New Report: Influencers Continue To Drive Value For Brands

Despite recent scandals involving high-profile celebrity influencers, research shows that most consumers trust influencer recommendations more than most branded content. A recent report by Captiv8 shows brands are directing their budgets towards influencer-led affiliate marketing to leverage that trust.

The rise of the influencer represents a change in the content consumers trust 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were more new businesses launched in America in 2021 than at any other time in history, and many of them are online, competing with major brands for the same audiences. According to a recent survey by Oberlo, 61 percent of consumer respondents said they trusted influencer recommendations, in contrast to just 38 percent of consumers who said they trusted brand-produced content the most. Not surprisingly, 60 percent of marketers in the same survey stated that influencer-generated content performed better than traditional brand-produced content like ads.

That underscores influencer marketing’s appeal to brands seeking creative ways to connect with an audience and their trust. In 2022, as the value of the influencer industry topped $16 billion, 75 percent of brands now have a dedicated budget for influencers. 

Brands that use influencer capital wisely gain higher engagement levels

In a report released this month, Captiv8 surveyed 1100 of senior- to mid-level marketers in SMBs and large companies and found that influencer-led campaigns are becoming important components of their brand’s revenue strategy.

From brand awareness to conversion—influencer-led campaigns are driving revenue While brands once relied on influencers almost exclusively for “shoutouts” to build brand awareness, influencers are now key to building ROI—and there is evidence that investment in influencers can deliver significant results. A recent Harvard Business Review survey revealed that a 1 percent increase in influencer marketing spending led to an increase in engagement of 0.46 percent. Brands that optimized their influencer spending by evaluating influencer campaign performance and relevance saw a 16.6 percent increase in consumer engagement. The Harvard Business Review study found that when brands crafted their influencer investment strategy in consideration of the following when selecting an influencer to support, they achieved higher ROI:

• Number of Followers – The survey revealed that (surprise!) an influencer with a large following not only has a greater reach but is also seen as more popular and credible. 
• Posting Frequency – Brands that achieved the highest ROI partnered with influencers with a medium posting activity, or around five posts per week.
• Follower-Brand Fit – The study found that the best follower-brand fit occurs when around 9 percent of an influencer’s followers have interests that match with the sponsor brand.
• Influencer Originality – Posts from influencers who showed a highly original approach to content presentation achieved 15.5 percent greater ROI.
• Post Positivity – Overly positive posts were seen as insincere. The study found that reducing positivity could have helped these brands boost ROI by an average of 1.9 percent.
• Whether the Post Includes Links to the Brand – In the study, posts that included links to a brand’s website or social media achieved 11.4 percent higher ROI.
• Whether the Post is Announcing a New Product – The ROI for influencer posts announcing new products was 30.5 percent lower than for equivalent posts that were not about new product launches. 

The Harvard Study supports Captiv8’s findings too. According to the Captiv8 report:

• 41% of brands rely on influencer partnerships to drive the purchase
• 84% have an influencer-centric affiliate marketing program 
• 40% say that influencers are most important in driving conversions through affiliate campaigns, outperforming blogs (31 percent), social media (18 percent), and email (10 percent).

Read more findings from the Captiv8 report here.