Influencer marketing has matured beyond a test-and-learn tactic into an ongoing and effective digital marketing channel. So how are brands and agencies using influencer marketing—and how they plan to leverage the channel during the remainder of 2019?
New research from performance-based influencer marketing firm Linqia found that over 40 percent of all marketers are now using an “always on” influencer strategy, leveraging influencer marketing across a multitude of initiatives throughout the year. In fact, 66 percent of marketers surveyed ran three or more campaigns in 2018, and more than a quarter ran five or more campaigns. And the researchers believe that even more marketers will establish a year-round approach to influencer marketing in 2019.
“Influencer marketing was originally treated as a once- or twice-a-year campaign tactic, and now many marketers are using influencers year-round,” said Nader Alizadeh, CEO and co-founder of Linqia, in a news release.
“Each year, Linqia measures the trends in the influencer marketing space with our State of Influencer Marketing report, and this year we found that 57 percent of marketers have recognized that the authentic content influencers create is more effective than brand-created content,” Alizadeh added. “Results like these prove why almost three-fourths of marketers are now reusing influencer assets in other channels.”
Additional findings from the survey include:
- 39 percent of digital marketers surveyed with a digital marketing budget above $500,000 plan to increase their influencer marketing budget in 2019
- 42 percent of marketers have made the shift from one-off, tactical campaign execution to an “always on” influencer strategy
- 74 percent of marketers are using influencer content on other channels
- Engagement is still the most important way marketers are measuring influencer marketing performance, with 89 percent stating this is the way they measure success
- Influencer marketing was ranked more important than programmatic advertising for survey respondents
- More than 68 percent of marketers cite Instagram as the most important social network for influencer marketing, followed by Facebook (51 percent); while Snapchat remains the least important social network for influencer marketing in 2019
- 50 percent indicated that measuring ROI continues to be the biggest pain point in influencer marketing
Download the full report here.
197 marketers in the United States participated in The State of Influencer Marketing Survey 2019 in February 2019 from a variety of industries, including CPG, Food & Beverage, Media, and Retail.
