Is This Finally the End of the Influencer Era?
By: Josie Klakström
Tags: Instagram, Influencers, Influencer Marketing, Social Media, Marketing

Social Media Advertising

The infamous downfall of the Fyre Festival was the first time many realized the power of influencers. When the orange boxes began showing up all over Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, it piqued interest quickly, being dubbed “the new Coachella.”

Bella Hadid Fyre Festival tile via Instagram

Influencers around the world filled their grids with this unassuming orange tile and the clever marketing campaign began.

However, we all know what happened to Fyre Festival. The event ended before it had even begun and in absolute chaos. The world’s 1% were stranded on an island in The Bahamas, without food, an exit strategy, and most importantly to some of them; no festival. Many of the staff and hired help also lost a huge amount of money and most were never paid for their work. There was the event planner, Andy King who famously offered to “take one for the team” when a shipment of bottled water got stuck at customs.

In 2019, after the Netflix documentary aired, the owner of Exuma Point restaurant, who was out over $50,000 dollars from the festival, recouped her money from a GoFundMe.

Andy King eventually went back to his day job, and the CEO, Billy McFarland was already in prison. But governments realized that something needed to be done about social media advertising.

Due to the issues surrounding the use of influencers leading up to the Fyre Festival, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) locked down advertising rules, to ensure that viewers were aware of a social media post was an advert. However, some influencers are still refusing to acknowledge these rules.

According to MediaKix, in 2015 the influencer industry was worth around $500 million. This year, it’s expected to be worth between $5 and $10 billion.

Many brands pick their influencers wisely, and in doing so reputations aren’t tarnished, but some are poorly constructed.

Billy Jenson and Paul Holes from The Murder Squad began their podcast advertising by selling bras to their listeners. The former police officer and true crime writer are both men, and the whole idea was a little odd. Instead of waiting for a more appropriate sponsor to come along, the Exactly Right network decided to continue their advertising responsibilities and the ad breaks were nothing other than cringeworthy.

Advertising on social media comes in all shapes and sizes. At one end of the scale, you have U.K. based YouTuber, Zoella who hit the headlines in April after being warned by the ASA about her promotional posts.

The star, who’s worth an estimated $7 million, told readers they too could buy the dress she was wearing from a fashion retailer. The 30-year-old included an affiliate link but the tag was hidden under a button.

Instagram post via Zoella’s Instagram

Affiliate links send the reader to a product’s page, and in doing so give the person who created the link monetary rewards, indicative of the number of clicks they receive from the affiliate link. This is how many influencers make their pennies, and not all of them disclose this information clearly.