In an era of declining consumer trust, influencer partnerships are no longer a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have strategy to build authentic campaigns that drive growth.
What started as an experimental marketing channel has evolved into a core growth channel capturing a major share of ad spend globally. Statista reports that marketers spent $35 billion on creator-led campaigns in 2024—a figure expected to reach nearly $80 billion by 2030, surpassing the current number for TV advertising. Concurrently, Emarketer reports that 32% of global brand marketers cite measuring performance as the largest roadblock to a successful creator program.
Overcoming the measurement challenge requires proving that influencer content works. It’s why Publicis-owned agency Influential and Swayable partnered to create an in-depth analysis of how influencer marketing drives success throughout the funnel, making the case for brands to adopt integrated, creator-first strategies into their omnichannel mix.
Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative insights—including those from Swayable’s AI-powered meta-study on influencer marketing—the guide showcases how authentic creator content impacts brand lift, from awareness and favorability to consideration and purchase intent.
Grab the free guide today and keep scrolling for key highlights.
The meta-study involved a systematic analysis across 70K+ consumer responses to 14K+ randomized controlled trial (RCT) experiments tested on the Swayable platform—with the goal of isolating influencer-driven creative and comparing it to category benchmarks across industries. Swayable’s methodology included:
The high-level outcome showed that influencer content for the client tests that the study analyzed doubled brand favorability and compared to traditional ads. Additionally, influencer content for these clients also drove a slightly higher lift increase in purchase intent compared to other content types.
This is a key indicator of why influencer marketing is experiencing exponential growth—it’s not only driving top-of-funnel performance, but also boosting mid-to-lower funnel metrics.
While influencer content is commonly considered a tactic to reach Gen Z and Millennials, the meta-study showed that creators have the power to appeal to all demographics—including Gen X and Boomers.
At the top of the funnel, creator content for the client tests we analyzed delivered high performance across all four demographics. For lower-funnel metrics, influencer content outperformed other content formats among Boomers and Gen Z, with comparable performance among millennials and Gen X.
The insights suggest that brands have unique opportunities to reach multiple demographics through creator-led ads.
Don’t be constrained by campaign objectives. As a leading channel across every phase of the customer journey, influencer marketing drives results no matter the objective. Influential research found that an integrated influencer approach can fuel a 75% sales lift.
Shift from demographics to psychographics. Influencers are no longer just a tool to reach Gen Z, but to engage broad cross sections of the population who overlap by lifestyle, passions, and shared experiences.
Integrate influencers into omnichannel strategies. Infusing influencers throughout your entire marketing plan can increase ROI by up to 16x according to Influential data. Brands that start partnering with influencers now will achieve the largest gains as the market continues to evolve.
Claim your free guide to learn more about the power of influencer marketing, with case studies from Dunkin’, Experian, and Walmart.
Interested in pre-testing your influencer marketing content? Book a demo with Swayable today.