Influencers and Influencer Marketing Decline in Relevance
According to a recent study, influencer marketing is steadily losing its impact. Learn which developments explain the decline in relevance—and what this means for the industry.
The Evolution of Influencer Marketing
While influencer marketing, a subset of digital marketing, has long been considered a promising model for the future of the advertising industry, the relatively new phenomenon is increasingly falling into disrepute. Scandals involving purchased likes and followers are causing many companies to question their work with influencers. There is also a growing lack of interest from users: The flood of (paid and organic) posts on social networks and the mass of influencers are causing the audience's attention to diminish. A study by the German marketing agency and influencer platform “InfluencerDB” proves that engagement levels are actually declining.
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Like-Follower Ratio declines
For the study, InfluencerDB puts the number of followers of Instagram accounts and their likes into a ratio to determine the like-follower ratio. The resulting benchmarks clearly show that in the first quarter of 2019, the like-follower ratio is declining compared to previous years. Accordingly, organic posts in the first quarter of 2019 in Germany have an average interaction rate of only 3.5 percent. Three years ago, for example, the figure for unpaid posts was 8.9 percent. Paid posts achieve a like-following rate of 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019, compared to 10 percent in 2016. Comparing paid and unpaid posts, it can be seen that since the second quarter of 2016, paid Instagram posts have delivered significantly better values than unpaid posts. This may be due to the fact that paid posts are more elaborate and attractive, and followers also support their favorite influencers by paying more attention to paid posts. The algorithm is also certainly a major contributor to paid posts getting more reach and generating more interactions. Paid posts have also become much more strategic and responsive to followers' needs and wants. The study also shows a difference between small and large accounts: For relatively small accounts with between 5,000 and 10,000 followers, the interaction rate is 8.8 percent. Once the 10,000 follower mark is crossed, the study's authors found, the like-following rate remains consistent, regardless of the growing number of followers. Influencers with the highest interaction rate (4.5 percent) continue to be travel influencers, even though their posts account for only about 5 percent of sponsored posts.
- Successful marketing strategy for attracting new guests
- Insights from the TikTok campaign at Feuerstein Resort
- The advantages and disadvantages compared to Facebook and Instagram
- What hotels can achieve with TikTok (including campaign results)
- Successful marketing strategy for attracting new guests
- Insights from the TikTok campaign at Feuerstein Resort
- The advantages and disadvantages compared to Facebook and Instagram
- What hotels can achieve with TikTok (including campaign results)
Conclusion
Instagram's influencers are receiving fewer likes and comments on their posts than ever before, even as companies and marketers invest more and more budget in this platform. The importance of micro- and nano-influencers is growing significantly compared to prominent influencers: small influencers with 5,000 - 10,000 followers achieve significantly higher values in terms of interactions. Initial efforts by social media to remove the number of likes per post, which has been visible to everyone, underscore the move away from number-based influencer marketing towards high-quality content. When working with influencers, it is more important than ever to consider qualitative characteristics in addition to quantitative data collection. InfluencerDB's study clearly shows that high reach alone is not enough for a successful collaboration.
- Successful marketing strategy for attracting new guests
- Insights from the TikTok campaign at Feuerstein Resort
- The advantages and disadvantages compared to Facebook and Instagram
- What hotels can achieve with TikTok (including campaign results)
