Social Media Influencers - Trustworthy and Credible

Influencer marketing is such an interesting, effective, and growing trend. I mainly follow

Instagram influencers in the fitness or parenting niches, such as @laurajulaine or

@johnnoel. My understanding is that brands reach out to the influencer based on their

number of followers and engagement, and offer them a contract with deliverables, talking

points, and often a code for earning commissions.

The influencers have unique strategies based on their followers and personal brand, but

their success hinges on their followers knowing, trusting, admiring, or respecting their

opinion. Followers almost expect influencers to share links to clothing, products, and

more. They send messages asking the influencer to link these things, and sometimes get

disappointed when they aren’t able to share a link because the product is old or

discontinued! It is shocking to me that we expect people to market to us, or follow based

on their ability to provide links.

In a scholarly article on social media influencers, Ilieva et. al. emphasize that “Brands…

focus on influencers who demonstrate expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness, as

these qualities enhance the effectiveness of brand messages. Influencers employ

credibility theory principles to establish and up-hold their credibility, emphasizing

consistency in brand values, transparency in sponsored content, and engagement with

followers to foster trust and loyalty” (Ilieva, 2024. Para. 53).

Influencer John Noel stands out for transparency, as he is so straight-forward and blunt

with his partnerships. For example, he is partnered with the supplement brand Legion,

and often reminds his followers that they never need supplements, but if they choose to

buy some, this is the brand he recommends, and he also receives commission if they use

his link.

Laura Novotny, a mother and fitness influencer, has only partnered with four brands in

the decade that I have followed her. She reminds her followers to budget wisely and that

they don’t need to spend money on every clothing drop. She also frequently says that she

only partners with brands she absolutely trusts, and that her credibility is important to her.

Both influencers are also experts in their field - they are both certified personal trainers

with years of experience and a large following. All of these factors support the need for

credible, trustworthy, experts influencing brands.

What Instagram influencers do you follow? Have you noticed that they use these same

strategies?

References

Ilieva, G., Yankova, T., Ruseva, M., Dzhabarova, Y., Klisarova-Belcheva, S., & Bratkov,

M. (2024). Social Media Influencers: Customer Attitudes and Impact on Purchase

Noel, J. [@johnnoel]. (n. d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved June 14,

2025, from https://www.instagram.com/coachjohnnoel/

Novotny, L. [@laurajulaine]. (n. d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved

June 14, 2025, fromhttps://www.instagram.com/laurajulaine/

Social Media Marketing