The eight practices linked to influencer marketing revenue, and where Europe stands on each

What drives influencer marketing revenue, and how did the model find these eight practices?

Brands are investing more in influencer marketing, but many brands’ strategies haven’t reached maturity.

According to Kolsquare’s report, most brands and agencies (89%) plan to increase influencer marketing spend, and 79% of brands consider it a core growth driver or an important supporting channel. Over two-thirds of brands (68%) say it influences 11% or more of their marketing-driven revenue.

But while brands are investing more budget, many strategies aren’t maturing. Just 9% of brands describe their strategy as fully integrated across the marketing mix, and links to performance and affiliate marketing fell to 9% from 22% a year ago.

"The industry has grown faster than the operating model around it. Scaling spend is much easier than transforming how an organisation plans, measures and executes creator marketing. The challenge is that many organisations are still structured in silos, where different teams own different budgets, KPIs and technologies." Jakob Wigselius, CEO Scandinavia, United Influencers / ELLE Norway

So which practices influence revenue on this channel? And what could be holding you back?

The Impact Model, developed by Kolsquare and B2B International, was designed to assess the practices that support revenue. The model also offers brands the chance to benchmark their strategies with just a three-minute questionnaire.

The model only identifies associations, so a practice linked to revenue won't, on its own, guarantee a lift in yours. But it found that operational readiness carries the most weight, nearly as much as campaign execution and market reach combined.

Operational readiness (49%)

Operational readiness covers the systems brands use to develop, run and track campaigns. It accounts for the largest share of the score and includes three practices.

Use of AI and automation

This practice tracks how brands bring AI and automation into influencer marketing, from vetting creators to forecasting results.

Most European brands and agencies (84%) now use AI or automation for influencer marketing, with 39% using it extensively across multiple use cases, and 44% for specific ones. AI use is most advanced in Spain, where 51% of marketers use it extensively.

AI users primarily use it for audience analysis and fraud detection (62%), followed by content analysis (58%). Only about one in eight AI users (13%) use it for predictive purposes, suggesting that AI is currently a data analyser rather than a forecaster.

"The next competitive advantage won't come from using more AI. It will come from knowing where to stop using it. AI helps me decide who to talk to. It doesn't tell me who I'll build a lasting partnership with." Solbritt Beranek, Engagement & Project Manager, World Animal Protection

Ask of your programme: Is AI used only to analyse past campaigns, or also to forecast performance before budget is committed?

Use of influencer marketing technology

This practice covers whether influencer marketing works on a dedicated platform, and how much of the workflow that platform manages.

Almost two-thirds (65%) of brands and agencies use a dedicated influencer marketing platform, up from 38% in 2025. Only 2% use no tools.

Platforms are used primarily in the early stages of a campaign. Over half of platform users (57%) use them to check audience quality and authenticity, while 46% use them for discovery and matching. In the later stages, 38% use them for reporting, and 16% for competitive benchmarking.

Ask of your programme: Is your platform used for discovery only, or are you activating it for reporting and benchmarking?

Advancement of internal management structure

This practice covers who handles influencer marketing, and how in-house teams, agencies and platforms split the work.

Most brands (77%) run influencer marketing in-house in some way, although full outsourcing has more than doubled in the past year, from 10% to 23%.

Set-ups vary by market. Outsourcing is highest in the UK (30%) and the Nordics (29%).

"The in-house versus outsource debate isn't binary. High-growth brands don't pick a side; they build a hybrid. They hire internally to own the strategy and brand voice, then partner with an agency to unlock scale, specialisation, and creative firepower." Scott Guthrie, Director, Influencer Marketing Trade Body (UK)

Ask of your programme: If your influencer lead left tomorrow, how much of the programme's knowledge would leave with them?

Campaign execution (28%)

Campaign execution covers the choices marketers make when running campaigns.

Influencer selection for partnerships

Influencer selection includes how marketers choose creators, and whether they go beyond audience size.

Content quality and style are the top selection criteria for 42% of brands and agencies. Engagement rate follows, chosen by 37% of brands and agencies. Follower count isn’t as important, ranking sixth, at 31%.

Experience changes how brands choose creators. Companies with fewer than two years' experience lean noticeably more on follower count when selecting creators.

Ask of your programme: When a creator makes your shortlist, can your team explain why, beyond the size of their audience?

Social media influencer mix

The tiers of creators a brand works with and the size of its roster count as the influencer mix.

