Influencer Marketing

Social media started as a group of platforms where the main goal was to socialize, post pictures, and videos, and update your current thoughts, feelings, and location. Over time, social media platforms have begun to expand the type of activities they offer. Thus, social media has become a new alternative for marketing activities provided by various companies. One of the latest online marketing techniques is called Influencer Marketing. This article presents the analysis of several specialized articles, as well as the results of research conducted in this field. It further highlights the current state of knowledge about influencer marketing, the role of influencers in social media, as well as possibilities for future research studies.

According to a study by Gartner, 71% percent of CMOs in North America and Northern and Western Europe said they lack the budget to fully execute their strategy in 2023.If money is short, the pressure is on to achieve "more with less".
Influencer marketing has quickly risen to the fore as a staple discipline that can directly impact all levels of the funnel (from awareness to sales), and build strong brand loyalty.In order to gain more insight into what strategies might be best for brands to invest in, Traackr's 2023 US Influencer Marketing Impact Report offers data from 1,000 Gen Z and Millennial consumers who were surveyed about their social media usage and purchase behavior, and perceived impact from influencers.

Social commerce and engagement behaviors
Influencers' role in content monetization and product purchases

In This Report
This report is produced by Traackr, the data-driven influencer marketing platform that provides everything you need to run your program at scale.

Consumers Still Prefer Legacy Social Platforms
Social media has seen quite a lot of action in the past few years.Platforms like BeReal, Clubhouse, and Meta's Threads have emerged with the promise of disrupting the industry.Reporters, brands, and influencers alike pointed to these new platforms as indications that consumers were ready for new and different experiences.However, our survey found that US consumers still prefer to use legacy platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and X (Formerly Twitter) when posting their own content online.While the rankings changed slightly between Millennial and Gen Z consumers, the platforms mentioned stayed largely the same (save for Snapchat, which was ranked the fifth most popular platform for Gen Z).That being said, there was a bigger difference when looking at responses by gender.Consumers that identified themselves as male were more likely to rank YouTube as their number one platform of choice while those that identified themselves as female picked Instagram.

Social Platforms Serve Different Purposes for Consumers
When asked, consumers preferred different social platforms for posting their own content vs watching, reading, or listening to influencer content.Most notably, Meta's social platforms (Facebook and Instagram) moved down the list and YouTube and TikTok moved up.Gender differences also saw divergent answers, as consumers that identified themselves as male were more likely to rank YouTube as their number one platform and those that identified themselves as female picked TikTok.

Short-Form Video Rules as the Top Content Choice
Given that consumers' preferences thus far have centered around social platforms that are largely video-based, it is perhaps unsurprising that video was voted as the most engaging type of content.
75% of all consumers said that they find shortform videos (less than 3 minutes) to be the most engaging content type.This was followed by photo content (likely bolstered by Instagram usage), and long-form videos (5+ minutes).These rankings did not change significantly across generations or self identified genders.
What was more notable was how highly consumers ranked live streams.As a content choice, live streams make sense, as many consumers likely enjoy watching an unfiltered version of their favorite influencers shop, game, get ready, explore, and more.That being said, live streaming has yet to realize its full potential in influencer marketing -specifically when it comes to commerce -in western markets like the U.S. and Europe.However, that's not to say that progress isn't being made.A few innovative beauty brands like e.l.f.Cosmetics have launched their own Twitch channels, and even tied their brand closer to the gaming community through specialized products.And, new live stream platforms like Fanatics (which allows fans and collectors to participate in creator-run, live shopping experiences) continue to emerge.
The consumer behavior evolves heavily on Pandora's social media channels.We see that most of our community on TikTok and Instagram are interested in snackable content formats; either focusing on storytelling, product or engaging angles.Our community wants to have an interactive exchange and engage with our short-form videos.We offer our consumers a variety of different content formats like trends, viral products, styling, how-tos and content around what our community loves, which gives us the opportunity to share quick content and engaging messages that resonate with our audience.As a result, tailoring our content to this preference led to higher unique reach, high engagement rates and an interactive exchange.

