By their very nature social media influencers are prominent in the public eye and often in the news. As a group they can often come across as ambivalent, with some portrayed as inspirational personalities helping people or highlighting a worthy cause, whilst others are considered by many as unsavoury characters with a malign influence (the Andrew Tate case being one example).
So how do Britain’s consumers today engage with social influencers? Latest GB TGI data reveals that 27% of social media-using adults (12.5 million people) claim to follow influencers on social networks. However, this rises to 45% amongst the 7.5 million adults who claim to visit social networks more than 10 times a day. Recently released TGI Europa consumer data reveals broadly similar figures here amongst consumers in France, with 24% of French social media-using adults claiming to follow any influencers, rising to 43% of those who access social networks more than 10 times a day.
These most frequent British social media users are also considerably more likely to follow a higher number of influencers. Whereas 15% of social media users as a whole claim to follow 10 or more influencers, over a quarter (27%) of those who visit social networks 10 or more times a day do so.
Those who claim to follow 10 or more influencers are particularly likely to be in the younger age groups and this is reflected in the lifestages that they are in. TGI reveals they are over three times more likely than the average adult to be aged 15-24 and almost three times more likely than the average adult to be in the TGI lifestage group 'Fledglings' (aged 15-34, not married/living as a couple, do not live with son or daughter, live with parents).
It will be of little surprise to learn that these followers of 10+ influencers are over two and a half times more likely than the average adult to admit that celebrities influence their purchase decisions. This is an audience that also likes to keep up with latest trends.
For example, they are significantly more likely to claim they are interested in innovations in cosmetics and like to keep up with the latest fashions. They also engage strongly with a range of media and advertising.
Those who follow 10 or more social influencers are particularly likely to consider themselves wielders of influence.
TGI reveals they are over twice as likely as the average adult to claim to have talked to ‘many different people’ in the last 12 months about clothes and accessories, and similarly more likely to have talked to many others about toiletries & cosmetics and about household products.
