Influencers Now: The Current State Of Influencer Marketing

UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.
LHBS // INFLUENCERS NOW
1
THE CURRENT STATE OF
INFLUENCER MARKETING
INFLUENCERS
NOW.
the latest installment of our: Snapshot Series

ABOUT.
At LHBS, we believe in continuously observing and learning from
what’s happing in the market.
We’ve created our Snapshot Series to provide insights on platforms,
industries and companies. Using best practice examples, we explore,
analyze and share how businesses are adapting to new trends.
Moving from insightful data to best practices to inspiring thought
starters for brands, Snapshots can be a guide to bring meaningful
innovations to life in different areas of business.
This issue explores the current state of Influencer Marketing, who
they are today, the channels they’re commanding and how brands
are harnessing their marketing power in their strategies.
We hope you enjoy this deck and find inspiration for your innovation
process.
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW. 2
Discover Define Develop Deliver

INTRODU
CTION.
Ways of communicating have always evolved, only now they’re
arriving faster than ever before. It’s becoming increasingly
instantaneous, visual, authentic and personal in terms of the content
being shared, and the younger generation need brands to keep up.
Online influencers are fitting the bill with their 24/7 presence, high
engagement and openness of every aspect of their lives.
This snapshot evaluates the current state of Influencer Marketing to
help inspire brands in how they could approach collaborations:
• Who are they?
• Where are they?
• How are they used?
LHBS is a marketing & innovation firm with offices in Berlin and
Copenhagen. We help clients to understand today's emerging
customer expectations and to shape their business offerings for
tomorrow.
http://www.lhbs.com
A LHBS team collaboration
INTRODUCTION
3
Kathleen McCaffrey
lhbs.com | kmc@lhbs.com
Abhijeet Patil
lhbs.com | ap@lhbs.com
Fabiola Lewandowska
lhbs.com | fl@lhbs.com
Sophie Schindele
lhbs.com | ss@lhbs.com

CONTENT.
Which platforms do influencers
use? How are platforms
changing along with the
influencers?
WHERE
ARE THEY?
What are the best examples of
how brands are working with
influencers to achieve various
marketing goals?
HOW ARE
THEY USED?
Who are today’s influencers?
How powerful are they and
what’s their job to be done?
WHO
ARE THEY?
LHBS // INFLUENCERS NOW INTRODUCTION
4

CHAPTER ONE
Who are they?
Who are influencers? How powerful they are and what’s their job to be done?
5UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.

Who is an inﬂuencer?
An inﬂuencer is someone who has our trust and who - through
their opinions - can have an effect on our thinking & decision
making.
It’s modern leadership of thoughts, opinions or even styles.
WHO ARE THEY?LHBS // INFLUENCERS NOW

7 in 10
YouTube subscribers say that
YouTube creators shape and
change culture
Source: Think with Google

2 minutes and 8 seconds
average time we spend engaging
with inﬂuencer content

Why do inﬂuencers matter?
Consumers trust recommendations from a third party more
often than a brand itself.

40%
Of Gen Zers say their favorite
YouTuber understands them
better than their real-life
friends

83%
of consumers trust
recommendations from
their peers over advertising
Source: Nielsen

What determines influence?
REACH RELEVANCE RESONANCE
How effective they are in
delivering content to their
followers
How influential they
actually are for a specific
brand or topic
How successful they are in
influencing the targeted
audience

TYPES OF INFLUENCERS BY
THEIR EFFECTIVENESS

General types
of inﬂuencers
1M+ followers
MACRO
MICRO
10,000–1M followers
500–10,000 followers
MEGA
Source: MAVRCK

Reach
Best at
Worst at
Speciality
Source: MAVRCK
MEGA Inﬂuencers - Fact Pack
2% - 5% engagement per post
relevance
resonance
building awareness and visibility

Source: MAVRCK
MACRO Inﬂuencers - Fact Pack
Reach
Best at
Worst at
Speciality
relevance
resonance
building awareness and engagement

Source: MAVRCK
MICRO Inﬂuencers - Fact Pack
Reach
Best at
Worst at
Speciality
resonance
relevance
building awareness and driving
sales & conversion

TYPES OF INFLUENCER ACCOUNTS BY
ACTIVITIES & CONTENT

WHO ARE THEY?
Followers aspire to be
like them.
They mainly share
their lifestyle content.
ASPIRATIONAL INFORMATIVE ADVENTUROUS
BEAUTY
ORIENTED
ENTERTAINING
They share tips, tricks
and purely informative
content that makes
everything easier.
Those creators show
the exciting part of life
- through extreme
sports, beautiful
photography or travel.
Those creators focus
on inspiring healthy
lifestyle, fashionable
looks and beautiful
makeups.
Entertainers focus
mainly on creating and
delivering funny and
enjoyable content.

