Photo by Abed Ismail via Pexels
It’s estimated that we see 10,000 ads per day (Quesenberry).
With social media becoming clogged with digital promotions, it’s easy to mindlessly scroll past mundane posts that push products, services, or experiences. The human attention span is incredibly short, and consumers expect creative ways to connect with brands.
As Keith Quesenberry puts it in his book, Social Media Strategy, the current pace of change requires social media strategies to be evaluated and optimized often. As a result, many companies are turning to “influencers” to do this for them.
Bridging the gap
Always at the forefront of trends, social media influencers provide ideal platforms for opportunity. Because of their wide reach, brands have figured out that they can also serve as bridges between the business and the public, seeing as consumers are more likely to trust real people over ordinary advertisements (Quesenberry).
Trust is established when the audience perceives the creator to be a genuine believer in what they’re promoting. There won’t be a business-to-consumer gap to bridge if an influencer-to-business gap exists. You wouldn’t let a vegan content creator sell you on a Big Mac, and the same principle goes for all influencer-backed marketing approaches.
Let’s look at how one specific brand is navigating the influencer sphere.
F1 x TikTok influencers
F1 has recently extended their digital presence onto TikTok. In 2023, F1 launched a full-fledged social media campaign in anticipation of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. According to an article by Julian Cannon of DIGIDAY, the goal was to broaden their fan base and establish a stronger presence in the U.S. market.
In addition to organic posts, they hired influencers to create and post content from the race. They attended the event for free and were given opportunities to create valuable content with drivers, team principals, engineers, and fans, but fell short in that task by having little to no knowledge of the sport or of anyone involved. It truly was a vegan-endorsed burger type of situation; it did not make sense.
Click here for an example.
While the organic content performed well, the influencer “flop” made it difficult for a wider audience to feel motivated to engage with the sport. In this case, influencers were seen as annoyances, “taking free tickets to sold-out events and giving nothing back to the fans. No insights, no exclusives, just a photo in a pit lane and a pointless headline” (Pester).
Tweet from a displeased F1 fan
What can we learn from this?
As advertisements continue to saturate social media, the authenticity of influencers becomes crucial in connecting businesses and consumers. The F1 campaign highlights the danger of mismatched partnerships, and we’ve learned that while creators can extend a brand’s reach, they must also be passionate about what they’re promoting.
For businesses, the challenge lies in selecting people who can resonate with both the brand and the target audience. If done correctly, this strategic alignment can turn influencer collaborations into powerful tools for growth.
Works Cited
Cannon, Julian. “How Formula One Hopes to Bring Its Overseas Popularity to the U.S. For Its Las Vegas Race.” DIGIDAY, 11 Oct. 2023, digiday.com/marketing/how-formula-one-plans-to-bring-its-overseas-popularity-to-the-united-states-for-its-las-vegas-race/. Accessed 26 May 2024.
Pester, Lauren. “F1 & Influencers: A Match Made in Hell?” Www.linkedin.com, 11 July 2023, http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/f1-influencers-match-made-hell-lauren-pester/. Accessed 26 May 2024.
Quesenberry, Keith A. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations in the Consumer Revolution. S.L., Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
Hana Lataille 
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