Influencer marketing agency Takumi’s latest report found that in the last 12 months, almost three-quarters of the marketers surveyed (73%) have allocated more resources to influencer marketing, with spending particularly increasing in the retail (79%), legal (79%), and manufacturing (75%) sectors.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy, the findings suggest marketers are increasingly putting their faith and budgets in multi-channel influencer campaigns and seeing the value in their creative content. Not only that but it’s clear that creative influencer talent are providing authentic reflections of the values and principles that consumers hold as well as making forays into the broader marketing and advertising channel mix.
Brands are also working with influencers across more mainstream advertising channels including OOH (83.3%), print (80%) and TV and radio (81.3%). Consumers are equally receptive to this shift: over a third (38%) are open to seeing influencers incorporated into traditional advertising. This reflects marketers’ growing familiarity with influencers and a heightened trust in their ability to deliver ROI across a more diverse range of channels.
“Adopting a multi-channel strategy gives us the capacity to communicate our message not only to varied audiences but to different intention. Each channel offers different opportunities to communicate,” said Jim meadows, chief strategy officer at Takumi.
Adopting a platform-agnostic approach
Marketers’ rising confidence in influencer marketing is increasingly seeing them explore additional channels for this activity. This is leading to marketers exploring additional social media channels: over the next year, 58% of marketers are considering working with influencers on YouTube, followed by a further 55% on Instagram, 35% on TikTok, 20% on Twitch, and 10% on Triller.
“With 73% of marketers upping spend in influencer marketing, it is clearly a core pillar of any effective brand marketing strategy,” commented Takumi Group CEO, Mary Keane-Dawson. “We’ve known for a long-time that being platform-agnostic equals success with influencer marketing, and it appears marketers are starting to realise this too. They are now exploring new social media channels – such as TikTok – and are integrating creator content into their wider marketing mix including TV and OOH in line with consumer appetites.”
The report also highlights influencer marketing is delivering better ROI than traditional advertising channels. A quarter (25%) of 16-24-year-olds say Instagram is the most likely advertising platform to lead to a purchase. The research shows that marketers recognise the strong ROI potential, with almost two-thirds (60%) agreeing that influencer marketing provides better ROI for brand marketing campaigns compared with traditional advertising.
In August 2020, Takumi surveyed over 3,500 consumers, marketers, and influencers across the UK, US, and Germany.
