Influencers say ad spend hasn't slowed in Australia despite reports that the economic conditions are dragging at the budgets of brands.
Advertisers are reportedly reconsidering marketing spend on influencers, cancelling campaigns, reducing influencer fees and brokering gifting-only deals.
However, in Australia members from the Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) say there is certainly no slowing.
Shivani Maharaj, chief content and partnerships officer at Wavemaker: "Influencer marketing is an area growing rapidly within Wavemaker and GroupM and we don’t see any trends where brands are decreasing spend as marketers continue to invest and see this as an important part of their channel plan.
"We are also seeing costs for creator content usage rights increasing so this is something we continue to negotiate whilst ensuring the channel continues to deliver return on investment (ROI) for the client."
Detch Singh, CEO and founder of Hypetap and deputy chair, AiMCO: "We’re certainly not seeing brands slow down their influencer marketing efforts.
"Hypetap’s calendar Q2 was close to 300% up on the same quarter last year from existing clients alone. Looking at planning efforts for next year, influencer marketing is unequivocally considered to be a core channel for our clients.
"Having spoken to peers in the USA and the UK, they are seeing a similar trend to us despite concerns or uncertainty around the economic climate."
Sharyn Smith, director/The Influence Group and chair of AiMCO: "Across the AiMCO member base we are seeing strong growth amongst agencies and platforms as demand continues with increasing trust in the sector.
"Marketers are wanting to tap into our members for their expertise to maximise the opportunities implementing influencer marketing programs that deliver strong business growth.
"One trend we are seeing is that content creators are working with less brands as they move to developing more long-term relationships. This allows them to get to know the brands and build an authentic connection with their audience that delivers genuine influence and impact for the brand."
Josanne Ryan, CEO at both the Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA) and AiMCO: "Our members aren’t seeing a decline in spend. Marketers are becoming more sophisticated in how they engage creators and the creators are also now more aware of content usage rights and charging more."
Katie Palmer-Rose, managing director of Social Soup: "The reality is, we actually need more influencers. The need and desire for authenticity has intensified and thus the demand in brands signing influencers is paramount.
"We have had this explosion of product and accessibility to the point where we cant be sure who or what we can trust, in that instance we need influencers that we know to assure us."
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