Credit: Steve Gale via Unsplash
Brand budgets for influencer marketing will continue to rise, with 54% of multinational brand marketers saying they plan to boost spend in 2025, according to research by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).
And 61% believe influencer marketing will become more important in the future.
The use of influencer agencies has risen to nearly 74% when it comes to identifying influencers, up 20% when compared with the last time WFA ran similar research in 2019.
Brands are also looking to agencies to help manage influencers much more, with nearly 79% using influencer agencies as part of a suite of partners, nearly 54% looking to their social media agency and PR agencies taking a role in almost 51% of cases, with different solutions being applied in different parts of the world by some brands.
The research is based on 73 responses from 59 companies, cumulatively spending over $US120 billion on global marketing communications.
“While many brands are striving to set best practice, there is still work to do to raise the bar in terms of where the industry needs to be,” said Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO.
“This new guidance highlights where and why brands can improve and provides practical checklists they can follow to ensure a more sustainable and trustworthy approach to influencer marketing, ultimately benefiting both brands and consumers.”
The report outlines five key areas where marketers can help ensure their influencer marketing campaigns are responsible, ethical and compliant with advertising standards globally:
- Disclosure and Transparency: clear disclosure, placement of disclosure and clear language are all areas brands need to address.
- Content Accuracy: content needs to be authentic and truthful. Brands should encourage influencers to provide genuine opinions and experiences while also verifying all claims are truthful and can be substantiated. Misleading claims, exaggerations, or omissions about the brand, product, or service should be avoided.
- Ethical Considerations: Brands should avoid content that could be considered offensive, discriminatory, or environmentally or socially irresponsible.
- Compliance with Local Laws: Brands need to understand and follow advertising laws and guidelines in each country where the content will be distributed while also ensuring content is appropriate for the audience and follows age restrictions where applicable.
- Best Practices: Areas such as clear contracts, training and guidance and on-going monitoring give brands a firmer handle on managing their influencer partners.
The guidance was developed in collaboration with the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) along with other advertising self-regulatory organisations (SROs) from France, Sweden, Belgium, the US, South Africa, Brazil, India and Australia, alongside the International Council for Advertising Self-regulation (ICAS).
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.