Under The Influence

As Uncle Ben once said, "With great power comes great responsibility."  But Peter Parker had to learn the hard way, and marketers and social influencers sometimes need to as well.  Well-known influencers can come from anywhere – some have big screen starts, others are video game superstars, and still others are makeup geeks.  Some even started out as bloggers (fingers crossed).  As the compensation of social influencers increases, however (YouTube channel Itsbabybigmouth reportedly makes between $567,000 and $9 million  for its YouTube channel that features opening candy eggs to reveal the surprise toys inside), influencers – and the marketers and advertisers who engage them – face ever-greater scrutiny by regulators.