The Perils of Influence: Why Brands Must Rethink Their Obsession with Influencers

Why It Matters

Influencer marketing has grown at breakneck speed, but most brands still struggle to make it work. Without a clear strategy, creative discipline, or investment in reach, influencer content risks becoming expensive noise rather than a driver of business growth.

Key Takeaways

• Influencer marketing is not a silver bullet; it must directly support clear marketing objectives.
• Creative quality and message clarity matter just as much in influencer videos as in traditional advertising.
• Paid media is essential; organic reach alone cannot deliver meaningful brand impact.
  

Influence Has Evolved – But the Fundamentals of Advertising Have Not

Influence has always shaped consumer behaviour, from 20th-century celebrities to today’s Influencers. Earlier forms of influence relied on star power and aspiration, but trust eroded as celebrity endorsements became increasingly transactional. The rise of YouTube and later Instagram and TikTok sparked a shift. Bloggers and vloggers offered honest reviews, unfiltered experiences and user-generated content, giving audiences a sense of authenticity that traditional advertising lacked. This paved the way for Influencer marketing – brands formally partnering with individuals to promote products at scale.

Today, Influencer marketing is a booming industry valued at US$44 billion by 2025. Anyone with a smartphone can build an audience, and brands are rushing to secure partnerships in what resembles a modern gold rush. Yet the numbers tell a sobering story: only 14% of influencer ads are watched beyond three seconds, and in more than half of these videos the brand is not even visible in the first 3 seconds. Unsurprisingly, in 27% of Influencer content can people link back to a Brand. Without brand linkage, even highly viewed content fails to produce commercial impact. The gap between investment and returns highlights the urgent need to rethink how influencer marketing is planned and executed.

Brands Must Align Influencer Content to Their Marketing Goals

Many brands treat influencer partnerships as catch-all solutions, expecting them to boost awareness, drive sales and build loyalty simultaneously. In reality, influencer content is best suited to mid-funnel objectives, particularly brand consideration. The video narrative forms such as unboxing videos, product demos and personal testimonials give audiences richer information and help shape positive associations.

Before signing any influencer, marketing teams must review upcoming campaigns and decide where influencers genuinely add value. Clear alignment ensures that influencer content complements existing creative and media plans rather than operating as a disconnected tactic. When brands choose influencers simply because competitors are doing so, or because a Influencer is trending, they undermine both efficiency and commercial impact. Strategic clarity is the foundation of effective influencer marketing.

Success Requires Pairing Influencer content with Brand Advertising and boosting with paid media for Reach

Campaigns perform best when influencer content works alongside traditional brand advertising. Consistency in message, tone and creative idea across formats reinforces brand memory and strengthens the effect of both. This requires careful briefing: brands must identify the core campaign idea, determine what depth or perspective the influencer will add, and select content formats that best suit the product and platform.

The second critical step is paid amplification. The belief that influencer content naturally “goes viral” is unrealistic in today’s crowded feeds. Even top Influencers reach only a fraction of their own followers organically. To ensure content is actually seen, brands must invest in paid media to extend reach and deliver videos with planned levels of frequency and duration. Paid boosting also unlocks brand lift studies, offering credible measurement of campaign outcomes. Influencer content without paid amplification is unlikely to achieve meaningful business results.

Creative Quality Matters

The biggest weakness in today’s influencer landscape is inconsistent creative quality. Regardless of who creates it, all advertising must overcome the same challenge: audiences scroll in a low-attention, fast-moving environment. Effective content must grab attention within seconds, be relevant to the viewer and clearly showcase the brand, product and message. These are long-established principles across the advertising industry and are reflected in creative guidelines from YouTube, Meta and TikTok.

Yet most influencer videos fail to follow these basics. Many do not show the product early enough, bury the key message or prioritise entertainment over brand clarity. As a result, even high engagement metrics, such as views, likes or comments, may mean little for actual brand outcomes. A video with thousands of views may have delivered only one or two seconds of exposure, offering no real opportunity for brand recall. Brands would never accept this from their agencies; they should hold influencers to the same standard.

 

Business Implications

Influencer marketing is here to stay, but brands must treat it as a strategic tool rather than a trend-led tactic. The most effective programmes will:

• Link influencer activity directly to marketing goals such as brand consideration.
• Demand strong creative discipline and clear brand presence in early seconds.
• Pair influencer content with traditional advertising for consistency and reinforce it with paid reach.

When executed well, influencer marketing can deliver significant value. But to unlock this potential, brands must move beyond vanity metrics and approach influencer work with the same rigour they apply to every other part of their marketing strategy.

Authors & Source

Author:  Ramanathan Vythilingam (Nanyang Technological University)

Original Article: The Perils of Influence

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