Nielsen_Sports_InfluenceScope

Introduction
Many social media platforms have undergone impressive growth in the past few
years—as the pandemic drove people indoors, in front of screens and searching
for connection.
To address this need, many brands are spending big on social media, turning to
influencers to make more personal (and profitable) connections with consumers.
The 2022 Nielsen Annual Marketing Report, for example, found that global
marketers are increasing social spend by 53% in the next year, more than any
other channel. Yet, as brands make major investments in the world of influencer
marketing, the ever-growing number of influencers creates a complex landscape
for marketers to navigate.
To help in your decision-making process, we used Nielsen InfluenceScope to

gather key trends and insights into the current social media influencer landscape
and the population of influencers across three of the platforms most used by
influencers: Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. We highlight:
• Who—or what—are influencers?

• How influencers engage with audiences
• What is the global distribution?
• Who are the top influencer personas across platforms?
Copyright © 2022 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. Confidential and proprietary. Do not distribute. 2
What does it mean to be an influencer?
influencer A social media user with over 1,000 followers/

/ ˈin-ˌflü-ən(t)-sər / subscribers exercising influence, on digital
platforms, over digital users and audiences
noun
Copyright © 2022 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. All Rights Reserved
We like to think of an influencer as an internet celebrity; a personality with a

large and engaged enough audience who can influence consumer sentiment and
behavior around their affiliations and interests. While most influencers are humans,
animals (hello Nala Cat) or even virtual influencers like Lil Miquela can help brands
connect with their target audiences.
And those connections can be powerful. In fact, according to the 2021 Nielsen
Trust in Advertising study, 71% of consumers trust advertising, opinions and
product placements from influencers.
Marketing channel and consumer trust

Completely or somewhat trust ranked Don’t trust much and don’t trust at all ranked
Channel % Trust Channel % Don’t trust
Recommendations from people I know 89% Online banner ads 38%
Branded websites 84% Ads on social media networks 36%
Ads on TV 78% Ads served in search engine results 36%
TV program product placements 74% Ads on mobile devices 34%
Advertising/opinions about brands/ 71% Online video ads 33%

product placements from influencers
Source: Nielsen 2021 Trust in Advertising study
Given the propensity for these influencers to be effective brand ambassadors,

and help drive product awareness, it’s easy to understand why marketers are
increasingly adding influencers to their marketing mix. The power of an influencer is
in their followers, and celebrities like Dwayne Johnson have tremendous reach. But
if The Rock’s followers aren’t your target audience, the impact of his celebrity—and
your marketing dollars—will be limited. So how can brands know which influencer is
right for which campaign? The struggle is real for many, as identifying an influencer
that fits the brand’s personality and purpose is something that 86% of Nielsen’s
clients represent as a challenge.
But with the right data, it’s easier to make the connection between brands,
influencers and consumers that reveals the power of influence marketing.
U.S. marketers embrace emerging platforms

Usage by platform
2020 2021
100%
75%
50%
25%
0
Instagram Instagram TikTok Facebook YouTube Pinterest Twitter
stories
Source: Linqia: The State of Influencer Marketing 2021
Social media platforms play a critical role in shaping the influencer marketing
dynamic. And as the industry grows to satisfy consumer demand for content,
marketers need to keep an eye on, and differentiate between, which social
platforms are emerging and which are driving the most engagement. Because
when it comes to influencer marketing, engagement is key.
According to Nielsen InfluenceScope, a solution suite that measures social media

influencers, 72% of influencers currently use Instagram as their primary content
channel, although many creators tend to have accounts on multiple digital platforms.
Meanwhile, TikTok is booming—68% of U.S. marketers invested in the platform in
2021, up from 16% in 2020—and emerging as a cross-platform audience booster.
The most-followed creators on TikTok, for example, are quickly becoming popular
personalities across the social media universe. Italian-based influencer Khaby Lame
1
Nielsen InfluenceScope
is the second-most followed creator on TikTok globally. He has now become one
of the most followed creators on Instagram as well, with over 75 million followers at
less than 300 posts on the platform—overtaking one of the most influential fashion
bloggers worldwide, Chiara Ferragni, with 27 million followers at nearly 16,000 posts.
Influencer tier
Tier Followers Traits
Nano 1k-10k High engagement and low cost; local connections
Micro 10k-50k Niche content; low cost, uniform audience
Mid 50k-100k Strong brand partnerships; cost effective
Macro 100k-1M Famous internet personalities; broad reach
Mega >1M Celebrities; high cost, vast reach

Copyright © 2022 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. All Rights Reserved
Both Khaby Lame and Chiara Ferragni are mega influencers, but not all creators
have such a large follower base. And marketers need to be able to know where to
find creators with audiences from Nano to Mega, to maximize the impact of their
messaging and their spend.
Influencer tiers across platforms

