Influencer marketers call for standardised global guidelines

A panel of influencer marketing experts speaking on Marketing-Beat’s latest podcast have called for standardised guidelines across global markets because, according to Kay Link, head of brand at influencer marketing platform Kolsquare, there are discrepancies between countries, which is confusing.

Katy shared her views with Marketing-Beats journalist Tom West, Teenage Cancer Trust’s head of marketing Warren Fiveash, and influencer Monica Marriott-Mills (@themonicaway), who specialises in sustainability and second-hand shopping.

Katy Link, Head of Brand at Kolsquare

Katy says: “Laws relating to influencer marketing are different in every country and that causes a lot of confusion on an international level. We are trying to encourage brands to put their own charters and ethical conduct guidelines in place so that everyone is on the same page and we know that there won’t be content on social media that is harmful or dangerous.”

Monica Marriott-Mills added that it is confusing for influencers too. She says: “There are so many different regulations across different locations. I’m quite well-versed because I used to work in affiliate marketing, but I can see why people are confused. As influencers, we know our jobs rely on our followers and we need to be truthful and transparent with them but sometimes labelling a sponsored post is confusing.

“What if it’s a brand you’ve worked with, but on this occasion you paid for the product? The good news is, a lot of brands are giving us the exact terminology to use in sponsored posts to avoid any confusion but I still think the industry needs clearer regulations across the board.”

Influencers are doing due diligence on the brands they work with

Warren Fiveash of The Teenage Cancer Trust explained that the charity does an intensive background check on any of the influencers they work with. Monica then surprised the panel, by revealing that influencers also do due diligence on brands.

“The vetting works two ways,” she says. “Influencers vet brands too. If I am invited to work on a campaign, I want to know that it aligns with my values, that it is diverse and that the brand hasn’t had any bad press. Influencers talk to each other and we know what’s happening in the industry. None of us wants to be part of a brand trip to find that the group that’s been chosen isn’t diverse or that there is someone who’s had bad press. That reflects badly on the influencers.”

Influencing for good

Katy explained that Kolsquare has a database of influencers who are prepared to do pro bono work for charities. She also explained that Kolsquare donates 1% of annual revenue to charities linked to social media, such as cyberbullying, etc.

“Some of the organisations we work with have told us that they struggle with finding creators who would work for no fee or a reduced rate.  So we started up an influence for good sections, so a creator can just subscribe to this database and search for influencers who do pro bono work or offer reduced rates, there are 3000 influencers on the list and we’ve only just started it.”