Kristi Bajrami
Global influencer strategy and creator lead,

Brand Example: L'Oréal Paris
Humor isn't just for creating engaging influencer content -it can work for brands too!For example, leading beauty brand, L'Oréal Paris consistently launches successful product campaigns that incorporate influencers and popular trends.
In May of 2023, the brand partnered with influencers like Adam Waheed (@adamw) and Angela Chalet (@angelac0123) to create content and promote its Men's Hair Color products.
These influencer TikTok videos show off L'Oréal Paris' products and highlight some of the key features (easy application, no mixing, no messiness), all while keeping the mood light.Grey hair can be a sensitive topic (for all genders!) so the choice to integrate comedy into this specific product campaign was a great choice!

Consumers Value Consistency and Connection
A common thread that this survey uncovered is that consumers value consistency and connection in their social media experiences.In fact, 78% of all consumers at least somewhat agree that they use social media to connect with family, friends, and community.This is an even bigger focus for consumers that are older (Millennial age) than younger (Gen Z).
Consumers that identified as female were also more likely to look to social media in order to connect with their community.
Although consumers had already ranked their social platform preferences very clearly, they also seemed open to experimenting with new ones if the incentives are right.For example, 57% of consumers responded that they would be somewhat likely to try out a new social platform if an influencer that they know and trust posts there.This makes sense, as many consumers often view influencers as more than just content creators, but community builders.

Social Commerce & Engagement
YouTube Ranked #1 for Product Research, but Meta Still Dominates Social Commerce Gone are the days when consumers used Google as their one-stop-shop for product discovery, research, and purchasing.Now, not only does the process look a lot more complex (and compressed!), it often involves multiple social platforms at every step.
What's interesting is that consumers reported utilizing different social platforms for product research vs product purchasing.
All consumers ranked YouTube as the number one social platform that they are most likely to use when searching online for product reviews and information.TikTok came second, followed by Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit.These answers didn't change significantly across generations, but consumers that self identified as female were more likely to rank Instagram as their number one choice over male identifying respondents.
However, when asked where they are most likely to purchase products, all US consumers ranked Facebook as the number one platform.This was followed by Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest.
When looking at responses by generation, Gen Z was more likely to rank TikTok as number one.Similarly female identifying consumers were more likely to rank TikTok as number one, while male identifying consumers were more likely to pick YouTube.

Lifestyle Products Remain the Key Focus of Social Commerce
So if consumers purchase products on specific social platforms, what kinds of products are they buying?46% said that they are more likely to buy fashion products.This was followed by beauty and personal care products, home goods, electronics, and food and beverage.These rankings changed slightly when indexed across the different generations and self identified genders: Gen Z said they were more likely to buy beauty and personal care, and male identifying consumers said they were more likely to purchase electronics.
Regardless of these slight variances, it's clear that lifestyle products are the clear winner.Could it just be that those types of products are a perfect fit for social commerce?
Social media influencers appear to provide a great avenue for storytelling, which dovetails nicely with how lifestyle products are typically marketed.Influencers can give advertising a sense of authenticity by showing (not telling) how a product is used, and illustrating how it could fit into a consumer's everyday life.

Consumers Pay Attention to Product Quality and Brand Values
So if consumers are ready to buy products through social media platforms, what types of qualities do they look for?All consumers ranked product quality as the number one quality that they look for when purchasing new products.This was followed by good reviews, affordable price points, sustainability, and ethical sourcing.This stayed consistent across the different age and gender divides.
Alongside product quality, it appears that consumers care about the story or purpose behind the product's brand.60% of all consumers said that they at least somewhat agree that they would not buy a product from a brand if it says or does something that conflicts with their values.The importance placed on values doesn't just stop at brands, it applies to influencers too.63% of all consumers said that they at least somewhat agree that they would stop following an influencer if they say or do something that conflicts with their values.Consumers that identified themselves as female were 13% more likely to have this sentiment about influencers than their male counterparts.