Instagram TikTok YouTube
2.5% 11.3%
7% 28.8% 34.5%
37.7%
42.2% 55.2%
50.9%
17% 36.7%
36.9%
45%
Nano 48% Mid Mega
46%
Micro Macro
Source: Nielsen InfluenceScope
From an influencer perspective, Instagram dominates the Nano tier with 55.2% of
total influencers. Notably, newer platform TikTok has overtaken social media veteran
Instagram in popularity for Micro, Mid, Macro and Mega influencers. YouTube
attracts fewer influencers in general than other platforms, but its share of Mega
influencers (28.7%) is comparable to those of Instagram (34.5%) and TikTok (36.7%).
How old are influencers?

Age groups among influencers

18-24
31.9% 79.3% 44.5%
25-34
56.8% 17.0% 38.3%
35-44
8.5% 11.7%
2.9%
45-64
2.7% | 0.7% | 5.5%
With digital content creation being a relatively new profession, almost 90% of
all influencers on the major platforms are between 18 and 34 years old, with
TikTok taking a strong lead at 79%. But TikTok’s appeal to younger creators hasn’t
translated for more seasoned influencers quite yet. Instagram leads the pack for
influencers 25-34 years old with 56.8%, while YouTube is most popular among
creators aged 35-64.
And when it comes to influencer advertising, age isn’t just a number. Engaging
influencers of the right age on the right platform can pay off when you’re trying to
reach your target audience. For example, during Gap’s #brownhoodie campaign,
60.36% of TikTok star Barbara Kristoffersen’s engagement came from women
aged 18-24. Instagram has the highest share of 25 to 34 years olds, accounting
for approximately half of the influencers on the platform with 50.62%. As a result,
33% of the Instagram users who engaged with the #brownhoodie campaign were
women 25-34.
Influencers demographics
When it comes to the demographic characteristics of their creators, social media
platforms differ widely. While Instagram and TikTok are generally female-dominated
platforms with a significantly younger audience, YouTube is highly dominated by
male influencers—and has slightly more influencers who are older in age.
Female creators favor Instagram and TikTok

Female Male
35.27%
57.31% 42.69% 44.88%
55.12% 64.73%
Most loved by Most loved by Most loved by Gen Z

Millennials Gen Z and Millennials
• The share of women • The share of women • The share of men is

is slightly higher with is slightly higher with significantly higher with
respect to the share of respect to the share respect to the share of
men in each tier. of men in each tier, men in each tier.
• Nano influencers achieve except Mega. • Nano influencers achieve
the highest penetration • Nano influencers achieve the highest penetration
of both male and female the highest penetration of both male and female
Instagram influencers. of both male and female YouTube influencers.
• Micro influencers have TikTok influencers. • Macro influencers have
the most balanced • Micro influencers have the most balanced
gender composition the most balanced gender composition
within their tier, followed gender composition within their tier.
by Mega Instagrammers. within their tier, followed
by Mega TikTokers.
These charts omit the ‘gender neutral‘ category which includes people, brands and pages that did not choose
to identify as ‘male‘ or ‘female‘.
Audience interests should drive strategy
We outlined 28 categories to identify what intrigues and motivates Instagram
followers. Analyzing the top five audience interests per influencer type, we found
out that Nano and Micro influencers’ followers are mostly interested in clothes,
shoes, handbags and accessories—while for Mid, Macro and Mega influencers’
audience, friends, family and relationships are the most popular categories.
Apart from influencer demographics, brands need this in-depth knowledge of

audience interests to develop effective influencer marketing strategies. Because
if your influencer’s followers don’t have a basic interest in your product, your
campaigns will struggle to produce optimal results, even with a mega influencer.
Interestingly, American pop singer Justin Timberlake has 65 million followers on

Instagram. As one of the world’s best-selling musical artists, winning numerous
awards and accolades, many might expect his followers to be most interested in
music. However, 42% of Timberlake’s followers are keen on friends, family
and relationships.
Better connections, greater influence

Brands are looking to influencers—and the
significant engagement that many of them wield
across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok—to establish
more personalized connections with consumers.
For marketers, the proof of influencer ad engagement

is clear. Nielsen’s Brand Impact service has measured
the effectiveness of influencer ads in nearly 200
campaigns. According to the Q1 2022 norms
from this research, an average of 80% of
influencer ad viewers were able to recall
seeing the brand featured in the ads.
Further, the influencer ads drove a
nine-point increase in both brand
affinity and purchase intent
relative to consumers who did
not see the influencer ads.
Different social media platforms focus on different types of content and different
ways for audiences to engage with that content. For example, as Instagram is
primarily a photo-sharing app with likes and comments as the primary engagement
actions, while TikTok and YouTube are video content publishing platforms—on
which sharing plays a larger role in determining engagement levels, and views are
the main indicator of identifying potential reach.
Engagement rate range across platforms

