While ambassador programs aren’t anything new, in recent years we’ve seen brands placing increased emphasis on long-term partnerships with creators, and reaping the benefits. An increase in the sheer volume of content and a desire to find new ways to build meaningful relationships with consumers has led some brands to turn away from one-off creator partnerships and, instead, to explore partnering with fewer creators over a longer period of time, increasing the frequency of exposure and in turn, building unrivalled brand awareness and trust.

We’re incredibly proud to partner with GlobalWebIndex to further increase the industry’s understanding of the important role that long-term partnerships are playing in the creator marketing space and how consumers are engaging with them. Within this, we have explored the constantly necessary but ever-changing role that trust plays in creator marketing; how different verticals should be harnessing long-term partnerships; and the impact that they have on purchase behaviour, across different advertising platforms and mediums. The volume of content that consumers are exposed to isn’t decreasing and it will be those brands that harness the power of authentic and trustworthy creator collaborations, which stand out from the noise in the future.

Download the full report, here!

Consumer Confidence;

• 1 in 3 consumers believe creators having a long partnership with a brand makes them feel more confident when purchasing a product endorsed by a creator
• 51% of those who have purchased in the past say they feel more confident if the creator is a good brand fit (vs 41% of those who have never purchased).
• 71% of Gen Zs and 64% of Millennials ranked social media in their top three ways to discover new products and brands.
• 40% of consumers ranked creators in their top three ways to discover new products and brands
• “72% of those who have purchased after seeing a creator promote a brand have only been following for a short amount of time.”
• 57% of consumers who have been following creators for more than 4 years like ongoing collaborations because they trust the recommendation of the creators they follow.

Creator Research;

• 57% of consumers who have been following creators for more than 4 years like ongoing collaborations because they trust the recommendation of the creators they follow.
• Those who browse and buy products on social media have an even stronger perspective on this, with 72% stating they’re more likely to purchase if they demonstrate research beforehand
• Consumers want creators to be trustworthy (61%), entertaining (50%), and intelligent (40%). In the UK, more weight is placed on creators being in touch with the world around them (43%).
• In addition to accountability, for the younger generation, working / collaborating with known / trusted brands is an important consideration when it comes to social media creators (45%).
• Consumers who buy products say they’re 72% more likely to purchase a product if the creators can demonstrate the research they’ve put in beforehand.

Frequency;

• 70% of Gen Z and Millenials state they want to see creators collaborate with lots of brands. Meanwhile, 39% of Baby Boomers and 34% of Gen X are more open to uniformity, preferring creators to collaborate with one brand.
• Consumers are 4x more likely to approve longevity than short-term collaborations (41% claimed to ‘like it a lot’).
• 57% of those who have been following creators for more than 4 years like ongoing collaborations because they trust the recommendation of the creators they follow; this is 14% higher than those who have been following creators for less than 6 months (43%).
• Amongst those who have been following creators for less than 6 months, 59% like ongoing collaborations because they provide them with a lot of helpful product information.
• 30% of Millennials believe individual creators can come across repetitive if they’re always posting about the same brands and products.
• Those that discover new brands through reviews are 66% more likely to like when creators post frequently about brands and 54% of them like to see long term partnerships between creators and brands, 28% more likely than those that don’t.
• 57% of consumers like long-term collaborations because it introduces them to new products
• 44% say the products they see via long-term collaborations are relevant to them
• 43% say long-term collaborations provide them with a lot of helpful information.

Platform Influence;

• Gen Z followers are 47% more likely to trust TikTok than other audiences.
• Millenials are 18% more likely to trust information on Instagram and are 37% more likely to say that they trust information from Facebook.
• YouTube is more likely to be a trusted source of information by Millennials and Gen Z than other generations.
• For those that haven’t previously purchased creator-promoted brands, 37% in the US say that seeing a creator promoting a product on TV would likely make them engage with the brand, while 35% in the UK say the same.
• Baby Boomers are 20% more likely to engage with a brand that they see being promoted by a creator on TV. Baby Boomers are also 42% more likely to discover new brands and products via ads on TV, so being in this space is key to increasing brand awareness.
• 71% of Gen Zs and 64% of Millennials ranked social media in their top three ways to discover new products and brands.

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