From January to today, the share of those in Italy who follow at least one influencer and feel «increasingly aware and equipped with that critical sense that allows him to understand who to trust” has passed from 67% to 73%. This is reported by research carried out by Bva Doxa on behalf of Flu, and the reason for this growth in such a short period of time is partly attributable to one of the most talked about news in this first half of 2024: «Yes it’s about the “Ferragni case” – explains the chief operating officer of Flu Skinny Rosary –, also thanks to which the user has now consolidated a growing critical sense and the ability to know how to select, based on one’s own opinions, the most reliable profiles that deserve to be followed». This is just one of the data that emerged from the survey, carried out in view of theInfluence Day (event dedicated to the world of influencer marketing held on Thursday 20 June at the Talent Garden in Milan) and the results of which were previewed at Courier.
Because you become a fan
More than a thousand participants in the survey – 1,027, to be exact –, all registered on Instagram and aged between 18 and 54. The 27% of the sample stated that they mainly follow influencers «ultra well-known (more than one million followers, ed)”, The 66% mainly influencers «known on average (between 101 thousand and one million followers, ed)” and the 7% mainly influencers «niche (under 101 thousand followers, ed)”. Main criteria that guide the decision to become a fan, the discussion of topics of personal interest (as indicated by 85% of the sample) and experience and competence in the reference sector (52%). Speaking of reference sectors: those that recorded the greatest overall interest were “free time experiences” (91%), the world of “food” (87%) and that linked to “information and news” (also 87%).
The importance of content
«It is interesting to note how one’s passions are the main driver for following or not following an influencer, demonstrating how social networks have now become real entertainment platforms – commented the aforementioned Magro in this regard –. In short, the contents are the most important element: they must be interesting, creative and must be knowledgeable engage the community». Words in fact in line with the conclusions of the report: «The consumer-influencer relationship, despite being a new phenomenon – we read -, works because it responds to the innate human needs in the search for a relationship between similar peoplethe ease of finding harmony and trust, the search for “a face” that can be an easy anchor compared to more aseptic relationships with brands”.
Growing sector
This being the case, it is easy to understand why the compensation that companies pay to the most successful influencers can reach tens of thousands of euros per single post: they are generally profitable investments. Just think that approximately one interviewee in three declared that they had “often” purchased a product that they had heard about from one of these web celebrities. In more detail, if on the one hand for the 76% of those interviewed sponsored content «they are more often the starting point for a subsequent purchase (i.e. to be carried out not before having collected more information, ed)», for the remainder 24% they even typically constitute «the moment decided to complete the purchase». Therefore, the dimensions reached by the so-called «influence economy»: a digital ecosystem which, as confirmed by Flu, «is now valid in Italy over 320 million euros and feeds a compartment with more than 350 thousand employed professionalsmainly young people.”
