Latest / The Marketing Funnel Podcast with Fexingo: Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action Stages / How Influencer Marketing Reshaped the Decision Stage
Transcript
- Lucas: There's this stat that keeps rattling around in my head. A 2025 report from Influencer Marketing Hub found that 72 percent of Gen Z consumers say a creator's endorsement is more influential than the brand's own advertising when they're deciding whether to buy something. Luna: That's a massive number. It basically means the decision stage of the funnel has moved away from the brand entirely. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's the biggest shift we've seen in the last few years. The classic AIDA funnel — Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action — used to treat the decision stage as this rational weighing of features and price. You'd read reviews, compare specs, maybe talk to a salesperson. Now for a huge chunk of consumers, the decision is a single recommendation from a YouTuber or a TikTok creator they've been watching for months. Luna: It's almost like the decision stage has been outsourced to a stranger you feel like you know. That parasocial trust is incredibly powerful. Lucas: Right. And it's not just Gen Z. The same report showed 58 percent of millennials said the same. So it's spreading up the age brackets. The question is: how do brands design a marketing funnel when the most important moment — the decision — happens outside their control? Luna: Before we dig into that, I want to say something. You know, these conversations we have every week — they take a lot of research and prep. And honestly, this show stays ad-free because of listeners who chip in a couple of dollars a month. If these marketing deep dives have ever helped you think differently about your own work, buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo is where you can support us. It genuinely keeps the lights on. Lucas: Yeah, Luna's right. And we're not talking big numbers — a few bucks a month from people who find value in it makes a real difference. So if you've ever hit play on an episode and thought 'I'm going to use that,' consider tossing something in the jar. Luna: Alright, back to influencers and the decision stage. Lucas, you mentioned brands losing control — but some are actually leaning into it really smartly. Lucas: Yeah, let's talk about liquid I.V. They're a hydration drink mix, and they've built their entire marketing funnel around micro-influencers. Not celebrities, not mega-influencers with millions of followers. They work with thousands of creators who have audiences between 10,000 and 100,000. These are fitness enthusiasts, travel bloggers, people who post about their daily routines. Luna: And the theory is that those creators have much higher engagement and trust. Their recommendation feels more like a friend's advice than a paid ad. Lucas: Exactly. I read a case study from 2024 that said liquid I.V.'s influencer program drove a return on ad spend of over 4 times, and their conversion rate from influencer content was three times higher than from their own paid social ads. Because the decision stage was triggered by a trusted voice, not a display ad. Luna: But doesn't that create a risk? If the influencer suddenly endorses a competitor or gets caught in a scandal, the brand's decision stage collapses. Lucas: It's a real vulnerability. That's why many brands now use a network of micro-influencers rather than putting all their eggs in one basket. If one creator falls, the others still carry the trust. Plus, micro-influencers are less likely to be seen as sellouts because they're more selective about partnerships. Luna: So the decision stage becomes distributed. It's not a single touchpoint — it's a web of trusted voices that the consumer encounters over time. Lucas: Yes. And that changes how you design the funnel upstream. In the awareness stage, you're not just trying to get your brand name out there — you're trying to get on the radar of the right creators. The interest stage becomes about providing those creators with compelling stories and samples, not just ad copy. Luna: It's almost like the influencer becomes the new salesperson. But instead of a script, they have their own voice. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why the best influencer campaigns feel authentic. The creator isn't reading brand bullet points — they're integrating the product into their lifestyle and explaining why it works for them. That's far more persuasive than a polished commercial. Luna: But here's a challenge I've been thinking about: influencer fraud. There are bots, fake followers, engagement pods. How do brands know the decision stage they're paying for is real? Lucas: It's a huge problem. A 2023 study by Cheq estimated that brands lost over $1.3 billion to influencer fraud. That includes fake followers and fake engagement. So if you're spending money on a creator with 500,000 followers but half are bots, your decision stage reach is essentially useless. Luna: So brands have to vet creators carefully. Some use tools like HypeAuditor or SocialBlade to check follower quality. Others require creators to share analytics screenshots. Lucas: Yeah, and more sophisticated brands are moving toward performance-based deals. Instead of paying a flat fee for a post, they pay a commission on sales generated through unique discount codes or affiliate links. That way, the influencer's