Current Study on Influencer Marketing Software in the DACH Region: These are the Results

1. Influencer Marketing Software: This is what the study is about
2. These are the results of the study
3. The biggest challenges in the influencer marketing industry
4. How to use an Influencer Marketing Software
5. Conclusion: Influencer Marketing Software solves the current biggest challenges in Influencer Marketing

Communication via digital platforms has become indispensable. Most 18-24 year olds no longer have their first human contact of the day at the breakfast table, but on their smartphone. Companies can use this phenomenon to reach their target audience. Influencer Marketing has proven particularly effective for companies with B2C target groups.
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⁠In this article, you will learn how to make the most of your existing resources.

Influencer Marketing Software: This is what the study is about

Most studies on the topic of influencer marketing deal with data from American companies. But what about the German-speaking area? IROIN has aligned its study on influencer marketing to identify the first German status quo.

These are the results of the study

Together with the market research service provider GreenAdz, IROIN interviewed 174 marketing managers from the DACH region online in April 2023 about their current challenges and areas for improvement.

Insights on Budget

The study participants were asked about the Influencer Marketing Budget they (companies) or their clients (agencies) plan each year and how their budget changed in 2023 compared to the previous year. They revealed which factors, in their opinion, significantly influence the success of their activities.

The budgets vary

The influencer marketing budgets vary quite significantly: a third reported a budget of less than 50,000 euros. Also, a third invests 50,000 to 250,000 euros for influencer marketing. About 13 percent of the respondents have a budget of more than 250,000.

Most campaigns target B2C audiences

All the more (9 out of 10) and the most expensive campaigns are aimed at B2C audiences. Almost half of the respondents (44 percent) assume an increase in their budget. In this group, people with a particularly large budget (annual budget > 250,000 euros) are strongly represented.

Companies with larger budgets have higher expectations

The respondents see a large budget, long-term cooperation, ROI evidence, and effective communication processes as the most important success factors.

Insights on campaign execution

The study participants were asked how many campaigns they run each year, how many influencers they hire for them, and which platforms they prefer.

A maximum of 10 influencers per campaign is the rule

The annual campaign count varies depending on the budget. On average, respondents usually work with up to ten influencers per campaign. Only a few respondents collaborate with 20 or more influencers.

Instagram is the most popular platform in influencer marketing

Stories and reels on Instagram are preferred by the respondents. Companies with larger budgets also engage in influencer marketing on TikTok.

Brands vs. Agencies

The study participants were asked whether they would rate their influencer marketing strategy as successful.

Agencies are more satisfied with their influencer marketing strategy than companies

87 percent of agencies rate their influencer marketing strategies as successful. On the other hand, companies generally see more potential for improvement in their strategies. Only 65 percent of companies are very satisfied.

Automation

The study participants were asked how they find influencers, how advanced their campaign automation is, and what tasks and KPIs of influencer marketing software are relevant to them.

Many companies don't (yet) use software, but the few tool users are satisfied

Many companies change their influencers almost every campaign (almost two-thirds). A proud 72 percent pick their influencers themselves, yet only 39 percent use influencer marketing software for this purpose.

Interestingly, 54 percent of respondents view the level of automation for their processes as rather advanced, yet over a third don't use any influencer marketing software at all. 75 percent of those who already use a software are satisfied with their tool. This figure is particularly high (83 to 88 percent) among users of all-in-one solutions.

Influencer Marketing Software accelerates influencer search

Of those who don't use influencer marketing software, almost half would like to have easier influencer search. Only a third of those who work with software expressed this wish.

Tools perform different tasks depending on the degree of automation

Those who describe their degree of automation as rather low use tools for influencer research and analysis. People who rate their degree of automation as rather high are already running campaigns and reporting with software.

The most important use of marketing software is influencer research and analysis

Nine out of 10 respondents use influencer marketing tools to research and analyze their (potential) influencers. Two other uses of the software are campaign analysis, planning and implementation, as well as tracking influencer activities. All these tasks are seen by respondents as particularly tedious.

Influencer Marketing Software handles many other relevant tasks

In addition to the tasks mentioned earlier, for respondents, reports and dashboards, social listening, content analysis, and campaign planning and implementation in influencer marketing software are almost as important.

