Influencer marketing may seem like just a trend or hype in the digital realm, but there’s no denying the data. 42% of businesses make at least half of their regular operational decisions based off data, and that number is only looking to increase exponentially as DTC brands take hold parallel to e-commerce revenue projections nearly tripling in 2021. With an anticipated 265% growth rate, by 2021, it will account for 17.5% of the total global retail sales.
Thus, the push for innovative digital marketing methods is tantamount to brands making key breakthroughs in their industries. Look no further than our DTC Q3 Marketing Report for proof that influencer marketing is now a vital element to a brand’s success in driving online traffic.
However, if you also want some independent stats to convince you that brand partnerships and sponsored content are well worth your investment, we’ve put together some other folk’s detailed research ;)
Well, simply put, it’s hard.
As much as 25% of businesses either lose money or just break even.
The main concerns of marketers amidst social media crackdown on fake accounts, is 1) discovering the right channels and 2) avoiding fake influencer accounts. 61% of marketers who are doing influencer marketing and even going as far as to say they’re doing is successfully are still struggling to identify the best brand partners to connect with their target audiences.
Furthermore, measuring ROI poses an entirely new challenge once you’ve booked your creators and gotten the content published. The idea that branded content is meant to ONLY build brand awareness is pure myth - 64% of marketers are looking for direct sales from brand partnerships nowadays.
Truthfully, running a successful sponsored content campaign and being able to measure and scale your successes with future brand partnerships requires a massive amount of data. If you’re a new brand, you don’t have ANY of the historical data that other brands have from testing massive budgets across huge cohorts of creators - what do you do?
Let's chat - we have the data you need.
Recall that around 64% of marketers ALREADY doing sponsorships intend to increase budgets in 2020 - reading between the lines, this means that brands who have tested this type of marketing are seeing ROI and are planning to scale, showing a level of confidence in the future of their brand partnerships in driving brand awareness, new audiences, and direct sales.
Sponsorship has been around since 330 BCE, with rich Roman elites voluntarily sponsoring the gladiator games and other sporting events to garner public affection and enhance their reputation. In fact, most of the artwork and research of the Renaissance was sponsored by private families, banks, or academic bodies. The Medici family, one of the greatest and most famous patrons in history, may be one of the first examples of the use of sponsorship as a way to increase and reinforce the family’s (and their bank’s) strength in Italy and in Europe.
Fast forward to the “Madmen” era of marketing that most of us modern marketers are familiar with, the TV unleashed a new world of opportunity for all industries. At first, it was a “handshake” agreement: these commercial relationships kept television and radio organizations alive in exchange for their special degree of access to the consumer population. TVs and radios were truly household treasures, and brands sought to become household names through sponsoring radio and TV programs. In exchange for funds to put on the program, the sponsors often had their names featured in the titles of the shows: some people might still remember "The Maxwell House Showboat" or "The Eveready Hour."
In the late 1980s through the 1990s, corporate sponsorships exploded. For example, in the late 1980s, college bowl games lost their traditional names in favor of their sponsors: the Fiesta Bowl became the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl, the Orange Bowl became the FedEx Orange Bowl, and so on. Sports' stadium naming rights followed suit . For example, Boston’s most famous “garden” got a face lift and a new name: on March 3, 2005, Maine-based TD Banknorth, a U.S. subsidiary of Toronto-Dominion Bank, announced its purchase of the naming rights for $6 million per year (shoutout to Boston, the Bruins and the Celtics!).
Corporate sponsorships also became more integral for nonprofit organizations. You’re familiar with this type of sponsorship if your company has ever organized a run or a drive on behalf of the Red Cross or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Sponsorship is not new - although it’s changed to being all about the brand awareness to not only that but also driving immediate, direct sales and reaching all sorts of traditionally inaccessible audiences. It’s actually been studied for its effectiveness on a psychosocial level. We’ve picked through the studies to provide you the important bits below.
What does this mean? Influencers are doing a good job at integrating promotional and marketing materials from their brand sponsor into the content of their videos.
What does this mean? YouTube audiences are evenly split on their likelihood to trust or distrust a sponsored YouTube channel or video.
What does this mean? Brands, whether centuries old or still in their infancy, are able to use branded content to increase audience engagement and brand awareness. Now, many D2C brands are funneling most of their marketing budget into branded content efforts, showing that “micro-influencers” have always been an important element of any company’s marketing strategies, and that YouTube and podcast have brought it into the digital era.
What does this mean? Podcasts have a more engaged audience, generally speaking. YouTube’s visual format just makes it slightly easier for consumers to click-thru to the advertisement landing page. Many people have called for a podcast aggregator, essentially a platform built like YouTube but for podcasts. They’ve suggested a centralized database could allow for more visual content relating to podcasts to help facilitate more click-thrus, but this centralization would run the risk of ostracizing popular indie podcasters.
We’ve written out all the steps you’ll need to take next, or you can contact us for a free consultation and industry analysis for your brand and budget! Request a meeting here.
Step 1:
Success = Repetition, Repetition = Success
Our rundown of the data platforms available today
Step 2:
Step 3:
How to create the perfect sponsorship video for your brand partnerships
Podcast Marketing 101: Everything you were afraid to ask but wanted to know
Step 4:
Measuring Success: How to tell if it’s working