Intelligence In Influence - CARAT Global

Intelligence In Influence A New Approach

Carat thinks

The knowledge

For over a decade the age of deference has been over. Instead, people are putting their faith in each other.

In the first bespoke study of its kind, our analysis helps us understand whether, why and how influencers drive brand impact and what kind of impact.

Peer recommendations and ratings drive the digital economy - according to McKinsey, marketing-inspired word-of-mouth can generate more than twice the sales of paid advertising, and those customers have a 37% higher retention rate. It’s in this context that influencer marketing has emerged, as marketers seek to align their brands with those we regard as “people like me”.

Data from a global, large scale proprietary Based on interviews with 12,000 people in the US and UK aged 13 -34, over 500 videos were tested across over 20 categories, delivering new insights across the full range of influencer content formats and brand integrations. Three major insights emerged.

panel capturing lifestyle data including motivations, passion points, media consumption, social demographics and product usage. The panel is integrated into the platform and connected to Person & Device ID’s at an individual

But when it comes to strategy, our approach to influencer marketing has often had to rely on a combination of reach and gut feel. Even Malcolm Gladwell’s attempt at a model misses the point: “Influence = Audience Reach (# of followers) x Brand Affinity (expertise and credibility) x Strength of Relationship with Followers”

Who

At the heart of the issue is the fact that, to date, nobody has answered the deceptively simple question “who influences who to do what exactly?”

To do what exactly

In partnership with Google and Nielsen, we set out to identify a more intelligent approach and critically, to help marketers establish a clearer link between decisions around influencer marketing and business outcomes.

What is M1 panel?

level with sophisticated models.

Profile of YouTube contributors

Influences who Profile of their followers we can identify within our M1 panel data across different client audiences

Measure impact along the consumer journey to understand whether Influencers can drive key stages from awareness through to purchase

What is M1 panel?

Intelligence in influence / 02

When it comes to pure recall, celebrities still have the edge. But the data shows that influencers have significantly more impact on brand familiarity (where the effect can be as much as 50% higher), advocacy and driving brand interactions. Importantly, it appears that these effects can vary widely between category.

INFLUENCER

19%

21%

20%

16%

15%

25%

17%

73%

84%

Many a headline-writer has announced influencers as the new, global superstars. But influencer marketing should not be confused with celebrity endorsement. They play different roles.

CELEBRITY

16%

1. Celebrities drive recall, influencers build understanding

AWARENESS

BRAND

BRAND

BRAND

BRAND

(RECALL)

FAMILIARITY

AFFINITY

PURCHASE

ADVOCACY

Pre vs. post brand lift metrics % increase on each brand metric before and after seeing video with a creator

Source: YouTube Carat Influencer research 2017, n=12,000, US and UK


2. Beyond intuition – how influencers work Deciding on an influencer partnership can often come down to gut-feel or a perceived ‘affinity’ with the target audience. But across audiences, categories and attributes, our preconceptions about influencers are not always borne out in the data and there is significant scope for marketers to apply a more informed, intelligent approach.

Audiences

Categories

Attributes

Don’t assume that influencers are all about millennial audiences. Our study uncovered a positive response to influencers among older audiences too, though it was by no means universal.

The impact of influencer marketing is well accepted in, for example, the beauty and gaming sectors. However, our research showed that app, toys, and movie & TV can also benefit, with brand lift and brand recall significantly improved across these sectors.

Influencers who are perceived as Funny, Successful and having Social Media Savvy tended to perform equally strong across all demographics – regardless of gender or age. But all influencers are definitely not the same. Critically, certain influencer attributes are highly predictive of specific brand KPIs:

Which attributes are significant predictors of each KPI?

