According to Takumi’s latest study, 45% of marketers feel they should have complete control over the written captions and visual elements of an influencer’s post, despite most stating they trust influencers to do the job. Takumi commissioned Censuswide and Civey to poll over 4,000 consumers, marketers, and influencers across the UK, US, and Germany. It found that 39% of US and UK marketers and 55% of German marketers want complete control over the caption and visual element of an influencer’s post, viewing it as the same as an advertisement they have paid for another channel such as TV or radio. Out of the influencers surveyed, 46% trusted brands to work with them fairly and it’s clear marketers and influencers are battling for control. Amongst those surveyed, a third of consumers credit influencers with purchases made in the past six months, rising significantly to 91% of 16-24-year-olds in the UK and the US, with almost a fifth of consumers trusting influencers’ recommendations more than their friends. However, consumers lose trust easily, with the top reasons or unfollowing influencers being disingenuous endorsements (72%), promoting an unrealistic or unsuitable lifestyle or body images (69%), misrepresenting themselves or their lifestyles (69%) and discovering the purchase of fake followers (68%). In addition, 37% of consumers also trust influencers to clearly mark their paid partnerships. However, almost two thirds (62%) of influencers say they have been pressured by brands to contravene guidelines at least once in spite none out of ten marketers in the UK and US agree that the market guidelines are clear. This figure falls to 52% of marketers and 11% of influencers in Germany.  “Influencers continue to directly inform consumer purchasing behaviour but consumers are increasingly savvy. Through this research, consumers have made it clear what wins their trust, and what they value; transparency, authenticity, honesty.“Marketers must take a proactive and responsible role in educating about and enforcing correctly labelled ads. Developing and upholding regulations is a shared responsibility.“This will require good communication with influencers, many of whom are struggling with opaque briefs. Influencers are asking for greater clarity but also want a creative license and the partnerships that can successfully achieve this will be the real winners,” said Adam Williams, CEO of Takumi.
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