Consumers turn to influencers as traditional media loses trust
Consumers are losing trust in traditional media and are instead turning to influencers who can play a crucial role in expand a brand’s online presence.
Havas Red’s inaugural ‘The State of the Influencer in 2024: A Client’s Perspective’ whitepaper surveyed brands from a range of industries and sectors across ten markets – Australia, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, UAW, the US and the UK – on their experiences with influencers and where they believe influencer marketing is heading.
Stuart Hood, executive director for content and digital at Havas Red, told Mumbrella it was necessary to put out a whitepaper on influencers as it hadn’t been done before.
“It’s difficult to get such a global position on influencers from brands, and there was nothing in the industry on how brands perceive it all and how they work with influencers,” he said. “We wanted to get the brand’s point of view.”
Across five main takeaways, an underlying theme appeared across the ten surveyed markets: influencers are key for brand authenticity and trust.
“You might think that you’d find different trends in different markets,” Hood continued.
“But there was quite a bit of good consistency across the board which is encouraging to see. As an agency network, we can help our brands in different markets and help our colleagues across markets pull together influencer strategies.”
1. The media landscape is converging with social media
As consumers are losing trust in traditional media, they’re turning to influencers more often when discovering brands.
“This is something we’ve been seeing over a few years,” Hood told Mumbrella. “81% of brands are involved in influencer campaigns, and that shows just how much influencers are on their radars and it really helps us sell them as a marketing strategy.”
2. Influence has been democratised
Over 97% of brand identify content creators as influencers, highlighting a shift away from traditional celebrities as influencers, towards a new reality where anyone can become one.
“People identify with people that have similar values, and influencers are just that,” Hood continued. “The more relatable they are and the content is, the more consumers trust them and I think that’s why we’re seeing more brands using influencers now.”
3. Influencers are generating engagement through social proof
Influencers give brands more opportunities to reach targeted and relevant audiences, delivering content that drives higher engagement and brand conversion.
One in three brands acknowledge that influencers can effectively drive engagement for brands, with 78% believing the biggest benefit is landing key messages and bringing to life difficult subject matters.
“What’s really difficult to do in other areas, influencers can do. Because it’s relatable, but still entertaining content. It’s stuff that consumers want to lean more into,” he said.
“So if we can get that recipe right then, from a brand point of view, it’s spot on for how they should be, and can, use influencers.”
Stuart Hood
4. Video formats are the most effective tactic in the influencer toolbox
86% of brands said video content resonates more effectively than static formats.
Hood said this was not at all surprising: “The entertainment value comes through great video content creation most of the time, that’s why channels like TikTok have grown so massively.
“Brands have found the right recipe to create entertainment but also allow those influencers to deliver the message, and majority of the time, video is the obvious choice.”
5. Finding the right fit for ROI in influencer campaigns
92% of surveyed brands identified that influencer performance is crucial for understanding the return on investment, but said one of the most prominent challenges is ensuring they utilise the right influencers.
“It’s really encouraging seeing 92% say that. If we’re not measuring it, we won’t know how effective the campaigns are, and then the influencer activity kind of becomes redundant. So it’s good to see that dial shifting now,” Hood said.
For brand hesitant on using influencers, Hood stressed that there is no harm in trying it out.
“The best way to do it is to test it out, know your audience and know the type of content that your audience likes, and find the right partners,” he said.
“They don’t have to be influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers, they could be key content creators who align perfectly with your brand and can really boost your brand’s online presence.”
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Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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Wow – trust & influencers in the same sentence. Who’d have thought it?
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