Opinion: Influencers, time to grow up

Talking about the recent World Startup Convention fiasco, Ping's Rajeshree Naik writes about why influencers should do their due diligence before endorsing any events, products, or services.

A recent World Startup Convention in Noida near Delhi turned out to be a sham since none of the big names who were supposed to turn up did.

The event was supposed to see participation from the likes of SoftBank's CEO Masayoshi Son, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla’s Elon Musk, among others. All names that would make any startup’s mouth water in anticipation and hope.

The bigger sham in some ways turned out, was a long line-up of `influencers’ who endorsed the event to the hilt. According to the media reports, the influencers included names like Prafull Billore, Chetan Bhagat, Raj Shamani and the videos for the event’s promotion said the World Startup Convention would host 75,000 startups, 1,500 venture capitalists, and 9,000 angel investors. 

The fact that the influencers endorsed the proposition obviously helped build the buzz for this event and made potential attendees believe the hype, land up and of course pay for it.

Influencers in general have enjoyed disproportionate clout in recent years, thanks to their growing popularity on digital mediums like Facebook and YouTube. 

There are many reasons for this. 

The first is that there are creators with specific subject expertise, take health, fitness, food or even playing a musical instrument who are able to showcase their specialist knowledge directly to audiences. 

While they may not be the best in that respective field, their articulation and fluency usually makes them popular as compared to others who might be better but not be very effective narrators or story tellers.

Creators also showcase their knowledge and skills for the thrill of sharing and the satisfaction that their video (mostly) is seen and admired by others. 

That is usually where the journey begins or began. I make this distinction because many people young and old jump into becoming creators with the express hope and purpose of making money and becoming famous. In whichever order possible.

Though we must remember that influencers actually are more likely to be articulate, smart people with endearing personalities than actual experts on any subject. They also and often tend to give the impression that they might be experts at something which they are not. I would bracket them as entertainers rather than knowledge experts. 

Advertisers find influencers useful in their own attempts to build more direct connect with their audiences, including with specific and targeted messaging. Influencers in turn are able to monetise their presence and reach, mostly for any product or service that comes their way.

Because of how things have moved so quickly, influencers have not been constrained by or adhered to any code of conduct or self-declarations or compelled to do a proper due diligence of the product or service they are endorsing. Deals are struck quickly and everyone moves on.

Influencers have been known to market everything from dud crypto instruments to of course dud events. And a lot of stuff in between that typically escapes the attention of most people because of, once again, the beauty of internet and social media is of course targeting.

This is in some ways understandable. Most influencers, particularly those who started let’s say 5-6 years ago posting videos would not really have thought that this activity could fetch them any revenue or income. 

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This includes, by the way, some of the most popular home chefs on YouTube. But now with monetisation (the influencer marketing industry is believed to be worth Rs 900 crore now and set to grow by 25% next year) going through the roof, either from the platforms or from brands, creators have realised there is a gold mine they never thought, imagined or even dreamt of.

Gold mines usually run out of gold sometimes. One reason is that endorsements are backfiring. And it is evident to all, including some of their own audiences, that these influencers were peddling material they had no clue about.

The startup event is only the most well-known. In many other cases, visible or not, products or services endorsed by influencers have bombed or disappeared completely.

More significantly, the Government and regulators have rightly stepped in. The Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has already issued guidelines for finfluencers or financial influencers who, arguably, have done more damage than good in recent years.

India’s Department of Consumer Affairs has already issued guidelines for influencers who are hawking products and is set to issue further guidelines for those who comment or give advice on health issues, asking them to show their qualifications. 

Regulation is usually triggered because of an over reach or by malpractice in any area. In the case of influencers and social media, it clearly appears to be both.

With regulation in play, influencers will have no choice but to play by certain rules. This is of course good for both influencers and the audiences they serve.

This does not however take away from the fact that influencers and creators have to learn to be responsible as well. Particularly by not touching and commenting on subjects they have little or no knowledge of. 

The industry is maturing and that is good news. What may not be good news is that all players, including the agencies who represent these creators have to build sufficient due diligence and systems to ensure they work with the right people. Hint: counting the number of views or followers as a measure of popularity or impact is not enough.

All this may still not ensure that the next startup event will not be a con job. But hopefully, those wishing to make a quick buck by endorsing such events or for that matter any product or service will think twice or at the least do some due diligence.

This article is penned by Rajeshree Naik, Founder, Ping Network.

Disclaimer: The article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the stance of the publication.