Internet Influencers - US - March 2020

OVERVIEW
What you need to know
Definition
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
Market overview
Figure 1: Share of influencer followers, 2019 and 2020
Top takeaways
Key trends
Followers refining their feeds
Figure 2: Number of influencer categories followed, 2019 vs 2020
Engagement comes from reading, watching, listening – but mostly pictures
Figure 3: Viewing social media content, December 2019
Influencers are the brand
Figure 4: Influencer and social media purchase behaviors, December 2019
Anyone can be an influencer
Figure 5: Self-identifying as influencers, by gender and age, December 2019
Cancel culture is real
Figure 6: Cancel culture and openness on the internet, December 2019
What it means
THE MARKET – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The value of influencers increases
The pool of influencer followers is expanding
The dark and light sides of social media
INFLUENCER MARKETING OVERVIEW
FTC demands disclosures of influencer partnerships
Sponsored posts rise exponentially
Figure 7: Number of sponsored posts, 2016-19
Fewer followers get greater volume of posts
Figure 8: Share of sponsored Instagram posts, by influencer tier, 2019
Cost per post is going up across platforms
Figure 9: Average cost per post, by platform, 2016-19
SIZE OF INFLUENCER FOLLOWERS
Share of influencer followers is growing
Figure 10: Share of influencer followers, 2019 and 2020
Fewer total categories followed shows narrowing interests
Figure 11: Number of influencer categories followed, 2019 vs 2020
MARKET PERSPECTIVE
Digital advertising spend continues to grow
Consumers think social media companies are bad for society
Consumers express themselves visually
KEY TRENDS – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 
Collections of influencers demand attention
Sifting through garbage to get to the gold
New platforms and personalities in the digital world
POSITIVE INFLUENCES
Collectives, clans and cashing in from incubating influencers
Figure 12: @theyhypehousela Instagram post, January 2020
Empowering people through education and advocacy
Figure 13: @bee_nfluencer Valentine’s Day Instagram post, February 2020
Brand ambassadors replacing paid posters
Figure 14: @glamouraspirit_ Casper Instagram post, May 2019
Playing matchmaker between influencer and brand
Creating communities for brands
NEGATIVE INFLUENCES
SponCons and fake measurement marketplaces
Treating influencers like a joke
Ignoring harmful scandals
Insensitivities lead to backlash
Figure 15: @stylemesunday Aldi Instagram post, January 2020
WHAT TO WATCH
The impact of TikTok
The platform
The importance of music
The opportunities
The ethics of virtual influencers
Figure 16: @lilmiquela Samsung Instagram post, January 2020
Legitimizing influencer culture through accolades
Using AR to create new brand experiences
Figure 17: @madzpayne Pepsi Instagram post, May 2019
Influencers appear in other advertising mediums
THE CONSUMER – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 
Entertainment reaches more people than education
Celebrity goes a long way
Visual posts create the most engagement
Authenticity doesn’t necessarily mean being different
Cancel culture is alive and active
Social media as a marketplace
Trust and connection to influencers on the rise
Branching out and taking a stand are important to followers
Influencer follower segmentation highlights opportunities
CATEGORIES FOLLOWED
Entertainment leads the pack, but interest by category drops
Categories that entertain dominate
Aspirational categories get people to learn
Biggest decreases in overloaded categories
Figure 18: Influencer categories followed, 2019 vs 2020
Women want to learn
Figure 19: Influencer categories followed, by gender, December 2019
Young adults want entertainment, older want information
Figure 20: Influencer categories followed, by age, December 2019
Platforms for education and inspiration
Figure 21: Influencer categories followed, by daily users of social media platforms, December 2019
PERSONALITIES FOLLOWED 
Visibility makes celebrities, brands important accounts to follow
The importance of celebrity
Reality stars lie between celebrity and citizen
Dip in share across personality types
Figure 22: Influencer personalities followed, December 2020
Women seek out larger than life people
Figure 23: Influencer personalities followed, by gender, December 2020
Young generations drive interest in big personalities
Figure 24: Influencer personalities followed, by generation, December 2020
INTERACTING WITH INFLUENCERS 
Visual components are essential to social media content
