Facebook and Twitter continue to be the first choice for promotion for top brands, with "influencers" on social media fast gaining ground amid a rise in advertisement blockers on the digital space, according to a survey.

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Influencers are people on social media wielding some celebrity status or large following that enables them to "influence" other users with their opinion towards any brand or product, a form of covert advertising.

Top companies operating in India including LG, State Bank of India, Domino's Pizza, HDFC Bank, Air Asia, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Honda and ITC Hotels, among others, participated in the survey undertaken across industry sectors including Automobiles, Banking, Consumer Durables, E-commerce, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), etc.

"75 per cent of marketers measure the success of their campaigns in terms of engagement, while seven out of 10 marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing budgets," according to the survey, carried out jointly by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), a not-for-profit industry body, and YAAP, a digital content design, discovery and distribution company.

Marketers have acknowledged that today's consumers trust word of mouth over brandspeak and so, they are increasingly collaborating with influencers who will help them reach newer and engaged audiences, it said.

The survey, undertaken during February and March this year, also noted a rise in influencers engagement by brands because of increase in ad blocking and growing dissonance among consumers for "brand messages".

"Brands will continue to increase their efforts and investments into influencer marketing, from the current event-based approach to a more steady state of influencer marketing," it said.

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"Facebook and Twitter continue to be the first choice of dissemination mediums that brands look at. Brands are now also looking at Instagram to engage their target audience because of the ease of creating relevant and visually appealing content," it added.

IAMAI president Subho Ray said the survey highlights some significant data points for marketers and how they need to align their strategy to the changing times.

With growing popularity and evolution of social media, influencer marketing is becoming pivotal to a brand's marketing mix," Manan Kapoor, Partner, YAAP, said.

"Influencer marketing is enabling brands to bring out creative content which can directly be consumed by the target audience," he added.