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Marketers Embrace InfluencerMarketing: New ResearchBy Suzanne Delzio

Published April 22, 2015

Have you considered reaching out to social influencers towin more credibility and sales?

Do you want research to help make the case that influencermarketing works?

In this article you’ll discover the most recent findingsabout marketers’ perception of influencer marketingand its ability to boost social media marketing efforts.

Influencer Marketing DefinedQuickly, influencer marketing happens when marketers create a list of influencers:regular people—not movie stars—who have blogged, videoed and podcasted

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themselves into social media stardom. These influencers have proven credibilityamong and even sales to a specific target audience. Examples include fashionistaChiara Feragni (3 million Twitter followers), YouTube makeup video blogger MichellePhan (7,600,000 subscribers) and John Lee Dumas of the Entrepreneur on FirePodcast (923,000 unique listens in December 2014).

Discover new research on influencer marketing.

While these stars have grown so big they actually have sponsors (advertisers who payto put ads on their content), they also act as influencers for others in their industries.When Chiara Feragni reviews a shoe or accessory, she’s looking to provideinformation her audience wants. The product brand doesn’t pay for her comments.These days, influencer marketing is connected to social media stars as theinfluencers.

#1: Influencer Marketing Budgets GrowingIn a poll of 125 marketers conducted by online promotions firm Tomoson and reportedin AdWeek, marketers rated influencer marketing as the fastest-growing onlinecustomer acquisition tactic, beating organic search, paid search and email marketing.

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According to Tomoson, inf luencer marketing dethrones organic search as marketers’ best method to

acquire new customers, 22% to 17%.

The same study reports 59% of marketers plan to increase their influencer marketingbudget over the next 12 months.

The majority of marketers polled plan to increase budget allotted to influencer marketing.

The buzz around influencer marketing is intensifying, but more robust studies about itseffectiveness and appeal are needed.

#2: Young Audiences Trust Social Media StarsOver TV StarsWho do you think has more influence with teens: Seth Rogan or PewDiePie? Neverheard of PewDiePie? He’s the king of video-gaming content, with 34 millionsubscribers and over a billion total views. Not bad for someone in his early twentieswho simply films himself as he plays video games.

Variety magazine found PewDiePie comes out on top, beating comedic actor andwriter Seth Rogan by eight spots. It conducted a study measuring 1,500 teens’

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perceptions of social and Hollywood stars’ approachability, authenticity and a widerrange of characteristics considered to have the highest correlation to purchaseinfluence. Six of the top 10 highest scorers were YouTube stars, not Seth Rogan orother glitterati. Variety‘s top 20 most influential stars may surprise you.

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The stars circled in red are from YouTube.

Other studies have confirmed Variety‘s findings about the influence social media starshold over teens. DEFY Media’s Acumen Report: Constant Content polled 1,350 13- to

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24-year-olds and found that 62% would try brands recommended by a YouTubecelebrity. Just 49% would act on a Hollywood’s star’s recommendation.

It’s interesting to examine just why a less-successful social media star could have morepurchase influencing power than a highly successful and very wealthy Hollywood star.

The key—for the group studied, those under 24—lies in which group is more relatableor closer to the consumer’s life experience. DEFY Media explains:

YouTubers are described as: just like me, understands me, someone I trust,has the best advice, doesn’t try to be perfect, genuine.

Movie stars are cherished for their otherworldly beauty and features that seemsuperior to the average person’s.

The stars circled in red are from YouTube.

This change in perception could be a dramatic paradigm shift. Younger consumersclearly operate from values different from their parents’ when they choose whom totrust. Where older populations put more faith in success and glamor, clearly theirchildren perceive those with less money and maybe even more scruff as more genuineand honest.

Currently, most of the U.S. population with money to spend still seems to trustHollywood celebrities’ pitches. Those under 24, however, are opening up a whole newpath to stardom for those who prefer to perform via YouTube channels in uniquefashion.

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#3: Young Audiences Consume More SocialMedia Than TelevisionIt’s no wonder that social media stars are taking center stage when it comes to brandpitching. Younger audiences are on their computers and devices more than the familyroom television or the movie theater. Electronic devices just fit better into their on-the-go lifestyle. As they complete their homework, they take a break with a quick show onNetflix. Stuck in the car, they see what their friends are doing on Instagram, Snapchatand Facebook.

Social influence marketing platform Crowdtap, along with marketing research firmIpsos Media, found in their study titled Social Influence: Marketing’s New Frontier thatthose ages 12 to 32 spend 30% of daily media time consuming “user-generated” or“peer-to-peer” content. In comparison, they spend 13% of total media time watchinglive television and 10% watching shows they recorded.

People ages 12 to 32 spend a third of their media consumption time on user-generated content.

So much time devoted to user-generated content rather than television and moviesprompts Crowdtap and Ipsos to boldly declare:

Brands looking for consumers to trust their marketing can no longer rely ontraditional media to communicate their messages to consumers. In today’slandscape, it’s peer-created content or consumer-to-consumer marketingthat drives trust.