BRAND

BRAND

PURCHASE

BRAND

FAMILIARITY

AFFINITY

INTENT

ADVOCACY

IRREVERENCE*

INFLUENTIAL*

WHOLESOME**

INFLUENTIAL*

SUCCESS

SUCCESS

SUCCESS

(Large existing fan base)



Source: YouTube Carat Influencer research 2017, n=12,000, US and UK, Modelling by Nielsen: **Most significant: 99%, *Also significant: 95%


3. It’s not just the ‘who’ it’s the ‘how’

PERCENTAGE INCREASE AFTER SEEING CONTENT

It’s not just the choice of influencer type that will impact different brand goals, the choice of content and format also matters, with three types of content consistently working best – and effectiveness being particularly marked in specific categories:

Where content is unique, exclusive to the brand and fully integrated with influencer content e.g. Slow Mo Guys getting overalls dirty in slow motion and using Tide to clean them. Best for Gaming, Movies & TV

Advertiser content: Where content is created by a brand, featuring an influencer e.g. Priceless Surprises content with Justin Timberlake on MasterCard channel. Best for Alcohol and Toys

22%

20%

25%

16%

21%

19%

-4%

16%

21%

-2%

BRAND INTEGRATION

Brand integration: Where content may include other brands e.g. Toy influencer doing a doll review and including the new Barbie. Best for Apps.

17%

INTEGRATION

CONTENT TYPE

Custom integration:

26% CUSTOM

ADVERTISER CONTENT BRAND

BRAND

BRAND

BRAND

FAMILIARITY

AFFINITY

PURCHASE

RECOMMENDATION

GOAL


Two peas in a pod? Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay – both renowned chefs. Both with large followings on YT: Jamie 2.4m, Gordon 2m. Imagine you’re an olive oil brand. What’s the difference? Look under the bonnet and we find that Jamie’s followers want to cook his food. Gordon is followed by the same people, but for entertainment, not recipes. Jamie’s clocked up 37m book sales, Gordon’s sold just 3m. According to follower numbers and profile, these two chefs look the same. But their impact on a brand will be very different.


What we now know Our research provides a more intelligent, strategic framework for marketers to apply to their influencer marketing approach. So what are the key learnings?

Start with Real People. Who do you want to Influence and why? Influence is a means to delivering results, rather than an end to itself.

Think beyond the clichés – Influencer marketing is often discussed in reference to teens and millennials but our work showed that it’s equally powerful for other audiences (so long as you’re clear on what you’re trying to do!)

Judge numbers on action (what people do) rather than exposure (how many people you can reach).

Don’t confuse Celebrities and Influencers – they have different strengths. Celebrities are great for driving recall (good for an awareness campaign) whereas Influencers are better for brand engagement (e.g. when you’re trying to build understanding).

Test what works for your category and brand goal. Our work found that successful content and format varied considerably by sector.


What makes this study unique?

The first bespoke study* of this kind MEDIA LAB DATA: What works well and why?

N-SCORE DATA: Who works well and why?

STRUCTURE:

STRUCTURE:

• 50 videos across 20+ categories

• 100+ influencers assessed across US/UK

• N=12,000 x 13-34 yr olds across US/UK

• N=6000+ respondents asked to rate Influencers across different attributes, e.g.

Likeability, Looks, Style, Humour, etc.

• Brand metrics, pre + post, e.g. Brand Purchase before and after seeing video

Modelled key attributes and how much they drive Brand Purchase, Affinity, etc.

DEPTH

• All Influencer content types, e.g. fully integrated vs. product mentions

BREADTH QUESTIONS WE CAN ANSWER:

QUESTIONS WE CAN ANSWER:

• Which categories see the biggest brand lifts?

• Which Talent attributes drive Influence? • Which Influencers work best by Segments?

• Which Brand Metrics are impacted most? • Does this differ by Target audience?

Followed up with extensive and various regression modelling run by Nielsen to determine which variables are the best predictors for influence. Two types of models used: stepwise regression and logistic regression

*Research conducted independently by Nielsen using a number of proprietary methods as well as extensive follow up modelling techniques and analysis


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