According to research firm L2, presented by Cara Salpini, influencers are widespread throughout many retail sectors, and 70% of brands across industries are working with influencers through Instagram partnerships. Within the retail industry, the popularity of influencers varies by sector.

Leading the industry are luxury brands, according to the study, 91% of whom reported using Instagram influencers, followed by

• Activewear (84%)
• Beauty (83%) brands.

On the low side of the spectrum are consumer electronics brands, 61% of whom use Instagram influencers, followed by

• Food and beverages (45%)
• Personal care (38%)
• Home care (16%)

The study found that advocate influencers drive the strongest relationships with shoppers, with an 8% rate of engagement, followed by micro-influencers (4%) and celebrities (1.6%)

As retailers look for ways to market to an increasingly social-driven market, putting influencers at the heart of the marketing strategy is a rising trend.  When comparing content posted by brands versus by influencers, the study found that influencers increased the engagement on image content posts by 17% compared to non-influencer posts, says the report. A similar result was discovered with video content, although that format was less popular all-around.

The report says that data show influencer accounts racked up much more engagement. According to the study, Zoella, an influencer for NYX Cosmetics, has 11.2 million followers and an interaction rate of 3.4%, compared to NYX’s 11.6 million followers and interaction rate of just 0.44%.

90% of brands say they don’t feature influencer content on their own accounts — something the report says can “greatly broaden the reach of influencer content with virtually no additional effort.Brands that saw the highest engagement rates on their own social media accounts all had strong influencer strategies, indicating that influencers may have a halo effect on brand account engagement as well,” the report states.

Last year, says the report, micro-influencers were incredibly popular among consumers, with research from Keller Fay revealing that 82% of consumers surveyed would follow a micro-influencer’s recommendation, Studies have suggested that micro-influencer’s aren’t worth the cost, and that retailers should invest in a variety to get the best ROI.

The L2 study report falls somewhere in the middle, says the report, recommending that marketers use bigger influencers like celebrities for “product launches and tentpole campaigns, while touting the ability of micro-influencers to “increase brand awareness and engagement with new consumers.”

Not only does Gen Z want more brand interaction with authentic and socially-responsible retailers, but their purchasing decisions are also heavily influenced by mobile platforms, says the report. The generation converts twice as much on mobile as any other generation and multiple studies have shown how influential social media is to the group: 80% of Gen Z and 74% of millennials are influenced by social media while shopping and Gen Z is twice as influenced by social media as by deals.

And, the report shows how influential Instagram as a platform is: 72% of Instagram users report making purchase decisions based on something that they saw on the site. With the power and reach that social in itself provides, influencers could become increasingly ubiquitous in the future, concludes the report.

Article written by: Jack Loechner