ASPIRATIONAL - movie stars, musicians, athletes, socialites
WHO ARE THEY?
KYLIE JENNER
Instagram following: 98.5m
SELENA GOMEZ
CRISTIANO RONALDO
Instagram following: 112m

INFORMATIVE - how-to’s, DIY, life hacks, tutorials, home
WHO ARE THEY?
DIY
Instagram following: 542k
LIFE HACKS
DAILY DOSE
Instagram following: 1.2M

ADVENTUROUS - extreme sport fans, travelers, photographers
WHO ARE THEY?
CHRIS BURKARD
MURAD OSMANN
ROBERTA MANCINO
Instagram following: 68.4k

BEAUTY ORIENTED - fashion, make-up, ﬁtness & wellbeing
WHO ARE THEY?
CAMILA COELHO
MICHELLE PHAN
KAYLA ITSINES

ENTERTAINING - ﬁlmmakers, pranksters, comedians, gaming
WHO ARE THEY?
THE FAT JEWISH
ZACH KING
GRUMPY CAT

CHAPTER TWO
Where are they?
How influencers are evolving from mere blogging, connecting with fans through social media to
creating niche content.

In this chapter we will explore how the social media channels and
influencers are evolving, leading to viewers/users behavior towards
content consumption.
In the past decade democratization of content creation and the rise
of image over text has led to near end of conventional brand
storytelling. The rise of smartphone gave power to bloggers,
journalists, students, celebrities, hobbyists to target niche use
segment with the content they prefer.
The social media channels are evolving at faster rate (e.g. live
streaming, 360 degree photos/videos etc.)and giving influencers new
creative ways of creating content for their target audience. An
average person is spending nearly two hours on social media
everyday, they are craving for authentic content and influencers are
fulfilling those cravings with the niche content.
26
Where are they?
WHERE ARE THEY?LHBS // INFLUENCERS NOW

Which platforms do inﬂuencers use?
Source: MarketingProfs
99%
Instagram
67.1%
Facebook
50.8%
Snapchat
29.8%
YouTube

Evolution of social media
channels used by inﬂuencers
2004 2007 2010
2011
201420152016
Twitter launches Live
Streaming and
Facebook follows up
with own version
Instagram launches
stories, musical.ly
launches live.ly
Blogging
becomes
mainstream

Inﬂuencers
Monthly Active User
100k 300k
100m
1b
Source: Medium Blog
Statista
Estimated number of
inﬂuencers per platform
vs monthly active users

The search interest for “Instagram
Inﬂuencer” tripled between
August 2016 to August 2017
Growing sponsored posts by inﬂuencers
Source: Google Trends
X3

9.7m
14.5m
21.7m
2016
2017
2018
Sponsored posts by
inﬂuencers on Instagram
Source: Media Kix

71%
of teens’ typical
entertainment consumption
is streaming
33%
of teens’ voted YouTubers as
most likely to make them buy
a product
Gen Z
Mobile, Streaming, And YouTube Obsessed
Source: AwesomenessTV

“Online inﬂuencers occupy the gap between celebrities and
friends, and skate between mass cultural performances and
moments of perceived accessibility.”
- NewYork Times
Source: New York Times

81%
of internet audience members
viewed more live content in
2016 than they did the previous
year
X3
videos on Facebook live get
viewed for three times as long as
pre-recorded video.
Live streaming
Source: Forbes

“When well-trusted inﬂuencers and compelling live streams
come together, it's almost impossible for audiences to look
away.”
Source: Forbes
- Steve Olenski
Forbes Contributor

“The rise of the posted Instagram shot, the Pinterest lifestyle mirage and the
slickly edited Musical.ly video have created an appetite for the raw feed: live
video that can’t be edited, ﬁltered or deleted before it’s beamed out to the
world.
Live streaming’s rough aesthetic is no more real than the shimmering
projections of other social apps, and Live.ly is loaded with features that gamify
conversations, commodify human interactions and powerfully mold a vision
of teenage life.”
- NewYork Times on Live.ly
Source: New York Times

