Today, some brands use KOL as a quality test for their product or services , and do not hesitate to radically change dir

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Today, some brands use KOL as a quality test for their product or services , and do not hesitate to radically change directions accordingly. As an example, our customer P&G changed its Herbal Essences shampoo formula and worked on it for 12 months after contacting KOL for collaborations. Indeed, KOLs first didn't want to promote the product for environmental and quality issues, and P&G adapted it to please them. In the best interest of consumers that KOL don't want to fool .

Finally, beyond the media, KOLs are humans, with a natural tendency to use their amazing influence power to act for good
They are living beings that evolve, rise and fall, and improve. They proved recently that they can be responsible, for example avoiding to show too much of the unreal world they usually share, with less photoshop, less filters, less makeup. They also launched or supported amazing initiatives to positively impact the world : they helped raise millions on Twitch for good causes, promoted petitions for climate change, helped ill patients to find bone marrow donors, and more recently helped support good citizen behavior during the Covid19 crisis .

Cons of Influence Marketing
But at Kolsquare we are also aware of the controversial market perception about Influencer Marketing, which most often is made out of misunderstanding and fear of the unknown.

An immature market
Influencer Marketing is still perceived as the caricature of it, involving immature and meaningless persons, and fueling easy money for “only posts.” It is a young business that is not well understood and valued by the public at large, but also by professionals, even within marketing experts (not to say among C-Level!). It is indeed an immature business, that is sometimes subject to unethical behaviors , either by brands or by KOLs. The lack of rules and regulations doesn't help a very fast growing – and thus changing – industry.

A lack of authenticity
As collaborations are booming, fans start to feel overwhelmed with ads . They question their KOL authenticity as they have become sandwich men/women. Brands themselves tend to consider KOLs as a simple advertising sign, and this pressure doesn't help. KOLs may sacrifice authenticity on the pressure of their community, or on the pressure of brands and the related income. They can be pushed to say and share things they don't really believe in, just to please them and keep a good engagement rate.

The apology of consumerism and superficiality
They also tend to disguise reality through photoshopped bodies and faces , too much positivity and false happiness, which also has a side effect on fans' mental health. KOLs can willingly or unwillingly manipulate fans. The unprecedented proximity between content creators and their followers make the latter more susceptible to suggestion and manipulation. Influencer Marketing is also criticized because it fuels the consumer society and compulsive buying disorder . Each collaboration, especially if not officially announced, can prompt followers to buy a new product or service, a product that they might not really need but that they can buy in one click. Finally, setting up efficient Influence Marketing collaborations requires collecting and storing billions of data that are not always available through Social Networks APIs.

All technologies working on social networks face the same issues (social listening, gaming, retargeting…), but Influence Marketing platforms have to build complex big data strategies and infrastructures to answer brands' needs. This raises terms and conditions dilemma, as well as principles issues (for example: Should we store Stories on Instagram, that our brands love and need to correctly do their jobs, but that they are in essence short lived? Should we scrap data that is not available through the API? What should I do if there is no API?).

Influencer marketing trends for 2025
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About Kolsquare
Kolsquare is Europe's leading influencer marketing platform, offering a data-driven tool that enables vp facility manager email database brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.

Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketers seamlessly identify top content creators by filtering their content and audience, while allowing them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and comparing performance to competitors.

With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of clients – including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush and Hermès – by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform leverages a vast network of influencers with over 5,000 followers in 180 countries across Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat.

As a BCorp company, Kolsquare leads the race in Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.

Since October 2024, Kolsquare is part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private technology companies in Europe and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together more than 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online fulfillment, lead generation, app solutions and social media.