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Estimated reading time: 2 min 94 s

Influencers – web users with a large community of social media followers and high levels of engagement - are part and parcel of the online world. According to Médiamétrie's Web Observatory[i] study, one quarter of web users follow an influencer. Mostly, they are younger: two thirds of followers are aged between 15 and 34 years old. They usually hang out on platforms and social media where they follow and promote their favourite topics. Being receptive to new interactive communication methods, they are also players on these channels.

A quarter of web users follow an influencer on the Internet

Influencers now play an important role and seem to be present around many online themes: 25.6% of online users reported following an influencer. 60.9% of these followers admitted that they had bought a product or a brand that the influencers had recommended.

Nearly everyone who followed influencers (98.6%) had an account on at least one social media – significantly higher than for internet users as a whole (84.1%). This gap was wider still on YouTube and Instagram (69% registered users compared to 38.1%), as well as on Snapchat and Twitch. By joining social media, followers have found a way to share their passions and interests, as well as to keep up to date with the brands, artists, celebrities, and issues they are interested in. Their curiosity and desire to pass the time have also attracted them to social media.

They have chosen favourite networks based on the themes they followed. On Facebook, they were interested in influencers who posted about cooking, beauty, well-being, and sport. The same themes were to be found on Instagram, plus travel, fashion, and personal development. Education and high-tech also appeared on YouTube. Above all, humour and gags were the prerogative of TikTok. Finally, video game and gaming enthusiasts gathered around influencers on Twitch and YouTube.

More likely to be on social media, web users who followed influencers also checked their feeds more often than internet users in general. On the lookout for new posts, almost 8 out of 10 (79.9%) had notifications activated so that they wouldn't miss a thing, especially on YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat. By comparison, just over one-half of internet users as a whole activated notifications (51.8%). In general, followers watched more content online than internet users as a whole did.

Followers are receptive to new communication formats

People who followed one or more influencers were online more regularly. They could be searching for a good deal, images or news, visiting a branded page, or watching videos and stories. Compared to internet users in general, they were more likely to come into contact with artists (72.1% vs 41.2%), bloggers (69.5% vs 29.3%), and media (radio, TV, cinema, press), as well as brands, products and business services (57.6% vs 30.3%).

Influencers have reshaped brand communications. Followers were interested in new communication formats: stories (41.8% vs 18.4% for web users in general), live streams and interactive videos. To learn more about brands, they watched more videos created by ambassadors (29.2% vs. 9.7%). As informed consumers, they were more likely to read reviews posted by other buyers (85.5% vs. 68%) and to take these into account when deciding on a purchase.

Active followers and perhaps influencers themselves

The study showed that internet users who followed influencers had generally adopted the rules of influencer communications.

Compared to internet users in general, they had more active social media accounts, regularly updating their profile and posting comments; sharing tips, news, photos and posting videos and stories. In particular, 24% of them published personal videos, compared to 13.6% for the rest of internet users.

They were also more likely to give their opinion about a product or service online (74.8% vs. 60.9%).

Charlotte Leboucher, Research Director at Médiamétrie's Consumer Insights Department explained: "Beyond the influence that influencers wield within their community in terms of recommendation and persuasion, followers find themselves predisposed to publishing more than web users in general, and thus become online players themselves.”