What Does the De-influencing Trend Mean for Influencer Marketing?

Download Now: Free Guide to Influencer Marketing
Lestraundra Alfred
Lestraundra Alfred

Updated:

Published:

Welcome to HubSpot Marketing News! Tap in for campaign deep dives, the latest marketing industry news, and tried-and-true insights from HubSpot’s media team. 

content creator participates in the de-influencing trend

Is influencing on its way out?

In recent weeks, a new trend called de-influencing has taken over TikTok with the hashtag #deinfluencing racking up over 160 million videos.

Download Now: Free Influencer Marketing Guide + Templates

The initial de-influencing videos that began circulating in January featured social media users talking about the viral products they wouldn’t recommend to discourage overconsumption. Now that the term de-influencing has become more popular, there are videos under the hashtag for nearly every niche including:

What’s causing the skepticism around influencing?

For starters, high inflation and economic uncertainty have people exercising caution with their spending.

There have also been concerns over the authenticity of influencer recommendations. Recently, popular creator Mikayla Nogueira was accused of wearing false eyelashes in a sponsored video promoting L’Oréal mascara. The incident, referred to as MascaraGate, went viral and left users wondering if they could trust the opinions of influencers who benefit financially from recommending products.

So does that mean influencer marketing is no longer effective? Not exactly.

On TikTok, the trend has quickly evolved from videos that say “buy less” into videos that say “buy this, not that.” The video below with over 730K views is a prime example of this, where the creator gives alternatives to the items she doesn’t recommend.

Ultimately, the power of influencer marketing lies in how much the audience trusts the creators they follow and the brands they promote. For some, the act of “de-influencing” can be seen as a strategy to build trust with an audience before influencing another purchase down the line.

Marketing Snippets

The latest marketing news and strategy insights.

Instagram is testing a new “memories” feature to engage users with nostalgia.

TikTok is looking to engage with older users and offer a new suite of tools to creators after experiencing a slowdown in growth.

Meta announced its sunsetting live shopping on Instagram.

The state of social media in 2023: the HubSpot Blog surveyed over 1,000 global social media marketers on their best social media strategies and insights.

Podcast growth: want to get a higher return for your podcast? Check out these tips for better podcast SEO.

New call-to-action

Related Articles

The ultimate guide to getting started with influencer marketing.

    The weekly email to help take your career to the next level. No fluff, only first-hand expert advice & useful marketing trends.

    Must enter a valid email

    We're committed to your privacy. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information, check out our privacy policy.

    This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.