Sustainability in influencer marketing: Reducing the carbon footprint without compromising impact

Influencer marketing has reached a point of maturity where effectiveness is no longer the only success metric. As the climate crisis accelerates, the environmental cost of digital campaigns — especially their carbon footprint —is emerging as a critical issue.

A report by digital sustainability optimization agency Footsprint, for example, found that the carbon impact of digital publications by an influencer with 3M followers was 1.072 tonnes of CO2/year, the equivalent of more than 481 round trips between Paris and New York.

From content-related travel, to gifting and the energy consumption of social media platforms, every step in an influencer campaign carries an environmental impact

Why sustainability matters now

Growing numbers of brands and agencies are recognising that incorporating environmentally sustainable practices into influencer marketing is both the right thing to do, and a lever for differentiation and trust.

That said, understanding, measuring and mitigating the carbon impact of influencer campaigns is fraught with variables — from the type of influencer campaign to the platform it runs on.

Research by Greenspector demonstrates that each social platform has its own environmental characteristics. TikTok, for instance, uses around 57.6g of carbon equivalent per hour of scrolling — about the same as charging a smartphone seven times. This compares to Instagram and YouTube which both use 52.2g of carbon equivalent per hour of scrolling.

For marketers in the midst of busy campaigns with quarterly business targets to meet, this level of detail can be mindboggling, to say the least.

That’s why Kolsquare joined forces with Sami, a carbon footprint auditing solution for businesses, to develop the Carbon Footprint Calculator for measuring the impact of influencer marketing campaigns.

By capturing data across campaign stages — content production, distribution, and engagement, travel logistics, and gifting — the calculator is able to estimate the overall carbon footprint of both the brand and the influencers involved, helping users identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions to reduce their environmental impact.

By offering transparency and actionable insights, Kolsquare’s tool encourages more sustainable practices within the influencer marketing industry.

Case study: Rethinking travel with Ibis Styles and Coline

That’s all very well, we hear you say, but how do we turn good intentions into concrete action to reduce emissions of influencer marketing campaigns?

Turns out it’s not as hard as one might think. Take this travel campaign for hotel chain Ibis Styles, which tackled one of influencer marketing’s most carbon-heavy practices: air travel for content creation.

• The campaign: Enlist eco-conscious macro-creator @Coline (449K Instagram followers) to create a series of 2-minute travel vlogs, each featuring the hotel in a different destination, within reach by train. Content was amplified via Instagram Stories and posts.
• The aim: Showcase attractive destinations in France for weekend getaways, positioning Ibis Styles as the perfect place to spend a short break.
• The challenge: Produce high-quality, inspiring content without relying on flights.
• Performance: 2.4m impressions and 46K engagements.
• Environmental impact: Avoided three flights and two car journeys, saving 1.96 tons of CO₂ — equivalent to the average annual energy consumption of around 3 households.

This campaign demonstrates that environmental sustainability doesn’t equate to sacrificing reach or results on influencer marketing campaigns. By defining and implementing creative concepts that align with eco-responsibility, brands can reduce emissions while still delivering high-performance marketing.

Looking ahead: a few simple ideas to help you reduce the carbon footprint of your influencer campaigns 

Reducing the carbon footprint of influencer marketing is essential for aligning with sustainability goals and meeting consumer expectations. By adopting eco-conscious practices, brands can enhance their environmental responsibility without compromising campaign effectiveness.

• Prioritise the production of short, punchy content (Reels, YouTube Shorts, etc.) compressed using appropriate software.

• Reuse existing content, think UGC and/or Influencer Generated Content to promote your brand without creating additional content.

• Favour local and/or national filming locations and reduce long-distance air travel.

• Optimise your filming equipment for use over several campaigns, reducing unnecessary purchases and consumption.

• Better target profiles using a tool like Kolsquare to increase campaign efficiency.
   
• Rethinking gifting by sending fewer, more relevant packages — or even delivering in person by bike or public transport.

• Stop over-packaging whenever possible (difficult with glass products).

• When making media purchases, ask yourself whether the high number of views is appropriate. Explore more efficient and less energy-consuming options.

• Use a WiFi network when broadcasting content on social platforms via a mobile device.

• Encourage influencers to talk about sustainability to educate their audiences to adopt more environmentally-friendly behaviour.

• Offset campaign emissions through essential investment in reforestation and other carbon offset projects.

Influencer marketing has immense power to shape behaviour. By embedding sustainability into campaign design, brands not only reduce their environmental footprint but also connect with a growing audience of consumers who demand responsible practices.

To learn more about how you can reduce the carbon impact of your influence campaigns, download Kolsquare’s full report here: https://www.kolsquare.com/en/measuring-the-carbon-footprint