Brand ambassadors are most important for influencer marketing

With the news that social influencers being a big hit with hard-to-reach men online, recent research suggests that brand ambassadors and ongoing relationships with brand ambassadors are the most effective forms of influencer marketing.

The study was conducted online with 1,753 influencers and 102 marketers, by Tapinfluence and Altmeter and investigated marketers impressions of influencer marketing and discussed how they are using it.

Ongoing ambassadorships and product reviews are the most effective forms of influencer marketing, as ranked by marketers. Only Less than 11% believe affiliate marketing links are effective, whilst many marketers are also using brand ambassadors for mentions of event coverage, relationships are crucial to the long term success of this form of marketing.

The study also found that only 50% think sponsored content is the most effective form of influencer marketing, yet almost 82% use sponsored content, whilst 52.5% use brand ambassadors. This suggests there is a disconnect between that is perceived as being effective and what marketers actually do. There could be many reasons for this, perhaps content marketing has previously proved it's value and brand ambassadorships are more risky, or more expensive. Maybe ROI has been harder to prove?

• Source: Tapinfluence: The Influencer Marketing Manifesto By Brian Solis
• Sample: Online questionnaire between February 26, 2016 and April 29, 2016. 1,753 influencers and 102 marketers responded.
• Recommended resource: Influencer Outreach Guide

Contributer : Smart Insights