New: Blogs Deliver 10% Sales Lift and 11X ROI (Nielsen Catalina)

Biz dev, influencer marketing, social, content, digital, storyteller, mom, political junkie, Canadian-American. Lover of wine, coffee, good people…

May 6, 2016

“Blogs Deliver 10% Sales Lift and 11X ROI” Graphic: https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-network-image28163683#res16873648">Network</a>

Influencer marketing has proven to be the “gift that keeps on giving.” Recognizing the enormous benefits, most brands have included influencer marketing in their marketing mix, with the majority planning to increase their budgets in 2016. For those in search of more data, a new study from Nielsen Catalina confirms a direct link to in-store sales results from blogs.

Blogs have become everyone’s favorite content — Millennials, GenXers, Boomers and brands. Influencers provide evergreen, user-generated content, reviews, recommendations and testimonials which are more cost-effective than email, and beat bots, adblocking and “banner blindness.” Reviews and word-of-mouth are trusted, cut through the noise, and are the primary factor behind 20–50% of purchase decisions. User-generated online reviews and opinions are paramount from consideration to conversion. Content is the key to search engine visibility, and the safest, most effective way to keep a brand’s PageRank high is with organic, original content that adds value to people’s lives.

RhythmOne released their new influencer marketing benchmarks study in March. This research places the average value of earned media at $11.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing (up 63% in two years).

Earned Media Value per Dollar Spent on Influencer Marketing by Category:

On April 5th, Tapinfluence and Nielsen Catalina Solutions released the first study to directly link influencer marketing to in-store sales results. The year-long study confirmed a 10% incremental sales lift from consumers exposed to blogs for WhiteWave’s Silk® brand “Meatless Mondays” campaign, and $285 incremental sales per 1,000 pageviews (vs. a display ad at $16/1,000 impressions). This influencer content generated 11X the ROI of a traditional marketing campaign ($23 vs. $2.15 for banner ads), and as the content continues to spread, the costs continue to go down.

We’ve been able to target, track and measure influencer marketing using a number of KPI’s including impressions, brand mentions, brand engagements, brand lift, etc., but this research quantifies results a step further. Modern marketing and influencer marketing are about relationships. We now have proof that these relationships result in actual sales.