PR TIP: Navigating Indirect Coercion for Positive Review

Hello! Welcome to my PR tip series. I am excited to finally bring this to my blog after a long stint on Instagram. In January 2021, I started PR Tip Fridays. Its purpose was to support nano influencers with tips on how to navigate the creator space, particularly brand-creator relationships. I was not coming into that series as a professional in the field, but rather as someone who had been creating content for half a year at that point and had been fortunate enough to have dealt with multiple brands. I felt that I could share my experiences as a nano creator (<10, 000 followers) and hopefully provide answers to frequently asked questions, as well as some guidance for newbies.

I would love to say that predatory brands do not exist but that would be a lie. The end goal for brands is to make money; however, some brands spend the time and resources to make their version of capitalism more palatable while some others do not. And sadly, the easiest targets for brands that do not bother are talented nano creators who do not yet realize their value.

My topic today is about navigating indirect coercion for positive reviews. I picked this topic because while most creators are able to reject opportunities that blatantly ask for positive reviews, it becomes more difficult when there is indirectly coercive messaging from brands (1) you like, (2) from which you have enjoyed several other products, (3) that are launching new products and are primarily concerned with building hype around the items.

So, what exactly are some of these indirectly coercive messaging? The biggest examples that come to mind are "we're so excited to see you share your love," "we're so excited that you will love it!" "we can't wait to see how this becomes a part of your routine!" "we just know that you will love it as much as we do!"

Take a moment to read those again and notice as you start to recall language that follows a similar pattern.

You've probably come across this type of messaging, and if you haven't, you very likely will. On one hand, it may appear benign, just brand representatives showing excitement for their products. However, once you remember that the primary goal for most brands is to make money, you can understand how hard many will work to prevent the market being flooded with negative reviews. Negative reviews spread like wildfire and hurt business revenue. At the same time, brands with an intelligent marketing team understand that outrightly asking for positive reviews will also spread like wildfire amongst the creator community, which will also hurt the business, so they strategize and dance on a fine line.

The messaging examples above are manipulative, and if a newer or less experienced creator got swept up in this bubble of excitement, they suddenly begin proclaiming their love for a product that they have not given enough usage time. Suddenly, the little discomforts they may feel are not all that uncomfortable. Suddenly, when it's time to post about that product, they search for where it was discarded and gathering dust and place it amongst their "vanity must-haves."

The first way to combat this indirect coercion is to recognize it. Recognize when you're being manipulated so that you can resist it. That will be your shield. The second thing to do is to remember who you say you are and who your followers know you to be on your platforms. Do you care about providing honest reviews to your followers or are you easily swept up by the excitement of a new product such that you have not always been honest? If you are constantly striving to be authentic and truthful on your platforms, the moment you spot those indirectly coercive messages, you are going to do everything in your power to SLOW DOWN, try out a product, and ask yourself several times whether you truly like it. If you answer yes every time, ask yourself WHY you like it without looking at the product page. Let this be as basic as possible. Think about your skin and what difference the product has made to it. Think about the product in comparison to other products in the same category. What makes this different?

You are going to fight the coercion to ensure that you give a truthful review.

If this product is part of a sponsored campaign, I encourage you to make sure that the brand is aware of who you are on your platform before you sign the contract. I always allow for a testing period before I post sponsored content because this allows me time to express to the brand if I do not like a product or worse, if I have an adverse reaction.  People often think this means that the deal will be off. Not necessarily! You can explain that you cannot review or promote the products because you had a negative experience with them. However, you can offer instead your skills of photography and/or videography to create content without review or user generated content for the brand. This way, you are still utilizing your skills while maintaining integrity on your social pages. If the brand is NOT paying you any money and the products you received were just gifted, fight the coercion and tell the truth.

Remember to always share your truth with grace (unless it's a comic piece, of course!). Some brands may not send you any other press samples after a negative review but doing this speaks loudly about what type of brand they are. Brands that accept feedback and respect your judgment as a nano-influencer will continue to share their products with you no matter what.

I can't wait to share more PR TIP blog posts with you! If you found this helpful, do like and share the post with other creatives. Make sure to subscribe for more ways to grow as a nano-influencer.

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