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by PR News and Meltwater 34083 THE INFLUENCER REPORT 2019 Survey Findings, Trends, and Forecasts2 THE INFLUENCER REPORT 2019 SURVEY FINDINGS, TRENDS, AND FORECASTS 2019 Social * Marketing * PR Editor, Seth Arenstein, sarensteinaccessintel Content Director, Melissa Hoffmann, mhoffmannaccessintel Graphic Designer, Yelena Shamis, yshamisaccessintel Senior Content Manager, Sophie Maerowitz, SMaerowitzaccessintel Content Manager, Justin Joffe, jjoffeaccessintel Director of Marketing, Laura Snitkovskiy, lsnitkovskiyaccessintel Sales Director, Katie Sullivan, PR News, The Social Shake-Up, ksullivanaccessintel VP of Marketing, Amy Jefferies, ajefferiesaccessintel SVP/Group Publisher, Diane Schwartz, dschwartzaccessintel Chief Operating Officer, Heather Farley President shes found influencers will. Though media influencers are “integral” to her work, she continues to pitch journalists, too. “Its like double dipping.” 2 Are you currently using influencers to get your brand story/key messages out? 18.35% No, and we dont plan to 49.20% Yes 32.45% No, but we are considering it 3 Which influencer types do you use to get your brand story/key messages out? (Check all that apply.) Bloggers Journalists Social media influencers Celebrities Internal: employees/ spokespeople External experts Customers 59.17% 64.50% 76.92% 29.59% 67.46% 52.07% 53.85%4 THE INFLUENCER REPORT 2019 SURVEY FINDINGS, TRENDS, AND FORECASTS 2019 Good Financials Another indication of influencers increasing acceptance is budget. A whopping 95 percent of survey respondents said spending plans for influencers will either rise (43 percent) or remain steady (52 percent) in the year ahead (chart 4). Its clear why brands continue to spend for influencers: they believe its worth the money. The majority (70 percent) say their companies use of influencers has delivered a positive ROI or a break-even result (chart 9). But 30 percent of those surveyed say they dont know if influencers were a good or bad investment. This seems to indicate a lack of concern for measurement. It could also reflect an inability to know how best to measure influencers ROI. This response is in contrast to the data in chart 10, where just 8 percent say they dont measure influencers impact. More concern about ROI is seen in chart 11, however, where 34 percent say their biggest issue with influencers is “the ability to prove ROI.” Says Todd, “The ability to prove ROI is still one of the biggest challenges the industry faces. We need to make it easy to measure what matters.” To make it easier to measure, establish goals at the start of an effort. “If the goal is awareness, then measure reach and impressions,” Todd says. “If the goal is engagement, then measure engagement totals and engagement rates.” And measure results on both influencer channels and on your owned channels. “Youll identify trends for each and they will vary as you both have different audiences,” she says. 4 In the coming year do you project your influencer budget will change? 4.73% Yes, it will decrease 52.07% No, it will not change 43.20% Yes, it will increase 5 What is the main reason your brand uses influencers? Influencers give our message an authentic voice Influencers provide 3rd party credibility and validation Influencers enable us to target specific demographics were not reaching otherwise Influencers are the hottest marketing tool and we want to remain current Influencers enable us to grow our audience 39.05% 37.87% 9.47% 2.37% 11.24% 6 How do you use influencers? (Check all that apply.) They create content based on guidelines we provide We allow them creative license in promoting our brand We feature them at events We incorporate influencers into our content 56.80% 40.24% 44.38% 62.13%5 THE INFLUENCER REPORT 2019 SURVEY FINDINGS, TRENDS, AND FORECASTS 2019 To Compensate or Not? Also in the area of finance, compensation of influencers is an open question. As you can see in chart 8, 29 percent of respondents pay influencers with money, and 38 percent do not compensate them in any way. The remaining respondents offer influencers either free products/services or access to products and executives. This seems to signal a disconnect. If influencers are as important to communications and marketing as this survey indicates, it seems incongruous not to compensate them. “Its disappointing that a full 40 percent are not compensating influencers, though I realize the pay-to-play model is anathema” to communicators, Kombol says. She points out, however, that Federal Trade Commission rules for influencers disclosing sponsorship arrangements offer a “clear and ethical path toward compensation.” Dye-Anderson is upbeat about the responses regarding compensation in chart 8. Compensation arrangements “should be a mix,” since communicators have various needs. Communicators who oversee the social media portion of their brand need and use celebrity influencers. These communicators should pay their influencers, she says. When Barclays recently launched a credit card with a brand in Hawaii, she created “experiences” for media influencers, where Barclays arranged for their airfare, hotel, board and various experiences it created for them. Dye-Anderson does not pay media influencers outright. But she admits “times are changing and this is peoples bread and butter, so we have to figure out the right mix where they can maintain credibility and integrity.” For Todd, “The lack of compensation surprised me.this is business for influencers.its important to put an official agreement in place with details and commitments from both sides, including compensation.” She believes more companies eventually will begin paying influencers. 