compensation is tied directly to the decision stage conversion. Luna: That aligns incentives. The influencer only makes money if they actually drive decisions. Lucas: Right. And it also solves another problem: measuring ROI. Because with affiliate links, you can track exactly which creator sent a customer through the decision stage. That's much more precise than trying to attribute a sale to a TV ad or a billboard. Luna: I want to push back on something though. Does this shift work for all categories? I mean, if I'm buying a car or a refrigerator, am I really going to decide based on a TikTok video? Lucas: It's a fair question. For high-consideration purchases, the decision stage is still longer and more rational. But even there, influencers play a role. YouTube car reviewers like Doug DeMuro or Throttle House have millions of views, and their detailed reviews are often cited as the final push for buyers. In fact, a 2024 study by Google found that 79 percent of car buyers watched at least one YouTube review before making a purchase decision. Luna: So the format changes — longer, more detailed — but the principle stays the same. Trusted third-party validation is more influential than brand messaging. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a fundamental insight for the decision stage. Consumers don't want to be sold to; they want to be educated by someone they trust. So brands that try to control the narrative too tightly often fail. The ones that succeed are the ones that empower creators to tell honest stories, even if that means occasionally hearing a critique. Luna: Let's talk about a potential downside: audience fatigue. If every creator is pushing a mattress or a meal kit, doesn't the trust eventually erode? Lucas: It's happening. I've seen surveys where consumers say they feel overwhelmed by sponsored content. The key is relevance and frequency. If a creator only promotes products they genuinely use and spaces them out, trust stays high. But if they're doing a sponsored post every other day, the audience starts tuning out. That erodes the decision stage for everyone. Luna: So for brands, finding creators who maintain editorial integrity is crucial. It's a balancing act between reach and authenticity. Lucas: Yeah, and that's why the most successful influencer campaigns are often long-term partnerships, not one-off posts. When a creator works with a brand for six months or a year, the audience sees the product as part of their life, not a paid endorsement. That deepens the trust. Luna: I'm thinking about how this changes the rest of the funnel too. If the decision stage is now driven by influencers, the action stage — the actual purchase — needs to be frictionless. Because if you've convinced someone through a creator but then the checkout process is clunky, you lose them. Lucas: Absolutely. The action stage becomes a conversion optimization problem. You need a seamless landing page, maybe a specific discount code, easy payment options. And the post-purchase experience matters too, because that feeds back into the influencer's credibility. If the product doesn't deliver, the creator's trust is damaged. Luna: So the funnel becomes a loop. The decision stage influences the action stage, which influences the post-purchase experience, which influences whether the creator will promote again. Lucas: Exactly. And that loop is what makes influencer marketing so powerful but also so fragile. One bad experience can break the chain. But when it works, it's incredibly efficient. Because the cost of acquiring a customer through an influencer is often lower than through traditional advertising, especially for direct to consumer brands. Luna: Let's zoom out a bit. How do you see the decision stage evolving over the next few years? AI influencers, virtual creators — are we heading toward a fully synthetic decision stage? Lucas: It's already happening. There are virtual influencers like Lil Miquela, who has millions of followers and does sponsored posts. But the trust dynamic is different. Audiences know she's not real. So the parasocial connection is more about aesthetics and fantasy than authenticity. For high-trust decisions, I think real humans will remain dominant. But for lifestyle and fashion, virtual influencers may carve out a niche. Luna: That's a good point. The decision stage is fundamentally about trust, and it's hard to manufacture that in a digital puppet. Lucas: Yeah. And I think the bigger trend is toward micro-communities. Instead of one influencer reaching millions, brands will work with dozens of creators who each reach a few thousand highly engaged followers. That's where the decision stage becomes most effective — when the recommendation comes from someone who feels like a peer, not a celebrity. Luna: So the decision stage is becoming more fragmented, more personal, and more trust-dependent. That's a huge challenge for traditional marketers who are used to control. Lucas: It is. But it's also an opportunity. Because if you can identify the right creators and build genuine relationships with them, you can create a decision stage that's far more powerful than any ad campaign. The key is letting go of control and embracing authenticity. Luna: And measuring what matters — not just impressions, but actual conversion driven by trust. Lucas: Exactly. That's where the future of the marketing funnel is headed. The decision stage isn't a moment — it's a relationship.