19.39%
0-1% 31.89%
62.36%
12.23%
1-2% 18.27%
13.36%
24.14%
2-5% 21.69%
12.56%
21.51%
5-10% 11.15%
5.55%
10.86%
10-15% 4.40%
2.09%
5.72%
15-20% 2.35%
1.08%
6.15%
>20% 10.25%
3.00%
Given the shift in preference toward shorter videos and vertical formats, TikTok
has an impressive engagement rate: influencers with engagement rates of more
than 20% make up 10.25% of the creators on the platform, compared with 6.15% for
Instagram and 3% for YouTube.
Comparatively, Instagram holds the highest share of influencers with engagement

rates of 2% to 20%, with creators with engagement rates of 2% to 5% representing
nearly one-fourth of the platform’s influencers.
And when brands hit the right combination of influencer, content and engagement,
the results can be powerful.
In January 2022, HUGO BOSS launched its international #BeYourOwnBoss

campaign on social media to refresh the brand. The campaign engaged popular
influencers like top model Kendall Jenner, TikTok persona Khaby Lame and
Australian actor Chris Hemsworth to wear the signature BOSS hoodie and create a
buzz on Instagram.
And it worked. The campaign gained approximately 18 million interactions and

included more than 200 influencers posting images of themselves wearing the
BOSS hoodie. German footballer Grischa Promel, Indian mountaineer Poorna
Malavath and Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini, are the three influencers
who achieved more than a 25% engagement rate, much higher than the
platform’s average engagement rate of 2% to 10%.
The relaunch also made a significant impact on the BOSS official Instagram,
garnering the brand more than 100K new followers in the first three days of
the campaign.
Distribution across the globe

As the pandemic inspired higher traffic on social media platforms, influencers of
every size are emerging globally—with the biggest share (over 13.5 million) coming
from the U.S., with the majority of influencers active on Instagram, although Brazil
tops the list for Instagram influencers at over 10.5 million. The U.S. holds first
place for TikTok and YouTube creators, with Brazil coming in second, slightly
ahead of Indonesia.
0
50%
100%
0
5M
10M
15M
U.S. U.S.
Brazil Brazil
Indonesia Indonesia
Russia Russia
India India
Turkey Turkey
Thailand Thailand
U.K. U.K.
Philippines Philippines

Italy Italy
Vietnam Vietnam
Mexico Mexico
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
Spain Spain
Malaysia Malaysia
Source: Nielsen InfluenceScope, November 2021-April 2022

France France
Germany Germany
Canada Canada
Australia Australia
Japan Japan
U.A.E. U.A.E.
South Korea South Korea
South Africa South Africa
Netherlands Netherlands
Sweden Sweden
Portugal Portugal
Instagram
Greece Greece
Jordan Jordan
make up approximately 93% and 94% of creators, respectively.

Belgium Belgium
Hungary Hungary
Qatar Qatar
Geographical density of influencers per platform
Austria
TikTok
Austria
Ireland Ireland
Singapore Singapore
Geographical distribution of influencers per platform
Switzerland Switzerland
For influencer density per country, TikTok takes the biggest share of influencers
Norway Norway
in APAC territories, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, where TikTok influencers
Croatia Croatia
Macedonia Macedonia
YouTube
Slovenia Slovenia
Copyright © 2022 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. Confidential and proprietary. Do not distribute.
11
Influencers across the globe
1. Cristiano Ronaldo - @cristiano 453M

followers
2. Kylie Jenner - @2kyliejenner 333M

3. Leo Messi - @leomessi 323M
4. Selena Gomez - @selenagomez 316M
5. Dwayne Johnson “The Rock“ - @therock 312M
6. Ariana Grande - @arianagrande 307M
Instagram
7. Kim Kardashian - @kimkardashian 306M

8. Beyoncé - @beyonce 253M
9. Khloé Kardashian - @khloekardashian 238M
10. Kendall Jenner - @kendalljenner 234M
1. Charli D’Amelio - @charlidamelio 140M

fans
2. Khabane Lame - @khaby.lame 137M

3. Bella Poarch - @bellepoarch 89M
4. Addison Rae - @addisonre 88M
5. Will Smith - @willsmith 72M
6. Zach King - @zachking 68M
7. Kimberly Loaiza - @kimbery.loaiza 62M
TikTok
8. Dixie D’Amelio - @dixiedamelio 57M

9. cznburak - @cznburak 57M
10. Spencer X - @spencerx 55M
1. T-Series - /T-Series 214M

subscribers
2. Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes - /Cocomelon 134M

