Social media influencers are on the rise

Social media influencers are impacting consumers’ search and purchasing processes

Globally, social commerce is estimated to have generated $724 billion in revenue in 2022 to date. Social commerce revenue is expected to realize a compound annual growth rate of 30.8% in the period 2022‒30, reaching around $6.2 trillion by 2030, and driven primarily by Gen Z and Millennial social media users.²¹ The size of the global influencer marketing industry is expected to reach $16.4 billion in 2022, and increase by about 30.3% annually through 2028, reaching nearly $85 billion.²²

Our research reveals that one-third of consumers globally have discovered a new product or brand on social media in the past six months. This is consistent with a recent study that found 34% of all global consumers say they learned of a new brand in the last six months via social media and surpasses the percentage of consumers who say they discovered a new brand while watching TV ads (22%).²³

32%

of consumers have discovered a new product or brand on social media in the past six months

Nearly one-quarter (22%) of all consumers learned of this product or brand through an influencer, and 16% went on to purchase the product or brand (see Figure 22). The proportion of consumers influenced by social media is highest in the US among the countries in our survey. Forty-one percent of US consumers have discovered a new product on social media, 31% learned of the product through an influencer, and 25% went on to purchase the product.

_{²¹ Statista,}_{“Social commerce revenue worldwide from 2022 to 2030,” September 2022.
²² Woosuite, “Global influencer market size,” 2022.
²³ YouGov, “Global: Which channel is most effective for brand and product discovery,” September 2022.}

Figure 22. Social media influencers play an important role in consumers’ purchasing journeys

^{Source: Capgemini Research Institute, Consumer demand survey, October–November 2022, N=11,300 consumers.}

Brands are trying to take advantage of this trend by investing in social media marketing. Drieke Leenknegt, Chief Marketing Officer, Timberland, a VF company, says: “Brands need to create relationships with the people that are influencing customers; this kind of collaboration is now key to their survival.”²⁴ Social media influencers are impacting consumers across grocery, apparel, and health and beauty product purchase decisions. Organizations across these sectors have woken up to this and are now working with social media influencers.

Beauty giant Estée Lauder is spending 75% of its marketing budget on collaborations with social influencers.²⁵

Walmart currently works with influencers to promote its groceries and apparel, as well as its Walmart+ loyalty program; it plans to launch a platform that will employ social media influencers to assist the retailer and its 100,000 third-party sellers in promoting their goods and services online.²⁶

Adidas is using micro-influencers – i.e., influencers with less than 100,000 followers on social media that have a more curated, cohesive community of followers – to extend its reach via social media;²⁷ the company runs Instagram influencer marketing campaigns to allow it to capture a younger audience.²⁸

22%

of all consumers say they learned of a new product or brand from a social media influencer in the past six months

_{²⁴ Capgemini Research Institute, Conversations for Tomorrow Edition 4,}_{The new face of marketing}_{, 2022.
²⁵}_Forbes_{, “Why social media marketing will only become more popular in the beauty industry in 2022,” February 2022.
²⁶}_{Economic Times}_{, “Walmart explores matchmaker marketplace for social media influencers,” August 2022.
²⁷ Digiday, “How Adidas is using smaller-scale influencers,” June 2019.
²⁸ Grin, “9 brands who nailed influencer marketing and got amazing results,” November 2022.}

Six in 10 Gen Z shoppers have discovered products via social media

By age group, younger consumers are much more likely to have discovered a new product on social media than their older counterparts. Over half (61%) of Gen Z shoppers have found a new product on social media in the past six months, compared to only 15% of Boomers (see Figure 23).

61%

of Gen Z shoppers have found a new product on social media in the past six months

Figure 23. Younger shoppers are more likely to discover new products on social media

^{Source: Capgemini Research Institute, Consumer demand survey, October–November 2022, N=11,300 consumers; 992 Gen Z consumers, 3,264 Millennial consumers, 3,332 Gen X consumers, 3,712 Boomer consumers.}

Product discovery through social media influencers often leads to purchase

Nearly one-quarter (22%) of all consumers globally have learned of a new product or brand in the past six months from an influencer, for example by following a celebrity that endorsed a product or brand by sharing his or her experience on social media.

By age group, nearly half (48%) of Gen Z consumers and over one-third (36%) of Millennial consumers have learned about a new product or brand from an influencer on social media over the past six months. Fewer Gen X and Boomers say the same (17% and 7%, respectively). Brands specifically target Gen Z and Millennial consumers through social media influencers. Pepsi ran an influencer campaign, #SayItWithPepsi, to increase their sales along with in-store purchases at Walgreens. Pepsi used influential creators to develop original content including blog posts, photography, and branded video content and shared them with their Millennial target audience. The campaign resulted in more than 50,000 engagements.²⁹

48%

of Gen Z consumers have learned about a new product or brand from an influencer on social media in the past six months

_{²⁹ Influencer marketing hub}_,_{“15 influencer marketing examples to power your influencer campaign planning,” October 2022.}

Once a consumer discovers a new product through an influencer, they often purchase, especially the younger age groups. Around one-third (32%) of all Gen Z consumers have purchased the products they learned about from an influencer. One-quarter (26%) of Millennials say the same. Even among older age groups, the conversion rate is high. For example, 7% of Boomers have learned of a product from an influencer, and 5% of them have gone on to purchase that product in the past six months (see Figure 24).

32%

of Gen Z consumers have purchased a product or brand they learned about from an influencer in the past six months

Connecting the already enormous influencer and creator community with the ability to make sales through TikTok is a step forward in improving the consumer experience, linking content to commerce, and creating a more fluid and seamless purchasing experience for our customers.”³⁰

Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, CMO L’Oréal UK and Ireland

Figure 24. Gen Z and Millennials are most likely to have purchased a product they learned of from an influencer

_{³⁰Cosmetics Business, “}_{L’Oréal’s chief digital boss plans to take cosmetics into virtual era,”}_{August 2021.}

Consumers perceive certain influencers to be more credible than others

Across all consumers, 43% say that they can only relate to influencers who are “real people” and who share their own experiences of the brand/product, as opposed to a “virtual influencer” (i.e., a fictitious/digital character developed and controlled by brand creators). Nearly one-third (31%) of all consumers would trust the recommendations of a virtual influencer if he or she shared credible content (see Figure 25). Such trust is highest among Gen Z (44%) and Millennial (42%) consumers. US retail clothing brand PacSun collaborated with the first virtual influencer, Miquela, to strengthen the brand’s connection with its core youth demographic, many of whom are exploring the digital space. PacSun and Miquela will collaborate on social content, amplifying the brand's back-to-school and 2022 holiday campaigns.³¹

Regarding the credibility of influencers:

49% of all consumers (and 59% of Millennials) say that the influencers who are not sponsored or paid by the brand/product are more credible
47% of all consumers (and 58% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers) say that influencers who share the positive and negative sides of a brand/product are more credible.

44%

of Gen Z consumers would trust the recommendations of a virtual influencer if he or she shared credible content

Figure 25. Gen Z and Millennials are most likely to relate to real-life influencers, but would trust virtual influencers with credible content

_{³¹ PR Newswire, “Pacsun partners with the first ever virtual influencer, Miquela,” August 2022.}