Video: Do social networks influence perception?
In 2017, micro-influencers were shaking up the way brands worked with social media[1]. Non-celebrity influencers were more likely to drive purchases[2], and nano influencers tempted brands with fixed fees[3]. But has the age of the smaller influencer passed? This new report seems to provide evidence of that.
Read also: AI can now predict and guarantee the results of influencer marketing programs[4]
Social analytics company Sharablee and branded content company Fullscreen has released its Influence by the Numbers report[5].
The report analysed 31,000 influencers from a pool of roughly 500,000 influencers with a varying number of followers. It looked at celebrity influencers with over 20 million followers to micro influencers with less than 250,000 followers.
It wanted to understand their content strategies and resulting fan engagement behaviour across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
It also surveyed 1,200 millennial and Gen Z fans ages from 18 to 34 about their perceptions and attitudes toward influencers and brands to determine factors such as trust and purchase intent.
The research showed that digital creators -- who have between one million and 20 million followers -- outperformed the engagement rate of celebrities and micro influencers (less than 250,000 followers). Micro influencers have, in the past, been associated with better engagement performance and perceived higher influence.
Additionally, over one-third (38 percent) of respondents who engage with influencers trust what an influencer says about the brand more so than what the brand says about itself.
The digital trailblazers, those with one million to 20 million followers, enjoy the highest level of trust among the influencer segments. Respondents also were more