New BCM study: How content from influencers works

This is a key finding of the first empirical impact study on brand content from influencers in the DACH region, which the Content Marketing Forum e.V. (CMF) published today. "The positive effect of influencer content for brands and products has been impressively proven with this study," says Olaf Wolff, Chairman of the CMF. The evaluation shows this along the entire customer journey: from the awareness phase to the purchase and customer loyalty, the use of influencers can have a very positive effect for companies - "if companies rely on the right partners," says Wolff. "In the study, we explicitly asked about our favorite influencers. They achieve top engagement scores. The task for companies and agencies is therefore clearly on the strategic side: defining the target group and selecting the right influencers."

Age, gender and formal education play a major role in the consumption of influencer content - but also many other factors beyond pure socio-demographic differences, as can be seen from the detailed results of the impact study: "We can also differentiate in the results according to personality traits and lifestyle typologies," explains study director Prof. Clemens Koob from the Scion research institute. "Here we see clear differences in usage behavior and impact. For example, people with high self-control and emotional stability are less likely to follow influencers, but still rate their favorite influencers and their content positively - as do recommended brands."

According to the study results, brand recommendations are significantly better received by people with a modern lifestyle and a high level of sophistication than by traditionalists and conservatives. "The difference here is truly remarkable and significantly higher than we have seen in previous studies on printed customer magazines, digital corporate content and corporate social media posts," comments Wolff.

Facts Facts from the study:

- The main platforms for influencer content are Instagram and YouTube
- On average, users follow 4.6 influencers in 3.6 areas of interest - health, lifestyle, food and comedy are particularly popular.
- Age plays a major role in usage: Younger consumers use in-fluencers particularly intensively: They follow more and more often, are more active on TikTok and spend significantly more time with the content of their favorite influencers.
- On average, consumers spend 20 minutes a day with the content of their favorite influencer.
- Brands recommended by favorite influencers are viewed positively by the majority of consumers. Brand recommendations in the areas of home & interior, lifestyle, health, self-care & wellbeing and gaming are particularly well received.

The complete study results are now available can be ordered via the CMF. The study is free of charge for members, for non-members it costs € 395 plus VAT.

The BCM Awards are a family of awards consisting of the established umbrella award "Best of Content Marketing" (BCM) and the two new awards "Best of Influencer & Content Creators" (BICC) and "Best of Corporate Print (BCP)". All three competitions highlight the best of the best from all relevant works of content-driven communication in German-speaking countries. They are the only awards that consistently focus on content in the judging process. The jury process and the evaluation criteria are transparent. Expert juries with more than 200 jurors decide on the awards in the advertised categories. All entrants receive high-quality feedback on their work, and the gold winners receive points in various rankings, including the Horizont Creative Ranking. The awards are not profit-oriented.
Content Marketing Forum (CMF):
The Content Marketing Forum e.V. stands for Best of Content Marketing. It is the association of content marketing experts in German-speaking countries. Individual companies, agencies, service providers and content marketing companies find a platform for professional exchange and a stage for their services in the CMF.