Report: Expect more marketing dollars to head to influencers

Influencer marketing has seen a sharp increase in use over the past 18 months, and brands can expect that to continue. That's a key takeaway from RhythmOne's Influencer Marketing Benchmarks Report. Their data shows that influencer marketing spending increased 2.9x between 2017 and 2018.

by Kristina Knight

Much of that increased spend is likely due to the engagement rate of influencer campaigns. Researchers found that influencer campaigns averaged a 9.66% engagement rate. And, for each campaign dollar ($1), influencer campaigns shows an earned media value of $8.12.

RhythmOne's report looked at cost-per-engagement, earned media value, engagement rates, and social media listening stats across 19 ad categories to come to their findings.

"Our latest Benchmarks Report affirms influencer marketing is an essential element to the digital marketing strategies of leading consumer and business brands," said Katie Paulsen, VP of Influencer Marketing, RhythmOne. "In 2018, we saw more advertisers activate multi-month and even year-long campaigns in an effort to deepen brand ambassador partnerships and form ongoing relationships with influencers who were key to their campaigns' success. These investments are paying off with higher engagement rates and brand lift, which prove the value of influencer marketing and set the stage for continued success."

Some interesting findings from the RhythmOne 2018 Influencer Marketing Benchmarks Report include:

▪ Influencer campaigns shows a $0.29 cost-per-engagement (average)
▪ Influencer campaigns applying social media listening increased positive sentiment by 98%
▪ Video use in influencer campaigns doubled between 2017 and 2018
▪ 85% of influencer campaigns featured social media content, from Instagram and Facebook posts to long-form content on video sites like YouTube
▪ All influencer campaigns featured social media ads

"As influencer marketing continues to mature and drive value for our clients, we are finding that more and more advertisers are looking to leverage the custom offerings that influencer marketing providers bring to the table," said Kimmy Fleishman, Associate Director, Content at Spark Foundry. "Brands that run with an influencer strategy focused on uniquely driving consumer engagement - especially through emerging channels such as video, Instagram Stories, and even live events - are the ones who find the most success. It all comes down to letting the influencers engage their audiences in the ways that they know best to ensure the message resonates, no matter what the campaign KPIs are."

Retail brands topped spending for influencer campaigns at 51% of the spend, Home/Garden accounted for 9.7% of the influencer spend and CPG brands accounted for 9.5%.

More data from the benchmark report can be found here.

Tags: advertising, ecommerce, influencer marketing, influencer trends, RhythmOne, social ads, social marketing, social marketing trends