Teens say online videos are best for -
Learning Laughing Relieving
Boredom
58% 53% 49%

Most popular niches with average number of
followers to influencers on Instagram
Modeling
& fitness
influencers
Pets Beauty
141,563 117,259 83,786
Source: MarketingProfs

teens say social media content is
becoming more inﬂuential in their
purchasing decisions
HAVAS MEDIA
60%31 %
69 %
63%
Inﬂuence of social media content

Teens’ expectations from influencers
Departing from the highly manufactured pop stars of generations past,
Gen Z feels they are best captured by diverse figures who are anything
but one-size-fits-all.
Their role models are also more likely to use their platforms to promote
societal change and to strive to actively influence the culture just as
much as they engage with it.

EVOLUTION OF
PLATFORMS

UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.Source:
The Music Industry’s
New Influencers
Musical.ly is growing incredible fast and is
becoming recognized as an opportunity for brands
to reach and influence an audience of Millennials.
Explore the Sign
Musical.ly is growing by around 13million users each
month, and is a network connecting creative
individuals. It’s becoming known for it’s 15-second
looping videos made by the creators - or "musers",
many including lip-syncing, singing and dancing.
Stars in the music industry are starting to take note
and leverage the platform to release teasers of new
albums, and big brands such as Coca Cola are
teaming up with influential musers on the platform
for campaigns such as #ShareACoke.
42

Amazon’s New Hybrid
Social And Shopping
Service: Spark
A new feature will be available for Amazon Prime
subscribers in the US, which seems to be inspired
by Instagram and its use of shoppable photos.
Explore the Sign
On Amazon Spark people can discover things such as
home décor, shoes, food, books etc. from people who
share same interests.
Users are presented with an image-heavy feed of
product ideas and other stories. In some cases, these
posts will read more like a product review – someone
detailing their personal experience with an item, for
example.
43

Video Updates Make
Sharing Simple And
Emotive
Sharing updates with followers transformed when
the biggest channels made it possible to record
short videos.
Explore the Sign
Starting out with YouTube where influencers could
record content to share with their followers in a
more engaging and emotive way, this evolved as
attention spans became shorter and influencers on
other platforms wanted the convenience of sharing
an update in an instant. The short-lived video
snippets give influencers an opportunity to present a
feeling and an experience in a more experiential way,
something younger generations are craving more
and more.
44

Live Streaming With
Influencers
NBC designed a campaign for the broadcasting of
Hairspray (TV series) with the help of influencers
and FB Live.
Explore the Sign
NBC entertainment decided to make use of the live
feature on Facebook for doing Hairspray Live!. The
broadcaster collaborated with around 20
influencers, who were responsible for hosting the
Hairspray Live! Facebook Live and creating
additional content, the buzz for the show.
Recently social media platform like Facebook,
Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube has included the live
streaming feature in their platforms. Live streaming
is an outstanding way to reach the online audience.
45

CHAPTER THREE
How are they used?
What are the best examples of how brands are working with influencers to achieve various
marketing goals?

UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.Source: 47
In this chapter we’ll explore how brands are using influencers in
their marketing strategies. We’ll include examples of specific
campaigns as well as ideas for influencer and brand
collaborations, together with key learnings to inspire brands.
These cases and ideas will cover four key marketing goals that
brands can reach as a result of harnessing an influencer’s
authentic relationship with the target audience:
Sales - For the promotion of a product launch or branded event
Exposure - To spread the word of a brand among target audiences
Awareness - To draw attention to meaningful causes, and
associate activists with a brand
Values - For representing a brand by embodying a specific
character trait
LHBS // INFLUENCERS NOW HOW ARE THEY USED?
How are they
used?

SALES

Source: UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW. 49
M.A.C x Inﬂuencers
MAC Cosmetic has merged product
development with digital inﬂuencers.

What they did
50
Why they did it
In anticipation of their new product launch, M.A.C
partnered with a number of influencers to market to
people in their home country. Going one step further,
they involved the influencers in the development and
creation of their own lipsticks.
Each color was a neutral tone, created to suit the skin
tones of each influencer. The influencers then spread
the word of their experience to their followings
across social channels and via various content
mediums.
Being able to follow their favorite influencer through
the creation of the lipstick generates not only
entertaining and eye-opening content, but also an
element of transparency which adds to the already
higher levels of trust consumers have in these new-
era celebrities.
As each lipstick was created to suit the complexion of
the influencers, it made it more likely to suit a higher
number of people of the same ethnicity,
demonstrating a diversity in their products.
Key learning
In an age of brand transparency, inviting influencers who can then share a behind the
scene experience with their following can be a fast-track to gaining more trust from
new and existing fans.

