influencer marketing outlook – 2018 · ankur dey tarafder senior manager, marketing cipla health...
TRANSCRIPT
Buzzoka – Influencer Marke�ng 2.0
It’s Not Ok, Un�l Its Buzzing
INFLUENCER MARKETING OUTLOOK – 2018
India Rises To Inuencer Marketing
www.buzzoka.com
Enfluencer marke�ng has never been more important with years passing by. The Iconsumers con�nue to trust word of mouth over all other forms of marke�ng. With the rise in the adop�on, brands are increasingly turning to influencers to
help get their message across with more passion, crea�vity and authen�city.
From celebri�es to the rising class of micro-influencers - experts in a specific topic with smaller, but more highly engaged audiences -- influencers are emerging as a cri�cal marke�ng tool for brands large and small.
Influencers help brands grow awareness and considera�on. Increasingly, they’re also helping drive sales.
In order to understand the changing face of influencer marke�ng, and gain valuable insight into where the Influencer Marke�ng space is headed, we decided to survey both sides of the coin. The Brand Custodians and the Influencer Ecosystem.
ABSTRACT
Survey Methodology
• B u z z o k a ( w w w. b u z z o k a . c o m ) surveyed over 500+ Brand Custodians and Content Creators in the month of December.
• The brand custodians included Agency and brand folks across the Indian Ecosystem. This consisted of top brands, top agencies, startups etc to provide a more holistic understanding on the Inuencer marketing Ecosystem.
• On the Inuencer front, Bloggers,
Tw i t t e r I nuence rs , You tube rs , Instagram Inuencers and inuencers across the digital landscape were surveyed.
• The survey was a tiring one for most of t h e r e s p o n d e n t s a s B u z z o k a (www.buzzoka.com) wanted to present a clear picture in the Inuencer marketing Landscape.
Amit Gujral, CMO, LG, India
Jatin Madan, Business Unit Head, Digital Marketing,
HS Ad
Zeeshanli Ruby,Head-
Digital Strategy,DVio Digital
Sumit Sehgal, CMO,
Comio Mobiles
Rajasekar KS, GM, MarketingMatrimony.com
Anandan Pillai,Associate Director,
Performics. Resultrix
Anant Shukla,Managing
Partner,DAFUQ Global
Pankaj Sood,Associate Director,
Cheil, India
Samir Bangara Managing Director,
Qyuki
Media Buying Head, Isobar,
Delhi
Respondent’s Overview
Shivangi Sinha,Shivangi Reviews
Vidya Sury,Vidyasury.com
Sudipto DeSalt & Sandals
Jitaditya Narzary,Travelling Slacker
Princy Mascarenhas, The Jeromy
Diaries
Smriti Shankar,Smriti Travelling
Prerna Sinha,Maa of all Blogs
Neha,Omni Styles Life
Amit Panchal,Twitter Inuencer
Monish Chandan,Monishchandan.com
Respondent’s Overview
Amit Gujral, CMO, LG, India
“In today's evolved and crowded world, the tradi�onal sen�ment of
hearing the voice of people who ma�er hasn't s�ll changed. Even with the rapid changing technology across spectrum of life, the importance of res�ng the believe on influencer's words on a topic especially new technology things is ever growing and is certainly a new form of "word-of-mouth" (now digitally).”
Media Buying Head, Isobar, Delhi
“Influencer Marke�ng has huge poten�al and we are seeing an
upward trend in the influencer space as there is a tremendous scope for brands to ini�ate conversa�ons in a thought through environment , with rising Pla�orms like Snapchat, Quora etc. I am sure we are seeing an amazing year ahead.”
Ankur Dey TarafderSenior Manager, Marketing
Cipla Health ltd.
