Influencing market: Facebook, Instagram preferred channels for influencers

According to Influencer Marketing Report for 2018 by research agency Zefmo for the Indian market, nearly 92% of participants said that they would launch at least one influencer-led marketing campaign

Food, fashion, electronic devices, smartphones are among a host of categories where influencer marketing is playing a big role and taking up an increasing share of the marketing budgets of companies. According to Influencer Marketing Report for 2018 by research agency Zefmo for the Indian market, nearly 92 per cent of the participants said that they would launch at least one influencer-led marketing campaign in 2018. While the rules that govern such marketing efforts are still a work-in-progress, for instance many influencers still do not reveal their affiliations with the brands they promote and companies do not reveal their association with influential bloggers, the industry is getting organised and more vigilant about such promotions and pitches

• Authenticity influences influencer branding, consumers are more likely to make a purchase decision based on influencers because they perceive their word to be more authentic.
• There are big influencers, labeled ‘Macro influencer’ (typically have over 50,000 followers) and ‘Micro influencer’ (typically have 10,000 to 50,000 followers). Brands use both types depending on the nature of the campaign and their target audience 
• There is a gradual maturing of influencer marketing in India with 14 percent of participating marketers suggesting they are on an always on-mode and a further 16 percent planning to integrate influencer marketing within their overall marketing strategy
• Influencers are mostly used for product launches (56 per cent), content promotion (54 per cent) and event promotion (40 per cent)
• Brands find influencer marketing to be most important because it is seen as a form of authentic storytelling (20 per cent), offers better reach (18 per cent), connects with millennials and centennials (18 per cent)
• To measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign, brands measure engagement (23 per cent), brand awareness (19 per cent), share of voice/earned media (15 per cent)
• Lifestyle, fashion and beauty, food, travel, health and technology are some of the top areas of interest for influencers
• Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the top three preferred social channels for influencers. 
• Instagram has about 700 million users currently, of which an estimated 5 per cent are in India, whichis one of high growth markets for the company
• Photo and video sharing have emerged as the fastest growing form of media, and in 2017, an increasing number of influencers have adopted video as a medium and have started their YouTube channels as well
• More than half the participants in the survey said that they would increase their budgetary allocation for influencers in 2018

Source: Influencer Outlook Report, 2018, Zefmo