Influencer campaigns lack memorability and impact, new study shows

According to new research from UK PR firm MHP Mischief, almost two-thirds of marketers dedicate 10 per cent or more of their budget to influencer marketing, with 89 per cent planning to increase this spend in 2022.

This comes amid concerns surrounding the effectiveness of influencer marketing, as 30 per cent of audiences surveyed scroll past when they see branded content, and 53 per cent cannot recall a brand’s name after seeing it in a post.

MHP Mischief’s study found that just 41 per cent of consumers click on brand links posted by influencers, and only a third will save branded collaboration posts to come back to later.

Lucy Hart, head of strategy and insight at Mischief, said: “In the era of the ‘attention rebellion’, when audiences are bombarded by content, brands face a double challenge – work being created is not memorable, and measurement of its impact is weak.”

In response to this data, MHP Mischief has launched two new tools, the first being an Influencer Attention Levers planning model to help organisations creatively and strategically plan more impactful content.

Additionally, a Return on Influence framework will help the agency’s measurement capabilities, benchmarking consumer perceptions, reactions and behaviours against six KPIs pre, during and post campaign.

MHP Mischief hopes to use these developments to deliver successful influencer campaigns for clients such as Lego, Just Eat and Unilever.

Richard Bagnall, co-managing partner of global media intelligence specialist CARMA International and chair of AMEC, which supports the new framework, said: “Marketers are keen to invest in influencer content, but recognise that measurement is crucial if their brand is to secure a return on influence.”

According to the study, most marketers perceive a successful brand influencer campaign to be one that delivers high reach and drives high traffic to the brand’s social media accounts or website.

The top barriers within this area were identified as hesitation around fake followers and difficulty in identifying influencers and checking their reach.