“As physical socie�es transform into online communi�es, influencers
are like the elders in the family who we look for advice and reassurance and new informa�on. Influencer marke�ng is going to be a crucial pillar for brands from the objec�ve of crea�ng awareness, engagement and finally sales. Currently influencer marke�ng in India is skewed towards product launches and trending around that �me. With more strategic choices of influencer partners (beyond followers) the ROI from inves�ng in them will be far higher and sustainable. ”
Bhartendra SinghProduct Head,
Wishn
“Influencer marke�ng could be good tac�cal move provided its part of
overall media strategy. Stand alone influencer marke�ng doesn't mean anything.”
Yogin Vora, Partner, Digital, DDB Mudra
“Influencer Marke�ng is a rising game and it has huge poten�al to
lead the marke�ng mix. Metrics and crea�vity will be a differen�ator in 2018.”
“Influencer marke�ng needs to be treated strategically in line with
brand strategy . The system needs more transparency and ROI evalua�on. ”
Sumit Sehgal, CMO, Comio Mobiles
“A lot of brands and brand managers have endorsed influencers in
2017 as the best way to to humanize the brand. This is essen�al in today's marke�ng paradigm since consumers are running away from the noise and looking for more realiable ways to choose their associa�ons with brands. I forsee the silos of content and influencers to be merged which is being termed as confluence. This shall have a posi�ve impact on the marke�ng budgets moving towards micro & niche influencers to replace celebrity endorsements at a certain level.”
“The digital superstar phenomenon is here to stay. We strongly
believe that a digital superstar has greater emo�onal a�achment and influence over millennials than a tradi�onal media star especially in the online medium. With the worlds largest popula�on of young people, the demographic dividend in the opportunity this presents is upwards of a $5bn market in India alone.”
Samir Bangara Managing Director,
Qyuki
Jatin Madan, Business Unit Head, Digital Marketing,
HS Ad
“Influencer Marke�ng has been on a soaring high and I see the
numbers increasing this year as well. But final surviving agencies will always be those that consider the ra�o of authen�c content with organic reach as opposed to personal rela�ons and low remunera�ons. ”
“I'm happy to see many new Creators on Board on YouTube in India &
we can have a larger community that is working towards showing their talent, teaching and helping others through the pla�orm. Looking forward to much more amazing content from the Indian Creators in 2018.”
Amit Bhawani, PhoneRadar
Shifa Merchant , Sassy Shif Says
“Influencer Marke�ng is the future of marke�ng across the globe.
With pla�orms like YouTube evolving, we are sure the world will be revolving around the tonnes of content created. YouTube from a YouTubers perspec�ve is the game changer and will rule the coming days too.”
Rahul Vohra,Irahul Vohra
“Influencer Marke�ng has evolved and is moving the right direc�on.
The rise is all due to the abundance of pla�orms that are adop�ng the wave. Brands have become more than interested to work with influencers across domain considering the poten�al reach and engagement it drives. ”
Amit Panchal,Twitter Inuencer
Buzzoka – Influencer Marke�ng 2.0
It’s Not Ok, Un�l Its Buzzing
Influencer Marketing Outlook – 2018India Rises to Influencer Marketing
BRAND SIDE ANALYSIS
How have you used Inuencer Marketing this year?
1
2
3
4
Over 50% brand custodians considered branding and reach as their primary objec�ve to use influencer marke�ng. Interes�ngly sustained
engagement and short burst campaign saw a low this year.
51%
28%
15%
5%
Branding
Reach
Sustained Engagement
Short burst
Why do you think inuencer marketing is important?
1
2
3
4
46%
23%
15%
15%
Better Reach & Engagement
A Good Alternative For Traditional Advertising
Good Medium For Story Telling
Better ROI Then Other Marketing Mediums
46% Marketers around India a�ributed reach and engagement as the most important factor for using Influencer Marke�ng. Interes�ngly, 23% marketers considered it to be a good alterna�ve for tradi�onal media.
What are the top benets of inuencer marketing ?
1
2
3
4
Almost, 69% marketers considered Influencer Marke�ng to be a good medium to generate engagement, drive word of mouth and create quality content.
