation of professional Influencers who often drift away from the expertise or authentic personal qualities that made them influential in the first place.

“There is tremendous value in influencer marketing,” Dyer reassures. “However, many current practices are only speeding us to the precipice where the bottom falls out.”

The influencer bubble may be bursting—how should brands prepare?

In his Social Media Week presentation, Dyer talked about the keys to effectively thriving within these constantly evolving networks of influencers, offering specific approaches that brand marketers should adopt to future-proof their approach to influencer marketing.

Despite the doom and gloom that comes with utterings of tech-related bubbles popping, Dyer remains highly optimistic about the future of influencer marketing. In fact, since joining Lippe Taylor, Dyer has doubled down on the agency’s influencer marketing practice with significant investment in talent and technology, spearheaded by Refinery29 alum, Lauren McGrath.

Download the State of Influencers report here.

The influencer bubble may be bursting—how should brands prepare?

Richard Carufel
Richard Carufel is editor of Bulldog Reporter and the Daily ’Dog, one of the web’s leading sources of PR and marketing communications news and opinions. He has been reporting on the PR and communications industry for over 17 years, and has interviewed hundreds of journalists and PR industry leaders. Reach him at richard.carufel@bulldogreporter.com; @BulldogReporter

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