Online influencers have shaped the way people interact with brands since the advent of social media, adding context to products outside of typical advertising channels. But the idea that more followers equate to more consumer sway is not always true. How exactly is influencer marketing evolving?

Nearly half of people in the UK believe that influencer marketing is having a damaging effect upon society. People are increasingly wary of brands using celebrity and social media influencers to promote products, saying the brands should be more direct or transparent with their marketing.

Make-up vloggers have established themselves in the beauty industry as trustworthy sources of information on the right products and techniques to achieve specific looks. Col-Lab taps into the power of these influencers, working with eight of them to develop a line of high-quality cosmetics.

As a generation, Gen Z are ambitous and influenced by their peers when it comes to buying decisions. In order to win their hearts, brands are hiring college students to become brand representatives and promote them in a more natural, peer to peer way.