Spain promotes influencer marketing strategies despite having the lowest budget in Europe

Kolsquarethe influencer marketing intelligence platform and Newton Xa b2b market research company, have presented the first international market study 2024 in which it offers a detailed view of the trends and practices in influencer marketing in five European countries: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. The study surveyed 385 marketing managers who revealed significant differences in spending, strategies and ethical priorities between all of these countries.

«The Spanish influencer marketing market is showing impressive dynamism, especially in its ability to adapt and grow quickly. Despite having the lowest spending compared to other European countries, Spain has seen a significant increase in investment in IM, with 41% of companies increasing their spending between 20-49% last year. “This demonstrates a clear trend towards the adoption and expansion of influencer marketing strategies in the country,” says Ana Moyano, Marketing Strategist at Kolsquare.

General analysis of influencer marketing

At the moment, the number of followers It remains one of the vanity metrics that is taken as an important criterion for the selection of influencers, especially in countries like France. In general, All countries highly value the content and style of the influenceras well as authenticity and engagement rates. However, few companies carry out more than 50 campaigns a year.

On the other hand, affiliate marketing is strongly positioned in Germany (45%) and in the UK (53%), while paid ads and user-generated content are the preferred activations of France (40%) y United Kingdom (42%). In the case of France and Italy, there is influencer events as one of the most popular activations.

As for the platform preferred by companies to carry out influencer marketing campaigns, Instagram is positioned as number one in all countries, followed by Snapchat being the most used in France and Germany.

When analyzing the objectives of influencer marketing campaigns, the most common is brand awarenessfollowed by sales and conversions. The most commonly used metrics to measure awareness are engagement rate and audience reach. On the other hand, Accurate measurement of ROI remains one of the main challenges for most users, followed by finding the right balance between brand control and influencer freedom.

In general terms and despite all the challenges that influencer marketing faces, this continues to be one of the key strategies in Europe. Each of the markets surveyed in the Kolsquare and Newton X study is analyzed below.

Germany

Among the most notable findings of the study is that Germany is differentiated by its high spending on influencer marketing, with companies that invest an average of €5.74 million annually. This country not only leads in terms of investment, but also in confidence in the growth of influencer marketing. And the thing is, 82% of German marketing professionals have to They increased their spending in this marketing sector between 10-49% last yearand 65% indicate that they hope to continue increasing their investment in the next year. Additionally, 58% of marketers plan to increase the number of influencers they work with. although this country appears like the less concerned about ethics and transparency in the selection of profiles.

In the case of activations, Germany’s favorites are the sponsored posts, with an average of 91 campaigns per year and affiliate marketingwith 60 annual campaigns. Regarding the future of influencer marketing, 37% of those surveyed indicate that it will grow in importance, highlighting the relevance of the strategy in the German market.

France

In the case of France, an emore conservative approach in the use of influencers, with 45% preferring to work with well-known influencers instead of new ones (15%). Regarding the budget, there is more conservative spendingdivided equally into tranches of up to €1 million.

On the other hand, more than half of French companies (54%) increased their spending on influencer marketing by 10-19% last year, and half expect spending to increase in the coming year.

For the selection of influencers, France takes the number of followers as the most important criterion (54%), followed by ethical conduct and transparency (53%). The most common activations in France include events (67%), product reviews (49%), and UGC/paid ads (40%). Ethical concerns are stronger in France than in other countries, covering a wide range of issues such as the use of children in publications, bullying and the disclosure of sensitive products.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is characterized by its large-scale strategies in influencer marketing, with 36% of companies working with 50-249 influencers per year. Despite this, the country’s spending is relatively low at an average of £849K (€994K) a year. On the other hand, half of the respondents expect budgets to increase, while 10% consider an upcoming decrease and 39% believe that budgets will remain the same.

The most common activations in the UK include product giveaways and affiliate marketing. In the same way, marketers in this country are more likely to use Facebook for influencer marketingcompared to other countries. However, less than 50% of British companies consider it important to comply with corporate ethics when working with influencers, although 76% of respondents require that Influencers comply with all regulations.

Spain

Spain stands out for its preference for working with new influencers (39%), even so Influencer marketing spending in this country is the lowest among the countries surveyed, with an average of €866,666 per year. Despite this, 41% of Spanish companies increased their spending on this marketing between 20-49% last year.

Among the main challenges that marketing professionals face There is the measurement of ROI, changes in algorithms and the lack of reliable data which indicates little maturity in the market.

«It is encouraging to see that Spanish companies are being increasingly selective when choosing influencers, with 61% plan to be more careful in their selections and 58% believe that unethical influencers will be eliminated from the market. This attention to quality and ethics in the selection of influencers is a positive step that positions Spain as an emerging and promising market in the European influencer marketing landscape. In Kolsquare“We are excited to support Spanish brands on their path to success in this field,” he says. Ana Moyano, Marketing Strategist de Kolsquare.

Italia

Italy shows a strong priority in corporate ethicswith 77% of Italian marketers considering this aspect important when selecting influencers. Italy’s spending on this marketing is positioned positively with 13% of companies spending between €1M-€4.99M. Even so, 19% of respondents expect a decrease in budgets in the next year, more than in the other countries surveyed.

Favorite activations in Italy include influencer events (63%), and Italian marketers highlight the importance of the social and environmental impact of influencer marketing campaigns.