The rapid rise of influencer marketing has been eclipsed only by the explosion of influencer marketing technologies available. In fact, the number of new influencer marketing platforms has increased over 85% YoY, from 33 platforms in 2015 to 75 (and counting) in 2016. Our State of Influencer Marketing survey revealed that 80% of marketers planned to use influencer marketing in the next year. In this study, we surveyed 212 senior marketers at Fortune 500 consumer brands to gain greater insight into how marketers are currently thinking about and implementing influencer marketing as part of their overall marketing strategies.
As we look towards holiday and 2017 planning, here’s what we’ve discovered:
Current State: Influencer Marketing Platform Growth is Outpacing Adoption
Despite influencer marketing’s rise in popularity among brand marketers (or perhaps because of it), the majority of marketers manage their influencer marketing efforts manually – 55% of those surveyed rely on spreadsheets. Those who have invested in influencer marketing software were in a clear minority – 22% – indicating that the supply of influencer marketing platforms available is outpacing adoption.
Current Use Case: Awareness & Engagement
With 65% of marketers using influencer marketing to deliver top-of-the-funnel value, this represents a huge opportunity for marketers to leverage influencer marketing platforms to scale and operationalize these efforts, as well as provide value-based metrics that quantify a true return on investment. Where ‘measuring the performance of influencer marketing programs’ remains among marketers’ core challenges when it comes to influencer marketing, influencer marketing platforms that deliver top-to-bottom analytics and attribution will have a competitive edge as marketers look beyond their spreadsheets.
Current Mindset: Influencer Marketing is Cost Effective, Scalable, and Successful
As marketers’ trust in influencer marketing as a proven tactic continues to evolve, many will look to their marketing tech stacks to evaluate how to best incorporate influencer marketing platforms and software with their current workflow (future trend alert: integration). As an emerging industry, the influencer marketing platform landscape can be difficult to navigate. The sheer volume of solutions available and the variance in capabilities can leave marketers in analysis paralysis when it comes to choosing an influencer marketing platform. However, influencer marketing platforms can also dramatically improve time and cost efficiencies. Technologies that deliver scale, automation, attribution and data analysis can significantly impact influencer marketing performance and ROI.
So how do you begin to determine which platform is right for you?
As the adage goes, it takes one to know one. Download our ‘How to Choose an Influencer Marketing Platform’ ebook for the insights and framework to help you bridge the divide, whether you’re leveraging celebrities or your own customers.
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Image source: Adobe Stock