Figure 25: Viewing social media content, December 2019
Three quarters of women look to visual posts
Figure 26: Viewing social media content, by gender, December 2019
Likes are social currency
Figure 27: Interacting with social media content, December 2019
Aspirational accounts get more interaction
Figure 28: Interacting with social media content, by type of category followed, December 2019
Cross-platform interactions with influencers can be important
Figure 29: Cross-platform influencer interactions, December 2019
Experts and internet personalities constantly create content
Figure 30: Cross-platform influencer interactions, by type of personality followed, December 2019
IMPORTANT INFLUENCER ATTRIBUTES
Emotion beats adventure when evaluating influencers
Figure 31: Importance of entertaining attributes in influencers, December 2019
Authenticity matters more than being unique
Figure 32: Importance of authenticity in influencers, December 2019
Inspiration doesn’t mean aspiration
Figure 33: Importance of inspiration and expertise in influencers, December 2019
Authenticity and emotional impact are the perfect cocktail
Figure 34: TURF analysis – influencer attributes, December 2019
Platforms where influencers can speak out
Figure 35: The importance of standing out, by daily users of social media platforms, December 2019
Reality TV stars sell a lifestyle
Figure 36: Importance of speaking out in influencers, all vs reality TV personality followers, December 2019
CANCEL CULTURE AND ANTI-INFLUENCERS
People are ready to “cancel” accounts
Figure 37: Cancel culture and openness on the internet, December 2019
Women are ready to ditch accounts, men feel they have nothing to hide
Figure 38: Cancel culture and openness on the internet, by gender, December 2019
Followers appreciate some self-deprecation
Figure 39: @cvtsoftserve anti-influencer Instagram post, July 2019
Figure 40: Attitudes toward anti-influencer movements, December 2019
PURCHASING FROM SOCIAL MEDIA AND INFLUENCERS
Brands have a place on social media
Figure 41: Attitudes about brand and product presence on social media, December 2019
Converting posts to purchases
Figure 42: Influencer and social media purchase behaviors, December 2019
Case studies: Influencers turned entrepreneurs
Figure 43: @helenowen swimsuit line announcement Instagram post, November 2019
Figure 44: @avokween product launch Instagram post, January 2020
Parents are ready to purchase
Figure 45: Influencer and social media purchase behaviors, by parental status, December 2019
Inspirational categories lead to purchases
Figure 46: Influencer and social media purchase behaviors, by type of category followed, December 2019
Experts, reality stars cover both ends of purchasing spectrum
Figure 47: Influencer and social media purchase behaviors, by type of personality followed, December 2019
TRUST AND CONNECTION TO INFLUENCERS
More followers trust influencers
Figure 48: Trust and connection to influencers, 2019 vs 2020
Content creator platforms impact trust and connection
Figure 49: Trust and connection to influencers, by daily users of social media platforms, December 2019
One third of followers consider themselves to be influencers
Large share of self-described influencers encourages content creation
Young men drive self-identification as influencers
Figure 50: Self-identifying as influencers, by gender and age, December 2019
Reality TV star followers more likely to trust
Figure 51: Trust and connection to influencers, all vs reality TV personality followers, December 2019
ATTITUDES TOWARD INFLUENCERS
Followers want influencers to branch out
Figure 52: Influencers and extending influence across platforms, December 2019
Influencers should take a stand
Figure 53: Taking a stand and oversharing information, December 2019
INFLUENCER FOLLOWER SEGMENTATION
Factors
Figure 54: Influencer follower segmentation, December 2019
Comfortable Connectors (39%)
Demographics
Characteristics
Opportunities
Figure 55: Consumer segmentation – Comfortable Connectors, by demographics, December 2019
Social Skeptics (32%)
Demographics
Characteristics
Opportunities
Figure 56: Consumer segmentation – Social Skeptics, by demographics, December 2019
Faithful Followers (29%)
Demographics
Characteristics
Opportunities
Figure 57: Consumer segmentation – Faithful Followers, by demographics, December 2019
APPENDIX – DATA SOURCES AND ABBREVIATIONS
Data sources
Sales data
Consumer survey data
Abbreviations and terms
Abbreviations
Terms
APPENDIX – TURF ANALYSIS  
Methodology
Figure 58: TURF analysis – influencer attributes, December 2019