How Deinfluencing Is Good News For Brands

HubSpot reports that "over 71% of consumers are likely to make a buying decision over social media referrals". So, it's no surprise that most of our social media feeds overflow with sales-y content that aims to influence our purchase decisions. Of course, with this, come the skeptics.

I don't know if you've heard, but "de-influencing" has been the talk of the town across TikTok the past few weeks, with #deinfluencing grossing over 241 million views so far! As per this article on Today.com, "creators are telling the truth about everything TikTok made them buy —and more often than not, urging people to think long and hard before they fall victim to the hype."

In other words, it's calling out social media influencers' impact on consumer behaviour. However, it seems there's an emerging trend that looks to challenge this very behaviour. This can be due to various reasons, such as concerns over influencer authenticity, influencer fatigue, and overconsumption.

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While this may sound like the end of influencer content is nigh, I can assure you this is not. If anything, this is an excellent time for your brand to stand out and establish itself as a brand that doesn't promote! De-influencing challenges you to create genuine content and work with influencers who have built a community (ding! ding! ding! 🔔 micro- and nano-influencers!), not just influencers that have a large number of followers but a disjointed fanbase.

Here are a few ways a brand can learn from others and take advantage of de-influencing:
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• Collaborate with nano- and micro-influencers: Rather than working with high-profile influencers with millions of followers, brands can work with smaller, niche influencers with a more engaged following. This can help build more authentic connections with their audience.
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• Build a strong brand community: Brands can prioritize building a community of loyal customers and advocates who can help spread the word about their products or services. This can involve creating a group or forum or allowing their social media channels to be a platform where their customers can connect and share their experiences. A multi-sided conversation gives birth to a community where people share genuine feedback; brands learn more about their product-market fits, user feedback, etc. and prospective customers see the pain points and how you engage and care for your customers. It's a win-win situation in most situations.
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• Another way you can learn from the deinfluencing phenomenon is to learn more from the influencers you’ve worked with. Ask them on what products they’ve tried, yours or your competitors, and receive feedback on why Product A and Product B didn’t work, but Product C was a hit. Or why another product may be a great alternative. It’s a wake-up call for all brands.
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• Work with those that deinfluence! Yup, you read that right. You could send your products to those who’ve been active members of the #deinfluencing community and get their feedback on your product. Also, if they genuinely like your product, you could partner with them to promote said product. This brings more credibility to your product if it’s being promoted by someone who doesn’t shy away from speaking out.
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Ultimately, de-influencing can allow brands to re-evaluate their influencer marketing strategy and explore new approaches that prioritize authentic connections with their audience. In a world overflowing with promotional content, how will you make yours stand out and provide value? Your customers are talking about how they want to be communicated with; it's now on you to listen and make your brand shine.
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