By Honey K Bhargava
I was an early sceptic of influencer marketing. Not because I didn’t understand the reach numbers — I did. But because I had seen enough of the early wave of brand-influencer partnerships to recognise a fundamental problem: most of them were buying attention, not trust.
Audience trust in influencers is built over years of perceived authenticity. When a food influencer who has spent three years reviewing independent restaurants suddenly starts posting glowing reviews of a fast-food chain, their audience notices the disconnect. And when that disconnect becomes obvious, it doesn’t just cost the influencer credibility — it costs the brand any reputational value they thought they were buying.
The influencer economy’s dirty secret is that the metrics we use to evaluate it — follower count, engagement rate, reach — tell us very little about whether the partnership will actually move the needle on brand perception. A micro-influencer with 15,000 deeply engaged followers in a specific niche will frequently outperform a macro-influencer with 2 million passive followers on any metric that actually matters.
The second dirty secret is the disclosure problem. In India and globally, paid partnerships are still not being consistently disclosed. Audiences are sophisticated enough to detect undisclosed promotions — and when they do, the reputational damage falls not just on the influencer but on the brand that enabled it. The regulatory environment is tightening globally, and the brands that are still playing fast and loose with disclosure requirements are sitting on a compliance time bomb.
The influencer marketing approach that actually delivers for brands is one built on genuine alignment. Not: ‘which influencer has the biggest reach in this category?’ But: ‘which influencer’s audience, values, and content style genuinely match what we stand for?’ That question takes more work to answer. It produces fewer flashy volume metrics in short-term reports. And it builds actual equity
_________________________________________________________________________________
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
