UK brands care most about following the rules and are ahead of other European countries when it comes to diversity according to Kolsquare's latest research on influencer marketing in 2024

UK brands rank following industry regulations highly and are ahead of other European countries regarding the importance of diversity in campaigns according to Kolsquare’s (in partnership with NewtonX) in-depth study of the influencer marketing industry in 2024. 76% of UK brands insist on their influencers following industry regulations while half (50%) don’t want to work with influencers associated with controversial products, 36% rank ethics highly and 18% said that diversity was a priority compared to an average of 12% in the rest of Europe. “Ethics and responsibility is a topic close to our hearts at Kolsquare and I was happy to see that the UK is placing extra importance on choosing influencers who not only align with their brand values but communicate in a responsible, considered way to their audiences. There is still work to be done when it comes to diversity. The UK came out top for this with 18% compared to the rest of Europe and I expect to see these figures rise considerably in 2025,’ says Quentin Bordage, CEO and founder of Kolsquare. The inaugural study looks into what matters most for influencer marketers today in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. This is the first time comparative empirical data about the European Influencer Marketing Landscape has been collected and published. Among the key findings, Germans invest the most in the industry, spending an average of €5.74 a year, compared to £846,661 per annum in the UK. 64% of UK Influencer Marketers report a budget increase over the past 12 months and 50% expect their budgets to grow even further in 2025. The study also reveals parallels indicating a common momentum for this growing industry as well as significant differences between the local markets. The French, for instance, rank influencer events highly (67%), while in the UK marketers are the European champions when it comes to affiliate marketing (53% when 38% is the European average).

UK marketers stay loyal to Facebook

While Instagram is the most popular platform for Influencer Marketing campaigns across Europe with 89% claiming to run campaigns there regularly, the UK sticks out for its significantly high usage of Facebook: 72% of the marketers here use Facebook regularly for campaigns, compared to 69% in Italy, 55% in Germany and only 46% in France and Spain. This makes Facebook the second most popular social network in the UK (Instagram ranks 1st with 89%), ahead of TikTok, which takes turns for the runner-up position in all other markets, except Italy. UK brands (81%) also prefer to work with micro-influencers (10K - 100,000 followers) and the following campaigns rate highest in Britain:

Sponsored posts - 67%
Affiliate marketing - 53%
Gifting products - 46%
Influencer events - 43%
User-generated content and paid ads - 42%

More than a third of UK brands expect to work with up to 100% more influencers in 2025

The influencer marketing industry is booming in the UK with 50% of brands set to increase budgets and third expecting to work with up to 100% more influencers next year.

When it comes to measuring the success of UK influencer campaigns, an increase in sales ranks highest (70%) with an increase in followers (60%) ranked second.

The biggest challenges

UK brands said the biggest challenges when it comes to influencer campaigns are:

Measuring return on investment accurately (51%)
Striking the right balance between influencer freedom and brand control (42%)
Not having a set fee structure (31%)

Italy leads the movement for positive change

The Italian and French marketers are the most committed to promoting ethical behaviour in Influencer Marketing. 59% of Italians and 53% of French say this is an important criterion for selecting creators, while only 36% of UK marketers consider this explicitly. 37% of Italians strive to ‘spark positive change’ through Influencer Marketing, while only 6% of British brands ranked this highly. However, along with sticking to regulations (76%), UK brands want influencers to label sponsored posts clearly (57%), they don’t want to work with those who have promoted controversial products (50%) and 49% insist on corporate ethics being followed.

Influencer marketing will strengthen and rules will tighten across the board

The influencer marketing industry is set to grow across Europe. 80% believe Influencers will maintain or increase their impact - in the UK only 15% of marketers think influencers will become less impactful. 55% of UK marketers also think brands will become more selective with Influencers and 42% believe that industry regulation will grow tighter - this is particularly strong in Italy where the influencer Chiara Ferragni was fined €1 million over the misrepresentation of cake sales that she said would go to charity.

“Our industry is in good shape,” says Quentin Bordage.”Our study underpins the dynamic evolution of influencer marketing and reveals a great outlook for its future.”

Study The State Of Influencer Marketing in Europe in 2024 - Key Findings in brief

Despite downward pressure on marketing budgets generally, spending on influencer marketing in Europe is set to increase. The biggest gains are expected in Germany, where 82% of marketers expect to raise budgets by 10%-49%, and Spain where 78% of marketers predict a similar rise.
Spending on influencer marketing is lower in the UK than in Continental markets, with an average £848,661 (€1.02M) spend annually on influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing will become more important in the marketing mix, according to 27% of respondents, and 6% expect it will become the majority of their marketing spend.
While most brands, 63%, declare collaborating with less than 50 KOLs every year, there are signs brands are beginning to significantly scale their campaigns. 19% of brands in the UK, and 20% in Spain, report working with 100 - 999 KOLs annually.
56% of respondents expect to become more selective in the influencers they work with over the coming year.
Collaboration preferences differ according to market: just 23% of French marketers favour Sponsored Posts, compared to 71% in Italy and Spain. Preference for Affiliate Marketing is strongest in the UK (53%), as are Influencer Events in France (67%).
Accurately measuring ROI/ROAS is a key challenge in all markets, but especially in Italy (61% of respondents rate it in the top 5 pain points).
All countries rate the challenge of striking the right balance between brand control and influencer freedom in content creation in the top 5 pain points for influencer marketers.
KOL ethical conduct and transparency are top considerations for influencer selection in Italy (59%) and France (53%).
All brands impose ethical conditions on KOLs, with 63% systematically including them in contracts, and 33% requiring them to sign ethical charters.
Market outlook: 40% of respondents across all countries expect the market to become oversaturated with influencers, with 27% expecting influencers will lose impact. 18% predict influencers will increase their impact and 66% say unethical influencers will be forced out of the market.