Advanced Influencer Marketing Programs Deliver a 6.2x Greater YoY Increase in Annual Revenue

CreatorIQ report shows direct correlation between creator investment and increased brand ROI. The company is leading the development of the Return-On-Creator-Spend (ROCS) metric to help advertisers measure the impact of creator-led efforts against traditional digital channels

CreatorIQ, the end-to-end creator marketing platform powering efforts for over 1,000 brands and agencies, today released findings from its Unleashing the Power of Creators report, demonstrating a direct correlation between influencer marketing investment and increased ROI.

According to the report, conducted by independent research firm Aberdeen Strategy & Research, brands with the most advanced influencer marketing programs see far better results from their efforts than competitors with less sophisticated influencer marketing programs.

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Influencer Marketing Leaders — defined as brands in the top 20% in metrics like impressions, engagement, conversion, and annual revenue attributed to influencer marketing efforts — outperformed the lower 80% in year-over-year improvement across KPIs in all stages of the funnel. These Influencer Marketing Leaders saw:

• 9.1x greater improvement in impressions
• 8.2x greater improvement in engagement
• 11.7x greater improvement in conversion rates

The study also noted far greater YoY increases in customer retention, brand sentiment, customer satisfaction, and average customer profit margin among the top 20% of brands versus competitors.

Perhaps most importantly, heightened influencer marketing efforts contributed to a 6.2x greater YoY improvement in annual revenue, leading to a Return-On-Creator-Spend (ROCS) of $4.70 on every dollar invested in influencer marketing programs. CreatorIQ is leading the development of the ROCS metric to help brands holistically measure the impact of creator-led marketing programs against traditional digital channels.

As a result, brands in the top 20% of influencer marketing spend say that they plan to invest 30% more in their influencer marketing programs on average in the future. While brands have increased spending on both digital advertising and creator marketing in the last year, the report shows that brands anticipate increasing their investment in creator marketing programs at a rate 13% higher than digital advertising.

“The time to adopt and scale creator marketing efforts is now,” said Tim Sovay, Chief Business Development & Partnerships Officer at CreatorIQ. “And the more advanced brands get with their influencer marketing efforts, the wider the gap they create between themselves and competitors across every KPI, including revenue. With investment in creator marketing solutions only increasing in the years ahead, brands lacking a solid strategy and solution will only get left further behind.”

Unleashing the Power of Creators is based on a survey of over 200 marketing executives in the U.S. and U.K. across multiple industries, including Beauty, Consumer Electronics/CPG, Gaming, Media/Entertainment, Retail/Fashion, and Food/Beverage. Click here to download the full report for free.

The report comes on the heels of CreatorIQ’s brand and agency survey, where 67% of marketers reported increasing creator investment YoY, with 76% of these organizations diverting funds from other marketing functions. This is mainly due to advancements in measurement solutions, which helped 94% of organizations understand and attribute sales to creator efforts.

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