Uncovering the Influencer Perspective: Survey Reveals Best Practices

Influencer marketing is booming, no question. Brand partnerships and sponsored content are essential to the new era of advertising. By connecting authentic content creators with niche, trusting audiences, marketers can cultivate effective pathways from awareness to purchase.

Currently, the focus is on the marketer, who selects the right influencer, effectively manages campaigns, and optimizes content to ensure visibility. This approach, however, often neglects or overlooks the influencer perspective. Our recent survey of more than 200 influencers seeks to remedy this oversight.

Division-D set out to uncover the influencer perspective with a thorough survey. After sending the survey to 200 creator partners—ranging from micro (a following between 10,000 and 49,000) to mid-tier (a following between 50,000 and 200,000) creators—Division-D found valuable insights we’d like to share.

In sum, recognizing familiar strategies and areas of improvement when working with influencers will strengthen brand and influencer partnerships, lifting campaign results.

What did we ask, learn, and what lessons can marketers apply from our results? 

We wanted to find out what type of content brands and advertisers request, the ideal number of posts, and common tactics for multi-platform campaigns.

Type of Posts: Instagram Reels led as the most requested type of influencer content, followed closely by Instagram In-feed posts and TikTok videos. Marketers should consider requesting video content when working with creators.

Number of Posts: 72% of the creators recommended two posts/stories or more to share for a single brand campaign to ensure messaging reaches and resonates with audiences, driving awareness and consideration.  Marketers should collaborate with influencers to provide necessary support and allow them to match their desired cadence.

Multi-Platform Campaigns: Brands frequently run multi-platform influencer marketing campaigns. Cross-posting the same content across multiple social platforms occurred over 50% of the time for most of our creator partners. This strategy expands the reach of the content and drives value for the investment.  Less frequently but still prevalent, creators get requests for unique content for multiple social platforms. This ensures messaging is tailored to each platform and unique audience.  Whether your brand selects cross-posted or unique content, keeping multi-platform strategies in mind when planning is crucial.

What are other best practices marketers can apply?  

You get what you pay for: Adequate pay drives content quality. The pay rate for influencers varies, but conversations about time, labor, and compensation are important aspects of the brand/creator partnership.

Allow for creativity: Authentic content happens with creative freedom. A thorough brief is critical to ensure brand messaging, theme, tone, and expectations are set, but brands should allow plenty of room for creative expression.

Leverage the influencers’ experience: Creators know their audience; lean on their knowledge of what performs best. They have a following for a reason (which drives the value of the collaboration).

Recognizing the relational balance between influencer and brand is essential to build a mutually beneficial partnership. It starts with open conversations about expectations and ends in strategically crafted campaigns with measurable results.

You can download the Influencer Perspective Survey here or contact advertisers@divisiond.com.