Those endless influencer unboxing posts need to stop
Unboxing videos were once the domain of tech enthusiasts on YouTube, but the practice has finally made its way into the world of Instagram influencers. Here, Natalie Giddings explains why posting endless parcels isn't the best use of your marketing budget.
Unboxing is a term that was once related to a video filmed by an individual to display the excitement of a highly anticipated, new product or product release, typically shared to their social media profiles.
These days, it’s more commonly when a social influencer has been sent a parcel by a brand in the hope they might share it on their channels. The resulting content follows a very common format – the influencer usually opens the box and exclaims their delight and how they can’t wait to try it or put it on.
So, what is so wrong with this type of arrangement?
Unboxing posts have reached a saturation point lately. It’s rampant.
In order to secure as much exposure as possible, the aim is often to recruit as many influencers as possible. Consequently, vital steps are skipped when it comes to doing due diligence on the potential influencers. You could be taken advantage of with fake accounts.
Recently I’ve seen brands being mentioned in some very damaging environments, such as indirectly being associated with underage drinking or food products now accidentally associated with dangerous food fads and eating disorders. Be relevant, but you must be careful.
Sacrificing quality over quantity also leads you right into the types of profiles I call ‘product mules’. You know the ones. They will peddle anything and everything. Every second post is yet another product.
There is very little actual storytelling going on and the comments on the posts are unrelated or vague. It’s a strong phrase, but I feel it’s fitting. Please feel free to borrow it.
An influencer’s audience, key channels, formats, tones, content styles and strengths are each very different. Therefore, each influencer represents a unique opportunity for your brand.
By treating each influencer in the same indirect, impersonal manner, you miss the opportunity you had to truly connect with their audience. Instead we see the regurgitation of the enclosed press release or fact sheet.
Audiences are now seeing some form of unboxing every single day and it’s wearing thin. Unsurprisingly, based on our reoccurring results from real programs, across multiple brands, engagement rates dramatically increase on individual influencers activity when working the same product overtime.
The only reporting information available for an unboxing, mass mail out-style program is vague. Simply adding the total audience sizes (follower or like count), of each influencer together is misleading.
If brand is the cornerstone of all marketing, it must be presented clearly, uniquely and consistently to leave an imprint on your potential customer. However, your unboxing video / post just looks like the last one, and the one before that.
Unless a box is part of your brand propositioning, which I doubt it is, (maybe if you are Kennards Storage?) this is a misfire of your marketing time. Not to mention the dramatic drop off in creditability and lack of key messages.
Of course, physically getting the products to influencers is challenging, though I’m not talking about fulfilment. The box may be beautiful but the time it took to pack and post them all could have been used to truly partner and engage your influencer, so they could in turn create and share their own experience with your product in a tone fit for their audience. We continually get random stuff turn up in the mail because businesses think we still represent social influencers. And nobody has ever checked in afterward with us to see what we thought of the products. This exemplifies the amount of wastage this approach produces.
But put a stop to this tactic starting today and make sure you are not included in any product roundups or unboxing style posts today. At best it’s a grassroots or sampling campaign, at worst, unboxing is damaging your brand.
Natalie Giddings is managing director of The Remarkables Group.
Who is Steph Dixoni and why should I care that she eats Hello Fresh?
User ID not verified.
The sooner “influencers” are forced to obviously disclose when they are being paid or incentivised the better. You can’t by an article in a paper without disclosure
User ID not verified.
Still yet to see any proof through a verified study that using influencers has a positive ROI
User ID not verified.
Eventually everyone will jump on the “influencer” bandwagon and there will be a glut of new “influencers”, much like there is now with music and youtube creators. Then there will have to be an aggregator with curated playlists of “influencer’s” bleetings. Perhaps it will be called Spotifluencer, Panfluencer, iFluencer or some such thing. The real concern is that the upcoming punters are so dumbed down that the inane ravings of some vacuous bimbo (reclining in a box yet!) are actually worth any time at all. This shows success of the corporate’s (and society’s) overarching mission to create an army of mindless autonomous consuming machines who will dutifully swallow anything placed before them. We need a war to shake things back to reality again. Perhaps china could invade? … ooops… they already have…..
User ID not verified.
Google HiSmile
User ID not verified.
The majority now do, using the ‘paid partnership’ tag. The author selected posts for the HelloFresh influencer from before that was introduced (oct ’17). Remarkable that she couldn’t find something more recent..
User ID not verified.
The other day I got an unsolicited delivery to my place.
There were several large pieces around 150mm x 150mm and just under 2 metres long. And heavy.
So I videoed myself opening it.
Yep, I was unboxing posts.
User ID not verified.
Classic Gags!
User ID not verified.
Agree. I hadn’t supplied this image as the example but you do raise another point of the gaps in using unboxing in your strategy. Thank you!
User ID not verified.
#spon is still too misleading for consumers. I noticed a recent juice bar brand also tried on #brandnameparters. Again misleading.
User ID not verified.
It’s also time for Mumbrella to ask for the opinions of other writers on influencers. An article by Giddings is also currently featured on B&T and this is just the latest on Mumbrella.
User ID not verified.
Do you ever think that maybe its because Giddings is one of the very very few experts in the industry. Her company is a dedicated influencer strategy house – they live and breathe influencer marketing. Who else can they ask to write pieces like she does? A PR agency? Who aren’t specialists?
I wouldn’t want a GP commenting on the best way to perform open heart surgery over an actual heart surgeon. It would be the same thing if they got a non specialist in influencer marketing to provide specialist advice. Completely redundant.
User ID not verified.
There are plenty of others who live and breathe influencer marketing across many categories. Giddings is not one of the very few experts on the topic. My point is that it’s time to hear from them, too. Not just the same person so not sure what your point is
User ID not verified.
Maybe ask Mark Ritson?
User ID not verified.
Good call!
User ID not verified.
There’s plenty of others. The good call comment from Giddings herself proves that point.
User ID not verified.
Can’t help it that Giddings is an expert and is sharing her expertise to the wider audience. You should be sitting there thanking her rather than being jealous that you obviously aren’t asked for your opinions.
Perhaps don’t read the articles if you don’t want to hear her expertise anymore.
User ID not verified.
Sounds like you’ve swallowed the black pill.
User ID not verified.
….thats why he/she/it has elected to write their own expertise piece on influencers and submit it by COB today for Mumbrella judgement…
User ID not verified.
I have not submitted a piece on influencers to Mumbrella. Not sure where that accusation comes from. Or maybe I can take an accurate guess. The megajealous post sounds like it comes from the same quarters. Giddings is in no way the only expert on influencers in this country. Again – My first comment expressed the view that I would like to hear from the many other experts on the subject and I am sure many other readers would as well.
User ID not verified.
Lighten up Megazord!
Its advertising – not anything beneficial to humanity like… you know… cancer research.
And I expect that influencer piece on my desk by sundown!
User ID not verified.