Technorati 2013 Digital Influence Report

ContentsI. Introduction.........................................................3II. ExecutiveSummary..............................................4-5III. BrandDigitalMessaging:GoingSocial.................6-11IV. ConsumerBehavior..............................................12-18V. CreatingInfluence................................................19-24VI. Influencers&Revenue.........................................25-28VII. Influencers&Brands............................................29-32VIII. Influencers&Brands:Evolution...........................33IX. Conclusion............................................................34

comScore, December 2012

Foundedoveradecadeago,TechnoratiMediahasgrownintooneofthelargestsocialmediaadnetworksbringingtopbrandsandvaluable influencerstogetheratscale.Withanadvertisingreachofapproximately130millionUSuniqueusers/month,wesitinthemiddleofanincrediblesocialmedianexusandhavelongbelievedthatourdata,relationshipsanduniqueperspectiveareimportantelementsforustoshare.

Withthisinmind,wepresenttoyouour2013DigitalInfluenceReport,whichreplacesourhistoricalStateoftheBlogosphereandexpandstheconceptofallthingssocial.Wehopeyou’llbenefitfromthevaluableinsightsculledfromsurveysthatincludedover6,000influencers,1,200consumersand150topbrandmarketers.

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I. Introduction

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II. Executive SummarySixtypercentofbrandmarketerspredictanaverageincreaseof40percentinsocialspendfor2013.Currently,thebulkofbrands’over-alldigitalspendgoestodisplayadvertising,searchandvideo,withspendingonsocial,includinginfluenceroutreach,makinguponly10percentoftheirtotaldigitalspend.Withintheirsocialbudget,morethanhalfgoestoFacebook,followedbyYouTubeandTwitter,withtheremaining11percentoftheirsocialspendgoingtoblogsandinfluencers.

Thoughblogsandinfluencersdon’tgetalargeportionofbrands’digi-talspend,theyrankhighwithcon-sumersfortrust,popularityandinfluence.Whenmakingoverallpurchasedecisions,forconsumers,blogstrailonlybehindretailandbrandsites.Withregardtooverall

sourcesforinformationonthein-ternet,blogsrankamongthetopfive“mosttrustworthy”sources.Asanexample,accordingtoconsum-

ers,blogsaremoreinfluen-tialinshapingopinionthanTwitter,andwhenitcomestoaffectingpurchasedeci-sions,moreimportantthanFacebook.

Inshort,wherebrandsarespendingisnotfullyalignedwithhowandwherecon-sumersareseeingvalueandbeinginfluenced.Thishasmuchtodowithanessentialhurdlefacedbymostcontent

creators:alackofmetricsandthefragmentationthatleadstotheircomplexityasapurchasablemedi-um.

Thisreportalsodetailshowdiffer-entsocialplatformsstackupagainst

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eachother.You’llseethat influencersrankedpageviewsaboveallothermetricswhenfo-cusingontheirownkeymetrics,whileGoogleAnalyticsistheleaderamongtrackingtools.Brandshaddifferenttopmetricsforidentifyingandselectinginfluencers,withcom-Score/Nielsenrankingfirst,closelyfollowedbynumberofTwitterfol-lowers,Facebookfriends,andtheinfluencer’spotentialtodrawlikes.Itisimportanttonotehere,howev-er,thatduetotheirnichesize,in-

fluencersarenotwellrepresentedincomScore/Nielsen,furtherun-derscoringthedisconnectbetweeninfluencerdesirabilityandanabilitytoeffectivelyfindthematscale.

Accordingtobrandmarketers,whenmetricsfromtheirearnedmediagoalsareranked,Facebooklikes,traffictotheirwebsite,Face-bookfans,andTwitterfollowersarethemaincontenders–areversalfrominfluencers,wheremonitor-ingtraffic/pageviewsrankedNo.1,followedbyFacebooklikes.

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II. Executive Summary (cont.)