69%
31%
26%
23%
All of the Below
Generate Engagement
Generate Word of Mouth
5 15%Higher Brand ROI
Create Authentic Content
(Multiple Selection)
Do you feel Inuencer Marketing has potential to drive the digital ecosystem towards engagement and reach?
1
2
90% brand custodians felt that influencer marke�ng has the poten�al to drive engagement & reach.
90%
10%
Yes
No
What do you look in Inuencers while nalising them for a campaign?
1
2
3
4
42%
25%
21%
6%
All of the Below
Reach or Follower Base
Content Quality
5 6%Engagement
Cost Of Management
6 0%Brand Collabs In Past
Brands considered follower count, followed by content quality as major factors behind finalizing influencers.
(Multiple Selection)
How do you reach out to Inuencers?
71% respondents said that they prefer reaching out to influencers on their own vs Influencer Agencies.
1
2
71%
29%
On Our Own
Inuencer Agencies
How much on average do you spend on Inuencer Campaign per year per brand?
1
2
3
4
54%
21%
15%
10%
$10,000
$20,000
$50,000
Above $50,000
The marke�ng budgets that majority influencer campaigns get are less than $10,000 in India.
What all platforms have you explored till now for Inuencer Campaigns ?
88%Twitter
Twi�er leads as the primary choice of marketers and 88% marketers see it as a huge poten�al. This is closely followed by Facebook at 84%. Pla�orms like Instagram and Blogging s�ll remain popular.
84%Facebook
72%Instagram
46%Blogging
38%WhatsApp
36%LinkedIn
22%Quora
20%Snapchat
12%Pinterest
8%Musical.ly
Roposo
Tumblr
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
8%
8%
(Multiple Selection)
Reasons Marketers Turn to Inuencers Include
1
2
3
4
78% marketers use influencers to drive meaningful engagement on brand’s social media handles.
78%
50%
48%
46%
Grow our social media following and engagement
Generate sales
Have content created by inuencers
5 36%Drive SEO value for our brand
Increase site trafc
(Multiple Selection)
What is the quality of customers acquired from inuencer marketing vs other marketing channels?
71% respondents said that they prefer reaching out to influencers on their own vs Influencer Agencies.
1
2
71%
24%
Better
Same
3 4%Worse
What according to you is the fastest growing online customer acquisition method
1
2
3
4
49% marketers actually voted Influencer marke�ng as the best customer acquisi�on method.
49%
20%
16%
12%
Inuencer marketing
Paid Marketing
Organic search
5 3%Email Marketing
Afliate marketing
Which inuencer marketing pricing model have you found to be the most effective?
1
2
3
4
26%
23%
21%
19%
Pay per post/video
CPA (Cost per Acquisition)
Free product or experiences
5 9%CPC ( Cost per click)
CPE (Cost per Engagement)
6 2%Other
49% marketers found payment as per performance to be the be�er payment model when it comes to Influencer Marke�ng
Where does inuencer marketing sit within your budget? (Select all that apply)
1 75%Brand Marketing
2 54%Content Marketing
3 48%Advertising/Media
4 40%PR/Communications
5 15%Shopper Marketing
6 8%Product Development
7 4%Other
75% marketers categorized Influencer Marke�ng as a subset of Brand Marke�ng & 54% categorized it to be a part of content marke�ng ac�vity
(Multiple Selection)
How many hours do you spend managing an entire inuencer marketing program?
A good 37% marketers spend anywhere between 10-25 hours managing influencer campaigns which is quite a heavy investment of man hours. The majority chunk of 43% spent less than 10 hours in Influencer campaigns as they were backed by professional agencies to drive it.
1 43%Less than 10
2 37%10 – 25
3 14%25 – 50
4 4%75 - 100
6 0%50 - 75
5 2%More Than 100
Do you manage programs in house or through an inuencer marketing platform/vendor?
65% brand custodians manage influencer campaigns on their own instead of outsourcing it to their digital agency.
