The power of influencers may be waning as a new report by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has found that just a third of brands believe their influence marketing campaigns are successful, while almost half are ambivalent about their effectiveness.
It appears that marketers are unsure whether influencers are truly driving return on investment, but three quarters of brands now use them and 43% are planning to spend more on this approach during the next twelve months.
The research suggests that while influencers have enabled brands to think outside of the box in terms of creativity and targeting, they are not a silver bullet for success. As always, a combination of content formats and mediums used strategically will generally deliver the best results in the long term.
Influencers certainly have their place in the content marketing mix though, and 90% claim celebrities and popular faces on YouTube and other platforms are used to increase their brand awareness, while more than half use them to drive purchase intention.
ANA chief executive Bob Liodice said: “We’ve found that a growing number of marketers are turning to influencers to help them combat ad blocking, leverage creative content in an authentic way, drive engagement, and reach millennial and gen Z audiences who avidly follow and genuinely trust social media celebrities.”
A separate study by Fullscreen and Shareablee recently found “mid-tier” influencers provide the best bang for their buck as they are more engaging and trustworthy than micro influencers and more prominent celebrities.
