Fullscreen & Shareablee Report: Online Influence Isn’t What It Seems

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fullscreen, a global leader in social-first entertainment and branded content, in partnership with leading social analytics firm Shareablee, announced new research today that takes a deeper dive into what types of influencers – based on follower size – make the most impact. Diving in deeper than previous research on microinfluencers, the Fullscreen “Influence by the Numbers” report analyzed a selection of 31,000 influencers from a pool of over half a million with followings of all sizes including Celebrities (20M+ followers); Digital Creators – encompassing Digital Trailblazers (1M-19.9M followers) and Digital Emerging Voices & Rising Stars (250K – 999K), and Microinfluencers (less than 250K followers), to understand their content strategies and resulting fan engagement behavior across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Additionally Fullscreen and Shareablee surveyed 1,200 Millennial and Gen Z fans ages 18-34 to determine perceptions and attitudes, such as trust and purchase intent, toward these influencer segments and the brands that align with them.

The research showed that Digital Creators (Digital Trailblazers – 0.66% & Digital Emergers & Risers – 0.60%) outperformed the engagement rate of Celebrities (0.40%) and Microinfluencers (0.35%) – who have often been mistakenly associated with better engagement performance and perceived higher influence. Additionally per the survey, more than one-third (38%) of those engaging with influencers trust what an influencer says about the brand more so than what the brand says about itself, with Digital Trailblazers having the highest level of trust among the influencer segments at 45 percent. Respondents were also more likely to trust Digital Creators than Celebrities about their brand perceptions.

“We noticed studies that came out about Microinfluencers were limited in a variety of ways, and we owed it to brands to take a closer look at this trend that exploded early last year,” said Maureen Polo, SVP at Fullscreen. “This report analyzes what types of content influencers post and where, and explores how the impact of content and platform varies across each creator segment to help brands recognize how their collaborations with influencers resonate.”

“With so much positive momentum around the Influencer space, it was the right time to more formally verify the impact to brands of working with different types of Influencers, so faster decisions can be made with confidence,” said Tania Yuki, CEO at Shareablee. “We believe this is a critical first step to creating an Influencer playbook, and to removing the confusion about the relative value of Macroinfluencers and Microinfluencers when it comes to purchase consideration, levels of trust and other key metrics.”

Additional findings from the report include:

Content Strategy: Varies as much as the Platform

• With a low barrier to entry and text-heavy focus, Twitter is the most widely used platform by all Influencers (comprising between 45% to 58% of total social posts). Nearly three-quarters (70%) of posts by influencers on Twitter include a link while less than 5% include a video.
• Video creativity presents a higher barrier to entry; Digital Creators have the highest percentage of their total social posts being posted to YouTube (8% for Digital Trailblazers and 3% for Digital Emergers & Risers vs. 1% for Celebrities and <1% for Micros).
• 37% of Digital Emergers and Risers’ and 36% of Digital Trailblazers’ posts on Facebook include a video, which is a higher percentage than for Micros (20%) or Celebrities (19%).
• 23% of Celebrities’ posts on Instagram include videos, which is a higher percentage than Digital Trailblazers (11%), Digital Emergers and Risers (6%), and Micros (5%).
• Co-branded influencer posts were most prevalent on Instagram (5.3%), followed by Twitter (3.4%) then Facebook (2%). Across all social platforms, Microinfluencers were the segment with the highest levels of branded posting.

Trust: Key to Every Good Relationship

More than one-third (37%) of individuals engaging with influencer posts say that when an influencer mentions a brand, their trust in the brand increases. Trust in different types of influencers varied according to how knowledgeable and honest fans perceive them to be:

• Gen Z and young millennials trust digital content from influencers more so than from brands themselves, even if the content is about a brand’s product, trusting influencers over brands (44.3%) at a higher rate than older millennials (35.7%).
• Digital Trailblazers have created the overall highest level of trust (45%) amongst their fans, exceeding that of Microinfluencers (42%), Digital Emergers & Risers (34%), and Celebrities (29%).
• Nearly one-third of respondents trust Digital Trailblazers (32.4%) because they seem like they could be their friend; much higher than Celebrities (19%) and Microinfluencers (24.3%), according to their respective fans.

Transparency & Influencer Motivation

When broken down by types of influencers, both Gen Z and Millennials believe Digital Creators have the most altruistic intentions with their content creation, with over half (53%) believing they are creating content to provide interesting and useful content to fans and for self-expression.

• Young adults 18-24 are also far more likely than adults 25-34 to say that Digital Creators are making content to be useful or for creativity (58%).
• Microinfluencers are perceived as creating digital content mostly to earn money (83%) and for self-promotion (71%), and adults 25-34 perceived all influencers to be doing the same (68%), in contrast to the perceptions of the younger 18-24 segment.

Buying Behaviors

Almost half (42%) of 18-34 report trying a product recommended by an influencer, and more than one-quarter (26%) say they have actually made a purchase based on a recommendation.

• Celebrity engagers were the least likely to try something recommended by the influencer (36.2%) or to purchase the item (20%).
• Microinfluencer engagers were the most likely to try something recommended (45%); however, Digital Trailblazer engagers were the most likely to make a purchase (30%), followed closely behind by Digital Emergers & Risers (28%).
• Adults 18-24 were also far more likely to make a purchase based on an influencer recommendation (48%) compared to adults 25-34 (26%).

About Fullscreen

Fullscreen is a global leader in social-first entertainment experiences serving creators, brands and consumers. As a leader in branded content and social marketing services, Fullscreen partners with major brands seeking to engage valuable, elusive youth audiences on social platforms through original entertainment, influencer marketing, multi-platform social content and targeted media through the Fullscreen Video Network. Serving a broad range of clients from offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, Fullscreen’s rapidly growing brand marketing teams are defining the future of social-first, content-driven marketing.

About Shareablee

Shareablee is the leader in audience-based social media measurement for media publishers, agencies and brands that want to understand the impact and effectiveness of their cross-platform social media campaigns. Founded in 2013 by Tania Yuki, and based in New York City, Shareablee has grown to over 60 employees in the U.S., EMEA and APAC, with clients in 15 countries. Shareablee has partnerships with comScore, Microsoft and Bloomberg, and is a Facebook Media Solutions partner.