Canadian Influencer Content Marketing

Influencer content on blogs and social media is one of the most trusted types of advertising, say Canadian consumers in a recent Izea survey. In fact, Canadians are more suspicious than Americans of other types of advertising. Our heavy use of social media and blog reading ensures an impactful, and often viral, social marketing campaign. The success of influencer marketing in this country has resulted in Canadian marketers becoming more savvy in content marketing, surpassing their American counterparts in both knowledge and budgets.

The Lightspeed GMI National Online Canadian Consumer Panel conducted the Canadian portion of an Izea study. The 2017 State of the Creator Economy report summarizes their findings, including the use of social media in Canada, the impact of influencer marketing and the cost involved.

Social Media Use in Canada

Canadians who use the Internet more than 15 hours per month are social media and blog enthusiasts.

They visit the following platforms each year:

YouTube 100%
Facebook 94%
Blogs 80%
Twitter 70%
Instagram 65%
Pinterest 64%
LinkedIn 62%
Snapchat 48%
Tumblr 43%
Vine 35%
Periscope 22%

Number of Times Canadian Social Media Users Visit Each Network Every Month:

Facebook 92
YouTube 55
Twitter 51
Instagram 49
Snapchat 40
Tumblr 30
Pinterest 21
Blogs 15
LinkedIn 11
Periscope 11
Vine 10

Canadian Consumers Rate Influencer Marketing Effectiveness

Users of each social media network were asked to rate the effectiveness of marketing messages they receive from influencers. The results showed influencer marketing messages on social media networks are rated as high, or higher than, 41 other types of marketing messages! The only marketing messages that ranked as highly as those from influencers were online product ratings, online reviews/articles, TV commercials, and print and digital magazine ads. Note that only two of those were offline.

Top 16 in Marketing Message Effectiveness (Out of 10)

  1. Influencer message on Periscope 7.4
  2. Influencer message on Tumblr 7.3
  3. Influencer message on Vine 7.1
  4. Influencer message on Snapchat 7.0
  5. Consumer quality/product ratings on an online consumer review website 6.9
  6. Written review or article on an online consumer review website 6.8
  7. Influencer message on Twitter 6.6
  8. Influencer message on Pinterest 6.5
  9. TV Commercial 6.5
  10. Influencer message on LinkedIn 6.4
  11. Influencer message on Instagram 6.4
  12. Influencer message on Blogs 6.3
  13. Brand-sponsored article in a paper magazine 6.2
  14. Online/digital magazine ad 6.2
  15. Influencer message on YouTube 6.2
  16. Influencer message on Facebook 6.2

Canadian Consumers Rate the Effectiveness of Different Types of Content Marketing (Out of 10)

  1. Brand-sponsored article in a paper magazine 6.2
  2. Brand-sponsored article in a paper newspaper 6.1
  3. Brand-sponsored article in an online magazine 6.1
  4. Brand-sponsored article in an online newspaper 6.0
  5. Brand-sponsored long-form videos on a website 5.9
  6. Brand-sponsored infographic, photo, or chart in a social media stream 5.8
  7. Article/written information on a corporate or brand website 5.8
  8. Infographic, photo, or chart on a corporate or brand website 5.8
  9. Brand-sponsored article in a social media stream 5.7
  10. Brand-sponsored short-form videos on a website 5.5

Canadian Marketers Overestimate the Cost of Influencer Marketing

Marketing professionals in Canada budget for up to 13 times more than influencers actually charge. That’s probably due to marketers basing their budget on an erroneous assumption that the number of followers determines the amount of influence. While a larger number of followers does increase the price, many studies have shown that influence is based on much more than the number of followers/subscribers. In fact, some data indicates that influencers with less followers offer a higher percentage of engagement. You can read more about that in the Top 10 Reasons 86% of Marketers Choose to Work with Influencers.

Overall, the price/budget gap indicates a lack of deep understanding about how and why influencer marketing works.

For example (USD):

  • Influencers charge an average of $238 per sponsored blog post, but marketers budget for $345.
  • Influencers charge an average of $228 for a sponsored video. Marketers budget for $496 per video.
  • Influencers charge an average of $119 per sponsored eMail campaign, while marketers budget for $634.
  • Influencers charge an average of $69 for a sponsored Facebook post. Marketers anticipate a cost of $319.

The same issue is encountered when budgeting for content creation.

For example (USD):

  • Creators charge an average of $185 for an infographic, while marketers budget for $608.
  • Creators charge an average of $349 for photography, but marketers anticipate a cost of $604.
  • Creators charge an average of $249 for a list and advice article. Marketers believe it will cost $454.
  • Creators charge an average of $480 for an “industry insights” feature, while marketers allocate $625 of their budget.

Canadian marketers would be better off investing the surplus in hiring an expert to help them navigate influencer marketing. The increased ROI would easily offset the cost, which could be further reduced by hiring an expert who works remotely.

Additionally, a digital marketing expert will be familiar with all of the best practices and legalities, such as the applicable FTC and ASC guidelines. According to this report, Canadian marketers confess to a “complete lack of awareness of proposed Canadian ASC guidelines around disclosure.”

Your ideal candidate would be someone who is both an influencer and an experienced expert in digital marketing.  The dual-world perspective is invaluable, if more than a little difficult to find (especially in Canada). Hiring remotely broadens your hunting ground to include candidates across the country. Since they’re all highly visible online, you can see them in action before you make them an offer they can’t refuse.

Comment on Canadians Internet BusinessHave you been focusing on influencer marketing in Canada? Please share your experience or questions in the comments below.

✔ You may also be interested in reading:
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One Response to "Canadian Influencer Content Marketing"

  1. C. Comeau  July 12, 2017

    Honestly I haven’t seen much improvement in how Canadian businesses are using influencers. They have the same mental block they had about content marketing in general…until they didn’t. Canadian businesses need to get seen online and they need to stop hanging onto the old ways of doing things.


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