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Nuffnang CEO: ‘There are people out there who lie about their stats and they get away with it’

The CEO of one of Australia’s largest blogger/influencer agencies has warned that there are players in the space who are actively deceiving clients about their audience and campaign numbers.

L:R Felicity Grey, Lorraine Murphy, Jen Bishop, James Goodwin, Nic Christensen

L to R: Felicity Grey, Lorraine Murphy, Jen Bishop, James Goodwin, Nic Christensen

Speaking at yesterday’s Commscon event in Sydney, Felicity Grey, managing director of Nuffnang Australia, told the room she was worried about the lack of agencies asking for verification on audience and campaign results.

“There are people out there who are lying about their numbers and winning work and taking it away from others,” Grey told the room.  

Grey was speaking on a panel on the development of the influencer business model and noted:  “I think you will see in the next few years that people wise up. If you ask for the screenshots you can see quite easily if it’s true or false.”

Fellow panellist Jen Bishop, who blogs and runs her own in-house sales operation at Interiors Addict, said she was rarely, if ever, asked for evidence to support the audience numbers in her media kit.

“Everyone talks about ROI and how can we prove what we achieve,” said Bishop. “But going back a step, so many people don’t even ask for basic evidence of what your audience is in the first place.

“I’m prepared to be very transparent about all of my figures – give screenshots, etc – but no one ever asks. There are a lot of people who lie about their stats because people don’t ask for their figures.

“Personally, I feel like if you are going to get thousands of dollars agencies should be saying ‘can you prove you have that (audience)’?”

Bishop also spoke on the different approach of media agencies and PR agencies in the influencer/blogger space, telling the room: “I like working with media agencies because they have more cash, but PR agencies have a better idea of content”.

The panel, which included influencer agency bosses The Remarkables Group founder, Lorraine Murphy, and The Insiders’ James Goodwin, also discussed their differing views on contra advertising.

“I think if you are a blue-chip company you are going to have to be creative about how you create a contra opportunity with blogging talent… but we are definitely open to it,” said Grey.

Remarkables director Murphy disagreed, telling the room: “We decline all contra opportunities. We have a bit of a mantra in the office that ‘you can’t pay a mortgage with lipstick’.

“These are small businesses; if our bloggers are having a quiet quarter we do get worried about that because they have mortgages, kids and responsibilities, and so as an agency we decline all contra but say that they can go direct to the blogger if they want to.”

Nic Christensen and Valeska Valdes

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