Influencer ROI Remains Top Challenge for 2018, While Video to See “All Time High”

Measuring the performance of influencer campaigns continues to be a challenge for marketers, Canada-based influencer platform Influicity predicts in its latest forecast report.

The finding comes following a separate survey of 181 marketers from content marketing platform Linqia, which found 76% of marketers believed determining ROI (Return on Investment) of influencer campaigns was their number one challenge going into 2018.

Zackary Cantor, director of decision sciences at GlobalWide Media said in order for marketers to best utilise influencer marketing, they must require better understanding on their brands and how “they are connected to key targets” with the more data analysed, the better the ROI.

Despite difficulties in measuring return, Influicity highlights a number of influencer marketing trends which are set to take off this year.

Video takeover

The report sheds light on a dramatic shift towards video with consumption projected to reach 80% of global online traffic by 2020. In addition, 51% of marketers said that video content garners the best return when measuring campaigns.

Also highlighted was that 86% of marketers are currently using video content in their campaigns as video is 95% more likely to retain relative information. This follows as social influencers usage of video is expected to reach an “all time high” over the next 12 months.

Other key trends identified by Influencity include influencers forming their own branded products which compliment their online personality and niche.

Furthermore, more shopping content features on social media platforms will allow consumers to purchase products directly from influencers, with Pinterest making this available to users last year.

Influicity also predicts increased usage of ephemeral content features on social channels including Instagram and Snapchat while image recognition software and social chatbots will deliver more immersive experiences for users.

Lastly, 39% of marketers are set to increase their budgets on influencer campaigns to between $25,000 and $50,000.