Brands are increasingly betting on bloggers to get their messages out.
“The Rise of Influencer Marketing,” which will be released today, details information culled from 348 brands, agencies, consultants and media owners across the U.S. and U.K. and shows that influencers are becoming more, er, influential.
“There are lots of stats out there about the effectiveness of consumer recommendations, and often celebrities are associated with more of a commercial agreement,” said Katharina Pesch, chief operating officer of Econsultancy. “When you’re looking at social influencers it just appears as a more natural engagement.”
She acknowledged that although both celebrities and bloggers are “absolutely getting paid,” the latter makes for a more “peer-to-peer experience” in the eyes of consumers.
Related Articles
Followers are quicker to trust brand messaging that comes from a human of the noncelebrity variety. And bloggers, some of whom boast social media followings in the millions, are using that to their advantage.
You May Also Like
While most of the brands surveyed aren’t ready to fork over the majority of their advertising spend to bloggers just yet, 57 percent have an influencer marketing strategy in place (with two-thirds contending that their program has been in place for at least two years). And the money set aside for influencer marketing in the fashion, retail and beauty space is on the rise.
Of the brands that invest in influencer marketing, 25 percent devote a significant portion of their of their marketing budget — 30 to 77 percent — to this online outlet.
Influencer campaigns each have their own flavor.
Lord & Taylor partnered with 50 fashion influencers on Instagram in March. Each blogger who posted an image of the same coral and teal paisley patterned dress from the retailer’s Design Lab collection saw thousands of likes — and the dress sold out within a weekend.
And a spokeswoman for Amanda Wakeley said the coat featured in the brand’s first advertising campaign, an image of South American influencer Astrid Muñoz, sold out within a day.
There are still challenges, though.
The most-thorny issue remains identifying the right person to execute these campaigns. Seventy-three percent of respondents in the survey pointed to this as the most pressing issue with respect to influencers.
“For most brands, reach isn’t necessarily the significant measurement of whether it’s a good influencer — it’s the relevance of the subject matter,” Pesch said, adding that in addition to the research, a Fashion and Beauty Monitor Influencer Index will go live Wednesday. The global roster, comprised of 5,000 leading online influencers, is available to subscribers. The index, which will be updated continually, contains talents’ contact, areas of interest and reach and influence on varying social media channels.
There are also questions about what kind of bang brands get for their buck.
Sixty-five percent of brands said measuring ROI is the second-biggest challenge when it comes to influencer marketing.