What Proportion of Influencer Content is an Ad?

With recent articles popping up on how much influencers are paid to generate sponsored content, it may explain why it may seem like our feeds are increasingly looking like a steady string of ads.

Taking a deeper look at Instagram influencers in the UK, we pulled a sample of content creators who have posted sponsored content between January and September of this year to identify the proportion of content that was sponsored.

Wearisma Insight

We found that the 90% of influencers who post sponsored content have between 0 and 5% sponsored content. So only 1 in 10 influencers who post sponsored content have >5% of their feed containing sponsored ads. On average only 2% of an influencer’s posts were sponsored.

This is interesting given the recent conversation around Influencer ad saturation. For instance, Bazaarvoice commissioned research into the attitudes of consumers and found that 47% of consumers felt “fatigued” by repetitive sponsored posts. It’s no secret that placing a strong emphasis on authenticity and relationship-building is key to finding success in influencer marketing. Users may not be tired of sponsored content but rather content that does not align with the influencers brand and beliefs.