Some Influencers Can Drive Purchases
Product quality and brand values aren't the only thing that help convince consumers to buy -influencers can help too.Our survey found that 61% of consumers feel that influencers' posts have some sway on their purchase decisions, with 53% stating that they look to influencers for product recommendations.
Brands, particularly in lifestyle, that have successfully partnered with influencers on social commerce campaigns often lean into at super power that creators hold -storytelling.Influencers use their storytelling skills in order to authentically bring to life the things that consumers care about like the brand's values, the product's quality and use cases, and more.

Influencers Might Face Challenges with Monetizing Content
As influencer marketing becomes more ubiquitous, the ability to lock in deals that are large or lengthy enough to support a full income is becoming harder, especially for those with small or mid-sized followings.Two things that have been promoted as good alternatives to brand deals are monetized content (consumers pay influencers directly for their content) and influencer-owned products.However, this survey shows that this might be fairly challenging for influencers.
Creating community, being consistent, and offering incentives can help creators build loyalty amongst their audience and even find success on paid platforms like Patreon and Uscreen.However, as this report shows, it can be hard for creators to get people to pay for their content in a world of endless free content.This will greatly impact the future of brand / creator relationships!Creators are looking for better financial security and stability, and will start focusing on brand partners that can help them get there.

Key Takeaways
Influencer programs need to match the diversity of their intended audiences Given that social platforms serve different purposes for different types of consumers, it follows that there is no one-size-fits-all influencer marketing strategy.Each brand will have its own set of social platforms, content types, and influencer partners that work for its individual goals and target audience.Finding the right formula for your brand requires constant experimentation, evaluation, and adjustment.Make sure you have a system for identifying what platforms, content, and campaigns get you the most bang for your buck.

Creators impact on how consumers engage online, but might need help monetizing that power
Influencers serve as powerful partners for brands given their ability to impact the full marketing funnel -from awareness, to consideration, to sales.However, as more brands invest in influencer marketing, the competition to find and win the loyalty of top and upcoming creators is ever increasing.This challenge is intensified by influencers' need to stabilize and diversify their income, the stress of which has been reported to affect their ability to create.
Brands can look to distinguish themselves by focusing on long term partnerships, creative campaigns, and out-of-the-box collaborations that go beyond traditional sponsored content.

Methodology
This report was created by Traackr, the system of record for data-driven influencer marketing.
Learn more at www.traackr.com.
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One survey was conducted for this report using the online survey platform Pollfish.The sample of 1,000 individuals in the United States was surveyed between August 1, 2023 and August 14, 2023.The margin of error is ±4% and no additional weighting was done to the initial sample.Pollfish's survey platform delivers online surveys globally through mobile apps and the mobile web along with the desktop web.
Traackr works with brands around the world, some of whom are mentioned in this report, not all brands referenced are Traackr customers.
The platform enables teams of all sizes to streamline campaigns, optimize budgets, and access strategic insights.Traackr powers the most advanced influencer marketing programs in the world for brands including L'Oréal, Shiseido, Michelin, Diageo and Samsung.Traackr has hubs in San Francisco, New York, Boston, London, Paris and Singapore.Learn more at www.traackr.com.Sign up to the Matters of Influence Newsletter.Traackr, the System of Record for Data-Driven Influencer Marketing.Copyright © 2023 Traackr.All rights reserved.
For example, in August of 2023, Kérastase ran an influencer campaign to drum up some excitement for its Nutritive hair care products.The content from the campaign features influencers like Eloise Dufka, Kelsey Merritt, and Abigail Lin taking viewers through how they use the products along every step of their routine, while highlighting the benefits of each product.Consumers watching videos like the one Eloise made might have been able to easily envision how they would use every Nutritive product -from shampoo, to scalp serum, to night hair serum -in their own routines.