Influencer are rapidly adopting visual medium of communication offered by both Instagram and YouTube
An overwhelming 80 percent of social media influencers are of the opinion that Instagram will be growing the fastest in 2018, much ahead of Twitter and Facebook. This trend is believed to be riding on the back of enhanced engagement offered by Instagram, that’s resulting in better impact for the brands.
With photo and video sharing emerging as the fastest growing form of media, Instagram and YouTube are set to witness massive adoption by the Indian influencers, according to today’s release of the India Influence Report 2018 – Influencer Insights Edition (IIE).
The survey results indicate that influencers in India seem to have found their voice by sharing about their ideas, hobbies and consumption preferences across social channels. Alongside this trend, brands too have increased their propensity to reach out to influencers to convert them as their advocates. A major portion of the influencers who have decided to pursue this interest are predominantly driven by the urge to make an impact and to be recognized as a thought leader in their respective fields. Thus, influencers are interacting with their set of audience and are striving to make the engagement a lot more interesting through a process of dialogue. Another major insight of the report is the fact that while the lure for revenue accrual remains a prevalent motive, building an audience base is also an important factor for the influencer community.
These supplementary findings form part of an exhaustive survey conducted by Zefmo, a leading and rapidly growing influencer marketing platform. The first edition of the India Influence Report 2018 was released in January 2018 that indicated towards 92 percent marketers expected to launch at least one influencer campaign this year. The other top highlights of the India Influence Repor 2018 – Influencer Insights Edition (IIE), include the following insights –
· Giving a tough challenge to the traditional toppers comprising of Facebook and Twitter, is Instagram. Fastest growing social channels in 2018 –
1. Instagram (80 percent)
2. Twitter (56 percent)
3. Facebook (52 percent)
4. YouTube (46 percent)
5. WhatsApp (32 percent)
· Top five ways in which brands reach influencers’ audience –
1. Product reviews (83 percent)
2. Sponsored content (70 percent)
3. Contests/giveaways (48 percent)
4. Affiliate links (29 percent)
5. Ambassadorships (25 percent)
· Measurement of campaign success by influencers –
1. Engagement-level (79 percent)
2. Impression/reach (66 percent)
3. Traffic (63 percent)
4. Brand mentions (43 percent)
5. Re-engagement by brands (39 percent)
· As influencer marketing becomes more specialized by the day, brands are outsourcing and relying more on influencer marketing agencies to engage influencers. About 90 percent influencers indicated that they have been contacted by either a brand or an agency for collaboration
· How do influencers get engaged for collaborations –
1. Through influencer marketing agencies (55 percent)
2. Directly by brands (23 percent)
3. Via PR agencies (14 percent)
4. Engaged by social media agencies (8 percent)
“With influencer marketing becoming mainstream, influencers are increasingly relying on influencer marketing agencies to help and guide them in getting connected with brands of their choice and even monetize their areas of interest. This trend will continue to see uptake in 2018 as well in view of the specialized consulting service that influencer marketing agencies bring to the table,” said Irfan Khan, chief executive officer (CEO), Zefmo. “Whether that is beauty vloggers sharing tips on YouTube, or brand-based video campaigns, this medium will continue to dominate influencer marketing.”