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DEFY Media’s study came to similar conclusions, although they measured in adifferent way. They found 96% of 13- to 24-year-olds view online content throughsocial media channels or YouTube at a rate of 11 hours weekly. Eighty-one percentwatched 8 hours weekly of scheduled television and 56% watched recorded televisionfor an average of 7.5 hours. The consumption of content through social mediachannels has given rise to the social media star.

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Nearly every 13- to 24-year-old w atches online video content every w eek.

#4: What the Social Viewer ConsumesAuthors of DEFY Media’s Constant Content study also analyzed participants as theyscrolled through their social media feeds. They tallied the type of content participantsstopped on and what they scrolled by. Authors called the content that participantsstopped for and consumed “thumbstopping” events.

In the end, they found that those ages 13 to 24 stopped the most on content withfunny messages that conveyed that they didn’t have to grow up. These were termedrebellious messages. Participants also stopped often on reflective messages, whichnormalized common events and helped participants feel they weren’t alone in theiremotions and experiences. This age group has become accustomed to finding thesetwo types of content through social media and will gravitate toward brands that canprovide it. Economists forecast that these young consumers will have record-breakingspending power of $1.4 trillion by 2020. Brands looking to sell in the coming years maywant to make influencer marketing plans now.

Incorporating Influencer Marketing

20th Century Fox used influencer agency Speakr to appeal to teen boys to promotetheir summer 2014 film Fault in Our Stars. While executives like Marc Weinstock, 20thCentury Fox’s president of domestic theatrical marketing, knew the film would appealto teen girls, they feared it would get categorized as a “chick flick,” and therefore mightmiss the date crowd. Speakr contracted with several male influencers including formerNickelodeon star Josh Peck of the tween hit Drake and Josh.

ROI? The film topped the charts with more than $300 million in global sales(production budget of $12 million). This said, typical in the social media ROI sphere, itwas tough to distill just how much came from Speakr’s efforts. Still Weinstock wasn’tdisappointed, explaining, “The young audience doesn’t like direct marketing, so we gotthe conversation going out there in an organic way.”

What do you think? Should social influencers be paid? Will youngerconsumers still trust an influencer who is paid? Will your company beexploring social influencers this year? Leave your comments and questionsbelow.

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Influence photo and Balanced scale photo from Shutterstock.

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Tags: inf luencer, inf luencer marketing, social inf luencer, social v iewer, suzanne delzio

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Suzanne Delz io

Suzanne Delz io is the direc tor of Inf ormed Web Content, w hich

helps small and medium-s ized bus inesses build author ity , traf f ic

and reach w ith search-engine-optimized blog pos ts , w eb pages &

email new s letters . Othe r pos ts by Suzanne Delz io »

Social Sharing Habits:New Research RevealsWhat People Like toShare

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26 Comments Social Media Examiner

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• Reply •

SocialQuant • 10 days ago

I see this working and continuing to be a very powerful form of marketing. My 12 year old son and 10 year olddaughter are always quoting their "influencers" as reasons for wanting something or making an argument that they'reright because an "influencer" said something and it must be right.

For our new Startup it's on our list for May to see who we can strategically work with to help promote our company. Ithink influencers will be believed (paid or not) provided they're sincere and not just doing it for the money (havingvalues).

GREAT POST!!!! P.S. My son follows that Game guy and daughter used to love Drake & Josh. Right nowSpongeBob has influence over my 8 year old.. GRRRR.

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• Reply •

SuzanneDelzio • 10 days ago> SocialQuant

My now 15 y.o. was a big Drake & Josh fan as well! I have to admit I find SpongeBob pretty funny. Do youthink you'll be using an agency to find an influencer? Good luck and keep us posted on your efforts.

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• Reply •

SocialQuant • 9 days ago> SuzanneDelzio

I hear you on SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward and my fav Mr. Krabs.

Haven't thought about using an agency, though if it can speed up the process it's a great idea. I'vebeen just reaching out individually via phone, email, Twitter and LinkedIn. Thus far successful, thoughwould love to SPEED it up :)

Will definitely keep you posted. To Krabby Patties ~ Mike △ ▽

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• Reply •

Amber Gott • 10 days ago

Thanks for the insightful article, Suzanne. Do you have any experience with software services that help you manageinfluencer / advocate programs, like Influitive?

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• Reply •

Cindy King • 9 days agoStaff > Amber Gott

No we don't, Amber. This is a great question to ask in our LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/group... △ ▽

• Reply •

Cindy King • 9 days agoStaff > Amber Gott

You may want to check out Traackr, mentioned here: http://www.socialmediaexaminer... 2△ ▽

• Reply •

Christine Wilson • 8 days ago> Amber Gott

I highly recommend TapInfluence for managing influencer marketing promotions and providing realmeasurement and ROI.

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• Reply •

Michelle Bushneff • 8 days ago> Amber Gott

Amber, I've used Tidal Labs and really like their platform as it gives brands the ability to push campaigns outto groups of influencers and easily curate the best content into your brand marketing channels.