1
2
65%
20%
In-house
Managed or “turn-key” service provider
3 15%Automated Platform
How do you see the effectivity of YouTubers in the Inuencer Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
49%
27%
20%
4%
Very Effective
Effective
Somehow Effective
Not Efffective
YouTubers are considered to be effec�ve by 96% marketers in driving desired ROI.
What according to you is the most cost-effective online customeracquisition method ?
1
2
3
4
51% marketers opined that cost of acquiring customers via Influencer Marke�ng is less than other performance marke�ng programs.
51%
20%
18%
6%
Inuencer marketing
Paid Marketing
Organic search
5 5%Email Marketing
Afliate marketing
What do you see as the top challenges for inuencer marketing in 2018?
More than 55% of the respondents are worried about ROI of money spent on Influencer campaigns & 45% are struggling to find the right influencers for their campaigns.
1
2
55%
45%
Return on Investment
Inuencer Discovery
What is the percentage of Overall Budget Spent on Inuencer Marketing in 2018?
1
2
3
4
49%
29%
14%
8%
2-5%
5-7%
10%
Over 10%
Share of Influencer Marke�ng budget today is what was a typical digital marke�ng budget in 2008.
Are you planning to increase the percentage spends in Inuencer Marketing Budget in 2018?
78% marketers want to spend more on Influencer Marke�ng. The reason of an increased growth in 2018 will also be a�ributed to new pla�orms pitching in the big game.
1
2
78%
22%
Yes
No
How do you see the role of Common People in the Inuencer Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
50%
40%
10%
0%
Extremely Important
Important
Nominal
Not Much
Almost 100% marketers are realizing the role of common people in the influencer marke�ng ecosystem. This is primarily because brands have been struggling to reach the last mile audience – The Consump�on Audience.
Do you require that inuencers disclose sponsored content ?
56% marketers are okay if Influencers explicitly men�on paid posts as sponsored. 44% s�ll do not consider it to be flowery.
1
2
56%
44%
Yes
No
What do you see as the top challenges for inuencer marketing in 2018? (Select top three)
1
2
3
4
73%
52%
50%
40%
Determining the ROI of my inuencer marketing programs
Choosing which inuencer marketing provider to work with
Determining where inuencer marketing ts in my marketing mix
5 40%
More social network algorithm changes will make content less visible
6 27%The amount of time it takes to manage inuencer marketing programs
Top 3 challenges for a marketer are to jus�fy ROI, select right partner/pla�orm & determine a balanced marke�ng mix which has a jus�fied share of influencer marke�ng.
Rapidly changing consumer behaviors make it hard for brands to stay relevant
(Multiple Selection)
The survey has been instrumental in telling us that brand custodians have a very posi�ve outlook towards Influencer Marke�ng and they by all means believe that Influencer Marke�ng has the poten�al to drive the digital ecosystem towards engagement and reach.
Through this survey it is evident that good quality of content is one of the criteria when choosing the influencers. Which kind of ends the argument whether reach of influence is the only criteria. Influencers have for quite some �me now played a very important role in direc�ng the tonality of responses and this is the most important reason why brands use influencer marke�ng. This definitely creates a posi�ve image and the survey tells us that customers acquired through this channel are of be�er quality.
We see that majority of brands are currently doing it in-house and ROI has been their top challenge. Brand custodians are planning an increase spend in Influencer Marke�ng budget so it will be only wise to have a partner whose full-�me job is to worry about doing a quality job in a limited �me frame and ensuring the desired ROI.
Observation
Buzzoka – Influencer Marke�ng 2.0
It’s Not Ok, Un�l Its Buzzing
Influencer Marketing Outlook – 2018India Rises to Influencer Marketing
INFLUENCER SIDE ANALYSIS
Are you a Full Time Inuencer or a Part Time?
Almost 54% of the influencers who engage with brands are professional influencers. The number has been rising with the rise of influencer marke�ng adop�on across the globe.
1
2
54%
46%
Part Time
Full Time
What was the objective of the campaigns that you did in this year?
