Nano influencers overtake micro and macro in NZ

Independent influencer marketing agency The Social Club has released a whitepaper on influencer trends in New Zealand including industry averages, growth and best practices. The agency gathered data from more than 3,000 of its campaigns and ran surveys with agencies, brands and influencers in the market. Here are a few key findings.

Nano influencers lead the way

Nano influencers (1k-5k followers) make up the majority of influencers at 43%, followed by micro influencers (5k-15k followers) at 30%. This indicates that the industry is growing and more creators are investing in their personal brands. Overall, this has led to the influencer community doubling between 2018 and 2019.

A large proportion of brands plan to increase influencer budgets

Some 49% of brands are looking to increase their budgets this year while another 24% are happy with their performance and intend to keep their influencer spend consistent.

In 2018, the average campaign spend grew from $6,600 (US$4,216) to $11,700 (US$7,473) which means a 77% growth in average campaign size across full service, social sampling and influencer generated content campaigns. Based on current trends, the average campaign spend in New Zealand is predicted to exceed $20,000 (US$12,774) in 2020.

Brands want long-term relationships with influencers

More than half of brands want to work with influencers long-term to increase the depth and trust with their audiences. Influencer content repurposing has been growing over the last year with 45% of brands looking to include content licensing to their mix.

Instagram is still the most popular influencer marketing platform while Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat have been great at advanced targeting and low-cost solutions. New platforms such as TikTok and Vero are also appearing on the scene.

Brand awareness the main motivator

The stats above are not surprising and point to global trends. From the brands surveyed, over half said that influencer marketing was “very effective” for their brand and more than 80% of brands agreed that it was “effective” or greater.

However, the biggest challenge for brands include finding and approving influencers reporting and analysing results, internal time and capacity to manage influencer content, managing contracts, deadlines, and content approvals, as well as convincing teams or clients of the value of influencer marketing.

Instagram Stories is one to watch

Since March 2018, the usage of Instagram Stories has grown by 21% and more brands are utilising the flexibility of it. The report cites that the Stories function allows them to boost brand visibility at a low cost without spamming their audience. On the influencer side, Stories are a good outlet to share products or services without having to risk the integrity of their news feed.

In New Zealand, Instagram user demographic is made up of 57.2% females and 42.8% males with the majority of users aged between 25 to 34.