European Brands Are Getting Choosier: 385 Decision-Makers Bare the Truth About Influencer Marketing

A few days ago I found myself turning something over in my head. We've talked about influencer marketing for years — it seems like everyone is doing it, but the moment you actually ask "so, how's it really going?", they clam up. Is the money even worth it? Big influencers or small ones? Do you really need to police what they post?

That question never really had a cross-border answer. Europe is big — France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK, the five most fiercely competitive markets — and until now there wasn't even a single set of figures you could lay side by side.

Until Kolsquare brought in a research firm called NewtonX and asked all 385 senior marketing decision-makers in one go.

What do I mean by "senior"? The people who actually hold the influencer budget, not the interns running errands below them. The industries were curated too — concentrated in fashion, tech, and consumer. Ask it that way, and the entire game of European influencer marketing is basically out on the table.

Signal one: brands are getting choosier

Over the past few years, the attitude has shifted in one big direction. Two years ago it was "should we invest at all"; now it's "who to invest in, and how."

The numbers put it bluntly: 56% of European brands plan to run a finer filter through the influencers they've already worked with in the coming year, keeping only the ones that still fit.

Put plainly, it's the move from "casting a wide net" to "setting a precise hook." The partnership is no longer a one-shot deal — it reaches for a long-term alliance. Who you work with, and how deep you go, has become a matter of deliberate thought.

Platform: Instagram is still the king

Let's start with where everyone plays.

Instagram remains the undisputed anchor, and 89% of placements can't get around it.

But there's a trend worth noting — TikTok is the one charging hardest, with adoption already at 64%.

You read that right. Eight or ten years ago, people still thought shooting short videos was just something kids did; today it's pressing hard at the old throne. The platform battle isn't over yet.

Micro-influencers: the quiet victory of the small

Next question: who do European brands love to work with?

The answer may disappoint anyone who likes to "sign a big star." Micro-influencers are the first choice for 75% of brands.

Why? It makes sense when you think it through. The top anchors quote terrifying fees, and whatever they promote gets diluted to the point that fans simply don't buy it. In contrast, a creator with a few thousand or tens of thousands of followers — their followers trust them, the conversions hold up, and the price point is friendly. To put it in a single line:

Expensive isn't always right; authentic is what pays.

Ethics: Italy put a lock on itself

While brands choose partners, the partners are meanwhile pinned by rules.

In influencer marketing this year, the weight behind "responsibility" is growing heavier. The clearest example is Italy: 77% of Italian brands require the influencers they work with to sign a moral contract, setting down in black and white what they may say and what they may not.

It looks like extra work you're making for yourself, but it's really about stopping the risk before it's through the door. What brands want isn't just traffic — it's the certainty of "as long as I don't blow up."

The hardest question: money you can't measure

At the end of the day, the real headache isn't picking the right influencer — it's measuring the return. 50% of decision-makers admit that what they worry about most is accurately measuring how much revenue influencer marketing actually brings back. Whether the money that went out returns as a win or a loss, they simply can't be sure.

That's interesting — and it carries a little helplessness.

The platform tells you what tools to use, the creative side helps you make the content, but this one — "was that money well spent?" — is still a guess to this day. No wonder the companies that can deliver solid attribution data are especially in demand.

A simple truth

Kolsquare's founder said something that really stuck with me — that previously, on these questions, we simply had no answers: no empirical data able to measure how an industry moves across countries. So they decided to step in themselves, found a reliable research team, and built this benchmark.

When there's no data, everyone goes on gut feeling; once there's data, the gap starts to show.

One more note — this is a report from two years ago, and the sample and perspective were aimed at the Europe of that time. Read from today, the platform landscape and the direction of selection preferences haven't changed course, but in matters of detail, it has already marched another step forward.

Influencer marketing is never a "one trick wins everywhere" game. It keeps shifting — it just depends on who can keep up, and who's willing to run the numbers first and get the books straight.

This line of work is becoming more and more of a craft. Whoever thinks it through in advance, whoever makes the first move, is the first to taste the fruit.