Influencer marketing gained substantial attention and momentum amongst marketers in 2016. Judging by the start of this year, it will be an even hotter topic in 2017. But for all the potential of adding influence to the marketing mix, there are also significant challenges. With pure pay-to-play and one-off campaign practices distracting marketers from finding the true value of influencer relationships, misconceptions remain. To bring clarity to the hype, our content marketing agency, TopRank Marketing, along with influencer relationship management software company Traackr, teamed up to investigate how the practice of influencer marketing is evolving within leading enterprises around the world. We surveyed 102 brand strategists and marketers from companies that include American Express, 3M, and Microsoft. We also commissioned Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group, to analyze the data and outline what’s working with current influencer marketing practices, what’s failing, and, most importantly, to predict their evolution. Influencer 2.0 Cover The result is the report “Influence 2.0: The Future of Influencer Marketing.” This article will highlight some of the most compelling findings from that research and what they mean to senior marketers. The Influencer Marketing Conundrum Our research found that 43% of Best Database Provider companies surveyed are still experimenting with influencer marketing, and 28% involve influencers only at the campaign level. Incredibly, 57% are managing their entire influencer marketing programs manually. Many companies report small influencer budgets relative to the rest of the marketing mix, with only a 10% share of budget. Furthermore, 50% currently allocate less than $100,000 annually. Influencer Marketing Budgets 2017 This data demonstrates an untapped potential for enterprise organizations, with influencer marketing still in the early stages of adoption and with low-level resource investment. One-off, short-term, and transactional influencer programs are failing to deliver the opportunity inherent in “always-on” strategic programs that live beyond a single promotion. The report identifies this shortsighted view as a fundamental failure that hinders performance and prevents influencer marketing from becoming a strategic investment at the board level. By tapping strategic consulting resources and moving to an always-on program focus, enterprise organizations can develop and manage mutually beneficial relationships with influencers that can impact purchase decisions and activate multiple moments of truth across the entire customer journey. Looking forward, the data indicates Buy Mobile Database a readiness among senior executives for more strategic influencer relations programs. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of brand marketers rate influencer marketing as a strategic or highly strategic marketing category, while 83% of respondents cited “identifying and building one-on-one relationships with industry key influencers” as a top marketing priority. A Promising Future for Influencer Marketing CMOs have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about influencer marketing. Fifty-five percent of marketers surveyed said they plan to spend more on influencer marketing in the coming year; for those already investing more than $250,000 annually, this percentage jumps up to 67%. The number further increases to 77% for those using influencer marketing technology. While 24% of companies are currently running an always-on influencer program, many CMOs are missing out, with only 5% implementing integrated influencer activities across all functions.