Micro-influencers are the most used tier, with 70% of brands and agencies choosing them. They’re ahead of macro (59%) and nano (30%) creators. And rosters have grown quickly. Over a third of brands and agencies (36%) now work with 100 or more creators, up from 18% in 2024. Most (85%) grew their roster last year.

Ask of your programme: Does the size of your roster match the team and tools you have to manage it?

Campaign objectives

Campaign objectives cover the KPIs that brands track at each funnel stage.

Engagement rate is the most-relied-on KPI among brands and agencies, at 37%, and has topped the list for three years. Views follow at 34%, sales at 32% and ROI at 30%. Yet only 41% are extremely confident measuring engagement rate, and 27% name measuring campaign ROI as a key challenge.

The study found that the leading metric varies by stage in the funnel. Kolsquare's full-funnel influencer marketing activations and KPIs guide maps this stage by stage, and Essential KPIs for Influencer Marketing defines each metric.

Ask of your programme: Is every campaign briefed with one objective and a KPI chosen for it before it goes live?

Market reach (23%)

Market reach covers where influencer marketing runs and how far it connects to the rest of the marketing mix. It carries 23% of the score.

Social media platform diversification

Platform diversification includes how many networks a programme runs on, and how much it depends on a single one.

Instagram remains the first-choice platform, used by 90% of respondents. TikTok use fell 12 points to 66%, and it fell in all seven markets. But WhatsApp tripled to 14%, and LinkedIn rose 6 points to 40%. Short-form video is the top opportunity for the year ahead, chosen by 49%.

Ask of your programme: If your main network changed its reach or rules next quarter, how much of your activity would be exposed?

Integration with the wider marketing strategy

Integration examines how influencer marketing connects to other channels, such as paid media, PR, brand campaigns and performance marketing, and the extent of those connections.

Influencer content shows some signs of integration with wider marketing strategies. Sponsored content campaigns rose 17 points to 51% of brands, and repurposing influencer content on owned channels rose to 34%.

But connection to integrated brand campaigns fell 13 points to 31%. Links to performance and affiliate marketing fell 11 points to 9%. And nearly a third of brands (30%) still run it as a stand-alone activity.

"The most successful brands don't separate influencer, affiliate, paid social and e-commerce. They build one creator ecosystem where every piece of content has multiple jobs. Investment has increased faster than organisational change, which is why maturity hasn't kept pace." Jamie Love, CEO & Founder, Monumental Marketing.

Ask of your programme: Does each piece of influencer content have a planned second use in paid, affiliate or brand campaigns before the brief goes out?

How do the seven European markets compare?

Each market in the study stands out on a different measure. Benelux has the highest share of brands saying influencer marketing influences more than a quarter of marketing-driven revenue. Spain uses AI most heavily. The Nordics are most often fully integrated, while Germany is most often at an established level of maturity. Italy leads on content co-creation and France on UGC. The UK uses the most influencer content as paid-ad creative.

Each figure below applies to that market only.

Where should you start?

The model weights the foundational elements of campaigns as the most important. That makes operational readiness the first place to look.

Here’s how to start checking your influencer marketing processes:

• Check how you use AI: Most marketers use AI, but only 13% of AI users apply it to predictive performance. Analyse where AI helps, and where it’s a hindrance.
• Make the most of platform features: Over half of platform users run audience checks, but fewer use them for reporting and benchmarking. There may be more to gain from your platform.
• Plan who handles each campaign area: Whatever your set-up, your strategy needs a clear owner in-house. Delegation should be outlined clearly from start to finish.
• Select on more than audience size: If you often rely on follower counts to choose influencers, try to go deeper and analyse content quality and engagement.
• Give each campaign one KPI: Less than half of marketers are extremely confident measuring engagement rate, the most-relied-on KPI. Ensure that you’re using tools so that you can track the KPI you give each campaign.
• Integrate your campaigns: Ensure your influencer strategy aligns with and connects with other channels.

How Kolsquare reads this

Brands and agencies are growing more confident in influencer marketing. Still, the brands that pull ahead in 2027 will be those whose tech, team and objectives are optimised and able to connect influencer campaigns to the marketing mix.

The Impact Model points the same way. For most programmes, the next gain is more likely to come from how influencer marketing is run than from how much is spent on it.

Start by benchmarking your brand

Want to know how your influencer marketing maturity compares to others? You can start by benchmarking your brand and its practices using Kolsquare’s Impact Model assessment.