Just when you thought you mastered which camera angles create the most compelling Instagram pics (and white space and all that), turns out social media users have an actual preference for the kind of content they see.
What Kind of Content Should You Include In Your Influencer Marketing Campaign? The People Have Spoken
eMarketer released its latest report, Influencer Marketing in the Age of COVID (gated, premium content), which includes a table that lists in order of preference the types of content social media followers want to see from influencers.
Interestingly enough, tutorials came out on top with 40% of those polled saying they want to see more how-to content from the influencers they follow. Memes came in second – 37% of those surveyed said they want to see more memes and funny influencer-generated content.
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Interesting, but not surprising right?
In 2011, Pew Research published this article detailing the reasons why people use social media. This was a year after Instagram was released, but before it became a big deal to the masses. Only the cool kids were on the platform at that time.
Back then, only 5% of those polled were AT ALL interested in using social media to follow influencers (celebrities, athletes, politicians). Mostly, people used social media to stay connected with their family and friends (9 in 10 people polled listed the family/friend connection thing as major or minor reason for using social media).
Here’s another interesting tidbit: at that time, older users were the ones who leveraged social media as a way to get industry insights and seek out communities of other social media users with shared interests/hobbies.
But Social Media’s Basically Rebranded Itself As a Content Platform
Today, only 1 in 5 people share details about their everyday lives online. Which begs the question, If they’re not contributing, what the heck are they doing on social media the rest of the time?
They’re consuming content, man!.
Only 40% of those surveyed by GlobalWeb Index in 2019 – eight years after that original Pew Research poll – cited keeping in touch with friends and family as a reason for using social media. But the percentage of people who check out content from celebrities and other influencers has 4Xed over the same period.
What Does This Mean for the #SponsoredContent Brands Pay to Get?
I’ll tell you what it means – it means the utility of social media has evolved over the years, from being a place where midlifers go to find other hobbyists to being the primary place we all go to consume content.
From people we know
From people we’re connected to
From influencers
From media outlets
From event organizers
From brands.
Social media is now an important content source for:
- Catching up on news and current events – 40% of those polled use social media for news
- Finding funny or entertaining content – 36% use it to find funny content
- Researching and find products to buy – 29%
- Watching/following sporting events – 20%
I’ve heard it said that every brand is also a media company, and with the continuous demands for fresh content, whether it’s owned media or earned media, that media company thing is going to be true to some extent for every person, organization, or brand.
We’re rock stars at dreaming up really engaging content. And… we’re not opposed to revealing some of the ingredients of our secret sauce during the quick strategy calls we have with brands and marketers. So… call.