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III. Brand Digital Messaging: Going Social

OVERAll DIGItAl SPEnD

whERE BRAnDS ARE SOcIAl

Brands’digitalmessaginghasgonesocial.Morethan90percentofbrandssurveyedfortheTechnoratiMediaDigitalInfluenceReportstatedtheyhaveapresenceonFacebook.It’snearlyashighforTwitter(85%)andYouTube(73%).Google+wasn’taspopularwithbrands,withonly26percentofbrandmanagersreportingapresenceonthatservice.

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III. Brand Digital Messaging (cont.)

DIGITAl bUDGET brEAkDOwN SOcIAl BUDGEt BREAkDOwn

Weseethatbrandsarespendingthelargestparts(nearly75percent)oftheirdigitalbudgetondisplayadvertising,searchandproducingvideo.Spendingonsocial,includ-inginfluenceroutreach,makesuponly10percentofbrands’digitalmarketingspend.

Ofthatsocialbudget,morethanhalfgoestoFacebook.YouTubeandTwittereachget13percent,whileaboutsixpercentisspentoninfluencersand5percentadvertisingonblogs.

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III. Brand Digital Messaging (cont.)

DIGItAl SPEnDInG IncREASES

DIGITAl bUDGET OUTlOOkBrandmanagersreportanexpectedincreaseinbudgetsfordigitalmarket-ingintheupcomingyear.Mobilespendisexpectedtoincreasefor79percentofbrandssurveyed,whilesocialandvideotieat59percentofbrandsexpectedtospendinthosetwoar-eas.Oftheadditionalbud-get,mostoftheincreasesaregoingtodisplayad-vertising(73%)andsearch(52%).Socialandmobilemakeupthesecondtierofexpectedincreases,eachcategorygetting37percentofbudgetincreases.Only3percentofbrandssaytheyexpecttodecreasesocialspending.

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III. Brand Digital Messaging (cont.)Morethanhalfofbrandssaytheyhaveearnedmediagoals,andthatthosegoalsfallinthecat-egoriesofFacebooklikes/fans,websitetraffic,Twitterfollowersandlandingpagevisits.Intermsofmeasuringtheircampaigns,brandsreportthatsuccessisdefinedasincreasedactivityandtrafficonFacebook,Twitterandontheirwebsites.Spendisnotnecessarilycommensuratewiththeareasinwhichtheconsum-erimpactisgreatest,however(e.g.spendingonFacebookadstrumpedspendingonblogs).

EARnED MEDIA GOAlS BREAkDOwn

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III. Brand Digital Messaging (cont.)

hOw BRAnDS MEASURE EARnED MEDIA SUccESS

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III. Brand Digital Messaging (cont.)

BRAnDS MEASURInG InFlUEncER AttRIBUtES Use neutral Don’t use

Sixty-fivepercentofbrandspartici-pateininfluencer-basedmarketingandwhenitcomestoselectingwhichinfluencerstoworkwith,brandsareusingmetricslikecom-ScoreandNielsenindices,TwitterandFacebookfollowing,andbasicblogstatistics.

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IV. consumer BehaviorWhenitcomestocommunitysize,54percentofconsumersagreethatthesmallerthecommunitythegreatertheinfluence.

“The smaller the community, the greater the influence.”

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IV. consumer Behavior (cont.)

OnlInE SERVIcES MOSt USED

Thesurveyfindingsalsoindicatethatmanyofthoseconsumersareturningtoblogswhenlookingtomakeapurchase.Blogswerefoundtobethethird-mostinfluentialdigitalresource(31%)whenmakingoverallpurchases,onlybehindretailsites(56%)andbrandsites(34%).Infact,blogswerefoundtobethefifth-mosttrustworthysourceoverallforinformationontheinternet.YouTube,FacebookandGoogle+arethemostpopularsocialpropertiesforconsumers.

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IV. consumer Behavior (cont.)

OnlInE SERVIcES MOSt tRUStED

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IV. consumer Behavior (cont.)

OnlInE SERVIcES ShARED FROM thE MOSt

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IV. consumer Behavior (cont.)

