But influencers also offer political candidates an additional bonus, as they can help campaigns sidestep some of the new political advertising rules. Twitter, for instance, still allows unpaid political influencer marketing on its platform, and Google has said that it has no further requirements for political influencer marketing than other forms of brand-influencer partnerships. Creators simply have to check a box if their videos include paid product placements or endorsements.
The Bloomberg campaign’s meme strategy includes creating posts that look like images of fake direct messages from the candidate’s Instagram account and are clearly labeled as being sponsored.
“We’re trying to be innovative with how we’re translating the campaign message on social, trying to do it how the internet actually works,” a Bloomberg campaign aide told The New York Times. “Tweeting from @mikebloomberg is a very 2008 strategy.”
In response to the campaign's influencer outreach, Facebook said that it will allow influencers to post content related to political campaigns as long as the posts are clearly identified as ads.
But whether Bloomberg’s tactics will resonate with voters is still up for debate. In a February 2020 CivicScience survey, just 14% of US adult internet users supported political campaigns using social media influencer marketing. More than half (53%) opposed, but a full third of respondents were undecided.
Influencer marketers are torn, too. Maria Sipka, co-founder and executive vice president of brand strategy at influencer marketing platform Linqia, said politician-influencer partnerships should be allowed only if they are genuine and authentic. “It’s absolutely OK for politicians to identify influencers that are talking about every issue they are experiencing, form a connection with those influencers and start to build that relationship. But money should never exchange hands.”