What started as a debate on the right term to use in a research survey turned into a full blown conversation on what influence is and what an ad is. Co-written with Kayode Faniyi, you can find him on twitter as @kxyode.

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Taiwo: Wait! Wait! Here’s the thing, right? In today’s world, and especially with social media, influencer marketing is fast on the rise. Where in pre social media era, this role was limited to popular sports stars and movie actors, in today’s world, anyone can be an influencer. Simply share or create content that a few like minds align with, or behave in a certain type of way that gets people to want to follow and have just the right amount of community following and boom, influencer status. A complete democracy where anyone can be the star.

So, thanks to social media, we now have this new crop of people whose content – tweets, pictures or moving images – are the new advertising forms. You might say they are not ads, but I think that could be because we are looking at the word ‘ad’ in a very traditional sense. i.e. content (or creative work) published via (paid) media targeted at an audience.

Now, if I’m paying someone to be the representative for my brand on social media,  feeding off their popularity or ability to sway opinions, using their owned content to push some goodwill my way, at what point does it then become an ad? And at what point is it just influence especially when both can lead to direct action?

Here’s something we can agree on, an influencer is paid media. Right? 

In a very basic sense, an ad is a sales message directed to a mass audience usually involving the use of media towards a goal.

Now with the start of digital media comes a not so clear distinguishing line especially with the use of influencers. Influencers in themselves are some sort of media (a channel of communication {based on some perceived notion of respectability or most often, numbers i.e. public following}) and can amplify a sales message (advertising) or create sales messaging through tweets or other kinds of social content that can influence purchase or some kind of action.

Again remember that for the mere fact that they are paid and they have a platform where they grow a community, they qualify to be called ‘media’. Also consider that certain brands also require that each engaged influencer use the #ad to differentiate paid content from organic ones and so as not to appear deceptive especially knowing the kind of gimmicks that influencers can employ. If that is the case, why can’t influence just be an ad or an ad simply influence?

Influencers are a special breed, (usually with no sense of brand loyalty or fit (especially in the Nigerian context) so long as they are paid or they are loyal just long enough to see their contract end.

Where on traditional channels these things are clear enough, social media comes with a few blurry lines especially in this scenario. Is social media ‘advertising’ then the right term to use or is it social influence? While there are specific ad placement methods for each social media platform, we also know that it is becoming increasingly easier to promote organic content (owned asset or influencer content) and have it gain traction naturally before the promotions. This kind of content then naturally gains engagement off the popularity of the poster before payment is put behind it in the form of post promotions. Even when that is not the case i.e. when post promotions is not employed, it is easy to bank on the social currency of the influencers employed. So an influencer with 2 million followers may not necessarily need to be paid (especially if their interest already aligns with the cause) or need paid promotions to push content. Their followers will naturally take action. Should that then not be called an ad regardless especially if it’s driving sales or some other key brand metrics?

Again remember that the mere fact that they have a platform where they grow a community, qualify them to be called ‘media’, regardless of whether they are paid or not. Also consider that certain brands also require that each engaged influencer use the #ad to differentiate paid content from organic ones and so as not to appear deceptive knowing the kind of gimmicks that influencers can employ. If that is the case, why can’t influence just be an ad or an ad simply influence?

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Kayode: A good place to start is your definition of influencers as a special breed usually with no sense of brand loyalty or fit. While it’s probably an accurate description of things in Nigeria, I’m not so sure the logic extends far beyond that.

Many of the people whom we have anointed influencers do not necessarily influence in the real sense of the concept. They are generalists who have invested time and all manner of tactics to grow a followership. During these #EndSARS protests for example, many so-called influencer accounts have resorted to passing themselves off as some of the more prominent voices in an attempt to juice both follower and engagement counts. 

But really, these people are like the television of social media, straight up paid media as you say, in that they are simply a medium to propagate what is often a direct pitch: do something. Sometimes inducements are thrown in the mix: the popular “giveaway”, which is essentially what you would call a promo on traditional media.

Now, there’s a different category of influencers that serves a niche. Because they’ve demonstrated expertise and are trusted by their audience, they have an easier time influencing beliefs (which is why admitting interest is now best practice). In fact, there are unwitting influence operations in which a trusted voice, without being paid, has influenced the perception of products, services or programmes. 

In the real sense, influence is not a direct sales pitch, which ads generally tend to be. Influence is ultimately about perception, and yes, some ads are not really ads in the traditional sense in that they are trying to sell you a view of the world first, and a product second. Coca Cola and Nike, just to mention two, are famous for blurring these lines. While all antimalarial ads in Nigeria simply want to sell you drugs, Coca Cola ads try to sell a sensation, a feeling. They parlay that perception into sales by being readily available everywhere. In the medium to long term, the idea is to influence you into associating certain values or sensations to the brand. 

Another example of an influence operation is Promasidor’s sponsorship of Cowbellpedia. By assembling that array of young academic talent year after year, one might be fooled into thinking that drinking Cowbell might make a child a talented mathematician. You haven’t been asked to buy Cowbell, you’ve just been induced into associating Cowbell with academic brilliance.

At the end of the day, influence takes time to build and is a more long-term pitch. An ad, in the traditional sense, is a direct pitch.