ad: Annual 2024 Now Open For Entries!
*

Influencer marketing and programmatic: A marriage of convenience

Published by

In the media world, not a week goes by without an article or discussion on the waning appeal of traditional media and the consequent flow of ad money to digital. But let’s set that aside for a minute because the bigger battle right now is between digital channels. More specifically, it involves programmatic display advertising and influencer marketing.

Marketers have finite budgets, and the question is whether to allocate precious digital ad pennies to programmatic advertising, or to influencer marketing? At first glance, the need to distinguish between online channels may seem trivial, yet the reality of the bang you get for your buck is stark. The answer lies, perhaps, in a marriage between the two.

In part, this is because the influencer marketing landscape has undergone huge change since it first came to prominence in 2014. But we think it has much more room to grow, with the industry on track to become a $10b industry by 2020.

The benefits of KOL marketing

The influencer marketing business has come a long way. From just gifting products, to brands paying influencers to post, to always-on influencer programmes; the industry has evolved significantly. Today, influencers create multiple images for a brand to sophisticated briefs that include editorial and video as well as photos.

Display advertising, on the other hand, aims to put relevant content in front of its target audience on the websites they visit. In theory, this should be effective. The problem is the content tends to be developed by marketing teams or ad agencies far removed from the intended audience. What is more, the sheer volume of display advertising means consumers are now much more savvy at cutting through the noise—and simply ignoring display ads. The outcome is that the clickthrough rate is extremely low. The average CTR across all display ad formats is just 0.05 percent. Making matters worse is the chronic and costly issue of ad fraud.

In contrast, influencer marketing engagement is substantially higher. Away from ad blockers, with content designed specifically for audiences by the people who actually use your product or service and promoted by people whose opinion they trust, engagement rates for influencer marketing sit at an average of 2.5 percent.

Bringing programmatic and influencer marketing together

All of this technically tips the balance in favour of influencer marketing. However, the battle between these digital channels will be seen less as a winner-takes-all, and more merge and integrate. This is because display advertising is a ubiquitous part of the digital advertising ecosystem, particularly during this gay and age when consumers are more receptive to ads and less protective of their data.

Incorporating influencer marketing assets into programmatic advertising benefits both channels—giving automated ads a creativity boost, while influencers’ posts reach beyond their own blog or social channel—resulting in much higher engagement and CTR. Indeed, recent data from Facebook shows that the fastest growing advertisers on the platform use more than 10 creative assets per campaign, leading to a five-fold boost in results.

The blending of the two emerged in the US in 2016 as agencies teamed up with ad buying platforms such as Google’s DoubleClick to offer influencer marketing contracts. Since then, the UK has seen countless brands engaging in such partnerships. We are witnessing influencers’ assets being repurposed into paid Advertising, eDM and—even—display advertising efforts.

The brands that already use influencer marketing are reaping the rewards. Take the Swedish watch brand Daniel Wellington. The company went from a standing start in 2011 to $220 million in revenue by 2015 in large part thanks to intelligently leveraging the power of Instagram and the judicious use of influencers. From a social-only presence, the brand now has retail stores across the world. As we look forward, we see this sector maturing as a serious advertising force and one that will transform programmatic display in brands’ minds. The social-media guidelines issued by advertising standards authorities in the UK (on disclosures of commercial relationships, for example) demonstrate what a potent force it is. Regulation can only help boost legitimate influencers, and bring increased credibility and transparency to the industry.

As such, influencer marketing will become even more sophisticated, with corporates using this new workforce to outsource creativity, develop assets and help define a company’s social presence and strategy. In this competitive digital environment, influencer marketing combined with programmatic will help brands come out on top.

Comments

More Inspiration

*

Inspiration

Rebranding "God's waiting room" #BehindTheBrand

Hallmark Luxury Care Homes, the family-owned group of 22 care homes in England and Wales, relaunches with an all-new brand positioning and identity created by The Corner London. The work sees a complete overhaul of Hallmark’s brand strategy,...

Posted by: Creativepool Editorial
*

Inspiration

#MemberSpotlight on freelance writer and director Katerina Sfaellou

How did you get into the industry? I started on the corporate side of things many years ago, working on events and marketing activation campaigns. But I always wanted to be hands-on and combine my communications degree with the more creative side of...

Posted by: Creativepool Editorial
*

Inspiration

Phillips #ShareTheCare for mums across the world #BehindTheIdea

Philips Avent, in collaboration with LePub, is launching an empowering new campaign called #ShareTheCare. This initiative aims to address the challenges faced by moms and put a spotlight on the importance of their well-being and self-care. To raise...

Posted by: Creativepool Editorial
ad: Annual 2024 Now Open For Entries!