Respondents agree on KPIs

The most important KPIs for respondents are the engagement rate (interaction rate), ROI (Return on Investment), Net Reach (Net Reach), conversions (conversions), and the CPM (thousand contact price).

The biggest challenges in the influencer marketing industry

The biggest challenges described by study participants are measuring and proving ROI and the impact of their brand. All these insights can be determined and validated with influencer marketing software. Another point described by respondents as problematic is the reach limitation due to new platform algorithms. The study also shows that the ANA guideline (Association of National Advertisers) is still completely unknown. So far, only one in five people knows it. This platform-independent metric and KPI definition was published to simplify success measurement in influencer marketing.

How to use an Influencer Marketing Software

If you choose a GDPR-compliant all-in-one solution like the IROIN® Influencer Marketing Suite the software will help you with influencer marketing from A to Z. The servers are located in Europe.

In this tool, you can search for influencers for your campaigns, maintain your portfolio, automate your workflow and evaluate your campaigns. With real-time synchronization, you can integrate influencer data and reporting exports directly into presentation templates.

Quick influencer search

• Cross-platform database: Filter over 262 Mio. influencers based on inclusion and
• exclusion criteria and sort by KPIs
• Performance data: Display all relevant KPIs over time and check with fraud analysis (verification of authenticity and accessibility of followers)
• Lookalike tool: Search for statistical twins based on metrics or follower structures
• Keeping track: Displaying the most popular posts, past collaborations, and relevant stats
• Saving information: Download influencer data as PowerPoint or add to the portfolio

Clear portfolio

• Sedcards in your corporate design: Documentation, influencer rating, and communication (incl. placeholder token) in one
• Individual influencer database: Categorizing the portfolio (by categories, mentions or influencer and follower metrics)
• Centralized data: Influencer files with address, contact data, bank details, and channel information
• Document management: Managing NDAs and contracts
• Feed view: Display posts and stories from the last 28 days in the posting history
• Logging: Auto-logging of email history
• Budget history: Insight into past investments

Effective campaign management

• Campaign dashboard: Monitoring campaigns (e.g. KPIs and best-performing posts) and generating real-time reports
• Planning workflow: Defining parameters in the campaign setup (e.g. start and end, media budget, campaign goal, and channels)
• Proposal lists for campaigns: Rejecting or approving influencers with just a click
• Detailed planning: Planning orders and posts for influencers (e.g. post types, number, publication dates, and budget distribution), capturing post status with drag-and-drop in campaign management, assigning individual tags
• Brand security: Automated content check based on hashtags and mentions and assignment per influencer, marking missing hashtags or mentions
• Analytical content check: Real-time data on post impressions and story views during and after campaign execution
• Workbook: Overview as an Excel file to share

Additional functions

• Follower overlaps: Calculating reach loss due to duplicate followers in influencer selection
• Real-time profile data synchronization: Automatic export and synchronization of performance data according to release process
• Influencer Connect: Access to performance data via Facebook and Instagram interfaces
• Onboarding: Automated invitation emails in corporate design (also includes agreement to terms and conditions)
• Internal agreements: Transfer of numbers from real-time performance data by clicking to influencer sedcard
• Social ads on behalf of the influencers: Control of sponsored ads in real-time thanks to interfaces, creation of targeted click and conversion campaigns, and optimization of content and budgets via A/B testing
• Dynamic Creative Optimization Process: Contextually appropriate displaying of pre-created content (use of meta-information such as regional weather data, locations, and times).
• Campaign construction kit: Creation of marketing packages for individual and regional use (individual branches make independent decisions)
• Maximum reach: Expanding campaigns to mobile display ads through cooperation with madvertise media

Conclusion: Influencer Marketing Software solves the current biggest challenges in Influencer Marketing

The study reveals the main problem in influencer marketing: Influencer Marketing Software and its impact are not well-known yet. Companies and agencies can largely eliminate the described challenges by merely using corresponding software. If you're among the marketers who still lose too much time through manual work and find it hard to continuously keep track, you should take a closer look at the IROIN® Influencer Marketing Suite. You can access the free study via our page through the registration form.