Axe Inﬂuence Young Men
Into Styling
Axe’s campaign to encourage men to try out
hair-styling saw them join forces with 30 top
male inﬂuencers.

What they did
52
Why they did it
Axe partnered with 30 top male influencers from a
variety of social channels who represent various
circles of young men, including a comedian, musician,
gamer and cook. Axe wanted an “everyman” feel to
this campaign.
They were given the freedom by Axe to develop their
own message in their own style to communicate with
their following via Instagram, so long as they gave tips
in some way on how and why they should give hair-
styling a try.
Though gaining in popularity, there is still an
apprehension among men to take part in much male-
grooming. Axe hoped to change that by addressing
one of the barriers that seem to prevent guys from
even trying - not knowing where to start.
Mostly, the key benefit talked about was how it can
improve confidence. Edelman Intelligence research
revealed in a 2016 survey that 93% of men who style
their hair felt an increase in self-confidence, but 65%
don’t style regularly.
Key learning
Encouraging an audience to view a stereotype in a new way can position a brand as an influential
name, even outside of their own market. It can encourage new behaviors and so bring about new
needs from consumers.

Micro But Impactful
Adidas with the help of 30 micro-inﬂuencers
made a powerful impact during the English
premier league season.

What they did
54
Why they did it
For the launch of their Glitch app, adidas partnered
with 30 micro-influencers from various football
academies across London.
They helped promote the new line of soccer boots
only made available via the app as well as to design
and name both the app and the new boots.
Glitch was an instant hit amongst football fans after it
was launched in October last year, and the
influencers continue to work full-time on the Glitch
app.
The invite-only access meant the influencers were
the decision makers when it came to growing the
community, something that really drove their
enthusiasm and motivation to make it a success.
Marc Makowski, director of business development at
adidas said that "Baking that authenticity into the
service is key to why it performed well as a test."
Key learning
Empowering influencers through giving them a sense of ownership over a campaign, means brands can
ensure their marketing projects come across to audiences as honest, and not with an underlying motive.

EXPOSURE

E.L.F’s Micro-Inﬂuencers
E.L.F Cosmetics is using 50 of its social media
fans to build community and drive reach,
authenticity and branding.

What they did
57
Why they did it
The cosmetic brand partnered with 50 of their best
customers in a micro-influencer program called
Beautyscape, where each were given the knowledge
and confidence to experiment with new products
and share engaging content with their followers.
A kick-off event was held for all 50 influencers to
meet each other and give one another advice on how
they built their organic community.
The meeting event for influencers really brought
across a sense of community and genuine
enthusiasm for the brand in their engagements with
their followers.
The reason E.L.F chose micro-influencers was
primarily down to the finding that accounts with less
than a thousand followers have almost eight times
higher engagement rates, compared to those with
close to a million (typical influencers).
This allowed the chosen influencers to really build
meaningful connections with their followers by
bonding over a love of the same brand.
Key learning
Cultivating a community for the purpose
of more personalized content, is more
easily achievable with micro influencers
rather than macro and mega, due to the
greater engagement rates.

Teacher Tech Inﬂuencers
Teachers are now acting as tech brand
ambassadors for educational hardware and
software.

What they did
59
Why they did it
Big technology brands such as Amazon, Apple, Google
and Microsoft, as well as smaller start-ups creating
software and tech products are beginning to take on
teachers as inﬂuencers.
This growing trend is seeing teachers promote
technology in the classroom by integrating products
and services within their teaching styles.
Teachers are using the software and products of the
companies they’re partnered with, offering children
freebies such as t-shirts the teacher receives from
attending workshops with the companies and
sometimes even decorating the classroom to represent
a certain brand.
The younger generation become familiar quickly with
the look of a brand and the feel of using their products.
Often the teachers are also able to give feedback on
how to make improvements and increase value for their
use.
Schools are already adopting more technology products
as it becomes a part of life, but often struggle with tight
budgets. Companies are stepping in and offering the
most inﬂuential members of these institutions - the
teachers - special perks and extra help by simply using
their products.
Some rewards have included gift cards by Amazon and
even the covering of travel expenses to industry-
sponsored conferences by more established startups.
Key learning
If brands can reach the new generation of consumers at a
younger age, they’re more likely to continue using the products
due to a familiarity with the name and interface, potentially
becoming life-long customers.