7 What is the primary way you uncover/identify relevant influencers? Influencer platform or database we pay for Influencer database we built Manual research Through our PR/marketing agency 8.28% 17.75% 59.17% 14.79% 8 How do you compensate influencers? Monetarily Free products/services Access to our products, executives, and events We dont compensate influencers 28.99% 16.57% 16.57% 37.87% 9 Have the influencers youve used delivered ROI? 1.78% No, it was a loss 28.99% We dont know 55.62% Yes, the investment paid off 13.61% Kind of, weve broken even6 THE INFLUENCER REPORT 2019 SURVEY FINDINGS, TRENDS, AND FORECASTS 2019 Pain Points Its important to look again at chart 11, which identifies the main difficulties with influencer use. The top pain points represent the full influencer lifecycle, from finding and managing influencers to proving their ROI. In order of most painful, our respondents say proving ROI leads (34 percent), uncovering/ identifying influencers is next (22 percent) and the time needed to manage campaigns is third (19 percent). Chart 11 tracks with chart 7, which indicates finding influencers is both a pain point and a resource drain. Asked how they find influencers, the majority of respondents say “manual research” (59 percent), far outdistancing in-house databases (18 percent) and outside PR agencies (15 percent). Chart 7 has several interpretations. One is that communicators have yet to find and/or embrace custom tools for finding influencers as well as managing and measuring campaigns. Another view is that the influencer ecosystem is uneven. While our study shows advances in influencer marketing, influencer search seems stuck in its formative stage. Having unarmed communicators battle the vastness of social media in search of the right influencers for their brands and organizations seems incongruous in a high-tech, data-driven environment. 10 How do you measure the impact of influencers? Social metrics, including engagement, interactions, reach, and sentiment Web traffic and/or search volume Purchases or conversions Increased media coverage All of the above We do not measure impact 43.20% 7.69% 5.33% 6.51% 28.99% 8.28% 11 What is your biggest challenge with the rise of influencers in communications? 33.90% Ability to prove ROI 21.61% Uncovering/identifying influencers 15.63% Budget 18.64% Time needed to manage campaigns 9.32% Competition for the best influencers 12 Which influencer types would you choose to get your brand story/key messages out? (Check all that apply.) Bloggers Journalists Social media influencers Celebrities Internal: Employees/ spokespeople External experts Customers 46.96% 64.35% 65.22% 22.61% 73.04% 56.52% 60.87%7 THE INFLUENCER REPORT 2019 SURVEY FINDINGS, TRENDS, AND FORECASTS 2019 Authenticity and Validation The survey also examines why brands use influencers. Common knowledge says brands desire to reach younger audiences. One way to do so is to engage the youth demographic where it lives. Nearly half of teens (45 percent) tell the Pew Research Center they are online “almost constantly.” And with video an increasing phenomenon (YouTube says it has nearly 2 billion monthly active users) and Gen Z (those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s) consuming 23 hours per week of video, it seems natural that brands would turn to influencers to appeal to the youth demographic. In fact, the number of influencers earning six figures annually via YouTube grew 40 percent in 2018. The Youthful Demo? Our survey (see chart 5), however, shows influencers ability to provide brands with an “authentic voice” (40 percent) and “third-party” credibility and validation (38 percent) are the main reasons they deploy influencers. Using influencers to attract hard-to-get demographics (9 percent) and “growing our audience” (11 percent) were far less important to our survey participants. The consistency of thought in charts 5 (those who use influencers) and 13 (those who dont) is interesting. As Todd of Logitech says, “Bringing third-party credibility and an authentic voice to your brand resonated with me.” The “recipe for success” is to match authenticity and credibility “with guidelines for influencers to create content that will resonate with audiences.” The Definition of Influencers The survey also asks about the kinds of influencers brands and organizations use. As you can see in chart 3, at least half the respondents who say they use influencers indicate bloggers, journalists, social media influencers, external experts and even customers are examples of what they consider useful influencers. Note the small response to celebrities. For Todd, industry experts “are the new celebrities. thats why celebrity influencers are down and social influencers are increasing.” The survey shows there are many definitions of influencers. Chart 12 addresses this question, where respondents whose companies dont yet use influencers weigh in on the issue. As you can see, the responses are similar to those in chart 3, whose companies use influencers. Are Employees Influencers? Kombol and Todd commented on the large number of participants (67 percent) who said their brands and organizations rely on employee influencers and spokespeople. “We definitely are seeing a trend where large companies are realizing their employees are among their best brand advocates,” Kombol says. “I think this signals a trend where well see more corporations taking steps to build out an internal employee advocacy program.” Todd adds, “I am happy to see so many respondents say they would use employees as influencers. This is so important and sometimes overlooked.employees are the most authentic brand ambassador influencers.” At Logitech, for example, staff are encouraged to use an employee hashtag, #Logilife. The company, Todd said, “creates campaigns to drive excitement around” the hashtag. “We also rolled out LinkedIn Elevate, an employee ambassador tool that makes it easy for employees to share content with their communities.” A side benefit is the “excitement” this adds to the narrative about working at Logitech. Dye-Anderson of Barclays, however, is among those who dont consider staff to be influencers. “Employees have a message to transmit,” she says, and concedes brand ambassadors who also are employees “could be considered influencers, but not in a media relations sense.I look at media influencers as the new media.”
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