The UK Influencer Survey 2020 is the industry benchmark for influencer marketing, with responses and insight from hundreds of influencers, bloggers, vloggers and podcasters. The annual report paints an accurate picture of what life is like for influencers covering what they think of, and how they work with, PRs and brands to how many influencers are now professional.

Reasons for influencing

Personal reasons

Professional reasons

The Influencer Survey also covers the early impact of COVID-19, in an industry which is solely self-employed and reliant on paid brand partnerships. With marketing budgets immediately tightened or cut, influencers saw projects and campaigns they were working on placed on hold for the foreseeable future. One positive to come out of the lockdown was the rise in web traffic, as the majority of people moved to remote working and lives moved from in-person to online.

Influencers' opinions on working with PRs

Three months on and we’re starting to see an increase in brand partnerships and budget restrictions being eased. Whether you’re new to influencer marketing or getting back to it after a lockdown break, here’s our top five tips to get your influencer marketing right.

1. The price is right – think about what you’re trying to achieve from working with an influencer and how much budget you have. There’s no fixed price and costs will vary across individuals so keep this in mind. Different activities cost different amounts from high-cost brand ambassador programmes and sponsored blog posts to cheaper affiliate marketing or giveaways. If you’re looking for a long-term relationship then you’ll need a bigger budget and more time to dedicate to the partnership to ensure it is authentic.
   
2. Know your audience – take time to do your research and make sure the influencers you’re approaching are the right fit for your audience and campaign.
   
   Personalisation can go a long way, with 35% of influencers saying that they reject a pitch on the grounds that it’s not been personalised or isn’t relevant to the content they create.
   
   
3. More than a hobby – with one in five influencers stating that their work is their main source of income, it’s important to treat it as such and respect their time.
   
   There’s a rise in the number of influencers spending more than 30 hours per week on their channel so make sure you’re not expecting an influencer to give up their time without appropriate compensation.
   
4. Working for all sectors – it’s a common myth that influencer marketing can only benefit the five supersectors: fashion and beauty, lifestyle, parenting, food and travel. Whatever your business, and whoever your audience is – even B2B – you can benefit from influencer marketing.
   
   
5. Quality not quantity – it can be easy to get blinded by high follower numbers but what’s more important, and will make your campaign a success, is to look at the quality of the engagement, which could include comments, likes and sharing. Followers can be bought but genuine interactions can’t.

Celebrating influence
At Vuelio, we understand and value the hard work influencers put into making their content and the time it takes, especially when it has to fit around home schooling, working remotely and the other challenges the pandemic has thrown at us.

To celebrate the UK’s best influencers, we will be hosting the Online Influence Awards 2020 entirely online, from the nomination process through to the judging day and the awards night itself.

This year we’ve revamped how we create our shortlists. With the aim of growing and diversifying the influencers we celebrate, nominations for each award will come from either the influencer themselves or their peers, fans and supporters.

Entrants will be required to provide their name, social media handles plus a reason why they should win. They will then need to select the top five skills they have as an influencer, which will generate a hidden score that has been curated using industry experts.

All of this information will be combined to give us shortlists across 14 categories: Arts & Entertainment, Beauty, Current Affairs, Disruptor/Changemaker, Fashion, Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, Interior Design, LGBTQ+, Lifestyle, Parenting, PR & Comms, Travel & Leisure and Newcomer.

This process should lead to a more inclusive awards with influencers from all channels and backgrounds competing side by side. Click here to nominate your favourite influencer.

Entries are also open for our campaign awards, including Best Influencer Campaign and Best Cause-Led Influencer Campaign from agencies and organisations who have excelled at influencer marketing. Do you have an influencer campaign that you’re proud of? Enter your influencer marketing campaign for free here.

Article written by Vuelio's Rebecca Potts,