This independent review of influencer adverts in 2023 reveals the rarely seen big picture on what drives consumer engagement for brands via creator content.
CORQ analysed the #ads on 15,000 influencer Instagram accounts to pin down the commonalities of successful campaigns from content formats to high-performing verticals.
Our research also reveals the top 100 influencers who posted the most commercial content and how the data across this group reveals a disparity between where brands are investing budget and what consumers are engaging with.
Key findings include:
– Adverts by influencers producing content in a specific niche, using the same formats repeatedly, drove ten times more consumer engagement than lifestyle generalist creators in 2023.
– Influencers using incorrect labels to signpost advertising has increased by 638% in the past 12 months, with adoption of language such as #gifted, #PR and #affiliate all growing despite these words not being recognised by the Advertising Standards Authority.
– 58% of 2023’s top viral adverts were produced by POC creators. However, there is growing concern from Black influencers that brand interest in working with minority communities has declined. Just 22% of the creators who posted the most #ads this year were POC.