AWARENESS

Dove Launch Video Series
With Shonda Rhimes
Dove are collaborating with Director Shonda
Rhimes to create short, documentary style
videos around real beauty.

What they did
62
Why they did it
Dove collaborated with television producer Shonda
Rhimes to direct their new video series which tell
short stories of inspiring women through their in-
house studio ‘Dove Real Beauty Productions’.
The three-minute short films include no branding
after the initial Dove logo at the start, instead
focusing on the message of real women and real
Beauty.
They took note of recent findings which revealed
69% of women don’t feel represented in advertising,
and that brands who make “meaningful” connections
with audiences perform better in the stock market
and increase wallet share by up to nine times.
Liz Garbus who directed the series said that “People
get their content through places like Netflix or
Amazon, without commercials, so brands have had to
rethink how they [relay] their messaging in this
totally different entertainment landscape.”
Key learning
For brands to begin making more meaningful connections with their customers, their content
should address hot topic issues which are of real concern to their audience, so making them
feel represented and understood.

Inﬂuencers Could Mobilize
Young Voters
Politicians and political parties could gain
young voters by using social media
inﬂuencers.

What could they do?
64
Why they should do it
Politicians and political parties could reach a younger
audience through Inﬂuencers and Vloggers.
They speak their language and could educate
younger generations politically and help them to
understand their political impact.
A lot of millennials who have the right to vote don’t
use that right. The main reasons for that may be that
they can’t see through all of what’s going on in politics
or what each party stands for.
They also don’t really use traditional channels
anymore, which political parties often still use to
reach an audience, such as TV debates.
All the youngsters who don’t take part in elections
could do big shifts in the results of them. If, for
example, all the young people, who would have been
able to, voted, Brexit wouldn’t have happened.Key learning
Taking a stance on political issues
can make or break a brand
reputation.
Partnering with inﬂuencers could
be the key to getting it right,
because of their relatability and
closeness to young audiences.

VALUES

AT&T Collaborate With
Content Creators
AT&T have launched Hello Lab, and have
cleverly captured the attention of millennials
who are passionate about connecting with
others.

What they did
67
Why they did it
By stepping out of the spotlight, AT&T are creating
an innovative name for themselves through their
Hello Lab project, in partnership with Fullscreen
Media.
Social inﬂuencers who are innovative, love to
connect and have entrepreneurial drive create the
content. They involve people in creation while
name dropping AT&T.
The focus is really on the storytelling and
creativity, and not on the advertising. And it’s
paying off.
“We wanted to ﬁnd new levels of engagements and to
help creators develop these stories that live on their
own platforms, not ours.” -Valeria Vargas, vp of
advertising and marketing comms at AT&T.
Key learning
Repositioning a brand to appeal to a younger audience
should have a relevant spokesperson to embody the
brand values, as younger people are now much more
in-tune with insincere brands and pushy content.

Source: UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.
HOW ARE THEY USED?
68
Samsung Appeal To
The Ordinary
In their spot for the Academy Awards
Samsung is using inﬂuencer Casey Neistat to
reach a new generation of creatives.

What they did
69
Why they did it
In this years Oscar spot from Samsung, created by
creative agency Wieden + Kennedy, they used
Youtube star Casey Neistat to speak for a new
creative generation. Not to professional ﬁlmmakers
or advertisers, but to “normal” people with ambitions,
ideas and Samsung smartphones.
Casey Neistat is known for his down to earth
character and exciting and adventurous - often self-
created - content, making him a perfect choice for
this campaign and appeal to a younger audience by
Samsung.
This spot is the beginning of a campaign which aims to
inspire and empower a “new guild of creators” and
which is building on the “Do what you can’t” tagline.”
Key learning
When sharing why your customers should choose your brand over competitors, it is essential to ﬁrst
uncover their true ambitions, and then to communicate with them in a way they can relate to.

Discover
ABOUT.
Define Develop Deliver
LHBS is a marketing & innovation firm with offices in Berlin &
Copenhagen. We work with legacy organisations to adapt their
customer value proposition to meet emerging customer
expectations. Together with our clients we discover business
opportunities and deliver integrated customer offers for products,
services, experiences and communication.
http://www.lhbs.com
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Influencers Now: The Current State Of Influencer Marketing

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