1
2
3
4
51%
28%
15%
6%
Branding
Reach
Sustained Engagement
Short Burst
Influencers across India a�ributed Branding and Reach being the primary objec�ve behind Influencer campaigns they did. Branding and reach cons�tuted over 79% share of campaign objec�ve.
Why do you think inuencer marketing is important for brands?
68%
46%
38%
36%
1 Better Reach and Engagement
2 A Good Alternative for Traditional Advertising
3 Good Medium for Story Telling
4 Better ROI than other Marketing Mediums
68% influencers felt that usage of influencer marke�ng is important for brands because it gives them be�er reach and engagement. Since this was a ques�on where mul�ple op�ons could be selected, we see almost half of the respondents felt that Influencer Marke�ng is a good alterna�ve to tradi�onal forms of marke�ng.
What are the top benets of inuencer marketing from an Inuencer Perspective?
1
2
3
4
59%
31%
30%
28%
All of the Below
Generate Engagement
Create Authentic Content
5 19%Higher Brand ROI
Generate Word of Mouth
Over 81% Influencers considered engagement, customized content crea�on and share of voice as the primary objec�ve while engaging with brands.
Do you feel Inuencer Marketing has potential to drive the digital ecosystem towards engagement and reach?
1
2
99%
1%
Yes
No
99% Influencers felt that Influencer Marke�ng is full of poten�al when it comes to driving reach & engagement on brand
What do brands seek from you while engaging in campaigns ?
1
2
3
4
49%
43%
39%
38%
All of the Below
Reach or Follower Base
Engagement
5 22%
Content Quality
6 15%Brand Collabs in Past
Cost of Engagement
Almost 78% considered that brands seek reach, engagement and content quality as the primary objec�ve while finalizing influencers.
How do brands reach out to you for campaigns?
1
2
71%
29%
Inuencer Agencies / Platforms
On Their Own
Majority of influencers are approached by agencies or pla�orms on behalf of brands, however, s�ll a small percentage of brands reach out to them directly. Over 71% influencers were approached by agencies or pla�orms in India.
How do brands pay Inuencers?
1
2
3
4
55%
33%
22%
13%
Pay Average
Pay too Less
Want Just Barter
Pay Handsomely
Only a meagre 13% influencers were happy with their remunera�on paid by brands in India.
What all platforms have you explored till now for Campaigns ?
86%
84%
78%Instagram
64%Blogging
26%WhatsApp
23%LinkedIn
15%Quora
14%Snapchat
14%Pinterest
7%
Musical.ly
Roposo
Tumblr
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
4%
2%
Like last year, Facebook, Twi�er, Instagram & Blogging remained top pla�orms. We see new pla�orms like Quora, Tumblr, Roposo & Musical.ly as the new entrant.
Why do you think marketers turn to Inuencers ?
1
2
3
4
68%
49%
49%
48%
Grow our social media following and engagement
Generate sales
Have content created by inuencers
5 38%Drive SEO value for our brand
Increase site trafc
As per Influencers, a marketers top objec�ve is to grow social media engagement. This is followed by lead genera�on, content crea�on and referral traffic.
What is your biggest pain point in the Inuencer Marketing ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
49%
48%
27%
26%
Small Payments
Long Payment Cycle
All of the Above
5 19%Too much changes in brief
Forced Content by brands
Influencers a�ributed small remunera�on & long payment cycle as a major pain point in the Influencer Ecosystem.
Which inuencer marketing pricing model have you found to be the most effective?
1
2
3
4
68%
15%
9%
5%
Pay per post/video
Free product or experiences
CPE (Cost per Engagement)
5 3%
CPC (Cost per Click)
6 1%Other
CPA (Cost per Acquisition)
68% influencers found pay per post model to be the most appropriate remunera�on model.
How do you see the rise of Inuencer Marketing in 2018?
1
2
3
4
45%
28%
24%
3%
Exploding
Nominal Growth
Static Rise
Going Down
Over 97% influencers see a rise in the Influencer Marke�ng space.
What according to you will be the rising platforms this year?