OnlInE SERVIcES MOSt lIkEly tO InFlUEncE A PURchASE

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IV. consumer Behavior (cont.)

whAt cOnSUMERS thInk ABOUt hOw OFtEn BRAnDS POSt

Withthebiginvestmentsbrandsaremakingonthesocialplatforms,consumerssaidkeepingupwithacompany’sactivitiesandlearningaboutproductsandserviceswerethetopreasonsforfollowingbrandsonFacebook,Twitter,YouTube,PinterestandInstagram.

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IV. consumer Behavior (cont.)

why cOnSUMERS FOllOw BRAnDS

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V. creating Influence

hOw MAny BlOGS

Influencersaremostactiveonblogs,as86percentsaytheyhavethemand88percentofthosesaytheyblogforthemselves.Bloggingistheprimarypublishingtool,andaboutathirdofinfluencerssaytheyhavebeenbloggingforfiveormoreyears.Mostbloggers(52%)operatetwotofiveblogs,while43percentrunjustone.Only5percentofbloggersoperatesixormoreblogs.

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V. creating Influence (cont.)

hOw InFlUEncERS POSt

whAt InFlUEncERS POSt

Theprimarymethodforbloggersistext(86%),butphotosandmicroblogging(likeTwitter)comeinat38percentand31percent,respectively.Only10percentofbloggersusevideoastheirprimarymeth-od,andlessthanthat(4%)prefersaudio.

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Whenitcametotypeofcontentpublishedthemost,editorialswereaclearleaderamonginfluencers,eithertheirownorig-inalcontent(74%)orlinkstoothers’arti-cles(38%),makingupthemajorityofbloggingcontent.

V. creating Influence (cont.)

Influencing the influencers’ content

Bloggersalsosaythatotherbloggersareveryinfluential(18%)whenitcomestochoosingtheirowncontenttopublish.

Primary publishing platforms

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V. creating Influence (cont.)

whERE InFlUEncERS ARE SOcIAl

FacebookandTwitterarethemostpopularsocialplatformsforbloggers,whicharethesameplatformsthatgeneratethemajorityofblogreferralsandshares.FacebookandTwit-terarealsothetopplatformsfromwhichbloggersaregeneratingrevenue.

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V. creating Influence (cont.)

hOw SOcIAl wORkS FOR InFlUEncERS

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V. creating Influence (cont.)

SOcIAl MEtRIcS FOllOwED By InFlUEncERS

Whenitcomestomeasuringtheirownsuccess,blog/websitepageviewsrankhighest(52%)amonginfluencers.Socialfollowing(Facebooklikes,Twitterfollowers)anduserinteractions(comments)alsoratehighamonginfluencers.Whenitcomestosizinguptheirpeers,Face-booklikesandTwitterfollowershavetheattentionofinfluencers.

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VI. Influencers & Revenue

Annual Revenue

Nearlytwo-thirdsofinfluencerssaytheymakemoneyfromblogging,butmorethan80per-centsayit’slessthan$10,000peryear.Only11percentofbloggersreportmakingmorethan$30,000peryear.

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hOw InFlUEncERS EARn REVEnUE

*Banner ads per page

VI. Influencers & Revenue (cont.)

Mostbloggers’reportedincomewasaresultofadvertising(61%banner,51%text).Affiliateprograms(41%),sponsoredcontent(24%),sponsoredproductreviews(19%)alsoweretopearningmethods.

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VI. Influencers & Revenue (cont.)whAt InFlUEncERS ARE PAID FOR

Nearlyhalfofinfluencersreporthavingbeenpaidforasponsoredpostorarticle,whileecom-merce,affiliatelinks,banners,textads,brand-sponsoredcontentandproductreviewsarealllistedamongdesiredrevenuemethodsbyinfluencers.Interstitials(full-pageadsthatappearafterauserclicksonalink,butbeforetheusergetstothecontent)androadblocksareamongrevenueopportunitiesinwhichinfluencersaretheleastwillingtoparticipate.

