Do influencer campaigns actually work?

They work when the audience is genuinely interested in the category and fail when the audience is only interested in the person. Size predicts almost nothing.

What decides it

The measurable version: a unique code per creator and a fortnight of attribution. Most stores discover their best result came from somebody with a fraction of the following of the person they paid most.

The part that gets skipped

Influencer spend works when the audience already buys that category, and burns money when it is chosen on follower count.

A platform that owns the customer relationship can change the rules whenever it likes, and has. Selling only on somebody else’s platform is renting your business.

The follower count almost never matches the sales. Engagement in the comments is a far better signal than reach.

Where an app fits

The point of an app in this picture is ownership: social brings somebody once, and the app is where they come back to.