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• Reply •

Amber Gott • 8 days ago> Amber Gott

Thank you all for the tips! △ ▽

• Reply •

Aswajith M P • 10 days ago

Its very informative and super excited to see that social media stars are turning into customer acquisition source. Butyou didn't mentioned, what scale of companies would make best out this new influencer marketing strategy.

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SuzanneDelzio • 9 days ago> Aswajith M P

At this point, I think many "influencers" will promote your product as long as it nourishes and nurtures theirown audience. That means businesses of any budget can get in the game, even small biz. This said,influencers mentioning your products and services at no charge must see great relevance and value for theiraudience. Only the top influencers like those mentioned at the top of this article get the big bucks. Heck, an

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• Reply •

audience. Only the top influencers like those mentioned at the top of this article get the big bucks. Heck, aninfluencer for a local plumbing company could be a nearby electrician who has a decent Facebook following .. .

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• Reply •

Roberto Rivadeneira • 10 days ago

With not budget to hire a influencer marketing agency, I wonder what methods should I use to reach these new breedof stars.

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• Reply •

Cindy King • 9 days agoStaff > Roberto Rivadeneira

You might want to read this, Roberto: http://www.socialmediaexaminer... 1△ ▽

• Reply •

Emma Roborgh • 9 days ago

Thanks for a great article. I'm currently struggling with how to find these influencers. I'd like to find smaller/nichemarket influencers with maybe just 5-10 000 followers in a certain location. I'd like to find who they are onTwitter/Facebook/LinkedIN etc. Any tips on how to find them?

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• Reply •

Miranda Fahey • 9 days ago> Emma Roborgh

Well, you found me!! Or actually I found you and gave you unique directions! I would definitely be interested inlearning moe about your product and review it!

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• Reply •

SuzanneDelzio • 9 days ago> Emma Roborgh

Check out: http://www.socialmediaexaminer... and http://www.socialmediaexaminer...Taylor says, "It’s easy to discover which sites the social influencers in your industry use to find articles theyshare. Use a tool like Topsy or Followerwonk. Next, order Twitter profiles by social authority or influence.Then view the sites where these influencers share." Good luck!

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• Reply •

Chris Hodgeman • 9 days ago

We have done some Influencer marketing using Triberr and the results were OK but not anywhere near as good aswe were expecting (maybe our expectations were too high!) but i do think its something we will do again soon. Areyou aware of only other platforms like Triberr that are available to help find influencers?With Triberr you pay the influencer of their work which they have to disclose under FTC rules

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SuzanneDelzio • 9 days ago> Chris Hodgeman

Thanks for the boots-on-the-ground info, Chris. :) △ ▽

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Cypher - Mass Planner • 9 days ago

This is a very awesome case study if that's what it's called. We have also started on building an influencer list for ourMarketing strategy and for the most part it has prove to be useful and worthwhile.

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• Reply •

SuzanneDelzio • 9 days ago> Cypher - Mass Planner

Great! Sounds like putting the work in is paying off . . . Did you use an agency to find your influencers? △ ▽

• Reply •

Joyce Duboise • 9 days ago

Influencers should definitely be paid. I think it's fair because the work load is tremendous as an influencer. Peopledon't realize the amount of work put into being an influencer. We test the product thoroughly, research the productand company thoroughly, share our honest opinion of the product (in a well-written article of course), take photos, setup the post so our SEO is just right, and then constantly share on social media. Every article on my website takesover an hour and that's just writing and editing photos.

My only concern is the companies that expect a 100% positive review after paying an influencer. Too many times Ihave experienced and heard of companies guilt-tripping influencers into changing their reviews because they didn'tsuit their needs or wants.

Great article! Thanks for your input on this subject. 1△ ▽

• Reply •

SuzanneDelzio • 9 days ago> Joyce Duboise

Thanks Joyce. Also, influencers only have room for a few review articles per month, right? If you have lots offollowers, you may want to check out the influencer agencies that have cropped up in the last few months.

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Josey Thompson • 9 days ago

I love this! I'm so glad to see that those of us who influence for companies are getting a bit of recognition in the hardwork we put in. Not only do we want to be successful; but the majority of us WANT the company we are helping to besuccessful as well!

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Grow community grow! △ ▽

• Reply •

Christine Wilson • 8 days ago

My agency has managed hundreds of influencer campaigns that have been highly successful and measurable. Themost important things to remember are very careful selection of influencers, clear campaign goals andcommunication with influencers, and use a tool to measure results. We were the first agency to use TapInfluenceand we consider the ROI measurement to be key to why our clients come back to do more campaigns.

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• Reply •

Michelle Bushneff • 8 days ago

Super helpful piece to share with clients who are trying to wrap their heads around influencer marketing. Thank you!While the data focuses on younger consumers, influencer marketing is also effective for 30+ consumers.

Regarding compensation, I've worked both sides of the brand+influencer fence and do feel incentives are animportant part of the equation. Doesn't always have to be cash, but brands who build influencer relationships with avalue exchange mindset will get better results.

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• Reply •

Andres Ariel Garcia • 7 days ago

Great work! There is not a lot information about that! Thank for share! △ ▽

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