There has been a lot of talk around influencer marketing recently and whether or not it is a worthwhile venture for brands in 2018. We have seen lots of examples of how influencer marketing can give brands access to audiences through a different voice of an influencer. As influencer marketing has gathered pace, we have seen prices soar and brands have started asking the question is it really worth it?
In the past brands have focused on the size of the audience, and with celebrities such as Selena Gomez and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson having huge following brands have flocked to them. However, in more recent times, brands have realised that these audiences are so widespread and are in-efficient in trying to reach their desired target audience. This has caused brands to shift their focus from reach to engagement as a key performance indicator when picking the right influencer.
More specifically, brands are looking at Cost Per Engagement (Cost of Post ÷ Number of Engagements) and Engagement Rate (Engaged Users ÷ Total Reach x 100) as the main indicator when deciding on what influencers to use. This has meant that influencers are looked at in a different light and they are graded on the quality of their audience and the engagements that they receive on their social media profiles.
We have recently carried out a study on 75 Instagram influencers to compare their levels of engagement and the quality of their audiences. We broke down the study into 4 categories: Number of Followers, Engagement per Post (Average), Cost per Engagement and Engagement Rate. By using these 4 categories we can analyse these influencers in a different light and whether you are getting a good return on marketing spend.
After looking at the research, there are a few pieces of information that could help you in the future when it comes to picking an influencer.
“On average, women provide better value for money than men, however men typically get a better level of engagement, despite having a lower average follower count.”
This shows that if you are wanting to go with a female influencer, on average you will receive more engagements (Likes, Follows and Shares) than you would with a male influencer. However, on average male influencers tend to have higher engagement rates which in turn means that they have a more engaged audience. This is very sought after in the current market as an influencer with an engaged audience has more rapport with their fans which can lead to a better conversion rate on your products.
“Beauty Instagrammers see the highest level of engagement from their fans, with food Instagrammers seeing the lowest.”
This is an insight into which categories tend to do better when it comes to conversions than others. Beauty brands tend to be heavily involved in influencer marketing and have one of the best conversion rates amongst other categories. This is down to the fact that the beauty community is very engaged due to their content being very specific and this allows Beauty influencers such as James Charles and Jeffree Starr who provide not only great value for money but also boast high engagement rates which is a recipe for success when it comes to sales.
You can see the full list of stats analysis on our Celebrity Engagement calculator here.
For more information about what our award winning marketing agency can do for you, why not take a look at the digital marketing services we offer or contact us to tell us more about your business? Offering everything from PPC management to creative social media marketing services, we can help with whatever you need.