No more clumpy lipgloss: How TikTok's 'deinfluencing' trend became a marketing tactic
CBC
Just a few weeks ago, Lauren Rutherglen's 10,000 TikTok followers would have expected advice on what beauty products to buy.
But as she rummaged through the creamy Glossier eyeshadows, Ilia serums and Charlotte Tilbury liquid bronzers in her drawer, the Calgary-based content creator was reminded of the expensive but disappointing products that the Internet had convinced her she needed.
So she made a "deinfluencing" video — a TikTok-coined term that describes the rejection of viral, cult-favourite beauty or lifestyle products (typically associated with influencer culture) in favour of more affordable choices.
"I just wanted to share my opinion on things that I was influenced as a consumer to buy and just didn't really like," Rutherglen told CBC News.
She doesn't mince words during her TikTok video, which has upped her follower count by a few thousand. "It dries out, it's hard to blend. I hate it. I hate it so much," she says of one product. Wrinkling her nose at another, she claims that it "literally smells like rotting Play-Doh."
But deinfluencing is a content strategy in itself, according to the Canadian creators, industry and marketing experts who spoke with CBC News. As the cost of living goes up, content creators are striving to build trust with audiences who can no longer afford the expensive products that some influencers get paid up to half a million dollars to promote.
The deinfluencing hashtag on TikTok had accumulated over 228 million views as of Feb. 23.
Some TikTokers directed their followers away from trendy, pricey products that they felt were a disappointment or a waste of money, instead recommending cheaper, more functional alternatives (which they might still be paid to promote).
Why get the $50 Stanley tumbler when you can just get a water bottle, they asked? Why do you need $175 Ugg minis if you can buy a regular pair of boots? Why buy Kim Kardashian's shapewear products if you can get inexpensive pantyhose?
A curated social media feed can serve the same purpose as a fashion magazine or a beauty catalogue, and users tend to follow people they trust will recommend high-quality products, said Jess Hunichen, the co-founder of Toronto talent management agency Shine.
"Trust is the number one commodity that these influencers have," Hunichen said. Her firm represents about 250 people working in the influencer industry. "If they lose that with their audience, this whole thing goes away for them and they don't want that."
Deinfluencing is a tool that can build that trust, she added. It's not unlike the in-person retail experience, where shoppers at a cosmetics store or a clothing boutique might seek advice or validation from a salesperson working the floor.
"When you have a sales associate say to you that you look amazing in everything you like, maybe they just want to sell," she said. But taking a critical approach might have a more powerful — and lucrative — impact.
"When they say to you, 'you know what, this looks incredible,' [or] 'I don't love that colour on you,' you immediately trust them," because they're willing to give you an honest answer, Hunichen said.