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VI. Influencers & Revenue (cont.)

wIllInGnESS tO RUn ADVERtISInG tActIcS

AccEPtABlE REVEnUE MEthODS On BlOGS

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VII. Influencers & Brands

whERE InFlUEncERS FOllOw BRAnDS

ManyinfluencersarefollowingbrandsonFacebook(47%)andTwitter(38%)becausetheywanttokeepupwithbrandactivitiesandtolearnaboutproductsandservices.Fewerinflu-encersarefollowingbrandsonYouTube(17%),Pinterest(11%)andInstagram(7%),butthereasonsfordoingsoare,byandlarge,thesame.

InFlUEncERS’ thOUGhtS On BRAnD POSt FREqUEncy

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VII. Influencers & Brands (cont.)why InFlUEncERS FOllOw BRAnDS

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VII. Influencers & Brands (cont.)

Basis for working with brands Source for branding opportunities

BRAnDInG REqUEStS PER wEEkAcrossallinfluencertypes,mostinfluencers(70%)onaveragereceivejustunder10opportunitiestoworkwithbrandsaweek.Oneofthetopreasonsinfluencerswouldworkwithabrandisbecausetheyhaveaccesstoanaudiencethebrandwouldwanttoreach(61%).Othertopfactorsincludeinflu-encers’affinitytothebrand(68%),thecampaigntype(61%)andthecategoryoftheproductbeingpitched(60%).InfluencerssaythatmostoftheirbrandingopportunitiescomefromthePRagenciesthathavereachedouttothem(37%).

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VII. Influencers & Brands (cont.)

PREFEREncE OF BRAnDInG InItIAtIVES

Influencersmostpreferreceivingafirstlookorreviewopportunitiesfornewproducts,featuresorreleaseswhenpresentedwithbrandingopportunitiesaswellasbeingpaidtocreatecustomcontent.Alsohighonthescaleareprizesandsamplestogiveawaytotheiraudience.

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VIII. Influencers & Brands: Evolution

what influencers say brand sources lackInfluencers’ top branding pain points

Influencersreportthatunsuccessfulbrandingopportunitiesaremostoftencausedbyirrele-vantpitchesandexpectationsontheirtime.Influencersalsoreportthatthoseopportunitiessometimesdon’trepresentarelevancytotheirblogoraudience.

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IX. conclusionAccordingtobrandmarketers, socialspendin2013willincreasesubstantially.Despitethisincrease,however,spendingonsocialmakesuponlyone-tenthofbrands’to-taldigitalbudget.Ontheflipside,blogsstillareoneofthemostinflu-entialmediums,rankinghighwithconsumersfortrust,popularityandinfluence.Thedisconnectbetweenbrandmarketersandinfluencersisaresultofachallengetheybothface–alackofuniformmetricstoeffectivelymeasurethesuccessofinfluencermarketingcampaigns.Atpresent,brandsprimarilylooktocomScore/Nielsenrankingforidentifyingandselectinginfluenc-ersfirst,yetinfluencersarenotwellrepresentedintheseindices.

Furthermore,whengaugingthesuccessofcampaigns,whereinflu-encersaremonitoringtraffic/pageviews,brandmarketersaremeasur-ingFacebooklikes.

Lookingatsocialplatforms,Face-bookandTwitterarethemostpop-ularsocialplatformsforbloggers,whicharetheplatformsthatgen-eratethemajorityofblogreferralsandshares,aswellasthosefromwhichbloggersaregeneratingrev-enue.Forconsumers,YouTube,FacebookandGoogle+arethemostpopularplatforms.Asforbrands,90percenthaveapresenceonFace-book,closelyfollowedbyTwitterandYouTube,butGoogle+wasnotaspopularaplatform.

Forquestionsonthisreportortoshareideas,contact:

Shani higginsCEO,[email protected]@shiggles

TojointheTechnoratiMediaAdNetwork:http://technoratimedia.com/publishers

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