Recently, Onalytica and OST hosted the #IMHuddle, an event which aimed to educate those looking for knowledge about the influencer marketing industry. The morning consisted of case studies, panel debates and even talks from industry influencers. Below are five key statistics discussed and debated at the event, which all organisations should be aware of when making their first step into influencer marketing.
1. “Engage with the top 1 per cent of market influencers to influence up to 80 per cent of your target audience”
We’ve all heard it before: quantity doesn’t always mean quality. However, with influencer marketing, the term should really be ‘quality leads to quantity’. This stat emphasises the importance of selecting the right influencers, and shows that if you are able to build a relationship with even a small number of key influencer figures in your industry, you can have a huge impact on the engagement of your target audience.
2. “There are five times more shares on posts with content from an influencer than from a brand”
Social media is now a crucial part of any marketing strategy, but it may be surprising to hear that a post by an influencer can receive a lot more shares than a post by a brand. This really outlines the potential that engaging with an influencer could have for your brand. Who wouldn’t love five times as many engagements, and the potential for five times as many impressions?
3. “52 per cent of influencers highlight their desire to be more influential on a topic as the outcome they hope to achieve from a partnership. Only 14 per cent are concerned over pay”
First, let’s be clear: not all influencers are looking for payment, but at the same time, a lot of influencers are looking for payment. That’s something everyone should be aware of when looking to implement an influencer marketing campaign. This is also something that’s important to highlight when seeking buy-in from the rest of your team: yes, some influencers look for payment, but this isn’t their biggest priority.
The actionable advice that this stat tells us is that when looking to engage with an influencer, you should ensure that they are aware that your brand has the same values, vision and goals as them. This way, you can work as partners to help their influence – and your audience – grow.
4. “59 per cent of brands say their main challenge when working with influencers is the difficulty with measuring ROI”
Something everyone seemed to agree with at the #IMHuddle was that a frequent barrier for forming an influencer engagement strategy is difficulty determining ROI. It’s useful to remember that an influencer is not usually used to directly make sales. Instead, they should improve your brand image and reputation, which will ultimately likely have an impact on sales figures. Before embarking on your influencer marketing campaign, it’s worth setting KPIs.
5. “31% (top answer) of influencers say they are most likely to agree to create long form content despite 36% (top answer) of brands most likely to ask influencers to only engage with them on social media”
There is currently a disconnect between what an influencer is willing to do for an organisation, and what companies expect from their influencers. Having a high follower number may encourage brands to see influencers as purely useful via social media, however, this is not the case at all. The influencers at the #IMHuddle all write their own blogs, speak regularly to broadcast media and write longer thought leadership articles for online publications. Don’t put your influencer in a box: it’s worth having a longer conversation with them to see how your relationship could work.
With these stats in mind, it’s time to start thinking about how to get buy-in from your team and begin working on your influencer marketing approach. The next step? Identifying your influencers. More on that to come…