1
2
3
4
78%
59%
57%
22%
YouTube
5 15%
6 14%Quora
SnapChat
7 5%Musical.ly
Instagram, Facebook and YouTube con�nue to be growth pla�orms. Sadly, Twi�er goes out from the preferred list and pla�orms like SnapChat, Quora and LinkedIn are on a rise.
How do you see the effectivity of YouTubers in the Inuencer Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
47%
32%
17%
4%
Very Effective
Effective
Somehow Effective
Not Effective
96% of respondents were in favour of YouTube being an effec�ve pla�orm.
How do you see the effectivity of Instagram Inuencers in the Inuencer Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
55%
29%
13%
3%
Very Effective
Effective
Somehow Effective
Not Effective
97% respondents felt instagram to be an effec�ve pla�orm for influencer marke�ng campaigns.
How do you see the effectivity of Blogging in the Inuencer Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
47%
32%
17%
4%
Very Effective
Effective
Somehow Effective
Not Effective
Influencers feel that blogging s�ll is the most effec�ve medium of Influencer Marke�ng Ecosystem. Over 96% considered it be s�ll an effec�ve medium.
Do you see a growth in Platforms like SnapChat, Musical.ly, Quora etc in 2018?
1
2
53%
47%
Yes
No
When it comes to new social media pla�orms, opinion is evenly divided over their growth in 2018. But, 53% consider Musical.ly, Snapchat and Quora consump�on going up.
Are you ready to adopt new metrics to Inuencer Engagement like Cost per click, Cost per engagement etc?
1
2
79%
21%
Yes
No
79% influencers are willing to take up performance metrics as criteria of evalua�ng remunera�on.
Are you okay to disclose Sponsored Content on your post if brandsseek it?
1
2
93%
7%
Yes
No
Contrary to common belief, over 93% influencers were ready to disclose sponsored content on their social presence.
How do you see the role of Common People in the Inuencer Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
58%
36%
5%
1%
Extremely Important
Important
Nominal
Not Much
Over 94% influencers see the role of Common People rising in the Influencer Ecosystem.
What do you see as the top challenges for inuencer marketingin 2018? (Select top three)
1
2
3
4
67%
57%
51%
47%
Choosing how to work with brands in a more transparent way
More social network algorithm changes will make content less visible
Determining What Brands Actually Want
Determining the ROI of my work
Transparency is the biggest concern of influencers while working with the brands. A middle agency brings in confidence to the influencers for smooth opera�ons and execu�on.
Observation
“ ”
The report suggests that influencers are more than excited to see the growth in the influencer marke�ng ecosystem. Influencers are super excited on the rise of new social media pla�orms like Musical.ly, Snapchat, WhatsApp etc and see them as an extension to the gambit. Interes�ngly, influencers are also ready to adopt the new metrics of tracking and work on performance based campaigns which was considered as a hitch in the past.
YouTube as a pla�orm has seen a huge rise in the Influencer Marke�ng gambit due to higher consump�on of videos. This consump�on is primarily going up due to lower internet tariffs.
In all, it will be an exci�ng journey in 2018 for the Influencer Marke�ng Ecosystem
Ashutosh Harbola has been regarded as an Evangelist in the Influencer Marke�ng Space. He has been instrumental in se�ng up Blogmint in India. With over 10+ years of experience is the Content Business he has been a key pillar behind next-gen startups like Tangerine Digital, Network1Media and TO THE NEW.
Rahul Puri, highly regarded individual in the digital content business has been a key pillar behind aFaqs, YourStory and ScoopWhoop. He has mastered the art of client sa�sfac�on with his out of the box idea�on. Rahul is a content architect and his 12+ years of experience is at the core of Buzzoka leadership.
Buzzoka is World's 1st Integrated Inuencer Marketing Platform with over 300,000 social media inuencers across the globe. Buzzoka focuses on driving Word of Mouth through social media advocates. With a vision to
achieve a Billion Dollar valuation in 3 years, Buzzoka is the platform for all inuencer marketing needs.
Team Buzzoka