3. SET India - /SetIndia 132M
4. PewDiePie - /pewdiepie 111M
5. Mr. Beast - /mrbeast 95M
6. Kids Diana Show - /kidsdianashow 94M
YouTube
7. Like Nastya - /likenastya 91M

8. WWE - /wwe 88M
9. Zee Music Co. - /zeemusiccompany 84M
10. Vlad and Niki - /vladandniki 81M
Influencer data drives key insights for marketers
With social platforms only gaining in popularity, it’s clear that influencer marketing
can be a major revenue generator. And brands that are able to dial in the right
combination of influencer, platform, content and interest can create connections
that drive engagement—and ROI.
And given the wealth of audience, influencer and consumer sentiment data
available for social media, marketers can now take a data-driven approach to their
influencer marketing strategies. Brands have access to a scientific approach to
calculate influencer marketing ROI and to continuously assess campaigns in real
time to deliver better outcomes.
Report methodology
Leveraging our Nielsen InfluenceScope tool, we have collected and summarized
insights about social media influencers and their audiences across Instagram,
TikTok and YouTube.
Influencers of all ages nationality, language preference and creator category who
have posted in the last six months (i.e., November 2021 to April 2022) across
social media platforms have been taken into account in this study. All influencer
tiers (i.e., Nano, Micro, Mid, Macro, Mega) have been analyzed based on the same
methodology in order to ensure the delivery of robust and consistent results.
InfluenceScope is Nielsen’s data-driven solution to support marketers throughout

the entire influencer marketing lifecycle. We assess social media users with over
1,000 followers or subscribers who exercise influence on digital platforms or over
digital audiences. We select personalities that match brand campaign objectives
and measure the value of partnerships, helping brands maximize the ROI of
influencer marketing.
Editor’s note
This report has been updated from its original version. We updated the report May
26, 2022, and initially published it on May 17, 2022.

Nielsen_Sports_InfluenceScope

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Nielsen_Sports_InfluenceScope

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Nielsen_Sports_InfluenceScope

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction

To help in your decision-making process, we used Nielsen InfluenceScope to

• Who—or what—are influencers?

influencer A social media user with over 1,000 followers/

We like to think of an influencer as an internet celebrity; a personality with a

Marketing channel and consumer trust

Recommendations from people I know 89% Online banner ads 38%

Branded websites 84% Ads on social media networks 36%

Ads on TV 78% Ads served in search engine results 36%

TV program product placements 74% Ads on mobile devices 34%

Advertising/opinions about brands/ 71% Online video ads 33%

Source: Nielsen 2021 Trust in Advertising study

Given the propensity for these influencers to be effective brand ambassadors,

U.S. marketers embrace emerging platforms

Source: Linqia: The State of Influencer Marketing 2021

According to Nielsen InfluenceScope, a solution suite that measures social media

Micro 10k-50k Niche content; low cost, uniform audience

Mid 50k-100k Strong brand partnerships; cost effective

Macro 100k-1M Famous internet personalities; broad reach

Mega >1M Celebrities; high cost, vast reach

Influencer tiers across platforms

Source: Nielsen InfluenceScope

How old are influencers?

Age groups among influencers

Source: Nielsen InfluenceScope

Female creators favor Instagram and TikTok

Instagram TikTok YouTube

Most loved by Most loved by Most loved by Gen Z

• The share of women • The share of women • The share of men is

Source: Nielsen InfluenceScope

Apart from influencer demographics, brands need this in-depth knowledge of

Interestingly, American pop singer Justin Timberlake has 65 million followers on

Better connections, greater influence

For marketers, the proof of influencer ad engagement

Engagement rate range across platforms

Source: Nielsen InfluenceScope

Comparatively, Instagram holds the highest share of influencers with engagement

In January 2022, HUGO BOSS launched its international #BeYourOwnBoss

And it worked. The campaign gained approximately 18 million interactions and

Distribution across the globe

Source: Nielsen InfluenceScope

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia

Source: Nielsen InfluenceScope, November 2021-April 2022

South Korea South Korea

South Africa South Africa

make up approximately 93% and 94% of creators, respectively.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - @cristiano 453M

2. Kylie Jenner - @2kyliejenner 333M

7. Kim Kardashian - @kimkardashian 306M

1. Charli D’Amelio - @charlidamelio 140M

2. Khabane Lame - @khaby.lame 137M

8. Dixie D’Amelio - @dixiedamelio 57M

1. T-Series - /T-Series 214M

2. Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes - /Cocomelon 134M

7. Like Nastya - /likenastya 91M

InfluenceScope is Nielsen’s data-driven solution to support marketers throughout

You might also like