Are influencers losing credibility with back-to-back brand collabs?

New Delhi: Picture this: your favourite influencer is hyping a luxury skincare line one day and then raving about budget-friendly beauty hacks the next. If it feels like influencers are endorsing every brand under the sun, it’s because many are—but what does that mean for their credibility? 

With audiences beginning to wonder about authenticity, brands are also questioning the effectiveness of these “multi-brand mavens.” 

Should brands set stricter exclusivity terms, or is there a better way to navigate this high-speed world of influencer endorsements? 

Industry experts weigh in on this evolving landscape, emphasising the delicate balance influencers must maintain to preserve trust and engagement.

Heeta Parikh, Founder and CEO, Silverspun Brand Solutions, said, “The saturation of influencer endorsements can significantly diminish an influencer's perceived authenticity. When followers see influencers constantly promoting different products, especially across diverse industries, it can feel like they're just chasing monetary gains.”

Rachit Sharma, Head Brand Solutions at Qoruz, thinks, “When an influencer partners with multiple brands, they risk losing their unique value proposition and becoming another interchangeable market face. Thus, a decrease in brand recall as audiences struggle to associate the influencer with any one particular brand.” The influencers become more like a “rented face.”. 

This dilution of brand identity can leave followers uncertain about which products the influencer genuinely supports.

Rushabh Shah,  Influencer Marketing Lead at Opportune, gave a sneak- peek into the other segment of the audience too; that might be okay with the multiple collaborations: “Usually, it's mixed. For some people, it might be confusing and not cool. On the other hand, in places where endorsements are done transparently and authentically, a few people appreciate the diverse recommendations and see it as an opportunity to explore more products.”

Piyush Agarwal, co-founder at CREATE, stressed the importance of quality in collaborations: “If an influencer is doing a lot of collaborations of sub-par quality, that impacts their authenticity among their followers. Every influencer needs to find the right balance between organic content and paid collabs.”

The conversation around authenticity often centres on the ratio of organic to sponsored content. The ratio preferably being a 1:7 ratio, as per Sindhu Biswal, CEO and Founder at Buzzlab. “One out of seven organic content can be an endorsement. Anything more than that, people start losing trust, and it shows up in the engagement rate going down,” he explained. 

“When the audience is constantly bombarded with branded content or paid partnerships on their feed, it builds scepticism and reduces trust in the recommendations being made. The only solution here is to push for only authentic content,” said Shah.

This raises the question: can influencers maintain authenticity while endorsing multiple brands?  

“Yes, influencers can still maintain authenticity while endorsing multiple brands, but it requires a strategic approach. The key is to see to it that these brands fit within the influencer’s personal style, ethos and the type of content they usually create. This way, even with multiple partnerships, the endorsements feel like a natural extension of their lifestyle rather than disjointed promotions,” said Parikh on an optimistic note.

Partnerships should feel connected and when brands come from different categories, authenticity can be preserved—but it’s crucial to avoid confusing audiences, said Agarwal. 

Biswal has an interesting take on what might or might not work in such a scenario: “Influencers have to maintain their own tonality—the introductory hook of their content. What we have observed is that when an influencer directly makes a video about an endorsement where they are talking about the product in the first six seconds of the video, it generally takes a toll on their engagement rate. However, there exists a content genre called ‘review videos,’ where the creator does a paid endorsement, and it looks like an organic video. But you have to sound authentic.”

A cherry on the cake would be the quality of the influencer’s content. This should be led by their ability to tell a captivating story and their engagement rate are crucial metrics to consider, said Parikh. Also, audience reactions to influencers endorsing competing brands can vary significantly.  

Such as how Biswal observed that when influencers heavily promote a single brand, the engagement metrics often decline. “In extreme scenarios, one could face backlash such as followers unfollowing them or showing hateful comments. Sharma added that this has a direct impact on the influencer's loyalty and credibility getting questioned.

Therefore, from a brand's perspective, selecting the right influencer is key to maintaining authenticity. Sharma advises, “When selecting an influencer with multiple brand partnerships, brands should carefully evaluate several factors. First, ensure the influencer's niche and values align with your brand's identity. Assess their past collaborations (no competing brand collaboration in the last six months), content quality, and engagement metrics to gauge their credibility and reach.”

This doesn’t stop here; more steps can be considered. Agarwal suggested, “Brands should always check the engagement numbers of the last five brand collaborations they have done. They should also check for the quality of the comments and the demographic. If all these three metrics align currently, then a brand can go ahead.” 

This debate gets stretched to the tug of war between long-term partnerships versus one-off endorsements. Sharma explained how: “ When influencers partner with a brand for an extended period, they can produce richer, more engaging content that resonates with their audience. In contrast, one-off endorsements often lack depth and can feel less genuine, leading to diminished engagement.” This long-term exposure gives another benefit of building trust through long-term exposure that leads to higher conversion rates. In Agarwal’s words, “I strongly believe that long-term partnerships help influencers push brands through multiple content segments.” 

In fact, some experts believe multiple brand endorsements aren’t that bad of an idea after all. Shah said: “Working with multiple brands is not a problem. The important thing is to make it personalised for each brand by incorporating different styles and personal experiences.” 

But with such multitasking comes multiple responsibilities—primarily, the aspect of transparency. “Clear labelling and disclosure build trust between influencers, brands, and audiences. When influencers openly share their partnerships and sponsorships, it not only complies with legal requirements but also enhances their credibility,” explained Sharma. 

As these strategies take shape, “Over time, audiences become more familiar with the brand and its offerings, resulting in better brand loyalty and conversion rates,” iterated Shah.