AcademicJournal of Marketing & Social Research, 7 Jul 2025

Better audience-brand fit nearly doubled the odds of conversion

Shortlisting creators

1.95x

higher conversion odds came with stronger creator audience-brand fit in influencer marketing campaigns

Reader Note:: The paper reports an odds ratio of 1.95 for audience-brand fit in its conversion model.
Evidence:: Observed behaviour
Vendor interest:: None
Sample:: 63 influencer marketing campaigns in niche markets, using secondary campaign data from influencer marketing platforms, brand reports, social media analytics tools, and industry reports, plus 3 purposefully selected case studies.

Good for

Comparing yourself against a similar segment, and choosing what to test next.

Not for

Saying that one thing caused another, or predicting what you would get.
The source never says when this data was collected. It could be considerably older than the publication date suggests.
The source never says how this number was measured.
The source talks about this as cause and effect — that is its reading, not a finding.

Influencer selection is mainly based on engagement rate and audience demographics (94% and 88%), with only 25% using social listening on what consumers discuss

Share of marketers using each data input to select influencers, and what it measures
Data input	Usage (%)
Engagement rate (Influencer output)	94%
Audience demographics (age, gender, location) — Influencer audience	88%
Past campaign performance data (Influencer track record)	81%
Audience interest / affinity data (Influencer audience)	78%
Follower count and reach metrics (Influencer scale)	72%

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Sponsored posts got more engagement when influencers had either very low or very high ad loads, and did worst in the middle

97% of marketers say influencer marketing targeting is inconsistent, immature, or essentially guessing; only 3% say it is very mature with high precision

How marketers rate the influencer marketing industry's targeting maturity (% of respondents)
Industry targeting maturity	Share (%)
Very mature, targets consumers with high precision	3%
Somewhat mature, pockets of sophistication	44%
Immature, most campaigns lack structured targeting	29%
Very immature, essentially guessing	15%
Unsure	9%

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Fixing your influencer marketing campaign: How to get into the top 10% of advertisers

89%

of marketers do not plan to work with virtual influencers AI avatars or digital clones of creators in 2026

In creator selection, brand fit mattered most and follower count mattered least

Most Important Factor Brands Use When Selecting New Creators to Work With
Selection factor	Brands (%)
Creator suitability or fit for brand	22%
Content performance	17%
Working with a diverse group of creators	14%
Brand affinity, or a history of posting about your client	12%
Follower audience demographics	10%

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People were about twice as likely to share the sponsored Instagram post when the influencer had low or high ad load instead of a middle one

Better audience-brand fit nearly doubled the odds of conversion

Good for

Not for

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