How useful are influencers in paid media advertising?
We’ve been testing a range of influencer content within ad formats across our clients, alongside standard creatives. With the question being, is there a place for influencer content within the ad space, or should they remain separate?
The answer is clear. Influencer ads outperform.
Influencer-led ads significantly outperformed non-influencer ads across key engagement metrics:
| Metric | Influencer Ads | Non-Influencer Ads | % Lift |
| CTR | 1.16% | 0.88% | +32% |
| Engagement Rate | 6.56% | 4.87% | +35% |
| True Engagement Rate | 1.17% | 0.91% | +29% |
| Thumb Stop Rate | 5.39% | 3.96% | +36% |
These metrics clearly point to stronger attention, engagement, and downstream conversion potential from influencer-driven content for retargeting audiences.
Visual Breakdown:
Reasons Why Influencer Ads Performed Better:
1. Authenticity & Relatability
Influencer content typically feels more native and less “salesy” which results in higher thumb stop and engagement rates.
2. Social Proof
The face and name behind the content adds credibility. Users trust peer-like endorsements more than branded messages.
3. Creative Style
Influencer videos often follow natural speaking styles, trending formats (e.g. talking to camera, quick edits), and informal tone. All of which align with high-performing ad styles on Meta, this also relates to that authenticity point.
4. Culture Fit
When expanding into new markets, influencers are a great option to utilise to make sure that you are speaking to that audience in the right way and can speak to that market in cultural fit. We haven’t got specific examples for this to share but this week we are launching an Aus traffic campaign on Meta, but don’t have influencers from Australia, so its going to be super interesting seeing how an American/English influencer responds in that market.
Successful Influencer Ads Tend to:
- Hook the viewer in the first 3 seconds (Hookscoring works well here to guide you)
- Answer a pain point
- Include a strong call to action.
- Highlight product features/product scenarios
Poor-Performing Influencer Ads Often:
- Feel overly scripted or brand-directed/ too polished
- Lack a clear value prop.
- Fail to match the tone of the influencer’s organic content. You don’t want the influencer sounding different to who they organically are. You need to let them be themselves and not overly branded.
To summarise, there is a clear place for influencer content within the ad world, and the two should be treated holistically rather than as separate channels. It can be costly to get ad rights signed off from the influencer, but worth it.
Want more info? Drop us a line.