Clout Commerce: How to Zoom Friends and Influence Strangers

Under the influence.

There's somewhat of a surreal irony that a virus' spread is pouring fuel into an economy of influencers who adapted "going viral" into a means of income.

A Kantar study reports Facebook and Instagram traffic during the pandemic is up 40% for those under 35, leading to a new crowd of homegrown and COVID-friendly content to rise to the top.

Increasingly niche hobbies like fitness, meditation, DIY and cooking have helped lead Instagram influencers to achieve a 67.7% increase in "likes" and a more than 50% increase in comments.

So what is it about influencing? 
A recent study found that having a large audience of followers fosters a belief that an influencer is likeable and popular, thereby creating an opportunity for effective promotion of brands.

This week, Wonder goes under the Influencer market, exploring the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the new viral vanguard.

The Rules of Engagement.

In 2010, Old Spice ditched their middle-aged target demographic for 18-34 year-olds with the launch of a viral marketing campaign starring "the Old Spice Guy" that transformed the practice of influencer marketing forever.

The B.O. barons at Old Spice sent "personalized videos" to well-known personalities and "ordinary people" with large numbers of social media followers. In the 3-day period that the campaign ran, Old Spice garnered 6 million views online, eventually reaching around 40 million total.

The clout-for-commerce economy amassed billions of dollars in the years since, with marketers considering 2019 as the year when influencer marketing hit its peak:

  • in 2019, 92% of consumers mentioned that they are confident with the recommended products from "friends, family, and influencers."

  • Around 70% of teenagers stated that they put their trust more on influencers instead of traditional stars.

  • Influencer marketing returned 11 times the investment of a typical digital campaign.

  • 61.9% of marketers collaborated with influencers to produce content.

  • The global influencer market was estimated to be worth about $9.7 billion in 2020, with the U.S. market making up 59% of global market share ($5.8 billion in 2020.)

Source: Grandview

Source: Grandview

Hashtags to handbags.

  • With over 1 billion users and a fast-growing network of influencers churning out millions of sponsored posts each year, Instagram has become the most important influencer marketing channel.

    • Forbes identified Instagram as the “current leading platform for influencer marketing” by gross revenue. Its US-based user base grew from 112.5 million in 2020 to 117.2 million in 2021.

    • The AMA ran a survey in which 93% of the respondents intended to use Instagram for their influencer marketing needs. Facebook came next at 79%.

    • A Mediakix study found that Snapchat is the social media channel least preferred by marketers for influencer marketing. Snapchat is followed by LinkedIn, Twitch, Pinterest, and Twitter, respectively.

    • The same study also found that 69% of marketers plan to spend the most money on Instagram for influencer marketing, which is more than six times more cash than the 2nd best social media platform, YouTube (11%).

    • when US marketers were asked to select the content formats they found most effective for influencer marketing, 78% of the respondents preferred Instagram posts.

    • Instagram not only holds the #1 spot for most effective influencer content formats, but #2 as well: 73% preferring Instagram Stories, followed by YouTube videos (56%) at #3.

Source: CreatorIQ

Source: CreatorIQ

Off the deep spend.

Linqia's annual "State of Influencer Marketing" report found that 60% of respondents ran 1-5 influencer marketing campaigns last year, while 40% ran 6 or more.

  • Looking forward, 43% of respondents expected to spend 11%-25% of their digital marketing budget on influencer marketing.

  • In 2016, the average influencer marketing budget ranged anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000; as of 2020, 57% of marketers still planned to increase their influencer budget over the next year.

  • A survey from SocialPubli indicates that almost 20% of advertisers allocate over 50% of their budget to influencer marketing.

  • 77% of marketers want to work with micro-influencers, while 64% want to work with macro-influencers, and only 22% want to work with celebrities.

  • ZipRecruiter reports that the average income for social media influencers varies greatly, with annual salaries ranging from$14,000 to $74,500.

  • However, majority of U.S. influencers are in the $34,500-$55,000 pay gap.

Source: AMA

Source: AMA

"I'll have what she's having."

  • Statista reports that an analysis of over 3 million Instagram advertisement posts revealed that about 84% of influencer posts on Instagram were from women.

  • Looking at the top 50 influencers in the US, over 30 are women.

  • Also, a US-based Influence.co sample found that 75% of influencers with profiles on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTubeare women.

  • Per HypeAuditor, only 7 of top 50 influencers in the US are African-American, with the rest being White.

  • According to Wonder, Most social media influencers in the U.S. are likely to be White Millennial women located in either California, New York, Florida, and Texas.

influence 5.png

This piece is powered by Wonder, an on-demand knowledge service that allows you to gain unique insights to any question in as little as 24-48 hours.

Take a look at our full "State of Influence" research here.

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Chris Connors